OUR ARTISTS
Pamela J. Barrett
Lives and makes art in Dothan, AL
Pam, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, has always called the South home. After 37 years in Palm Harbor, Florida, and a brief time in North Carolina, she now resides in Dothan, Alabama, where she has lived for the past four years.
After retiring as an accounting manager, Pam pursued her lifelong creative passions, delving into weaving, knitting, art, and history. She honed her skills through classes in Sumi-e and watercolor painting, knitting, weaving, and jewelry-making. She also joined and remains an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
A love of color defines Pam's artistry. She delights in selecting vibrant, colorful yarns for her projects. Crafted with Peruvian worsted wool, she knits her hats before felting them, which involves washing the hat in boiling water with agitation to meld the fibers together. She uses a variety of yarns for her woven scarves, preferring those from Italy.
As in weaving and knitting, Pam also finds therapeutic fulfillment in painting. She favors landscapes, flowers, birds, and dogs as her subjects. Through her art, Pam brings beauty, vibrancy, and comfort to those around her.
Kim Brandell
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA
Kim started his professional sculpture career in 1971 at the age of 20. He started making small copper sail boats, windmills, and other table top and wall hanging sculptures in his garage and selling them at weekend arts and crafts shows.
In 1983 received his first commercial project at The Mayfair Hotel and Shops. He made 18 copper elevator doors, 50- three foot wind span copper birds and 100 copper lamp sconces. This experience enabled Kim to guide a group of highly skilled craftsmen to forge both interior and exterior masterpieces. After that, most of his career has been in hotel, restaurants, casinos, and high end private residences. 17 years ago, he designed and built the worlds largest underwater columbarium memorial, called Neptune Memorial Reed, in 42 feet of water off of Miami Florida
Abbie Ballard Brooks
Lives and makes art in Rising Fawn, Ga and Pine Mountain, GA
Being the youngest of five children and growing up with gorgeous lower hardens surrounding our home, it is no wonder my art is all about nature and flowers. cI love interpreting east I see into textures and neural colors using cause fabrics, gesso, groups, print or whatever inspires me,
There is no limit in one's interpretation of what the see. I want people to ask the question 'How and what did she use to make her art piece?' I hope it promotes. feeling of joy, contemplation, and wonder.
Mike Cornett
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA
Mike's love for woodturning began in his Harris County High School Vo Ag Class when his class project was to turn a piece of cedar into a table lamp. That lamp still sits on his desk in his barn office. After retiring from 38 years with USDA he returned to his love for wood when he joined a Co Op in Tuscaloosa, AL where he lived. There je began to build hails klnowlege and skills under the guidance of other members.
Since returning to his home town of Pine Mountain and building his dream barn, he enjoys playing in his wood pile as often as he can.
Mike creates segmented bowls often with Narive American themes. Some of the wood he uses is over 100 years old. While wood turning is a passion, he also creates charcuterie boards, wine bottle stoppers, wine glasses holders, fire starters, cheese boards, Christmas Ornaments, pens and other items .
Mile is back home in Pine Mountain, Georgia with his wife of 54 years doing what he loves-the opportunity to uncover and expose the beauty of wood.
Cathy Dement
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA
| remember, as a child, drawing pictures of horses. | also remember my dad looking over my shoulder and saying that drawing was something that | should pursue. He then asked me if | knew what that meant.....and | did. When | got into my last two years of high school, | started taking art classes, progressing to college level art during my senior year. | continued to take art classes during my first two years of college (alongside chemistry and physics), but ultimately, chose a career as a pharmacist.
Over the years, | have dabbled in many different types of creative things. In the end, though, | always come back to paper as the preferred substrate for my creativity. For many years, my favorite mediums were pen and ink, charcoal, ebony pencil, and even some colored pencils. In the last year or so, though, | have been doing a lot of work with watercolors, and, in recent months, colored pencils and pastels.
Another thing that you should know about me is that | have a red-green deficiency. Although | see colors, | may not see them as you do. That can be a challenge for someone who is using colors to create works of art, to be sure! I've said many times, though, that what | lack in intelligence/ability, | make up for in perseverance (read this as a severe stubborn streak)!
Ultimately, painting/creating is good medicine for my soul (ironic, right?). It calms my mind. It allows me to express myself. It allows me to challenge myself. | adore studies of how sunlight settles on an object, casting shadows. | also gravitate toward creating pieces with textures found in nature, such as fur and feathers.
