Won't You Join Us on Dec 6th?

We are pleased to be presenting our Third Annual Christmas Art Show and Sale, where we will be showcasing our eclectic mix of fine art and fine craft at the Mobile Botanical Gardens located at 5151 Museum Drive, Saturday, December 6, from 9 am to 4 pm.

Not to be confused with Bellingrath Gardens, the MOBILE BOTANICAL GARDENS is nestled in the heart of The Village of Springhill across from Langhan Park and the Mobile Museum of Art. (see map & directions below or, if you prefer view the Google Map)

Our one day event is held in conjunction with The Master Gardeners' Annual Greenery and The Botanical Gardens' Annual Poinsettia Sales. The Master Gardeners, who are always ready to share their expertise, play an instrumental role in making the Gardens as beautiful as it is.
Their handmade fresh garlands, centerpieces, and other seasonal greenery, are most professionally executed and surprisingly reasonably priced. And did you know that there are over 50 varieties of poinsettias, and that just about every one can be found on sale at the Mobile Botanical Gardens that weekend?

Directions to the Botanical Gardens
: (courtesy of the Botanical Gardens)

1. On I-10, take I-65 North
2. Take Springhill Exit (5A), turn left
3. Go over Spring Hill. At the bottom of hill, Langan Park will be ahead.
4. Turn left at traffic light onto Pfc. John New Drive.
5. This dead-ends almost immediately onto Museum Drive. Turn right.
6. Pass the Mobile Museum of Art on the right, then look for the Gardens entrance on the left.
7. Turn left to enter the Gardens.

(NB: Map shown is not to scale)


For more information about our event and group, please contact:
Charles Smith (251) 432-3705 or
Anne Webb (251) 965-6661

We look forward to seeing you there for a day of art, greenery, and holiday cheer!

Lillie Mack & Marilyn Gordon, Fiber & Design Arts:Fashion - Blackbelt Designs, York AL

In the heart of the black belt of the Deep South, on the western edge of Alabama and just a few miles from Mississippi, sits the small town of York. York, population 2,854, is in Sumter County, population under 15,000 and listed as one of the poorest counties in Alabama.

August 1956 a female was born who never embraced the idea of being poor. She was well aware there was never much money to spend in stores but there was always hand-me-down clothing and leftover scraps to rework and/or play with creating something new, functional, and
usually different than her peers.

Lillie Jean Mack , the second oldest of 7 children, learned to sew by observing her mother. Often she would remake an adult’s dress into two child size dresses. Feed sacks and flour sacks were a source of new fabric to sew with.

"Although two of my sisters also sewed, I was the one that helped to clothe the family. We had no commercial patterns so I learned to eye the body, cut the garment, sew & fit on a live mannequin – the person who would be wearing the item."

After High School and the birth of her eldest child, Lillie began working at the local apparel factory. Twenty six years later, the factories moved to Mexico and she was without a job. Sewing for family members did not fulfill her need to sew and create what she visualized, so she began making quilts, lap robes, and craft items to sell.
“All these years of designing and sewing from salvaged materials and I never realized I did anything differently from other sewers. In fact, I felt others were more skilled since I could not work from a pattern. "

This soon changed when she joined Blackbelt Designs, a new fulltime fiber arts workshop that was starting in York sponsored by the Coleman Center for Arts and Culture.

"The same year I joined Black Belt Designs as a volunteer, we visited Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Northport, Alabama. Previous to this excursion I thought art was something people hung on the wall. I had an epiphany that changed the way I viewed my passion, and myself, as I walked the aisles. This exposure to quality arts and crafts awakened me to possibilities. At age forty six, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother I discovered what I had been doing for forty years to clothe family and decorate my home was admired by many people.

Now, I recycle denim jeans into designer jackets. I totally rip the jeans and incorporate unfaded areas into the design of the jackets.

Another fabric of choice is mudcloth from Mali. When people ask why mudcloth, my reply is “I use the African made fabric because it epitomizes what I believe. One can make something beautiful from what they find around them”.

