The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Small, sustainable makers praise Atlanta’s artisan scene
Business owners juggle day jobs, festival circuit to do what they love.
For Erica Brown and Sabrina Watson, their creative process always begins with a bottle of wine. Brown prefers red, while Watson usually wants white.
From there, the mother-daughter duo is off to the races.
They run Corked Candles together from the basement of Brown’s Paulding County home. From start to finish, making the handcrafted soy candles in recycled wine bottles is a labor of love.
When the vino is gone — they sometimes tap Brown’s younger sister, Lindsey, and other family and friends to help produce the empties — the bottles get soaked in hot water, which helps the labels come off more easily.
Once the bottles are cleaned and dried, the process of converting Trader Joe’s “Two-Buck Chuck” into a premium $24 candle really begins. Since it started as Brown’s hobby in 2015, the two have perfected the candle-making process — refined through years of trial and error.
In 2018, they got serious about their efforts at Corked. When Watson retired from her work in the
mortgage industry — the same field in which Brown still works full time — they became an LLC and got their brand trademarked.
They are among a community of makers in metro Atlanta: artisans across the city who carefully craft everything from jewelry to greeting cards. Many say they feel supported by the local makers community, but Brown and Watson have long been able to look to each other for support.
A strong foundation
The two have always had a strong partnership — in life and in business. Watson, 58, was a single mom when her daughters were growing up. That meant they relied on each other, she said.
“Erica and I have been a team since she was born,” she said. “She raised me as much as I raised her.”
Together, they are infectious. They’re quick to laugh and exchange loving jabs. In Brown’s unfinished basement, a large workbench sits in the middle of the room. On top, there are neat rows of wine bottles that have been cut, sanded, washed and dried.
Brown, 39, has stuck warning labels to the bottom of each and inserted a wick. They’re ready to be filled with one of the 10 original scents Brown has concocted from essential oils and body-safe fragrances.
“She’s the nose,” Watson said of her daughter.
In a melting pot that can hold 75 pounds of wax, Brown gets ready to add the scent but first asks her mother which fresh batch she ought to begin brewing.
“We can always use more Bartender — oh, Grapefruit Rosé, definitely,” Watson said, surveying the inventory of their candles with wine-theme names. Sangria is a bestseller; Pinot Noir is Brown’s favorite right now — although it changes.
“All right, then I’ll do that,” Brown said, then reached for the large white bottle with a pump top. For the 60 gallons of melted wax, she’ll add 6 ounces of scent.
Brown’s methodical approach fits with the fact that her day job is helping people finance their homes. Corked is her creative outlet, but as they continue to grow, Brown — a wife and mother of two — hopes to soon be able to focus on it full time.
Taking the leap
Like Brown, many other local makers juggle their artistic work with day jobs. Erin McManness, a 33-year-old artist, didn’t take the leap to fully working for herself until she got a push.
When she was unexpectedly laid off from her job in 2015, she turned her focus to her building her own business. She founded Paper Raven Co., which she owns and operates from her Decatur residence.
In recent years, her “whimsical, but classic” artwork has been licensed by brands across the country, including Macy’s, Target and Trader Joe’s. But the SCAD graduate is also focused on being a presence in the local scene. For years, before catching the eye of national retailers, McManness has shown her work at Atlanta’s Indie Craft Experience.
“I think the artist maker connection here in Atlanta is really, really strong,” she said. “It’s a good demonstration of the power of our creative community.”
Like other small batch makers, McManness is focused on quality. She said being eco-friendly is a big part of her brand, with 100% of her cards being printed on recycled paper.
McManness said from her vantage point, it seems that attention to detail does not go unnoticed.
“When you do good work and have established your artistic voice, I think people see that and respect that,” she said.
Building the brand
Back in Brown’s basement workshop, her steady hand carefully pours the wax into the clear and green glass containers.
She tends to eyeball the 12-ounce pour, while her mother always weighs them exactly. It’s a labor-intensive process, but that also motivates them to make the best product possible, Brown said.
“We put so much love into making the candles that it kind of seemed counterproductive to make a subpar candle,” she said.
Already in 10 brick and mortar stores in metro Atlanta, they hope to grow their wholesale and direct sales in the next couple of years, so they won’t have to trek to quite so many festivals throughout the spring and summer months. (During high season, they schlep to shows every weekend.)
Watson is more the salesperson, while Brown tends to gravitate toward more of the bookkeeping.
Together, they’re a good team. “We always have been,” Watson said.
Preparing to grow
Working the festival circuit is a rite of passage for many makers, but it’s a grind. In the last couple of months alone, local jewelry maker Stephanie Peebles has been to shows in Dallas, Las Vegas and Miami.
During her slow season, she makes a point to trek far and wide to some bigger events in hopes of pulling in some wholesale orders. Like the duo at Corked, she’ll spend most of her spring and summer months on the road.
The 32-year-old Atlanta native has always loved to work with her hands. And though she’s made jewelry in some capacity for 15 years, she got serious about it around five years ago when a friend gave her a strand of beads from Ghana.
From her small Virginia-Highland apartment, she began to build her brand, Stephanie Leigh Jewelry.
Her handmade pieces, crafted with Ghana fair trade beads and scraps of salvaged leather, are sold in 75 stores across the country. She and her significant other have moved into a home in Atlanta’s West End, where they’re building her a backyard studio.
But despite the success she’s starting to see, Peebles said being the owner of a small, artistic brand always presents hurdles.
“Being a small-business owner has its ups and downs all the time,” she said. “I’m still trying to get my bearings on everything.”
What the future holds
At the heart of art — especially small-batch, sustainably made artisan goods — is a lot of love.
After Brown carefully finishes pouring the wax, the candles will need to sit to harden overnight. Then they’ll cure for two weeks — meaning they won’t be sold or burned during that time, so the oil is able to incorporate with the soy.
It helps ensure that the candle will burn evenly and the scent will be maintained throughout its 100-hour burn time.
The idea of one day being able to pass down their business to another generation is what fuels Watson and Brown’s flame. Through all life has thrown them, they’ve always remained close.
Bonded by years of adventures: old movies on rainy days, oysters on the half shell in Savannah as k.d. lang blasted on the tape deck, working together in real estate and founding this business.
Watson had a rough childhood growing up in Macon — she describes it as “one of those tragic stories.” It’s what motivated her to be a better mom to her girls.
“I think when I came along you were looking for love,” Brown said to her mom.
“And I was determined to be a better parent. To be the best parent I could,” Watson said.
In the basement headquarters of their burgeoning business, that love is at the center of everything they do.