Island Visions opens next to Great Licks Ice Cream
A friendship of 20 years resulted in their businesses operating next to one another for two Pine Island entrepreneurs. Recently, Steve Timcak opened his “Island Visions” in the building of “Great Licks Ice Cream,” at 4643 Pine Island Road in Matlacha. Previously, the space had been occupied by Sea Weed Gallery.
Not only is the new business next to the ice cream shop, the two proprietors communicate through an inside door, and a patio with three tables and a dozen chairs have been added within the Island Visions area.
While the customers of B. J. Hickey enjoy their ice creams on the patio, they have an open view of the jewelry, art and many most unusual gifts found at Island Visions.
The gallery is L-shaped and wraps the ice cream store on the left side and the back.
“It went from 600 square feet to a total of 1,800 square feet,” said Lisa Timcak, who operates the new art and curio gallery with her husband. As they enter, each customer is given the grand tour by one of the owners or both.
“We try to carry a wide variety,” Steve said. “Most of the wall hanging arts are from local artists. All jewelry comes from 10 local jewelry makers.”
Steve is one of them. He says he buys glass objects at craft shows, and he breaks them into pieces. From the pieces, he creates jewelry of all kinds, adding various metals. For men, he has large shark teeth as pendants.
On a shelf, he has a collection of “3-D paintings.” Elsewhere, there’s a book with a number of dark pages, but when the book is opened, it is a picture, and it is moving, such as was a galloping horse.
“These books are for little bitsy kids,” he said. “It is called Scanimation. There are no batteries. A sleeve moves the picture. We don’t want the battery to be the power. We want the power to be their imagination.”
The “sleeve,” inserted behind the frame — which resembles a negative from olden days — starts the animation when the book is opened to that page.
On another shelf, at a child’s eye level, is the “Buddha Board.” Using the special pen, Timcak shows how to draw “a painting in water, and it evaporates,” after some time.
Moving away, as he walked near a plush toy and the animal started moving. All of them are hand puppets.
“We are very selective in picking them for their reality and realism,” he said of the toys, which includes poster-size coloring books.
Timcak said he is also very selective regarding the items he gets from 10 different countries, including Russian glass craft.
“We have a lot of free trade items in the shop,” he added.
Island Visions also has a wide selection of small and colorful carpets hanging, but a few are on the floor. Timcak praises their resistance to traffic.
“They have been on the floor for 11 months, and they are washed twice a week.”
He plans to add bathroom and kitchen items to use where theses rugs go, for example toothbrush holders. He is looking for craft people interested in creating such appropriate items.