Keeping Up With King Street: Go On Up, It's Worth the Effort

Keeping Up With King Street from The Charleston Mercury

This week I visited Ann Reinert’s Yellow Door Gallery on King Street, just upstairs from the Reinert LePrince Fine Art Gallery at 179 King. I wanted to see the MJ Green archival metal prints featured at the last 2nd Sunday on King Street, before they were all gone. Green’s unusual treatment of black and white captured my attention wasn’t printed on metal, “The Bridge 1” is a dramatic black and white photograph on paper featuring the Ravenel Bridge boldly shot from below. One might think a bridge is a bridge, but ours has a way of playing with light so much so that it looks different every day. MJ caught it looking ethereal. She obviously loves it too.

The Yellow Door Gallery has other wall art, some by Reinert’s famous impressionist husband Rick, and those bold colors and textures are expertly presented with wearable, tasteful items like jewelry, scarves and even bath products. You can tell Ann is having fun with this place. Vintage-inspired hand crafted jewelry by Robin Goodfellow Designs features colorful swirls of crystals, rhinestones, and pearls along with glass and metal beads. Rick Hunter, Scott Simmons, and Otter Rotolante contribute handblown and torchworked glass in a rainbow of colors that float invisibly on window shelves for a striking effect.

There is an enticing case of Coeur de Lion Jewelry by Carola Hiersemann-Eckrodt, handmade in her Stuttgart, Germany workshop. The cubes, repeated patterns and sea colors are quite fetching.

Now go one block north to Paderewski Fine Art & Sportsman’s Gallery at 216B King. Another short hike up the stairs takes you to a special and unique place dedicated to art in nature. It’s a light-filled gallery in four different spaces, some traditional, some whimsical, some quite cozy and comfortable. I can see hosting a special event here, a dinner party or one of those fun SEWE soirées.

Whether you’re a fanatic bird hunter, a fly fishing aficionado or a lover of western themes, you’ll find art from the emerging to the masters, living and deceased. Personally I love the classic dog-in-field paintings and sculptures in bronze, but there are Ronald Tinney landscapes, contemporary florals by Steve Penley and lovely forest landscapes by Laura W. Adams.

You can also pick up a wine opener, a belt buckle or a sweet etching for a gift. The point is, go upstairs and check it out. Well worth the finding. When you come back down with your newly found treasure, stop in Savannah Bee to pick up a beautiful and sweet flute of honey.

 Yves Delorme, who recently closed their lovely shop at Charleston Place, has reopened at 197 King Street, the corner of Fulton Lane. It’s a historic building that smartly houses their luxury bedding, plump towels, fine lingerie and bath accessories. What’s new besides the address is the merger with renowned French furnishings line Mis En Demeure. Visiting the Yves Delorme website I found these captivating words, “as if they had been designed, one for another, the sheet for the bed, the cushion for the armchair, the tablecloth for the table, they complement each other perfectly in the same homes.” Sweet. There’s more to come as the company continues to restore the old building to it earlier state, but it’s quite beautiful now and open for us to enjoy.

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