Meet Tasha Chapman of Chapman at Sea in Started in Delray Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tasha Chapman.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Tasha. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember and I worked as an illustrator most of my life. But the story of where I’m at today really began with a surfboard and a duffle bag…

It was an old WWII-era army duffle bag that belonged to my grandfather. It had traveled the world and only gotten better with use. I had splurged on a really sweet longboard for myself and wanted to take care of it by keeping it in a bag. I knew a bag as good as that duffle was the only thing that would do.

This was in 2012 and at the time there wasn’t anything like it for surfboards on the market so I made it myself. I worked with my husband Joe, who’s a commercial diver, is in a marine setting every day, and knew what had to be done to make it durable. He focused on the function, I focused on its good looks, and together we made the kind of surfboard bag we thought ought to exist.

It was a lot of fun, was received really well and from there I just kept designing things. When it came to the branding I thought, “what would my perfect surf shop look like?” and that’s what I made. It was all a lot of fun, I was making my dream shop!

Whenever I needed something in my own life, I’d think if I could make it better myself, in my own style. Board bags were just the beginning. Next came beach bags, dog ropes, and other accessories. Recently, I’ve come full circle back to my illustrator roots and have added a collection of my seaside-inspired artwork to the shop as well. I’m always looking around at my own life, thinking about the kinds of things that would make it better, seeing what can be done to make them by hand, improve them, make them special.

My hope is that the things we’re making today will go out into the world and travel all over it, staying as durable and dependable as my old army bag has and becoming old friends to their owners.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It went really well in the beginning, almost too well. Orders started coming in very quickly, especially large orders from retailers. I was working all the time and still struggling to keep up with the demand. All of my more artistic endeavors were put on hold and I found myself sewing full time. It was a good problem to have, too much work, but devoting my entire life to sewing was never quite the plan.

At that point, it was really tempting to streamline and increase production like so many successful brands have done. I mean, if people want your product, you have to make as much of it as possible, right? That was the obvious answer but that would have meant working with factories and having someone else make the bags. I started making my bags in the first place to provide something special and unique for the unique folks in the surf community and the idea of going into mass production didn’t feel right. I didn’t want to end up just a salesperson for my designs.

So, after a lot (years!) of going back and forth, I decided to stick with my original plan, to have a small collection of carefully handcrafted items, all made by me. How many things do you own that you really know specifically who made it? With my bags, you know for sure. You can say “Tasha made this bag for me” and hopefully that gives it more meaning and you enjoy it a little more.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Chapman at Sea story. Tell us more about it.
My brand is Chapman at Sea. I like to say it’s a “surf supply gallery.” I make surfboard bags, beach bags and other items that you need for a life spent by the sea. They’re made from traditional, hard-wearing materials like classic canvas and cotton sailing rope. I make each one right here in my Florida workshop, carefully and one at a time.

Recently, I’ve started including some of my original artwork in the collection too. It’s all inspired by the local eastern Florida coastline and the natural things we see every day when we visit the shore. My hope with the artwork is to increase awareness about the real Florida, the landscape that would be here even if we weren’t, and hopefully increase interest in conservation efforts.

Everything I create is something I need or want in my own life and I’m super focused on high quality, so I’m pretty proud of all of it! The creative process is what gets me the most excited though, so I’m probably proudest of whatever I working on at the moment.

Is there something we can do as a city to improve the outlook for businesses like yours?
I started out in Palm Beach County and I think that area was great for me. It’s been growing and evolving so much in the past few years. The creative community here is really welcoming and there are lots of ways to get involved. There’s a lot of talent there, but in general, they’re all stoked to be doing what they’re doing, so they’re genuine and friendly. That keeps the intimidation factor pretty low if you’re looking to join in.

Pricing:

• The Sandbag Beach Bag $98
• The Sailor Surf Bag $160
• Jungle Coast Skateboard $120
• Mini Prints $10

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ChapmanAtSea.com
• Instagram: @chapmanatsea

Image Credit:
Janet Rozo

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