Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
The WV Market at Snowshoe Resort focuses on selling wares made by West Virginians – whether it be jewelry, sculptures, paintings or maple syrup – the market is filled with examples of West Virginia talent.
Last week, jeweler T.C. Davis, of Dunbar, demonstrated her skills for visitors and created one-of-a-kind bracelets for new friends.
T.C. and her husband, Zack, left their “real jobs” to focus on her artistry and have been operating the market for owner Parween Mascarisince this past winter.
“I love the shop here,” T.C. said.
T.C. has been making jewelry nearly all her life, beginning with friendship bracelets and pony beads.
“I can remember being three or four and having the pony beads – the big plastic beads – and making necklaces,” she said. “I did that all through elementary and grade school. Then when I was in high school, I went to visit my dad in Michigan. We went to the beach up there, and they had a bunch of Native American loom bracelets in a case, and I bought my first loom then. I sort of played around with it a little bit and then in 2013, I opened my Etsy shop.”
Along with selling her jewelry on Etsy, T.C. has been a member of the WV Market for more than a year and has items at both the Snowshoe and Charleston stores. She also travels to other states to participate in craft fairs.
T.C. focuses on using seed beads and leather to create unique, Native American inspired loom bracelets and necklaces. She also makes thinner bracelets which can be worn individually or in layers.
“Most of what I do is beaded with leather,” she said. “I do some little charm necklaces that have a charm and a wire-wrapped gemstone bead, and it’s on an adjustable leather necklace or bracelet. Then I’ve got some loom-woven which is sort of that Native American style and I’ve also got some wrap bracelets, so you can wear a bunch of bracelets or not as many.”
While she usually has an idea of what she wants to work on during her demonstration days, there are times customers come in with specific requests which she creates on the fly.
Last week, T.C. had a special request which resulted in a one-of-a-kind bracelet.
“I had a lady come in the other day and she wanted one that was the Snowshoe sunset,” she said. “So we worked on that together, and I made it as realistic as I could. That was fun. I have what I call the abstract mountain loom which is a little less than an inch-wide and it’s sort of an abstract mountain scene, and I was sitting in the chair here, and thinking, ‘well, the sunset out this window is so cool,’ and I just kind of converted what I had been doing and used the scene in front of me to make the bracelet.”
T.C. used graph paper to create a pattern of the sunset complete with trees and a variety of colors.
T.C. said she hopes to do more demonstration weeks at Snowshoe and enjoys meeting with customers and creating unique pieces of jewelry.
“I’d like to do more demonstrations here,” she said. “I try to show the people what I’m doing because I think that’s how you make a connection. You want to invite people to work with you a little bit when you’re making something that’s artistic or something cool like that. I want to invite people to see what’s going on and see the work that goes into it. I like to work with people to make something that they will remember.”
Fellow jewelers Jonnie George, Dina Foster and Vicki Angotti also plan to demonstrate at the WV Market at Snowshoe in the future. For more information, visit the market’s Facebook page at WVMarket.