Mercer Southern School of Pharmacy, Pharm D
Pine Mountain Art Alliance, Member
Visual Art Alliance of Lagrange, Member
Columbus Art Guild, Member
Cathy Bartleson Hilley
Lives and makes art in Hamilton, GA.
My interest in art began as a child watching my grandmother and great grandmother making lace by crocheting and tatting. They also created intricate patterns with Swedish "huck" weaving. Using these techniques, they taught me how to use my hands and instilled in me a creative heart.
As an adult my career was in advertising, specializing in creating television, radio and print ads. I held the position of president of the American Advertising Federation and acted as the primary liaison between National AAF and local marketers, media and agencies.
For most of my life I have lived on the shores of Lake Harding in Harris County, Georgia. This fuels my creativity and makes me want to learn many different art forms. I have taken classes or taught myself painting, stained glass, fused glass, lamp work beads, metal crafting, jewelry and photography. However, my true art is in pottery. I love experimenting with glazes and textures. By carving my pieces I have brought real beauty to the clay and definition to the designs. I'm always searching for more ways to create beauty!
"Life is my gift, what I do with it is my gift back."
Barbara McCrea
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
From 1980 to 2003 I painted with oils and acrylics. I owned a gallery called 'Bzzzzz Creative Expressions' in Douglas, GA. There, I displayed my work and continued creating art.
I stopped painting for 21 years when I retired. In 2024, I was inspired by life events to begin painting again. Today, I live in Callaway Gardens, and the beauty of nature inspires me to create new paintings. My work includes whimsical watercolors of wildlife and landscapes.
Amy E'toile Skinner
Amy lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
By using a straw, her breath, and vibrant liquid watercolors, she captures the intense colors and shapes of autumn and late summer flowers. Also reflected in her art is her enchantment with ferns and the small critters living among them.
"Flowers, trees, grasses, ferns...each exude energies. It is such fun to capture visual interpretations of those energies with watercolor. It is my hope that those who view my art are able to feel the “aliveness" in the quietness of the natural world."
BFA Agnes Scott College (GA)
Studied under ceramicist Steven Forbes-de Soule
Founder & President of the Pine Mountain Art Alliance (GA)
Member of Columbus Artist Guild (GA)
Member of Visual Artists Alliance of LaGrange (GA)
Member of the Southeastern Pastel Society
Carol Miller
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA.
I have always appreciated art and creativity. I also have a passion for thrifting, which is probably in my DNA! Given this, and being exposed to different artistic mediums, thanks to artistic friends, I have recently unearthed my creative side!
Having a penchant for collecting buttons throughout my years, this "blooming" inspiration has resulted in repurposing my buttons into creative flower bouquets.
Combining the button flowers with nostalgic tableware, my hope is that the resulting original arrangements will be found delightful and bring a smile to someone's face!
Cindy Moore
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA and Arizona.
Cindy is an accomplished instructor in the field of metalsmithing. She continuously pushes the boundaries of metal in her designs and has been teaching across the US for over 20 years. Some of the locations where she has taught include John Campbell Folk School, Arizona Designer Craftsman, Georgia Goldsmiths, Bead & Button, Bead Fest, and Southeastern Federation. Additionally, Cindy teaches privately across the country.
Cindy owned and operated a successful gallery for years in Pine Mountain, GA, where she sold her own designs as well as those of local artists within Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Cindy enjoys sharing her knowledge of tools and techniques and has her own line of tools, which she designs and manufactures herself. She has been featured in Jewelry Artist magazine for her tool designs on several occasions.
Her inspiration to make tools came from the desire to make the process more efficient and to offer varied techniques to her students. Cindy is a creative artist, and problem-solving is her passion.
Nellie Ralat
Lives and makes art in Waverly Hall
| am a “people watcher”. Growing up in New York City, as | rode the subway and busses, | watched. | took note of the lines and angles in faces. | observed expressions, movements and gestures. Fascinating subject matter.
On reflection, | consider this the beginning of my informal training. My “formal” training in the arts consists of a few drawing classes in junior college and two beginner clay/ pottery classes at a local arts and recreational studio. | am currently under the tutelage of a portrait artist for my oil painting.
My fascination with homo-sapiens is reflected in much of my work. It is the subject matter in many of my clay sculptures and oil paintings.
