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.
Joe Hunt
Having spent most of his adult life in the military and later in the business world, Joe had little time to spare to any craft. He had always, however, admired, and envied, the work of wood carving artisans. Now retired, he continues to have a strong drive in catch up in this endeavor, and his carving interests remain both realistic and voracious. He is influenced by work in both the realistic and caricature genres. Joe is motivated and inspired in both areas by his interests in history, nature and sports. During his tenure as president of the Pearl River Woodcarvers Guild, he was instrumental in developing a walking cane project for Mississippi Disabled Veterans, which carved and awarded 276 patriotically themed canes over a two year period.
Brandon, MS
Wood
Guild member since 2006
Fellow since 2016
Jim Johnson
Jim became involved with woodworking upon his retirement in 2014. Jim is self-taught and uses various woodworking machines and tools. His grandfather was a carpenter and cabinet maker who transformed wood into beautiful objects and influenced Jim from an early age. Another influencer of Jim’s was his father who also enjoyed woodworking. Jim uses the tools he inherited from both of them.
Forest, MS
Wood
Member since 2023
Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson
Walnut Grove, MS
Wood
Canes
Guild member since 2007
As a boy, Mike often sat watching, fascinated by his father and the men who would sit, talking and producing thin, curls of cedar from sticks they were carving. He carved occasionally in his early adult years, though his efforts were less than an attempt to be a serious carver, yet more than just ‘whittling.’ Then he started carving jewelry and figures from found wood and began to develop a self-taught style. He became interesting in carving hiking sticks when he saw some that his sister had carved and others at craft shows and museums. Now, through his carving techniques and ideas, he makes pieces that are ‘story sticks,’ because they have a story, song, or theme. He hopes that his pieces might pique the interest of children the way his was caught by the whittlers of his youth.
Charles Lee King
Charles Lee King
Yazoo City, MS
Metal, Wood
Accessories
Guild member since 2011
What makes someone want to make a bowl of the ugliest material he can find? Chick does and he continually looks for that type of material. He loves to make something pretty and unusual out of something ugly and discarded. Chick has always liked sculptures, but all you can do with a sculpture is look at it. So, as he makes his bowls, little sculptures always in the back of his mind. His bowl sculptures can be used as utilitarian items around the house. He makes one of a kind bowls, letting the character in the wood define the item. Chick enjoys both metal and wood. He uses old wood with character and old rusty metal to give his bowls their unique look.
Tres (Edwin) Lennep
Tres (Edwin) Lennep
Ocean Springs, MS
Wood
Carved/Turned
Guild member since 2004
Tres’s works include primarily birds and fish, but he also has a series of wooden Christmas ornaments that are hand-turned and original. Tres carved for pleasure for many years, then in 2001 he purchased a lathe and became hooked on wood turning. He joined the American Association of Woodturners, the Azalea Woodturners, and the Magnolia Woodturners. Tres has not had any formal instruction in woodturning, but has studied under a world class professional duck carver and has further developed his skills from books, videos, help from other club and guild members, and demonstrations from some renowned wood turners.
Courtney Lipscomb
Courtney fell in love with wood burning in 2019 at the Mississippi Art Education Association Fall Conference. She loves the process of this medium and making permanent marks that can't be taken away. She also often uses watercolor in her wood burning. The focal point of most of Courtney’s work comes from nature and animals that display various textures and patterns. She has been an art educator for over 20 years, and currently teaches at Florence Middle School in the same community where she resides with her family. She was honored the Middle Level Art Educator of the Year for MAEA in 2019, and the MAEA Art Educator of the Year in 2023. She is the recipient of a Working Artist Grant for Mississippi Arts Commission and a proud member of the Mississippi Craftsmen's Guild since 2023.
Florence MS
Wood
Member since 2023
Sammy Long
Sammy Long
Brandon, MS
Wood
Turned
Guild member since 2007
Sammy Long is a native of Greenville, Mississippi. He has been turning for 20 years. Initially, Sammy was trained to use a metal lathe and worked in the ship building industry. He now uses these skills to create hand turned works from native and imported woods. Sammy has studied under Clay Foster, Todd Hoyer, Al Stirt, Grameme Priddle, John Jordan, and Lyle Jamieson. He is a member of the American Association of Woodturners, Magnolia Woodturners, and the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi. His pieces include decorative and functional bows and hollow vessels. Many are embellished with piercing and carving. Sammy enjoys creating one-of-a-kind pieces by special order.
