Editor’s note: Caribbean Compass editor-in-chief Elaine Lembo is no stranger to this leeward island destination and looks forward to every opportunity to return. She had so much fun at the Caribbean Multihull Challenge in February 2024 that she stayed on to gain a more complete view of this sailing gem. Here’s another in a series of blogs about her ongoing adventures in the double nation island.
Story and photos by Elaine Lembo
Some people have big hearts, and some people have big hearts and big art, like Carla and Mark Templeton. At the Silver Door showroom in Marigot, St. Martin, it’s clear their passion for art and love of the sea intersect and hold the couple — as well as their clients — in a firm grip.
“There are no problems, only solutions!” says Carla, a self-taught raku ceramics artist who’s kept her career on track despite setbacks. Some years ago, after the couple’s spurned efforts to gain permanent residency in the United States, they returned to the Caribbean and St. Martin, family and friends, and rededicated themselves to making a fresh start. Since then, MCJ Fabrication and the Silver Door have grown and expanded, with Mark and Carla executing custom functional fabrication as well as sculptural installations.
“When one door closes, another opens!” is her next aphorism, heartily expressed as she takes our small group on a tour through their gallery and workshop, just steps away from the waterfront and Marina Port La Royale.
For two years now, The Silver Door has created the beautiful aluminum trophies for the Heineken Regatta — 1st, 2nd, 3rd place as well as the overall winner awards. It also makes trophies for other local regattas, so I sought to learn about the process by making a visit to the shop. Our small group of visitors included two ceramics artists, so Carla was eager to connect with them and show them around the space, which includes a shipping container converted into a gallery.
“St. Maarten Yacht Club reached out to me a couple of years ago and I am fortunate and grateful I am still working with them,” says Carla, who also taught art in island schools for many years. Since 2022 she’s focused on showing and producing her own work, which includes dinner ware she fires in an electric kiln.
Meanwhile, when he’s not fabricating large-scale sculptural installations such as the Tear Drop on commission, Mark stays busy with an endless stream of jobs for sailors whose boats break down. On the day we visited he was repairing a Monitor self-steering windvane. He also took time to show us a specimen of Lignum vitae he’d pulled from a salt pond, cured hard doubly from its time in the water. It called to mind the motto of this resourceful couple and their enterprise: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” #thesilverdoorshowroom
