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Handblown Glass Bowl by Scott Graham and Christy Aloysi at Smith Galleries

Handblown Glass Bowl by Scott Graham and Christy Aloysi at Smith Galleries, a photo by Smith Galleries on Flickr.

"Sun Face" by Don Drumm at Smith Galleries

"Sun Face" by Don Drumm at Smith Galleries, a photo by Smith Galleries on Flickr.

New Arrivals from Mike Smith at Smith Galleries

"Maddie and The Tree Rose" watercolor by Mike Smith at Smith Galleries, a photo by Smith Galleries on Flickr.

"Maddie and the Tree Rose" is an original watercolor by Mike Smith. The image measures 20" wide and 16 inches in height. $675

The art of Mike Smith is continually featured at Smith Galleries on Hilton Head Island, SC. The gallery features contemporary American fine craft, art, jewelry, picture framing and creative toys for children. Smith Galleries is located in suite J-II (UPSTAIRS) in the Village at Wexford at 1000 William Hilton Parkway. Gallery hours are 10-6 Monday through Saturday. Call 800.272.3870 to purchase or for additional information. Visit Smith Galleries on the web at www.smithgalleries.com

BaaBaaZuZu Jackets at Smith Galleries on Hilton Head

BaaBaaZuZu Jackets at Smith Galleries, a photo by Smith Galleries on Flickr.

Smith Galleries on Hilton Head, SC, is the area's leading gallery for contemporary American hand-made clothing. BaaBaaZuZu is a new arrival in the gallery.

Inspiration comes in many forms. For Sue Burns, baabaazuzu founder and lead designer, inspiration came one winter day in the back of her clothes dryer. Had her husband not shrunk some of Sue’s favorite wool sweaters, it could very well be that baabaazuzu would not exist. But the fact is, he did. And out of the tragedy of Sue Burns’ too-small-to-wear, once-adored sweaters arose a multi-million dollar company.

Baabaazuzu came to be in late 1993 after Sue Burns, a gifted graphic designer, cut up the shrunken remains of her favorite sweaters, pieced the fragments together and made jackets with matching hats for her two young daughters.

The process behind baabaazuzu’s creations is an age-old process. Felting. Simply put, it’s taking wool sweaters or garments – and in baabaazuzu’s case, it’s taking items that are no longer wanted and could not sell at second-hand stores and are literally a step away from being thrown into landfills – and washing them in very hot water so as to shrink into a very dense, very strong wool “fabric.” Sue then takes the felted material, cuts them up and, with her eye-of-an-artist, purposefully pieces them back together into wearable works of art – hats, mittens, jackets, scarves, etc.

BaaBaaZuZu is available at Smith Galleries on Hilton Head, SC. Call 800.272.3870 for additional information. The gallery is located in the Village at Wexford at mile marker 10.5 on William Hilton Parkway. Gallery hours are 10 - 6 Monday through Saturday.

Clocks by "Art Thingys" Featured at Smith Galleries

     Smith Galleries on Hilton Head Island, SC, features the clocks of Paul Ocepek.

Trained as an industrial designer, Paul Ocepek (o-sep-ik) has been involved professionally in all phases of product development for the last 25 years. He’s designed everything from tvs and toys to telephones and trash cans. Motivated by a burning desire to design and produce unique, well-crafted, and locally made goods - Paul launched Art Thingys in 2010 followed by Popclox in 2012. Paul’s sense of humor, bold use of color and modern artistic sensibility form the backbone of his product lines. It’s modern home decor. For kids. Little and big. Sure to put a smile on your face and eyes on your walls. Produced in Mass., not mass produced.
Smith Galleries is a gallery of fine craft, art, picture framing, jewelry and creative toys for kids. The gallery is open 10 - 6 Monday through Saturday. 800.272.3870     

Leonie Lacouette Clocks Featured at Smith Galleries

Smith Galleries, a gallery of jewelry, fine craft, art, framing and toys, features the handmade clocks of American artist Leonie Lacouette.

"Wanda" Clock by
Leonie Lacouette

Leonie Lacouette manages to strike a balance between concepts and influences that otherwise might seem like polar opposites-her elegant clocks successfully reconcile the strict geometries of Minimalism with a warm, approachable palette of colored patinas on the copper and nickel that predominate her designs. Created from a basic language of circles, squares, ovals, and rectangles, the clocks are not only beautiful, but often playful as well. In one design, the otherwise hidden movement of the pendulum swings gently back and forth, revealed by a perfectly circular hole punched through the face of the piece to create a dynamic (and unexpected) game of 'hide-and-seek'.
Over 20 years ago, Lacouette started making clocks, as a practical way to make a living while using the aesthetic training she'd received in art school. It all began when she needed a clock for her studio, and noticed an ad in a magazine for a company selling clock mechanisms. Ordering five, she used one to make her own timepiece, and then made four more to sell. They sold out immediately, and she's been making clocks ever since.

Leonie at work in her studio.

Working from her rural studio in upstate New York, Lacouette contrasts her life today with her youth, spent growing up in mid-town Manhattan. "I like the simplicity of my current work's design. Coming from Manhattan, everything was go-go-go, always accumulating more stuff-stuff-stuff, having lots of things. It feels great to have something simple and beautiful, a style that I can call my own."



Home showcasing on of Leonie's clocks.

Beauty meets functionality in these clocks as Lacouette continues to create new designs that refine the perfection of both. "I'm a mechanic as well as an artist," she says, "these things need to function, after all." Continuing her dedication to creating clocks that are modernist but affable, fusing geometric abstraction with softened edges and organic warmth, she hopes to extend the work in the future to include a broader palette of exotic wood veneers. Ever the good-natured perfectionist, Lacouette insists that "the main problem will be to make sure that they come from sustainable sources."

Smith Galleries is located in the Village at Wexford on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Gallery hours are 10 - 5 Monday through Saturday. 843.842.2280