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Crafting a name for herself: Local artist named a national ‘Rising Star’ by American Craft Week
Mary Hamby has been hooked on craft fairs since she was 10 and made her festival debut in a booth with her aunt, the featured exhibitor.
“My aunt sold embroidered pieces. She let me have a little corner of her booth. I was knitting scarves at the time – all I knew how to do was knit a straight line,” laughs Hamby, 23. “I liked going so much, my Dad sat me down and talked to me about how to set prices.”
In high school, she worked for a potter and helped the artist at shows. Hamby continued to work the festival circuit part-time while studying interior design at Carson Newman University and showing her own fiber-art designs. In June 2015, she decided to go all in and support herself with her art; she is the owner of Twenty Two West with a studio in Chattanooga WorkSpace on Sixth Street. The studio’s name is inspired by her childhood address in Greenville, S.C. – 22 West Hillcrest – a place of “love and light,” qualities she tries to emulate in her work.
And just one year after diving into full-time artistry, her work has gained enough recognition that she has been named one of the nation’s “30 under 30 Rising Stars” by American Craft Week, an event that runs from Oct. 1-16. It’s a project of Craft Retailers & Artists for Tomorrow, an industry organization dedicated to all things handmade in the U.S.
The Rising Star Competition spotlights exceptional work of young craft artists, according to Diane Sulg of Charlotte, N.C., founder and co-chairman of American Craft Week. Sulg says the group received “several hundred nominations” of artists from across the country.