Handmade ceramic art and decor, original BSL merchandise
- 📍Located inside Century Hall
- 112 S. 2nd St. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
- 📞(504) 858-8574
- ✉️[email protected]
- 🌐Jane Evans Designs’s Website
- 🌐Shops of Century Hall’s Website
- 👍Jane Evans Designs’s Facebook
- 📷Jane Evans Design’s Instagram
HOURS:
- Monday: 10am – 5pm
- Tuesday: 10am – 5pm
- Wednesday: 10am – 5pm
- Thursday: 10am – 5pm
- Friday: 10am – 5pm
- Saturday: 10am – 5pm
- Sunday: 11am – 3pm
Jane Evans’ career has focused on the benefits of creativity gifts to those who use them. A self-described lifelong artist, Jane turned her hobby into a business. She first painted ceramic plates, but in 2012, she decided to begin crafting ceramic crosses. Using an idea that came to the artist one night while resting, each cross includes a poem to comfort its owners while undergoing the trials of life.
A Baton Rouge native, Jane sold her crosses to local shops, eventually being represented by 15-20 retail outlets throughout the Gulf Coast. When she decided to open her own retail location, she searched the Bay Saint Louis area with her husband, Walter. She found The Shops of Century Hall and fell in love with the ambiance and Old Town location.
Behind each of Jane’s creations is her artistic family. Jane’s father was an architect, and she credits her eye for design to him. Her husband creates her ceramic molds out of shells, from crabs to turtles. Now, Jane’s daughter is also an architect and helps bring her mother’s visions to life with linework used on many of the ceramic ornaments.
Most of the items in Jane’s store are made by the artist. Many of the pieces are decorated with sheets of gold-leaf and gold-leaf paint, while others are glazed. “Pretty much everything that is in here has gone through my hands,” said Jane. “I cut all of this out of clay, and then I fire it and finish it.”
To celebrate her Second Saturday “Hot Spot” status on September 12, musician Bradley Bones will be playing from 4 – 7pm at The Shops of Century Hall. Individually wrapped cookies and refreshments will be offered to those stopping by to shop. A table of beautiful butterfly ornaments created by Jane will be on the porch of The Shops of Century Hall, and the proceeds from the sale of these butterfly ornaments will be donated to local community garden, Ruth’s Roots (just a stone’s throw away on Court Street).
“I just discovered Ruth’s Roots while walking around Old Town with my husband,” said Jane. “This will be my way of giving back through my time and work, while offering others a way to give as well.”