Charleston Forge to Premier New Furniture & Fine Crafts Collections at Market

Furniture World Magazine

Anyone looking for something truly new and unique at this season’s Market will find some iron-clad surprises at the Charleston Forge (CF) Showroom. For while iron is nothing new to CF, this year it’s just the beginning of a bold new range of ground-breaking finishes, designs and creations on display. Visitors who value all the quality and craftsmanship that made CF a leader in the field will not be disappointed. But for those expecting a dozen variations on the bakers rack – while you can still find them – will be suitably impressed with the world of new design horizons being explored in the Blue Ridge high country of North Carolina, including three entirely new ‘lifestyle’ collections from CF. According to principal Art Barber, “All of our new lines feature the same mixed media, the same durability, the same attention to detail that we’re known for, yet each represents a uniquely different stylistic direction for Charleston Forge.” First, the earthy feel of the Sonoma Valley Collection was inspired by the architecture and furnishings found in the wine country of California. The historic origins of its design are mostly from Europe with a particular leaning toward France. It is a collection that is meant to fit many lifestyles and environments. It is refined and has many unique elements like decorative banding, bronze tops, brass tassels, hand forged finials, and a mix of scale from light to bold. The Sonoma Valley Collection is ideal for anyone who tends toward a California state of mind, or would like to. With a completely different tone, designer Mark Landres’ Generations Collection is guaranteed to warm up any family room, living room or great room with elements such as classic woods in dark, rich finishes; top-grain leather tops and upscale metal bases. Bringing together elements of Bungalow style, Arts and Crafts and Asian influences, Landres’ emphasis here is on tradition, on creating a gathering place in the home, on looking back while also looking forward. Finally, CF’s Creative Merchandise Director Michael Baldwin and his team of designers have redefined urban-hip in the sophisticated, minimalist understatement of CF’s Loft Living Collection. His inspired work represents a rare mix of formidable and classic quality pieces with a truly adventurous designer edge. Baldwin’s youthful perspective meshes with the seasoned expertise of the company’s lifelong wood workers and iron forgers to create a personality you won’t find anywhere else. As if that weren’t enough, there are the practically infinite possibilities of Charleston Forge’s exclusive LuminOre® metalizing process highlighting each collection and taking the design implications so far beyond expectations that they simply must be seen to be believed. Indeed their use of LuminOre is taking not only Charleston Forge’s work, but furniture as a whole where it has never gone before – in terms of metals, colors, personal expressions and pure, raw impact. Charleston Forge Market Showroom Will Feature Fine Crafts Charleston Forge (CF) has also announced that their showroom at the upcoming International Home Furnishings Market will not only feature the company’s most beautiful innovations in iron furniture to date – it will also display and offer for sale selected works from 35 award-winning North Carolina craftspeople – from needle-workers to blacksmiths and the broad landscape in between. As CF principal Art Barber explains, “The vibrant crafts community of our state and its wider region inspires us in our own creative designs, including the hand-made nature we endow to all our products. As a creative company from North Carolina, one can’t help but feel deeply about the thriving craft movement here. The same kind of synergy of beauty and function which defines our furniture and accent collections has been a driving force and the very essence behind Charleston Forge. “Today more than ever, the countryside around us is imbued with the extraordinary liveliness and diversity of today’s craft field. It feeds the creative spirit of artists, other craftspeople and designers alike with its rich heritage and endlessly new artistic innovations. All of us at Charleston Forge are pleased to partner with the North Carolina Craft Trail Coalition and area artists to bring this exemplary work to market.” Profiles: A Sampling of the Crafts Sculptor Joseph Anderson began metal working in 1969, apprenticing in the jewelry trade while studying ceramics and experimenting with blacksmithing. He also worked in an iron foundry, where he learned the casting process. Eventually he opened his own jewelry business, continuing to dabble with iron in his spare time until it became his life’s work. Mr. Anderson’s ironwork started out as functional pieces for home and architectural applications, defined from the start by a particular sense of line. By 1992, his focus had shifted more to hot-forged iron sculpture exploring the movement and complex relationships of calligraphic lines in three dimensions, creating experimental and minimalist forms. He has also taught, demonstrated and lectured at blacksmithing conferences for a quarter-century. Pattiy Torno began sewing in 1965, taught by her mother, who was taught by her mother, who was taught by hers. She attended college, apprenticed in the fashion industry before starting a business. In 1983, she began quilting to rediscover simple joys of working with fabric – ironically it is the one type of sewing that did not get passed down in her family. She began showing her quilts nationally in the mid-90s, at locations like The Signature Shop in Atlanta, GA, Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc. in Winston-Salem, NC and the Shops of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild in Asheville, NC, Gatlinburg, TN and Blowing Rock, NC. In 1999, she expanded to include a line of fleece blankets, hats and scarves using the same design sensibilities as her quilting – all of which bring great joy into her life as well as her admiring audience who purchase her one-of-a-kind pieces for their homes. About Charleston Forge Charleston Forge, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, uses age-old blacksmithing techniques and the newest technologies to produce exceptional furniture and accent pieces. Their skilled artisans use only the highest quality materials to create beautifully designed pieces in iron, which is also used in combination with the finest woods, glass and other materials, to offer unique and very special pieces for every lifestyle. Charleston Forge furniture and accent pieces are offered throughout the US, Canada and the United Kingdom in high-end furniture and lifestyle stores. For further information, please visit www.charlestonforge.com. Charleston Forge, 251 Industrial Park Drive, Boone, NC 28607.