Sispey Arts Alliance

Rhys Greene, a stained glass mosaic artist and photographer, works from her rural studio in Pickens County. She is now creating kiln formed glass objects to enhance her mosaic work and designing unique and distinctive jewelry. The nature of fused glass is that no two pieces are exactly alike. Her pendants and earrings are truly one of a kind personal adornments. She is working on perfecting a new art form, encaustic photography and mixed media. Encaustic art enhances photos and other objects by layering with beeswax and resin and sometimes adding color and stains.

Her mosaic work can be seen at The Turquoise Butterfly in Santa Fe, New Mexico; in the Iconic Kentuck Tree mosaic in historic Northport, Alabama; Caring Days Adult Day Care in Tuscaloosa Alabama; St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Fayette, Alabama; Camp McDowell in Nauvoo Alabama; and throughout the town of Gordo, Alabama. Her photography was purchased for display at the Manderson Cancer Center, DCH Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Deborah Hill is a professional mixed media artist using acrylic, ink, watercolor, resins and collage/layering interchangeably in her work. She paints imaginative images that are distinct and inventive with her own recognizable style. Her assemblage/bricolage and sculpture also reflect that same aesthetic and attention to subtle detail. Drawing influence from common everyday interaction with other 'humans,' mother nature and memory, she uses a narrative approach to her work expressing snippets of time or a particular emotion.

In addition to the fine arts, Deborah has applied her artistic abilities in several fields including the commercial sign industry, props and amusement/events and decorative painting/faux finishing with an emphasis on murals. Presently her focus is works on canvas, paper and 3D sculpture.

The artist has recently moved back to Fayette, Alabama after an absence of nearly 24 years. The native Alabamian is delighted to be 'back in the hills.' She and her husband and their boxers Moose and Molly are restoring a 115 year old bungalow. Deborah is a new member of Sipsey Arts Alliance and plans are underway to reopen her art studio and educational facility in downtown Fayette.

She is currently represented by The Gallery at Round Top, TX. More of the artists' work can be seen by appointment. Information about some of the specialty art products Deborah uses such as Powertex, Magic Sculpt and Apoxie Sculpt can be found at www.artplace.com.

Biography:

From my earliest memories, I knew that above all, I wanted to help people. I decided I could do that by becoming a nurse. My first attempt at college was not successful, so I went back home and worked different jobs until I made up my mind to join the Navy. There, I became a hospital corpsman and served out my four years, then I moved to New York City and got married. I worked as a home health aide until I had my first child. After we moved to South Florida, I used the GI Bill to go to nursing school. I worked as a registered nurse for over seventeen years, in spite of my chronic pain and fatigue. Finally, I was granted disability and now as afforded a chance to breathe. I decided to return to school and enroll in some "fun" courses. One of my first classes was ceramics; I was hooked! Now I am allowed the freedom to work on what I love and express myself in the way I want. My work schedule is self-set and fluid, so I am still able to honor my early gold of helping people.

Artist Statement:

Working with clay expresses my identity. From the beginning, the process of transforming mud into vessels has struck me as magical and has translated my inner visions to outer manifestations of useful and/or beautiful objects.

Ron and his wife Anita live in Fayette, Alabama where he is an art instructor at Bevill State Community College. Ron started making pottery in the 1970s at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he received a MFA degree in ceramics in 1980. Ron taught in various public schools as an elementary, middle, and high school art teacher from the mid 1970s until his employment at Bevill State in 2000. During the early 1980s, he worked and lived in Lisbon, Portugal, for a period of four years. He now has a ceramic studio in the basement of his home where he enjoys creating pottery, clay sculptures, and colorful crayon etchings.

Ron enjoys various firing methods including stoneware firings and Raku. Ron's Raku pottery is fired in an old electric kiln, which has been converted for gas firings. The Raku pieces are gas fired until glowing red hot and are then taken from the kiln with tongs and buried in burnt sawdust and other combustible materials. This process is used to achieve the bright copper lusters and unique surface qualities of his work.

He creates both functional and decorative ceramic pieces as well as clay sculptures. Many of the ceramic pieces include decorative relief surfaces with energetic designs and carvings. Ron enjoys combining thrown forms with hand-built slabs, coil forms, and other wheel thrown pieces. In addition to creating works in clay, Ron enjoys using wax crayons to create drawings which are then stained with black India ink and carved to reveal bright colorful patterns and designs scratched into the surface. Ron uses simple stylized images of animal forms, portraits, and landscapes in his crayon etchings. His years as an elementary art teacher and the influences of children's art work upon his own style are evident in these colorful and creative works.

Joan Weaver has been painting for over 15 years. She is a member of the Alabama Plein Air Artists, a group that meets almost every month to paint the beautiful landscapes throughout the state. Joan has an undergraduate degree in design from the University of Alabama, and a Masters Degreen in Education from Mississippi State. After retirement from being the Fayette County Extension Coordinator, she opened a studio in the historic old Mt. Vernon School built in the 1930s. At her studio located 6 miles west of Fayette, she paints and teaches art classes. Her painting subjects range from landscapes to portraits. Oil is her favorite medium, but she uses many others as well. The Gallery by the River in Tuscaloosa also carries her paintings and she accepts commission.