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.
Shirley De'Vard
Shirley De'Vard
Baton Rouge, LA
Glass / Jewelry: Guild member since 2007
Metal / Jewelry: Guild member since 2016
Hailing from Baton Rouge, Shirley De’Vard first began jewelry making as a hobby, but it quickly grew into a passion. Now her jewelry has taken her all around the South and Southeast and even got her invited to a Christmas festival in France. Her beaded and wire-wrapped jewelry often incorporates semiprecious stones, crystals, or pearls, all hand selected to ensure that they give off the shine and color she desires. She’ll often combine gemstones, pearls, and beads to give her work a unique and special character to each individual piece of art. Many adore her necklaces for their ability to make a statement yet still be lady-like.
Barbara Dearman
Barbara Dearman
Jackson, MS
Beads / Beadwork: Guild member since 2003
Fiber / Knitting: Guild member since 2010
The multi-talented Barbara spent many years in the retail area as owner of Celita’s Yarn Shop and currently spends countless hours as a teacher of knitting, crochet, and all types of needlework. She also excels in beaded knitting, which led her to the art of beaded jewelry. Most of her jewelry is geometric in design, drawing from her experience in canvas embroidery. All of her pieces, whether jewelry or fiber, are one-of-a-kind.
Debby DeLashmet
Debbie has worked in glass for approximately 30 years - first on stained glass, for which she has won numerous awards and then in fused glass. She has taught numerous classes and demonstrations at various galleries and venue sites. She currently is more involved in fused glass.
Jackson, MS
Glass
Guild member since 2006
Fellow since 2016
Marilyn Diehl Basket Cottage
Marilyn Diehl Basket Cottage
Mt. Olive, MS
Fiber: Baskets
Guild member since 2008
Marilyn learned how to make baskets from her nephew, Roger. In 2002, she bought and moved his basket shop to its current location in Mt. Olive, Mississippi. Her baskets are made from natural rattan reed and the handles are made from hickory. She uses natural products such as pecan and black walnut shells for her dyes. Her baskets have been featured in Southern Living, Our South magazine, and Oak Street magazine. Marilyn has baskets to people from all over the world- including Italy and Germany.
David Dill
David loved building and creating from a young age, from legos to spending time in his grandfather’s woodshop. This evolved as he got older, helping his parents work on various DIY projects around the house. He went on to study Architecture in college, but leaned towards the design build aspect. David says his grandfather had an extensive Fine Woodworking Magazine collection and he began reading those as well to gain more knowledge in building furniture. In 2011, David began a design build firm, d+p Design Build, LLC, with a friend. He likes to blend modern with organic aesthetics, with each piece challenging himself to be a better crafts person.
“I approach making furniture for people the same way an architect designs a building. Most projects start with a need, i.e. a table or chair. I then sketch the idea and make a 3D computer drawing. If it is something that I have not done before, I will make a prototype. Once the client and I are happy with the design, I then make the real thing always allowing for tweaks to happen until it is completed. My inspiration comes from exploring contrasts and how they interact. I love how different materials can coexist with each other; how two different woods look together. Or using the organic live edge of a slab of wood with the straight lines of modern furniture.” - David
Special Honors:
Made in Mississippi Podcast - S4E9 - November 2018
Studio Jackson: Creative Culture in the Mississippi Capital' - November 4th, 2014
Madison MS
Wood
Guild member since 2023
Joseph Eckles
Joseph Eckles
Hernando, MS
Clay / Ceramics
Guild member since 2002
Joseph believes in the importance of combining beauty and purpose. In all of his functional pottery, he tries to create a design that is both visually appealing and able to stand up to daily use. Many of his designs are influenced by places where he has lived, especially Japan. All of his pottery is produced in the traditional way of wheel thrown, slab or hand formed materials. He uses some custom tools that he has made, and he custom blends all his glazes from raw materials. He is always experimenting with new glazes, glaze washes and slips.
Willis Bradley "Jake" Evans, Jr.
Willis Bradley "Jake" Evans, Jr.
Herbert, LA
Metal / Jewelry
Guild member since 2016
Robert Faulkner
Robert Faulkner
Aberdeen, MS
Wood / Furniture and Rings
Guild member since 2008
Rob has been a professional and dedicated craftsman in wood for over 30 years. He believes in simplicity in design and in construction, in using simple lines, and in using traditional proportions which builders have used for centuries to create structures of endearing style. Rob adapts designs from pictures or photographs of a piece that he finds visually appealing. “I often see a particular leg shape, a curve to an edge, or some other shape that I will try to incorporate into a design.” Even though he has worked with some very expensive, exotic species of wood, such as the Purple Heart, he always returns to woods that are native to Mississippi, those that he sees daily as he walks through the country. He especially likes to make pieces using wood taken from family property, knowing that it will passed down through future generations.
Susan Fincher
Susan Fincher
Pensacola, FL (office only)
Metal / Jewelry: Guild member since 2013
Mixed Media / Jewelry: Guild member since 2017
Susan’s work is eclectic and includes many styles. She enjoys the freedom to try new methods, materials, and styles. Susan believes that her work is different from that of others because she doesn’t have a favorite metal or a preference between traditional metalsmithing and metal clay work. In fact, she enjoys combining those materials and methods – even with a single piece of jewelry. Her primary influence is nature, and she tries to use more environmentally friendly methods and products in her work, with leaves and shell motifs making regular appearances.
Kent Follette
Kent Follette
Gonzales, LA
Clay / Ceramics
Guild member since 1985
Kent and his later to be wife, Libby, met a long, long time ago in art school. When asked about their lifetimes as artists, they replied, “We started our ‘Big Adventures Program’ of love, kids, and making art, and we are still at it to this day. We work on love continuously, family, spoiling the grandchild, and the art just about 24/7. We grew up in homes where life revolved around the kitchen and the dinner table. Food, family, and friends were our main sustenance, so it was only natural that our pottery became an extension of our love of cooking and family celebration.”
Dr. Ed Ford
Ed Ford teaches art at William Carey University and has been an artist all his life. He received his bachelor’s degree in art in 1984, his masters in art history in 1988, and his doctorate in art history in 2002. In addition to his academic career, he has thirty years of experience as a commercial artist. He specializes in illustration, graphic design, and animation, which he currently teaches along with art history. Lately he has added wood carving and pyrography to his skill set. His ventures with pyrography began in 2015 with his discovery that wood burners can have heat control. This allows him to draw with a wide range of tones, so wood burnings could be like drawings in pencil or charcoal. He found that the medium could express in ways different from any other he had used. He also feels that, compared to other materials, there appears to be something more profound and timeless about an image burned into wood.
Madison, MS
Wood
Guild member since 2015