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Artists participating in the APT Online Art AuctionBenson, Mozell, Folk QuiltsGrowing up as the daughter of a sharecropper in rural Alabama with nine brothers and sisters, Mozell Benson learned quilting from her mother at an early age. A National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship recipient, Benson’s work is celebrated for its African American improvisational style and bold colors and has been featured in exhibitions throughout the United States. Breed, Cal, Glass Work Cal Breed has built a glass-making facility on a mountain near Fort Payne. He learned to work with glass at Haystack and the Pilchuck Glass School as well as studying with international masters. His work includes functional forms as well as sculptural vessels. He is recipient of the Alabama State Council of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. Brown, Jerry, Folk Pottery An important link between the past and future of southern folk pottery, Jerry Brown continues the tradition of creating alkaline-glazed stoneware butter churns, crocks and bowls as well as decorative face jugs. A National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship recipient and an Alabama State Council on the Arts Heritage Award recipient, Jerry Brown is an acclaimed ninth-generation potter. Dark, Steve, sculptor / potter Although well-educated in the conceptual aspects of sculptural clay art, Steve Dark considers himself to be primarily a traditional vessel maker. “Classical utilitarian vessels in clay have always intrigued and inspired me,” Dark says. Fleming, Frank, Porcelain Sculpture Internationally-recognized sculptor Frank Fleming from Bear Creek, Alabama is a sculptor best known for realistic depictions of animals and mythological creatures in fantastical settings. His work is in numerous public collections in the Birmingham area and farther afield. Ham, Allen, Folk Pottery Allen Ham is one of the Ham family of potters, who have been making pottery in Alabama for more than 150 years. Ham’s ancestors, the Le Coste and Miller families, were potters who arrived in Alabama in the early 1800s. Ivey, William Gene, Instrument Maker/Fiddles In 1997, Gene Ivey, a resident of Ider, Alabama, was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The Alabama State Council on the Arts lists him as one of the state’s Master Folk Artists. He has handmade more than 270 musical instruments including fiddles currently on exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute. The first fiddle he played cost 69 cents, the second $2.50. From this humble beginning, Ivey has master playing the fiddle as well making them – he is one of nation’s master musical instrument craftsmen. Kimbrell, Bettye, Heritage Quilts Bettye Kimbrell learned quilting from her grandmother and is one of the South’s outstanding traditional hand quilters, known for her precise needlework. She is a member of the Southern Highland Handcraft Guild and received the Alabama Folk Heritage Award in 1995. Langley, Cam, Glass Work A student of Harvey Littleton, Birmingham-based artists Cam Langley draws inspiration from the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Over the course of his career, Langley has created a rich body of work comprised of stunning floral arrangements and functional stemware and bowls. Larsen, Bruce, Sculptor / motion picture special effects artist Bruce Larsen is one of Alabama’s most recognized artists, known for his uncanny ability to take natural objects found in the environment and manmade objects from junk heaps and fuse them into sculptures with line and texture rivaling traditional art mediums. Lucas, Charlie, Folk Mixed-Media Charlie Lucas, popularly known as “Tin Man,” has attracted a large following, and his work has been included in numerous exhibitions and museum collections. In recent years, he has traveled widely, lecturing at Yale University at the invitation of an African-American studies scholar and spending time as an artist-in-residence in France. McPherson, Bertice, Clay Bertice McPherson’s human and natural forms—moon heads, suns and figures reaching for the sky—express the positive energy of determination, moving forward, and strength in our ever-changing world. Miller, Eric, Potter Miller’s Pottery is one of the few remaining traditional potteries in the United States. The pots themselves are made from the Alabama clay of Perry County, and the Miller family’s 150-year history of pottery-making incorporates traditions brought from Europe and cultivated in the American South. Miller, Steve, Potter Miller’s Pottery is one of the few remaining traditional potteries in the United States. The pots themselves are made from the Alabama clay of Perry County, and the Miller family’s 150-year history of pottery-making incorporates traditions brought from Europe and cultivated in the American South. Phillips, John, Metal Works Phillip’s initial exposure to blacksmithing came as he worked on a Vision Quest wagon train. Returning to Montgomery, he established a professional business producing iron furniture, decorative elements and sculpture. His work has been published in national magazines and summaries of contemporary artist-blacksmiths. He is recipient of the ASCA Individual Artist Fellowship. Riddick, Tut, Paint A student of the Penland School of Crafts, the works of Mobile, Alabama painter Tut Riddick include plaster paintings. Her award-winning painting Grenada depicts African-American children being stoned in Mississippi and reflects her interest in civil rights and social justice. She also works with silk screening techniques and collaborates on works of clay with Mobile-potter Charles Smith. The Birmingham Museum of Art has named her “one of Alabama’s outstanding women artists.” Smith, Charles, Pottery Smith began his career in the arts in the 1970s following a tour of duty in Vietnam. His clay pieces are identified by a carved, sgraffito technique, with visual images often capturing abstract elements of the gulf and sky near his home. His work was included in the traveling exhibit: “Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy of African American Craft Art.” He is recipient of the Alabama State Council of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. Webb, Anne, Pottery Webb discovered the joy of working with clay in 1993, when she signed up for an introduction to pottery class. Her connection with the clay was immediately, and she has not looked back since. Wells, Yvonne, Quilter A retired teacher from Tuscaloosa, Yvonne Wells is completely self-taught as a quiltmaker and an artist. She is best known for her pictorial quilts that express narratives of personal and political significance. Her quilts depict events such as the Civil Rights Movement. Using appliqué, Wells creates quilts with ingenious materials and innovative visual designs. Three of her quilts were reproduced as greeting cards by Hallmark Card Company. |