2022 Crafted in the Lowcountry Awards: Grand Prize Winner

2022 Crafted in the Lowcountry Awards Presented by Hargray

Grand Prize Winner + Crafts Category Winner

Deb Staub Designs

If you’ve been lucky enough to see the work of Debra Staub, you’ll know how inspiring pieces like this are. She has perfectly captured three passions into one beautiful Lowcountry Boil set: nature, education and art.

“The piece is a Lowcountry boil set,” Staub said. “I was thinking ‘shrimp basket,’ hence the woven texture. The two large shrimp are tiger shrimp – a non-native shrimp that now competes with our natives. One of my students, who when not in school is a shrimper with her dad, brought these to me when we were studying the invasive species.”

She created this piece in her studio, which overlooks the salt marsh and tidal creeks of St. Helena Island. She is inspired to create many forms of functional and original art that reflect the movement and organic beauty found in the ebb and flow of the Lowcountry’s flora and fauna.

Staub is an artist, a Lowcountry master naturalist and a retired middle school arts integrated life science teacher. Each of her stoneware pieces is unique and designed to bring awareness and appreciation of the biodiversity of our ecosystem. She uses clay, metal, glass, wood and textiles to create her one-of-a-kind pieces.

“No patterns are used in the creation of these pieces. Molds are made from ‘finds’ as I walk the beach. Finds are preserved in clay,” Staub explained. “They are hand-built, textured and glazed to enhance the nuances of the clay.”

Her pieces genuinely are one-of-a-kind, Lowcountry-inspired art. You can visit her studio and see her masterpieces in person on Island Circle East on St. Helena Island or shop for pieces on her website, debstaubdesigns.com. Each of Staub’s pieces radiates passion; be sure to check out her inspiring work and find a one-of-a-kind piece for yourself.