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.
Barbara and Dean Parks
Barbara & Dean Parks
Clinton, MS
Metal (Silver)/Stones
Jewelry
Guild member since 1979
Barbara and Dean work together and almost every piece of jewelry has input from both them. Most of their pieces have a semiprecious gem stone as a focal point. The metal surrounding the stone is sawed, filed, hammered, and individually applied, so that each piece has its own character and is slightly different from any other piece. The Parks’ silver designs tend to have strong geometric lines, clean contemporary, and abstract shapes.
Roger Pearson
Roger uses feathers, thread, animal fur, and a galaxy of other materials in the intricate art of fly tying. He ties flies for all kinds of fish, from bass to bluegills, salmon to redfish to tarpon. The results are elaborate, festive little works of art, good for attracting fishermen as well as fish. Roger’s flies are so attractive they have even been used as tree ornaments at Christmas, and he has some in display cases inscribed with the legend, “In case of fishing emergency, break glass.”
“The best awards are when somebody comes up to me and tells me stories about catching fish on flies that I have tied. It was also a great honor for me that my flies, as ornaments, were chosen to be on the Christmas tree on the Mall in DC . I was proud to represent the state of Mississippi in 2015.” - Roger
Clinton, MS
Mixed Media
Guild member since 2009
Fellow since 2019
Kathy Perito
After 30 years of working in various engineering and management positions, Kathy moved to Mississippi and discovered a passion for weaving here at the Craft Center. Weaving gives her the opportunity to apply engineering principals to create textiles and goods for specific functions. Kathy’s goal in every weaving project is to ensure the weave structures and fibers selected deliver the expected results. She says, “It is so rewarding to take a few bobbins of yarn and watch a cloth appear as those threads interlace. And best of all, there is always more to learn, try, and share.”
Madison, MS
Fiber
Guild member since 2013
Fellow since 2022
Bill Pevey
Bill Pevey
Crystal Springs, MS
Metal
Blacksmithing
Guild member since 2006
Bill grew up with blacksmith tools around him. His grandfather did metal work and later passed his anvil, leg vise, tongs, and forge to Bill’s father. As a member of the Mississippi Forge Council, he has the opportunity to demonstrate several times a year at the Agricultural and Forestry Museum for people who have never seen a blacksmith at work. “It gives me a great pleasure,” he says, “to tell them the history of blacksmithing while I am making a piece of hardware the way it was made 200 years ago. Working with red hot steel does not give you much time what you are going to do next, so you have to plan ahead to get the desired outcome. I think this is one of the main reasons I am drawn to the fire.”
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.
Roger and Renae Poer
Roger and Renae Poer
Sylvan Springs, AL
Mixed Media
Jewelry
Guild member since 2015
Katherine Prejean
Handcrafted Jewelry Designer Based in Louisiana USA A native of south Louisiana, Prejean creates jewelry that is engaging, sophisticated, inviting, well-crafted and beautiful. Using metals as the main focal point, she complements her designs with colorful, semi-precious gemstones and many other natural materials, including freshwater pearls and leather. Kat is proud to be an active contributor to Southwest Louisiana’s arts scene, right in the heart of Cajun Country. She is a member of Louisiana Crafts Guild (www.louisianacrafts.org) Lafayette Art Association (LAA) and Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi (www.craftsmensguildofms.org). All of Kat Prejean Handcrafted Jewelry is created in her home studio using materials sourced in the USA.
Youngsville, LA
Metal
Guild member since 2016
Brooke Pumphrey
Brooke Pumphrey
Brandon, MS
Metal
Jewelry
Guild member since 2012
Chainmail was used in ancient Europe to make strong and impenetrable armor for knights. Today, Brooke uses it to create unique and highly imaginative jewelry and ornamentals. Although the material is ancient in origin, the techniques and results used by result in jewelry that is stylish and modern. Brooke has taught several people the art of chainmail weaving and would be glad to hold how-to classes for others who would like to learn the art.
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
Chuck Rhoads
Chuck Rhoads
Brandon, MS
Metal
Metal
Guild member since 2020
Chuck learned the how to do Repousse’ designs from a former professor of Mississippi College. He later taught the technique to his own art students. He retired after teaching for 28 years, and he now focuses on his art. Chuck has been a member of the Mississippi Arts Educator Association since 1992 and has exhibited in numerous exhibits. He draws his inspiration from architecture, music, nature, and the Bible.
Shawn Richards
Shawn Richards
Brandon, MS
Fiber, Paper
Knitting & Crochet, Scherenschnitte
Guild member since 2018
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.
Susan Ford Robertson
Susan Ford Robertson
Columbia South Carolina
Glass
Guild member since 1975
I love Hot Glass! Glass is a hard, cold super cooled liquid—yes, a liquid! I use color, shape and texture to entice the beholder to touch my work—glass beads.
Fanny Beads are made by me, Susan F. Roberston, in my home studio. The beads are made of Italian glass rods on a torch at 2300 degrees F! Gooey Hot Stuff!! Winding hot glass around a stainless steel rod is called lamp working, a bead making art which is centuries old. My beads are carefully cooled for durability and strength then followed with a careful cleaning.
After making the Beads, they become jewelry. I use the standard stringing method for jewelry or sometimes the art of Kumihimo-Japanese Brading with Beads. Quality components are used to finish the jewelry.
After a 31 year adventure Blowing Glass in Mississippi. I relocated to South Carolina. Still yearning for hot glass, I began making glass beads. Making things gives me joy and making things with glass is just plain fun!
Elizabeth Robinson
Elizabeth Robinson
Jackson, MS
Glass
Sculpture
Guild member since 1989
Elizabeth was vice-president and business manager of Pearl River Glass Studio before establishing her own Studio C in 1985. She has had solo shows and has exhibited at museums of art through the nation. Several years ago, Elizabeth began to have dreams in which houses of light appeared. As a glass artist, she wanted to make them real and she developed a ‘language’ of glass, a melding of glass, light, and shadow, with which she could make these houses and draw people into their warmth and comfort. This developed into her ‘Spirit House’ series. She believes that art is not only personal expression, but also a public act, serving to help people bring their own spiritual needs and longings into focus.