90 exhibitors in all fill the Beaux-Arts Court in time for holiday shopping 

Pattern enhances many of the tunics, T-shirts, jackets, coats, hats and luxury accessories at the fifth American Fine Craft Show Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Museum November 18-19, 2017. Fashion and accessories designers join jewelers and other artisans in the museum’s handsome Beaux-Arts Court the weekend before Thanksgiving, in time for holiday shopping.

            Here are just some of the examples:

•  “When I was first introduced to weaving in the early 80s,” said Marsha Fleisher, Loominus, Woodstock, N.Y., “I was drawn to the meditative quality of the rhythm, repetition, manifestation and creation of something out of nothing, line by line. I am still awed by the physicality of the weaving process, and the mystery.” Fleisher designs and weaves scarves, chenille jackets, baby and toddler fashion.
• Kate Beck uses Shibori dying, felting, and printmaking for her one-of-a-kind ponchos, shawls, scarves, blouses, dresses, tunics and t-shirts. The New Orleans-based designer “uses nature to inspire unusual and exotic surfaces that evoke vitality and life.”
• Catherine Joseph, CJoseph NY, designs luxury menswear in fine wools, tweeds and cashmere in casual modern styles. Unique details and plaid matching are hallmarks of the scarves, shirts and jackets that are hand tailored in New York.
• Mary Lynn O'Shea focuses on color and detail to achieve visual impact with her jackets, coats, vests and accessories. She artfully combines her own jacquards in unusual color and pattern combinations, the culmination of 40 years of experience working with fiber and color. In her Weybridge, Vt. studio she also designs a furniture line which takes advantage of her pattern and color-combining skills.
• “I love the layering of fabrics,” said Jeanine Guncheon, Forest Park, Il. who designs coats. “I create new designs daily—my goal is to achieve fresh looks that appeal equally to 20 year olds and 70 year olds and are easy to wear. They represent a deconstructed fashion style.” Many are enhanced with patches and other decorative elements.
• To her distinctive scarves Elizabeth Rubidge adds felt florals, leaves, textures and patterns of an organic nature that she makes from wool and water for the Felted Garden, Westport, Conn. These decorative elements add dimension and flair to this essential fashion accessory.
• Fashion accessories designer Yuh Okano’s scarves, created in her Brooklyn studio, are made of fine silk and Shibori. She describes them as “fun and fanciful contriving features of coral and sea animals immersed under water.” She learned design skills in Japan and completed her education at the Rhode Island School of Design. One of her design concepts, “Structure and Surface,” is a contemporary Japanese textile at MoMA in NYC.
• Hat designers include milliner Karen Morris whose hats have appeared in fashion magazines such as Elle and Vogue, and on runways around the globe. Born in Hong Kong, trained by top milliners in Britain, Australia and the U.S., she is currently based in Minneapolis, Minn. Each of her haute couture creations is handmade of exotic materials sourced from around the world. Fedora style hats sport classic motifs and imaginative pattern mixes by Dede Lifgren at Capuchinz Hats and Accessories Brewster, NY.

For more information about the American Fine Craft Show at the Brooklyn Museum, visit www.brooklyncraftshow.com.

Fee includes general admission to the museum. Discount tickets are available in advance on line: http://www.americanfinecraftshowbrooklyn.com/, $12 for everyone until Nov. 10 and $14 after that. Cash only at entrance: Adults - $16.00 Seniors -$14.00 Students - $10.00 Museum members with membership card -$8 Children under 10-Free. Hours: Saturday Nov. 19 and Sunday,  Nov. 20: 11 am-6 pm. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238. Directions: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/directions.php. For information visit www.brooklyncraftshow.com.

Richard and Joanna Rothbard, founders and directors of American Art Marketing, have launched and produced art fairs and craft shows for over 30 years. They established the American Fine Craft Show NYC, Contemporary Art Fair NYC and the Rockefeller Arts Festival in Manhattan. Currently they produce the annual American Fine Craft Show Washington DC in October; American Fine Craft Show Brooklyn Museum in November, Sarasota Craft Show in Florida in December, the Berkshires Arts Festival in Massachusetts in July and American Fine Craft Show Philadelphia in April.

The Rothbards also own An American Craftsman Galleries, http://www.anamericancraftsman.com/ with Manhattan locations—294 Columbus Avenue and 830 7th Avenue—as well as on Main Street in Stockbridge, Mass. Richard Rothbard, a craftsman who designs puzzle boxes of wood, owns Boxology (www.boxology.com), Slate Hill, NY.