David Lupton
David Lupton
Phil Campbell, AL
Wood
Turned
Guild member since 2000
Daniel’s basic tools are the lathe, band saw, and chainsaw. He gets a sense of accomplishment from making a product that other people admire and enjoy. His search for the right trees or pieces of wood are like a treasure hunt. Three stages of the process that provide inspiration. 1) The first chainsaw cut along the grain of the log starts to reveal the beauty of the wood. Each log is different. 2) The clearer definition of the grain that becomes apparent with the final chisel cuts and sanding. 3) The final definition and highlighting of the grain that is revealed when the finish is applied.
Pat Pickering
Pat Pickering
Florence MS
Wood
Categories: Carving
Member since 2023
Pat chose his medium after seeing an exhibit of Canes and Staffs by James Oswald in 1974. Mr. Oswald twisted sticks for his shop in Great Britian and seeing his work was mesmerizing for Pat. In his youth, Pat spent most of his time hunting, camping and hiking.
Carl Rensink
Carl Studied Industrial Arts in high school and engineering in college, but gained a lot of his experience from building furniture for his family and repairing furniture that got bathed in Hurricane Katrina’s salt water. Noticing the potential of some damaged church siding as well as a mottled fence from the storm, Carl crafted over 300 birdhouses designed to look like churches. These were sold to members of the damaged church and all over Mississippi. Today, Carl incorporates inspiration from Hurricane Katrina, the coast, and churches into intricate inlays of his boxes. Instead of using stains or dyes, Carl uses different types of wood for the color palette, giving the box an organic look and feel. Carl strives for his boxes to be functional, attractive, durable.
Moss Point, MS
Wood
Guild member since 2013
Fellow since 2023
Barbara Rigdon
As a child, Barbara watched her uncle make white-oak baskets. As an adult, she asked her aunt, who made egg baskets, to teach her the craft. She made her first basket in 1999 and since then has learned to weave different basket types through studying books or by analyzing baskets produced by others. Most of all, she relishes making stained baskets of walnut, driftwood, or oak. She enjoys using color in some of her weaving, dying her own reeds when time permits. She weaves her baskets at the family farm, Honeysuckle Hill, where they also raise miniature pygmy goats. Each basket is individually numbered, signed, and dated. Her desire is to encourage others to learn the ancient art of basket weaving.
Little Rock, MS
Wood
Guild member since 2008
Fellow since 2018
Rory Roark
Rory Roark
Jackson MS
Wood
Categories: Pens
Member since 2023
Rory’s interest in crafts evolved along the line of one thing leading to another beginning with 2D design software. He attempts to design and create each pen as a unique work of art. Rory’s inspiration has no one source. Craft has become a passion for him and it has opened a channel for expressing pent up ideas and creativity.
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Liberty, MS
Wood
Wood
Guild member since 2006
Robbie’s “Berry Creek Bowls” are hand-chopped and custom-made from southern hardwoods. The wood is dried and seasoned for months, then designed, marked and chopped out with an ax and a hatchet. After the bowl is crafted, it is put into a plastic bag to slow the drying process and avoid cracking. Each bowl is hand-rubbed with food-safe Danish Oil, a special blend that created a soft sheen. Since the bowls are all hand-crafted, they are all one-of-a-kind.
Thomas Root
Thomas Root
Madison, MS
Wood
Mixed Media
Guild member since 2008
As a self-retired CEO of two companies, Tom found himself with time on his hands. He started making trivets out of wine corks for neighbors and friends as a method of filling some of that time. Soon his creations were so much in demand that he branched out to making lamps, wine bottles, fish, flowers, and butterflies out of wine corks. Tom cuts the corks in half to provide a flat surface and hot glues them to 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 inch laminated boards. When the design is finished, a frame is custom cut to match the board. Each piece of art comes ready to hang with hook, brackets, and wall spacers made from a bed of hot glue sprinkled with cork dust.
Alvin Schilling
Alvin Schilling
Purvis, MS
Wood
Bowls
Guild member since 1996
Alvin began woodworking in his father’s shop as a child, making birdhouses, lamps, tables, etc. In 1992, he began turning bowls and in 1995, attended the John Campbell School on hollow vessel turning. Alvin is drawn to the beauty of the natural edge bowl, as it retains more of the natural characteristics of the tree. Alvin’s work with a large paper company allowed him to visit wood-turners and lather manufacturers all over North America. This has led to an excellent level of versatility and creativity in his bowls.