Member Directory
Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi Members
Search our Member Directory by name or medium (Metal, Ceramics, Glass, Mixed Media, Wood, Fiber). Or, scroll down the page to browse our Members.
About Us
We are makers on a mission to preserve and promote, educate and encourage, the highest standard of excellence in regional crafts.
The work of our Members reflects a high degree of competence, professional standards, and artistry in their medium and category. Eligibility is determined by a jury review process which takes place twice each year.
Laura Tarbutton Beach House Studio
Laura Tarbutton Beach House Studio
The main focus of the Beach House Studio is metal, but not by any means the only emphasis. Laura began her journey in this art form with PMC Precious Metal Clay. Working in PMC since 2004, the medium yields itself easily to the incorporation of textures and shapes seen in the natural world, but she has found there is no limit in the medium of metal. In the work of the studio, she strives for an organic feel where textures abound and a love of nature shines through.
Textures are prominent in these pieces whether they are lampwork beads, PMC, pottery, enameled PMC and copper, or Mixed Media Jewelry. Interests are varied, and using simple items like lace, bark, netting, leaves, and crushed glass are all things that can inspire in an instant and forge a new project. PMC is only one of the many ways that she uses metal in these pieces. Sterling silver, fine silver, copper, other base metals, and enameled and flame painted copper are all used to create unique pieces of jewelry.
Laura’s studio setup has progressed along with her work. The Beach House Studio has always been a place of sharing and learning, a place to share techniques and ideas. After retiring in late 2022, her husband Ron began helping in the studio, cutting out copper shapes and working the clay studio. They work with chainmaille expert, Jackie Messer, to create pieces as well as Israeli artist Cecilia Cohen (now a Washington state resident) who creates unique lampwork beads. These collaborations have led to the creation of jewelry with lampwork beads incorporated into chainmaille necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Also, they produce enamels used with copper and Precious Metal Clay and etching or fusing metal with cold connections.
Laura’s work was included in the book The Glass Artist's Studio Handbook (Studio Handbook Series) by Cecilia Cohen.
Brandon, MS
Mixed Media
Guild member since 2011
Fellow since 2020
Clarice Turner
Clarice Turner
Clarice has grown from being a creative jewelry artist to a teacher of jewelry art. Through club workshops that she has presented and assisted with, she has witnessed that people have a definite desire to learn, to be creative, and be unique. She has watched students of various ages pick up hammers, saws, torches, and various tools and learn to use them to complete projects they were proud of. Jewelry art is about learning, sharing and expression of self.
“My interest in creating jewelry began with many gem and mineral field trips with the North Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society. Next came many workshops in various states where I learned skills to create wearable art that incorporated those “found” gemstones and fossils. Enameling became a new skill, and with it exciting experiments in color, texture, and shape. I enjoy assisting with two to four workshops each year with the gem and mineral club in Tupelo.”
Pontotoc, MS
Mixed Media
Guild member since 2015
Diane Williams
Diane Williams
Madison, MS
Mixed Media Fiber
Fiber Arts
Guild member since 2011
Diane has been a seamstress for over 45 years and once owned her own business. She has made a few traditional quilts along the way, but has only recently discovered that working with fabrics is an art form. Now she sees the world as a landscape that can be recreated in dimensional and territorial layers of fabrics. The world is at her fingertips as she incorporates elements such as stone, pine straw, hand-spun silk yarn, beads, and metal. Diane’s work is spiritual, and she considers herself merely the vessel by which the elements and fibers creatively express themselves.
Janet Akers
Janet Akers
Bend, OR
Clay / Ceramics: Guild member since 1999
Mixed Media / Sculpture: Guild member since 2008
Janet’s art work is primarily sculptural, in clay and mixed-media. She finds that working with a variety of materials provides a challenge for her and adds interest to the final piece. Besides clay, she has used metal, wood, handmade paper, fabric, stone, glass, concrete, and dried plant materials. The subject of her work varies according to what catches her fancy, but there are few themes that she returns to often. Much of it is inspired by nature, both plants and animals. Horses are a frequent subject. Other influences are architecture and women’s issues. She is a member of the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, the Louisiana Crafts Guild, the Vicksburg Art Association, and the Mississippi State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Kit Davis Barksdale
Kit Davis Barksdale
Bay St. Louis, MS
Glass / Beader/Beadmaker: Guild member since 1997
Mixed Media / Mixed Media
Guild member since 2015
One of the founding members for the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, Kit Davis Barksdale graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor of arts in education. She continued to create art from her personal studio in Jackson and build the Guild until 1993. Just two years after this, the Craftsmen Guild asked her to be its executive director. After having to rethink her plans to build a studio on the Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Barksdale discovered Mustard Seed in Jackson, a center for developmentally challenged adults, where she became the executive director in 2006. Since then she has continued producing her bead work while also helping enrich the lives of those with disabilities through art at the Mustard Seed.