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.
Judy Foster
Judy is a winner of the Handweavers Guild of America state Judge’s Award, the Cotton Clouds 100% Cotton Award, and the Silver Shuttle Award of Merit. All of the steps in the process of creating her handwoven evening jackets and other articles are done by Judy, prototype design work, yard selection, warping and dressing the loom, weaving the cloth, finishing the cloth, construction and finishing the jackets. Her works can be seen in several churches in the Jackson area and in private collections in more than a dozen states.
“I had journeyed through many fiber-related crafts: sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, etc, but when I first sat down at a loom, I knew I had 'come home'. I studied with a Guild member for several years before applying for membership, and my weaving career has challenged me to continually strive to learn. I have taken classes locally and at Arrowmont and Penland schools. I have woven and marketed placemats, table runners, rugs, afghans, shawls, clothing and thousands of scarves. Now I am approaching the end of my active weaving, and I owe my career to the support I have received through my nearly 40-year membership in the Craftsmens Guild.” - Judy
Madison, MS
Fiber
Guild member since 1983
Fellow since 1993
Angela Foster
Angela Foster
Angela Foster is a Pyrography artist. The works created are either plain hand burned creations or created incorporating epoxy and other natural elements. Angela is also a long time member of the Ms Painters Society and the International Association of Astronomical Artists. Astrophotography of the night sky in MS is also a passion when not creating her wood burned art.
Her award winning creations have won many awards and can be found in homes across the country and abroad.
Pyro-Techniques Design LLC
Tupelo, MS
Wood
Guild Member since 2020
Susan Freeman
Susan Freeman
Birmingham, AL
Clay / Ceramics
Guild member since 1989
Susan has been making wheel thrown utilitarian pottery for over 30 years. Her work is light due to its tin walled construction. All surface decoration is hand applied after the thrown pot is dried to a leather hard stage. Susan has exhibited in fairs and festivals throughout the Southeast and Northeast, garnering several hundred awards, numerous Best of Show, purchases and the coveted Lathe Design Award. Her work can be found in private collections around the world.
R. P. Funderburk
R. P. Funderburk
Olive Branch, MS
Wood / Birdhouses
Guild member since 2007
R.P.’s background as a carpenter enables him to use the tricks of the trade to ensure each of his birdhouses is well built to last for years. He uses old wood from buildings that have been razed, with new pieces of hickory, walnut, persimmon, cedar, and cherry from a local sawmill. He collects interesting twigs, mosses, and vines and saves pieces of barbed wire, wasps’ nests, pieces of old roofing tin, and antique square nails he finds while doing repair work. He adds the moss and twigs to make the houses more attractive to birds. Each birdhouse is made for specific species of bird which is native to Mississippi. To do this, he researches styles of birdhouses, then he puts them out in his yard and let the birds show him which model they prefer.
Thomas "Tag" Gamblin
Thomas "Tag" Gamblin
Madison, MS
Fiber
Caning
Guild member since 2008
Tag learned caning as a continuation of his hobby of doing minor woodwork and furniture repair. He taught himself through consultation with local craftsmen, reading, studying, using audio- visual aids, and trial and error learning techniques. He finds satisfaction in having developed a hobby/craft which is in demand and is useful to people who need these types of repairs and replacements. He also likes to help other individuals who want to learn the various techniques of caning. He takes great pleasure in a successfully completed project. In his spare time, Tag also volunteers here at the Craft Center to greet our visitors from other states and countries and help them enjoy their induction to Mississippi craftsmen.
Mary Caroline Garland
Mary Caroline Garland
Bay St. Louis, MS
Metal
Jewelry
Guild member since 2019
Joe Gilbert
Joe Gilbert
Madison, MS
Stone
Knives, Arrowheads
Guild member since 2007
Flintnapping - the making of arrowheads, blades, and knives- is considered by many a lost art. Ever since Joe was a young boy, he has had strong interest in primitive mankind, Native American history, and stone tool technology. Joe is a self-taught flint napper. His tool kit consists of primarily of a variety of copper pressure flakers. The natural materials he uses to produce these tools consists of flints, Cherts, Jasper, Obsidian, Novaculite, Dacite, and Agate. The modern materials are fused glass, melted glass bottles, fiber optic glass, and sheet glass. There is an endless variety of colors, styles, and different types of stone and glass tools that he is able to create in this lost art.
Marva Lee Goodman
Marva Lee Goodman
Brandon, MS
Fiber: Spinning, Knitting, Sewing
Guild member since 1996
Marva's unique creations have been shown at the Municipal Art Gallery and the Nunnery Galleries in Jackson, Art Works in Laurel, the Attic Gallery in Vicksburg, the Senatobia Art Gallery, the Corinth Art Gallery, and the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence in Atlanta. Marva also teaches classes in spinning and knitting for the Craftsmen Guild and for local schools and organizations.