AWARDS
2024 Georgia National Fair Oil Painting “Mesmerized” 3rd place
2023 CAG Best In Show “Guapito - Pretty Boy” Oil Painting
2023 VAAL Honorable Mention “Conociendonos - Getting Acquainted II” Clay Bas Relief
2021 CAG 1st Place Poured Art Challenge
2019 CAG 1st Place 3-D Media
“Up, Up And Away - Imagination In Flight” Clay Sculpture
2018 CAG 3rd Place 3-D Media “My Guardian Angel “
2017 CAG 1st Place 3-D Media “Floyd” Clay Sculpture
2015 CAG President's Award 3-D Sculpture “Reflection”
2015 Georgia National Fair - Fine Art Amateur 1st Place
3-D sculpture “Reflection”
Martha Jo Oliver
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA
| am a retired teacher with 32 years of experience in teaching and learning from young children.
When | retired, my mom came to live with my husband and I. Mom lived to be 100 years old! | read an article in hat making in Southern Living, so mom and | traveled to see their work.
Mom told me “You can do better”! | began working and gave a few away. One lady wanted a hat for a friend that had lost her hair due to cancer. That became my drive with the help of God. That was the beginning of my making thousands of hats over the past 16 years.
The birth of the leather bags began 9 years ago. They are called Blessing Bags. With each bag there comes a blessing in a small pouch. | am very thankful for the gifts God has given me.
Susan Walter
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA
Light and glass have always captivated me. In 2016 | began exploring stained glass, drawn to its luminous potential. My artistic journey now focuses on stained glass mosaics, a medium that allows me to share the captivating beauty of glass in a new way.
Through my mosaics | strive to create joyful compositions of light and color. | meticulously combine fragmented glass pieces, each reflecting and refracting sunlight in unique ways. This interplay of light and color transforms into a vibrant collage of shapes, where the individual pieces coalesce into a harmonious whole.
My hope is that viewers will experience a sense of wonder as they encounter my work. | strive to capture the inherent magic of glass, transforming ordinary rooms into spaces filled with light and color
Toni Treverton
Lives and makes art in Pine Mountain, GA
Toni has been creating beautiful quality works of art for over 30 years. She enjoys making paintings for others, to capture their loved ones in a portrait, or to depict a place they love or things they value. She brings to her paintings and intense sense of beauty she finds so fascinating in color and light.
“| work in oils, pastels and watercolors, and | draw. Each media has it’s own feel and some subjects call out to be rendered in one or the other media. Oil is strong and bold, it’s nature is substantial and eternal. It takes patience and understanding to work in oil. Watercolor is also a challenge. | love its fluidity and accidents that happen. That’s the excitement. Pastels are a wonderfully direct medium, they are like painting with your fingers drawing and then building up the color layer upon layer. Sometimes, | just like to draw with charcoal and see how much expression | can get out of a line and some shading.
” A graduate of University of Florida Fine Art program Toni’s passion for painting started her on a journey of independent, and mentored study that has brought her work to the point it is today. Travels across the US and Europe have given her the opportunity to study many masterworks. After a one woman show in Columbus, Georgia in 1996 and subsequent entries in various shows and galleries her work hangs in numerous private collections. Toni spent many years teaching lessons for art groups, in Atlanta, Lakeland and Tampa FL.
Melinda Y Sims
Lives and makes art in Alaska My art is a reflection of both my inner creativity and my connection to the world around me. | work with a diverse range of materials, including block print water-based ink, acrylic, recycled paper, pure cotton, silver, other metals, and polymer clay to create both visual art and jewelry. These materials allow me to explore the delicate balance between complexity and simplicity, drawing inspiration from the natural world.
Through my work, | aim to convey a message of continuous learning and the expansion of one's inner light. As | engage with these evolving and malleable materials, | also embark on a journey of self-discovery. My art delves into the intricate nature of life, uncovering beauty in the smallest, most fundamental elements.
| hope my work resonates with others, encouraging them to connect with their true inner selves—creative, vibrant, and full of wonder.
Mary Williams
Lives and makes art in Alaska
My art is a reflection of both my inner creativity and my connection to the world around me. | work with a diverse range of materials, including block print water-based ink, acrylic, recycled paper, pure cotton, silver, other metals, and polymer clay to create both visual art and jewelry. These materials allow me to explore the delicate balance between complexity and simplicity, drawing inspiration from the natural world.
Through my work, | aim to convey a message of continuous learning and the expansion of one's inner light. As | engage with these evolving and malleable materials, | also embark on a journey of self-discovery. My art delves into the intricate nature of life, uncovering beauty in the smallest, most fundamental elements.
| hope my work resonates with others, encouraging them to connect with their true inner selves—creative, vibrant, and full of wonder.