Lillie is listed as one of Alabama’s outstanding artists on SouthernArtistry.org.

Some of her other recognition includes:
Arts & Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa, AL juried show - honorable mention.
Sumter County, AL Fine Arts juried show - 2nd place
Invited exhibitor Kentuck Arts & Crafts, Northport, AL
Invited exhibitor Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Design Arts Fellowship with the Alabama State Arts Council

For more information, please visit their new web site:
http://www.blackbeltdesigns.net/

Lowell Webb, Pottery - Magnolia Springs AL

Working with clay has been a love of Lowell's since his childhood. He first discovered clay on his own when he was about 5, while playing near his family's home in Fort Walton, Florida. When he was about 11, he happened to see a folk potter giving a throwing demonstration at a local shopping mall. This really caught Lowell's attention and focus, and he went home and fashioned a crude kickwheel with "an old bicycle rim, some wood, some brick, and whatever else I could find. That was my first wheel and that's what I first learned to throw on."

After taking his first pottery class when he was 21, he met Florida potter Charlie Brown, who really opened Lowell's eyes to the raku firing process. Later, Lowell attended Memphis Academy of Art and from there, transferred into the sculpture program at Memphis State.
"I actually moved to southern Alabama in the 1980's because of the abundance of high-quality native clay, as well as the rich pottery tradition, ranging from that of Native Americans to the potteries of the last century."

Since moving to Baldwin County, he has taught at Fairhope's Eastern Shore Art Center, and has given many people private lessons out of his old studio in Silverhill, Al. He co-owned and operated Twinkleberry Pottery, producing raku, primitive-fired, and stoneware pottery. In 2000 he relocated to his present location in Magnolia Springs.

Lowell is currently working on a body of work he calls "artificial artifacts". As the name suggests, these artifacts aren't meant to be an imitation of actual ancient finds, merely reminiscent of them. His pieces provoke thought and distant memories of long lost cultures, as we envision the possibility of who might have made or used them and what hands they may have passed through. These clay pieces have a story to tell, even if only from a distant place in our imagination.

Visit the Webb Pottery website: www.webbpottery.com

Celia Dionne, Fiber / Weaving - Foley AL

Handwoven Trans-Seasonal Wraps & Scarves

Originally known for rag weaving and hand spinning in Tennessee, Celia Dionne has been exhibiting prize winning “Fun Wraps” since moving to Alabama in 1994.

She weaves these shawls and triangle-based garments on triangular frame looms of various sizes. "Weaving this way is a pure tactile experience for there is no mechanical manipulation of the warp or weft as with a floor loom. I finger weave on the frame and the warp and weft are the same yarn but intertwined. Each triangle is woven individually, then I apply a fringe and/or finish the edges."

Celia earned a BA from Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University and a teaching certificate from Washington University in St. Louis. Her formal education and teaching experiences included Classical Flute, French and English as a Second Language, yet she had always wanted to learn to weave.

In the 70’s Celia met Ruth Truett, demonstrating weaving on the porch of a historic home in Nashville. She decided to take a basic weaving class from Ms Truett, then joined a weaving guild. More skills were acquired through workshops.

In 1983 Celia opened a weaving and spinning shop in Franklin, TN, called CLARA’S LOOM, which is still the name of her studio, now located in Bon Secour.

"After frequent trips with my husband to Washington, DC it became clear that I wanted to do some weaving in off time in the hotels. We saw a triangle loom in a shop window and decided to try this technique. He had to read me the instructions over and over until I got it. The loom disassembles and became part of my travel gear.

Part of the skill of handweaving is tension control. Floor looms have tension devices that must be mastered. Frame looms have none…just the weaver. I place every yarn manually in the items I create. By using color and texture I hope to please your eye and hand."


To learn more about Celia Dionne, her creations, and her Fiber Studio & Art Gallery, Clara's Loom, please visit her web site: www.clarasloom.com