Sarah Rose Govero
Sarah Rose Govero
Clinton, MS
Fiber
Categories: Crochet, Knitting
Member since 2023
Sarah began crocheting at the age of 10. Having so many nieces and nephews led her to her current interest in crocheting baby items. Because of this, she has become more skilled and advanced over the years. Sarah’s main focus of crochet is towards things that can be worn such as scarves or hats but also, she loves making plushie animals such as narwhals or cows.
Aaron Griggs
Aaron Griggs
Houlka, MS
Wood
Baskets
Guild member since 2011
Making the first trip to Montana View, Arkansas in September 2010 with his wife Patsy, Aaron met a person by the name of Leon Jennings. Leon was about 90 years old at that time. He found him on the "Off The Beaten Path" tour of craftsmen and artisans. Aaron became interested at that time in White Oak Basket Making because Leon made baskets in the traditional way. Aaron makes his baskets in the traditional way. He selects the right tree, then spits it with wedges and a froe, shaves it down to billets with a draw-knife, then splits it down the grain in weavers, ribs, and handles depending on the type and size of basket to be woven. There are many basket weavers but only a handful of true traditional White Oak Basket Makers in the state of Mississippi and he is proud to be one of them.
John Haltom
John Haltom
Oxford, MS
Mixed Media
Native American Arts
Guild member since 2002
John has been handcrafting Native American bows and arrows since he was 12 years old. He started out using branches, but because they didn't last long, he now cuts staves from the trunks of trees, including the strong Osage orange, elm, hickory, ash, black locust, and black cherry. He uses very limited hand tools and no machines or electric saws, John's bows can be five-foot long Cherokee bows from the Woodlands, or shorter bows from the Plains. After he finishes the extracting process of cutting and stringing each bow, he decorates them with feathers, beads, paint, and leather or fur. His arrows are handmade, the shafts cut from dogwood, privet, willow, black cherry, or cane. The shafts are bundles in groups of a dozen, put up to dry for up to a year before they are finished and furnished with arrowheads.
Emily Hamblin
Emily has been carving and printing linoleum since 2013 and still loves the physicality of carving the blocks and all the steps required in printing each piece. She enjoys the puzzles inherent in the process of designing images backwards, lining up blocks and paper (registration), mixing inks to the desired consistency, adding color through paint or marker or paper, deciding on using a press, or hand pulling a block. Every print is a unique expression of ink transferring from block to paper or fabric resulting in slight variations in an otherwise repeatable process.
Raymond, MS
Other
Guild member since 2019
Greg Harkins
Greg Harkins
Canton, MS
Wood
Chairs
Guild member since 1979
Greg is world renown for his craft. His creations are in more than 20 countries and in the homes of famous people such as former presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter; Paul Harvey, Bob Hope, George Burns, Pope John Paul II, John Glenn, and many others. His "Plantation Rocker" was presented to all the Southern governors at their conference in 1990. Greg is preserving a virtually dead craft by hand turning parts and using techniques to make extremely durable and fine quality chairs. Each piece is dated and hand signed by Greg and guaranteed for life. Greg hand picks each tree for chair parts. Each chair takes approximately 25 hours to make. His work has been featured in more than 25 magazine articles and four TV documentaries.
Debra Hayes
Debra Hayes
Union, MS
Mixed Media
Jewelry
Guild member since 2011
Debra Hayes has been creative as long as she can remember. Even at a very early age, she would sit with needle and thread making little dolls from her mother's left over quilt scraps. She remembers using things like pipe cleaners for hair, thinking always of how to use what she had to make what she wanted. Finally, in the 7th grade, she was able to home economics where she learned to design and make her own clothing, skills that she now puts to use every day. In every creative endeavor she has tried, she has always striven to do it her own way. Usually, nothing is off-limits when it comes to what may be incorporated into a piece. She enjoys challenging herself with taking the ordinary or discarded and turning it into a beautiful piece of art.
Michael Hayman
Michael Hayman
Mandeville, LA
Metal
Jewelry
Guild member since 2001
Michael’s work is inspired by the myths and legends of Celtic and Scandinavian Europe. A preservationist, he works with many of the tools, materials, and techniques available to medieval smiths, without resorting to photo-etching or computer aids. He has visited museums of Scotland and England for historical research. Much of his work is done in lost wax casting. He hammers out his work using a piece of railroad track for an anvil.