WOOD ARTISTS
Laurens Cotten- Juried Artist
Laurens was an Industrial Arts teacher in Shelby County for 30 years. Upon his retirement in 2011 he and his wife bought a house on the side of Shades Mountain in Bluff Park. He was able to carve out enough level land to build a workshop which is nestled among the rhododendron and sandstone cliffs.
His work reflects his love and respect for nature. His materials come from small local mills using wood from sustainable urban sources. His boxes and furniture are both organic and architectural. Each piece is one of a kind. His work is guided by the spirit of the wood. There is more of this artist's work on this web site; click here to see it.
Dwight Hostetter - JURIED Artist
Dwight Hostetter is an avid woodworking hobbyist who has been involved in woodworking for about 36 years. His first major wood working tool was a Shop Smith, but over the years has accumulated most major wood working tools and equipment. Dwight loves to work with wood. He is in his basement shop almost every day working on various wood projects. He has built everything from strip canoes to baby beds and cradles and lots more. The majority of his work is one-time projects, though he has made duplicates from time to time.
After seeing and admiring pictures of Nantucket Lightship baskets a few years ago, he decided to give it a try. Dwight's first basket went to his wife, his second to his mother and before you knew it, he was producing baskets for friends and complete strangers. Dwight has taught several classes in Nantucket Lightship Basket making and is in demand to teach more. He makes all the components of his baskets from trees or milled lumber with the exception of the cane weaving and the metal rivets and brads. He even cuts down an occasional white oak tree which is used in the staves, rims and handles of the baskets. The baskets bottoms are usually made out of cherry, but occasionally have been made out of walnut, bubinga and other woods.
DAVID CERicola - Juried artist
David Cericola has always been interested in art and nature. Self-taught, he tried his hand at woodcarving 35 years ago and has been carving birds ever since. He crafts each one-of-a-kind piece from Tupelo wood and brass, then details and paints it by hand. David aims to make his creations as realistic as possible, and often includes the birds' natural habitat, ranging from the seashore to the desert. His carvings have been exhibited in galleries in Santa Fe, West Palm Beach, Nantucket, and most recently, at Artists Incorporated in Leeds, Alabama.
Kathy Nelson - JURIED Artist
Kathy Nelson is an Alabama native and lives in Jackson. In 2012 after attending a pine needle basketry class at the local Arts Council, she was hooked! Since then she has made too many baskets to count. She harvests her own long leaf pine needles, brown and green and makes them into functional and beautiful baskets. She doesn't start a basket with a pattern or plan, what the basket becomes develops as she is coiling. She also coils around gourds. She enjoys taking pine needles and making them into baskets that will last for years if taken care of. There is more of this artist's work on this web site; click here to see it.
RON Griffin - Juried Artist
Carl Cummins - Juried Artist
Carl took up woodturning in 2011 as a principal occupation after retiring from a career in Information Systems. His initial interest was simply learning the craft, techniques, methods, properties of woods, and elements of design. Along this journey he has tried nearly every aspect of woodturning. Instead of specializing in one area, he continues to enjoy working on a large variety of projects, but with a few special interests. One area of particular interest is multi-axis turning. Inspired by the works of Jean-Francois Escoulen and Mark Sfirri, Carl enjoys the challenge of thinking beyond the typical single axis, making things that look impossible for a lathe. Another area of interest is hand-thread chasing which is a traditional skill which few turners practice these days. Combining these two techniques, Carl has developed an original design series called, "Double Surprise Boxes."