Barbara Finsness does not consider herself a business person. But the mother of four, artist and trained architect is well on her way to being a top entrepreneur with a highly successful business.

And she owes all her success to her artistic flair ? which she says she feels does not rest well with running a business. Nevertheless her beautifully drawn designs for ceramics and linens have become almost an overnight hit and next week she will open a second, much larger Island Shop on Queen Street.

"I am not a business person," she said, adding that while she found it satisfying to work with people enthusiastic about her wares, she wishes she had more time to design.

"What I would like to do is spend 80 percent of my time on designs and 20 percent of my time in the store. At the moment it is the other way around, but that is the nature of the business."

Luckily her husband Ken has almost three decades experience in retail and between them ? and their children ? they run the growing Finsness empire.

Mrs. Finsness has always had an artistic flair, painting her first oil painting at the age of six. "I always loved to paint," she said.

When she left school she went on to art college in Philadelphia to study fine art and then studied architecture, which she thought would be her career for life.

She worked at the architecture firm Woodbourne Associates, and found she loved drawing the details of traditional Bermuda homes and became fascinated by the forms.

But working nine to five (and often later) with four children was difficult, and she began to branch out ? and first designed some pieces for the English Sports Shop, which was part-owned by her husband Ken, as a favour.

In 1999 her big break came, when she designed her now-famous Bermuda cottage and started selling it at the House and Garden Open Houses event off trellis tables set up at people's homes.

The success of this design led to her wares being sold in stores like Pulp and Circumstance, adding more and more designs to her range as she went. In 2002 she took a leap of faith and opened her first store.

Despite being tucked away up Old Cellar Lane off Front Street, Mrs. Finsness's designs and carefully selected giftware have brought in a steady and loyal clientele.

"Our customers are Island residents," said Mrs. Finsness. "And we keep on trying to bring in new things all the time so that there is always something new to see."

The new store, which is housed in the former Treasure Chest on Queen Street, was this week getting a face lift, with sanded floors and newly painted walls.

In fact, Mrs. Finsness's 18-year-old son Chris was drafted in to paint the woodwork while home on a break. Their 20-year-old daughter, Mia, will also not escape this holiday, when she will be drafted in to help with the Christmas rush.

17-year-old Paula works on Saturdays as a sales person and even 12-year-old Catherine is hailed as the store's mascot.

"It really is a family business," said Mrs. Finsness. "We all work together to make it work, and it's nice to have everyone involved. They are all part of it and come up with ideas all the time, and it is great to see those ideas come through the works and end up on the shelves."

Mrs. Finsness said that it takes about a year for a design to go from idea onto the shop floor, but wants to make sure there are new things in the store all the time.

"Shopping should be fun," she said. "We try hard to make sure we have something different in, so there is a reason for people to come in. They may or may not buy it, but they will come in. Making sure this happens takes a lot of energy, but the customers like it."

Mrs. Finsness said that every year they intend to have different Bermuda-themed gifts that will be one-offs, to make sure that customers have something new to see every year.

To date there are 85 specially developed products being sold in the Island Stores, new items are in the pipeline and the family is on the look out constantly for new products.

Mrs. Finsness does not think the inspiration for her designs will ever dry up as she constantly finds patterns, colours and designs that can be translated into her work.

"Bermuda's colours and form are a constant inspiration to me," she said. "Everywhere I look there is something beautiful that I see and think, 'that would look great on a plate'."

It is this constant flux of ideas and new products that led the family business to open the new Queen Street store.

"We were literally bursting at the seams in the store, and we needed more space," she said.

But Mrs. Finsness said that there will not be a chain of stores and this is the end of the road for the Island Store expansion programme.

"We don't want to get much bigger than this," she said. "If you get bigger, you loose the personal touch you get with a smaller store."