Mud & Magnolias April 2021 by Journal Inc

Mud&Magnolias October. November 2013 April 2021

A RTSand

FASHION

Spring Fashion Kingfisher Designs SJ Ceramic Co Serendipity Hippie Gulf Coast Artists

CONTENTS

60 48 21

RECIPES

SJ CERAMICS CO.

BESSIE JOHNSON

SPRING FASHION

ALSO:

With spring in the air, we did up a brunch perfect for those breezy Saturday mornings meant for soaking up friends, food and sunshine.

Meet the basket weaver whose work has been featured in a traveling Smithsonian exhibit and on the White House lawn, West Point’s own Bessie Johnson.

COASTAL ARTISTS

We chatted with two artists along the Mississippi coast for a special section for this issue. One is a heavy-bodied and high-volume painter, and the other is a stained glass artist.

April 2021

SJ – Share Joy and Shelby Jane – Ceramics Co. in New Albany chats with us about making jewelry and slowing down.

As we head into spring and summer, check out this year’s trendy looks for the whole family from local retailers in the Northeast area.

ON THE COVER New spring fashion available at Black Sheep Boutique. Please call for details and pricing.

PORCELAIN BY ANTOINET TE A world renowned porcelain artist, teacher and full of color – meet Antoinette Badenhorst.

Meet the girl behind SJ Ceramics Co. Visit mudandmag.com.

DIY: MARBLED PLATES

DON & LOUISE & KINGFISHER DESIGNS

SERENDIPITY HIPPIE

DIY: PATEL RIVERS SWEATSHIRT

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pril signifies a milestone birthday for me this year, and with the celebration has come a lot of reminiscing. Over the weekend, I went through worn photo albums featuring birthdays past, old school pictures and a hodge-podge of other childhood memories. It was funny to see some of the trends I wore in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s back in style today. Baggy jeans, scrunchies and tie dye were on trend when I was in elementary school, and they’re popular again now. I love a good retro-inspired look, but we can leave behind the big hair and perms. No matter if you are a trend setter or throwing it back to styles of the past, there’s something for you in our Arts and Fashion issue. We highlight some of their biggest fashion trends beginning on page 60. Then, feature accessories on page 72. The DIY on page 77 shows you how to do a new tie-dye trend at home. It would be such a cute look for spring! I hope whatever style you decide to rock, you can get out and enjoy the spring.

1242 S Green St. Tupelo, MS 38804 662.842.2611

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sarah Brooke Bishop

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Lindsay Pace Kristina Domitrovich Adam Armour

FEATURED SALES CONSULTANTS Leigh Knox June Phillips Nick Boone Teresa McDonald Darla Webb Angie Quarles Tyler Vuncannon Paul Fullerton Justine Stewart

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Danny McArhur

subscriptions@mudandmag.com advertising@mudandmag.com info@mudandmag.com mudandmag.com This magazine is a monthly publication of Journal, Inc.

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RECIPES

SPRING-INSPIRED BRUNCH With the weather getting warmer, a porchside meal sounds more and more appealing. Can anything be better than a relaxing brunch outside? The familiar cool spring breeze blowing, a cup of coffee, mimosa or bellini in hand, and maybe even a few friends gathered around the table. The community so many of us have been yearning for over the past year, may finally be in reach – and what better way to welcome friends and loved ones back than with a brunch. Whatever one’s brunching preference, savory or sweet, we covered all the bases this issue – plus some shareable plates for the table, too.

Carrot-Cake (Sheet)-Pancakes with Cream Cheese Drizzle recipe on page 21

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RECIPES Big Kids’ Grilled Mac & Cheese with Gazpacho recipe on page 21

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RECIPES

Cajun Bennies recipe on page 21

Crawfish Chowder

recipe on pg. 22

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RECIPES Donut Bread French Toast with Homemade Quick Jam recipe on page 23

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Baby Beignets recipe on page 23

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Crispy Hash Patties recipe on page 23

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RECIPES CARROT CAKE (SHEET)-PANCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE DRIZZLE

BIG KIDS’ GRILLED MAC & CHEESE WITH GAZPACHO

Ingredients: 2 3/4 cups AP flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 eggs 1/4 cup butter, melted 2 3/4 cups buttermilk 1 pound whole carrots, peeled and finely shredded For the cream cheese drizzle: 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of salt 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar 4 tablespoons milk 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Ingredients: For the gazpacho: 1 red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and seeded 4 medium red tomatoes, cored and seeded 4 ounces cherry tomatoes 1/4 sweet onion 1 garlic clove 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tablespoon lightly dried basil 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling For the grilled mac & cheese: 1 loaf of roasted garlic bread, sliced 6 cups leftover mac & cheese, refrigerated 8 ounces cheddar cheese, sliced 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

