Art market in a bar? How bizarre

CHARLESTON - Artists need to eat too.

That's one of the driving idea's behind the Bizarre Bazaar, a monthly artist's market hosted by the Tin Roof at 1117 Magnolia Road. The other idea is the more venues for locally produced arts and crafts in Charleston the better.

"Our town is so full of creative talent, but they can't necessarily afford their own retail space," Lesley Carroll, co-owner of the Tin Roof, said. "So the thought was to charge $10 for booth space and the artists keep 100 percent of what they sell."

Inspired by a similar regular event hosted by the Pour House on James Island, the Tin Roof has hosted eight Bizarre Bazaars so far.

"We're friends with the guys over at the Pour House and we got to talkiing about it, and our venue attracts such a different crowd that it really wasn't like we were competing, so we went ahead," Carroll said. "It's not a money maker for us, it's just a way for people to get their stuff out there."

The bar also tries to support the burgeoning food truck trade in Charleston by inviting different trucks to the events. Hello My Name is BBQ and King of Pops were the food vendors at the most recent bazaar, Wedneday, July 21.

Inside, and on the covered patio out back, more than half a dozen artists and crafters set up booths selling everything from surrealist serial killer paintings to handmade jewelry to natural homemade soap to handmade plush sock monsters.

The Tin Roof's house band the Flat Foot Floozies played its ecclectic style of jazz off and on during the market as well.

Kristin Hackler started making soap 10 years ago in her spare time while she worked at a wine shop.

"It was quiet during the day and we'd talk about ways to make some extra money and other things, one thing was how soap dires you out and we couldn't find one that didn't," Hackler said. "I went out and found a book on making soap and I've been doing it ever since.

Unlike most other soaps, her Salt Marsh Soaps are not made with glycerin. She uses a combination of olive, palm, coconut and essential oils, water and lye.

"I just started doing a laundry detergent too," she said.

David Sollars has only been painting seriously for about nine months, but it has become his passion. The Bank of America employee moved to Charleston in September and has used all of his spare time teaching himself to paint.

"I was a singer before," he said. "I've always been interested in art, had crazy things in my head."

He takes inspiration from Salvador Dali and David Stoupakis, and his canvasses pop with color. He bills his work as Buster's Lowbrow Custom Art. He's currently working on a series of serial killer pieces, the Charles Manson and BTK Killer portrates are already finished.

"The people that like it are people I never would have thought would like it," he said. "A lot of the ladies at the bank just love it."

Sarah Markusich found her way to designing jewelry through belly dancing.

"I couldn't find exactly what I wanted," she said.

So Markusich started making her own jewelry for her belly dancing costumes. She has been selling her Simply Becoming pieces for about a year and a half.

"As much as possible I try to incorporate vintage pieces because, just because something is old doesn't mean it doesn't still have life in it," she said.

Jamie Edwards also uses a lot of vintage items in her line of Pretty Little Ditties "savy hearwear."

"I got a haircut once and it was the worst haircut I ever got in my life, I left the salon in tears," Edwards said. "So I was thinking what am I going to do until my hair grows out?"

For the last year and a half she has made the versatile ditties, which can be worn as a broach, hairpin or headband, from various bits and pieces of everything from fabric to old Superman comics to sheet music to pages from old books.

"Paper is definitely a theme with me," she said.

Edwards also makes bangle style bracelets from old vinyl records that are too scratched up to still play. She's realtively new to the craft vending circuit and tries to keep everything on her table to $25 or less. 

Janelle Wilfong taught herself how to paint and create jewelry, however she did take one class on fusing glass at Blue Heron Glass in West Ashely.

"I got a kiln and I've been doing it ever since," Wilfong said.

That was three years ago. Her work features glass pieces she makes at home in settings she fabricates herself and attaches strips of leather from old purses or jackets.

Waste not, want not is more than just a saying to Wilfong, in addition to recycling broken glass and leather for her jewelry, she also uses the leftovers from her husband's work building stairs as canvasses for her watercolors.

"My day job is being a mom, and I moonlight as an artist," she said.

Caliegh Bird is trying to make a living on her art now, as she recently left a job as a server. Primarily she is a painter but to help make ends meet she started turing old socks into plush Sock Monsters.

"Essentially each one is made of one sock," she said. "I cut off little bits here and there to make the arms and legs and other bits."

Bird also tries to keep the items she takes to art and craft shows to no more than $20.

"People are more willing to pull out wallets for something if it's $20 instead of $80 or $100 or more," she said.

Like many of the artists at Wednesday's Bazaar, Bird was a first timer, but most likely not a one-timer.

"I didn't know about it before," she said. "It's a cool thing they've got going here. I like the Tin Roof a bunch, I've been up here before for other things."