Charleston Crafts Cooperative Gallery Presents, “A Harvest of Fine Craft”: November 3rd, 5-8 pm

Charleston Crafts Gallery is spotlighting three artists producing fine craft in three very different mediums.These highlighted artists will be on display during the entire month of November. While these talented artists will be featured, the work of all Gallery members will also be on display in our new larger space and all art is available for purchase, including jewelry, wood puzzles, encaustic paints, fiber art, mixed media collage, apparel and accessories, plus functional and decorative objects in wood, ceramic, and glass. Our new location has also afforded us the opportunity to jury-in additional new talented artisans to our growing Fine Crafts Cooperative.

Dedie Story is a fused glass artist and has been interested in creating and making things her entire life. She began with sewing which she still does often. As a garment embellisher, she began making glass beads with a torch. Her glass journey blossomed from there. There is always more to learn. Dedie finds glass to be fascinating, exciting, and ever changing and she endeavors to create designs that interweave beautiful colors and textures and sometimes just a little fun.

Susan Livingston has been a mixed-media fiber artist many years. Some days she spends dyeing beautiful fabrics and some days she spends stitching (always by hand) on these fabrics. Other days she spends walking and collecting the found objects that are often inspiration for her mixed-media fiber collages. Susan’s work includes shibori-resist silk scarves in indigo and other natural dyes, vintage napkins she collects and also dyes, textile panels, and framed mixed-media fiber collages.

Courtney Powers crafts useful upcycled leather accessories, is new to South Carolina, and was born and raised in the D.C. area. She started sewing at the age of 22. After her husband retired and the youngest went off to college, together, they ventured south to the Outer Banks in Corolla, NC. While living there, they both started creating; her husband crafted upcycled pallet wood into useable objects and she started sewing again. Courtney had always enjoyed using fabric remnants but ventured into leather while helping her husband find a new handle idea for his wooden trays. Courtney suggested leather for handles and that was the perfect touch for the trays. Since she was not comfortable buying a hide, she discovered she could purchase new leather left behind as remnants from the furniture industry. Realizing she had previously not given much thought to how and where an item was made, she decided to offer a new eco-friendlier option. That’s when her love affair with leather began. Her style is minimalist and highlights the natural beauty of each unique piece of leather and by not using a template, each piece is truly one of a kind. Her process of design is very simple. She plays with different colors of fabric or leather until something works.

Why the name Restoried? Courtney’s designs are centered around reuse; giving a new story to materials that have been discarded. She uses two types of leather; scrap remnants from the furniture making process or reclaimed leather which she has stripped from discarded leather bags or furniture. She strives to use every scrap, transforming those pieces into totes and from the tote's scraps, a wallet or bracelet is made, leaving only the scrap of a leather “string” she uses to tie her tags onto recycled grocery bags she uses for purchases. Courtney hopes her leatherwork will make people feel good knowing it was crafted by hand here in South Carolina with a purpose of reuse in mind. Using the image of a wild horse, in her logo, honors the places they have lived, such as Corolla, NC and Hilton Head Island, SC., where wild horses have roamed.