Larry Allen

Each piece of stoneware from LA Pottery is hand-crafted solely by the artist, Larry Allen. His inspiration for his designs comes largely from African and Native American art. Larry makes each vessel from a special black stoneware clay through multiple glazings and firings. Most of his pieces involve delicately carving designs into the surface of the wheel-thrown vessel.

Larry Allen has worked as an artist for the past 35 years, honing his wheel-throwing and glazing techniques, all the while ceaseless in his enthusiasm for stoneware and the infinite possibilities of his craft.

Larry Allen was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He received a BA degree in Art from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky in May 1978. Larry has an art studio in Leeds, Alabama where he resides.

In 2007 one of Larry’s vases was presented on behalf of the Alabama State Council on the Arts as a gift to Pulitzer Prize winner and author, Harper Lee.

In 2008 his work was showcased on the nationally televised HGTV show “THAT’S CLEVER”. Also in the same year one of his vases was given as a gift to Liberia’s first woman president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Larry also has been featured on the BrightHouse Cable television network, giving demonstrations of wheel-thrown pottery.

In addition to developing his unique, inspired pottery creations, Larry teaches pottery classes and travels for exhibitions. Larry displays his work throughout the year in numerous art festivals, mostly in the central and southeastern United States.

Larry’s stoneware also can be found for purchase the Parkway Craft Centers in North Carolina, The ZuCot Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia and the Christine Linson Gallery in Fairhope, Alabama.

He welcomes your interest in his work and encourages you to contact him regarding commissions, exhibitions or special teaching assignments.

For more information, please visit www.la-pottery.com.

Photography is a journey of  people, places and things…all captured in one special moment by the photographer’s lens.  It’s actually a journey of stories, and , just like a writer always has a pen and notepad with him, my camera goes wherever I do.

I am a landscape photographer based in Birmingham, AL and St. Joe Beach, FL.  My other careers have included being a public relations executive with BellSouth and the Executive Director of the Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama.

As one who has always been enchanted by the ocean and the ambiance of small coastal towns, I try to capture the ‘beach time’ so many of us yearn for.  Water always calls to me, too.  Somewhere deep inside me the rhythm and sounds of water and waves sing a special song for me.

Vibrant colors are also a mainstay in my photographs.  Newspaper photographers taught me much about composition and color.  They also taught me to see the possibility of photographs where other might not…they developed my photographic eye. so to speak.

I am married with three children, one of whom, Amelia, died in 1995 at age 17.  Often I take photographs of our world for her, because she would want you to see the beauty around us each day and tell you to take it all in.

Please see www.georgebelliottphotography.com for more information.

“Moments of beauty, be it music, art, nature, or an act of kindness, can take you out of a space of weary familiarity. Beauty, in whatever form it takes, can interrupt a pattern of behavior or a way of thinking and cause us to stop in our tracks and take notice of it.”

John O’Donohue in Divine Beauty:  The Invisible Embrace

For me, painting is about trying to give expression to moments of beauty using the somewhat clumsy tools of an artist. Scenes from the natural world, objects from my cupboard, interactions with other living beings, the movement of light… all inspire me to dream, think and imagine a world that is worth taking a risk for, a world that is worth painting.

I have learned about painting from some of my favorite living artists including Leonard Wren, David Leffel, Roger Dale Brown, Robert Johnson and Kenn Backhaus. I have also taken classes from accomplished Birmingham artists, Terry Strickland, John Lonergan, and David Baird.

My paintings are shown at Artists Incorporated Gallery and area shows.

Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near Birmingham, Alabama, my home and studio are shared with my beloved husband, Dave and our sweet pup, Chaucer. We have two grown sons who have left home to seek their fortunes. To view my paintings, you can visit my website www.susanbairdart.com. Thank you for stopping by.

Traditional wet felt is believed to be one of the earliest textile forms. Creating felt is the labor intensive process of washing, carding, and dyeing wool, layering fibers in a determined design, adding soap and water, and agitating the fibers until they interlock to create a fabric form.

Nuno (“fabric”) felting is a contemporary textile art based on the traditional wet felt technique. Nuno felt is created by agitating and felting fibers into an already established lightweight fabric. This modern process allows for the creation of lighter weight and uniquely textured designs.

A second generation Fiber Artist, my foundation in felt making was cultivated while assisting my mother in her studio. Working in international development, humanitarian aid, and environmental conservation for more than 15 years, I often found myself returning to the family farm in between projects. In exchange for room and board, I would provide assistance in the studio and at art shows.

My adventures in the fiber art of felting started as a hobby and way to “earn my keep” when staying at the family farm. It has since become my full-time career, and in March 2014 I opened my own studio. I specialize in both traditional wet felt and nuno felted wearable art and home decor. My designs are created with fiber raised on my parent’s farm as well as fibers and fabrics I carefully source and hand dye.

My designs are available in my studio showroom, online, and at juried art shows.

website: www.kamiwatsonstudio.com

Wellon Bridgers studied English and French at Auburn University and received her Masters in English at Wake Forest University. She taught for several years in the high school and university setting and has worked closely with service learning programs. During this time, she discovered a love for painting and continues to explore new techniques and styles.  Wellon and her husband Stephen work together at Restoration Academy, an urban Christian school in Fairfield, Alabama. They are also advocates for Mwana Villages, a grassroots organization supporting orphans and vulnerable families in the Republic of Congo. They have four (playful, creative, determined and spunky) children: Fitz, Chloe, Daniel and Leila.

To see more about Wellon Bridgers, please visit http://www.wellonart.com/.

Hank is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and a retired Department of Defense official who now makes his home in Hoover, Alabama.  He has lived in the Birmingham area since 1992 and rediscovered his photographic interest upon retiring from the Defense Department in 2003.

He initially developed his interest in photography in the early 60s’ while in the Armed Services and has been using his camera to capture the light in the forms, colors, and textures of the visual world from the south central Pennsylvania mountains to the Sierra Nevada Range of Northern California and the California Coastal Range; and now in the rural and urban areas throughout Alabama and the southeast.

Being trained as a certified Army Instructor in Behavioral and Organizational Dynamics, he has since parlayed those skills into developing and teaching classes in Digital Photography for all levels of skill.

He also lectures on photography covering such topics as Capturing Light to Create Memorable Images, The Photographer as Artist and The History of Photography as an Art Form.

His works have been displayed in venues throughout the southeast including the Light Box Gallery at Pepper Place, The Dempsey Art Center in Auburn, the Soon-Bok Lee Sellers Gallery in Bluff Park, the Gadsden Museum of Art,  the gallery at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and the Blue Ridge Mountain Art Center in Blue Ridge, GA.

His images have won awards at annual photography exhibitions throughout Alabama.

Lindsey Kelly is a rising young potter from Birmingham, Alabama who has recently received her BFA from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.  An internship at the Shelby County Arts Council in Columbiana, Alabama is where she experienced a working community studio.  Her work was shown in the “Heartbreak Hotel Student Art Exhibit,”  “Sacred Art Exhibit,” and “Strange Assortment Art Exhibit.”  The Moss Rock Festival and the Birmingham Artwalk are two events where she has exhibited her work.  Lindsey plans to continue making functional pottery that is aesthetically pleasing and brings joy to everyone that encounters her and her work.

Please visit Lindsey’s web site at http://www.lindseykellypottery.com/ to see more of her work.