Meet an Artist: Island Time Design’s Woodworking Guru

Markus Lehtovirta says that it is rare for someone to be both an artist and businessman. He may be on to someting, considering that these two characteristics are controlled by completely different parts of the brain.

Lehtovirta is among the rare few who have mastered both.

As the owner and artist at Island Time Design, he balances creative and bottom-line challenges.

From the marketing end of the spectrum to the wood carving, Lehtovirta does it all.

“It’s enjoyable when you can take your own ideas and implement them the way that you want to,” said Lehtovirta.

Originally from Finland, Lehtovirta moved to the States in ‘92 and made his first chair in 2003. He remembers being slightly more talented than his classmates in grade school. In Finland, the boys would learn woodworking while the girls learned sewing; then the two would switch so that the genders could learn both trades.

“I was pretty good at it, but I didn’t think about it much back then,” said Lehtovirta.

Lehtovirta thinks the gift of creativity came genetically. Both of his grandparents made outdoor furniture.

Lehtovirta was not always a full-time artist. At one point, he worked three different jobs to get by. He started making chairs on the side and selling them at art shows on the weekends. After a positive response, he was able to take on building his chairs as a full time gig.

Island Time Design is located at 431 75th Avenue on St. Pete Beach, where Lehtovirta has a showroom and workshop.

In hard economic times, when it's tough for small business owners, Lehtovirta says that his numbers are stable. Island Time Design opened two years ago and is growing in clientele.

For the most part, the chairs are made to order and Lehtovirta designs every piece to the customer’s liking. “I’m not your normal retailer."