Directions: For the pancakes: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 26x18-inch baking sheet with non-stick spray, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients, and mix with a spatula for about 10 seconds. Fold in the carrots until combined, then pour into the sheet pan. Use an offset spatula to spread evenly, then bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from heat, and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing. In the meantime, make the cream cheese drizzle: Mix all the ingredients together until it is completely smooth and no lumps remain. It should be fairly thin, and will become even thinner when poured onto a warm pancake. Assemble: Cut the pancake into about 12 pieces. Stack a few pancakes on a plate, top with cream cheese drizzle, sprinkle with walnuts (if desired) and serve immediately.

Directions: For the gazpacho: In a blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pass through a sieve (optional), and taste; add more salt or pepper if needed. Refrigerate for at least two hours. For the grilled mac & cheese: Preheat a medium pan over medium heat. Evenly spread about a cup of refrigerated mac & cheese onto a slice of bread. Add a slice of cheddar cheese over top the noodles, and place another piece of bread on top. Butter the top piece of the sandwich, and place the sandwich in the pan, buttered-side down. Now that the other slice of bread is exposed, butter it, then cover with a lid and cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until golden. Flip the sandwich and replace the lid, and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat when deeply golden and the cheese has melted. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve with a bowl of cold gazpacho, drizzled with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

CAJUN BENNIES Ingredients: 6 English muffins, cut in half and toasted 1 dozen eggs For the crawfish sauce: 3 tablespoons butter 1 clove garlic, finely minced 1/2 yellow onion, diced 1 red pepper, diced 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon chili flake 1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning 3 tablespoons AP flour 1 1/2 cups milk 12 ounces prepared crawfish tails For the fried green tomatoes: 2 large green tomatoes 1 egg 1/4 cup milk 3/4 cup AP flour, divided 1/4 cup cornmeal 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Peanut oil Hollandaise: 3 egg yolks 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/8 teaspoon paprika 10 tablespoons butter Directions: For the crawfish sauce: In a large, deep-sided pan over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the onion, red pepper and garlic, followed by the seasonings. Sautée for about 5 minutes, or until softened and the onions are translucent, then add the flour and mix well. Slowly, while stirring continuously, drizzle in the milk. Once all the milk has been added, allow the mixture to cook for another 5 minutes, or until it is simmering, then stir in the crawfish tails. Cook for another 5 minutes. For the fried green tomatoes: In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg and milk; set aside. In another shallow dish, mix together 1/2 cup AP flour with the remaining dry ingredients, and set aside. Place remaining 1/4 cup AP flour in a third dish, and set aside. Preheat a large pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat, and add enough oil to cover about 1/4-inch of the pan. Remove the top and bottom of the tomatoes, then slice the tomatoes between 1/4and 1/2-inch thick. One at a time, begin dredging the tomato slices. First, cover in the flour –– don’t forget the sides, and tap off any excess; then dip in the egg wash, wetting the entirety of the tomato; then cover in the cornbread-panko dry mixture, patting the mixture on to ensure it sticks and the slice is evenly coated. Repeat with remaining slices. Carefully place a slice into the

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RECIPES hot oil, one at a time, fitting about 5-6 slices in the oil, depending upon the pan’s size. Fry on each side for 3-5 minutes, or until golden on each side. Remove from the pan, and place on a paper towel-lined plate; sprinkle with more kosher salt. In the meantime, make the hollandaise: In a small pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. In a food processor or blender, purée the egg yolks and seasoning for about 30 seconds, or until pale yellow. With the blender on, slowly drizzle in the hot, melted butter. Poach the eggs however desired, and begin assembling: English muffin, fried green tomato, cajun sauce then the egg, followed by the hollandaise. DONUT BREAD FRENCH TOAST WITH HOMEMADE QUICK JAM Ingredients: For the donut bread: 2 3/4 cups AP flour 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 cup butter, room temperature 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 eggs 1 cup buttermilk For the jam: 1 pint blueberries 1 pound strawberries, stemmed 2 limes, juiced 3/4 cup sugar For the French toast: 3 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3 tablespoons butter, divided 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, optional Directions: For the bread: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, and spray with non-stick spray; set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt and nutmeg; set aside. With a mixer or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and pale yellow. Add in the vanilla, followed by the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Mix in a third of the flour mixture, followed by a third of the buttermilk; mix well between each addition, and repeat with the remaining dry and wet ingredients. Once fully incorporated, transfer to the loaf pan, and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Place the loaf pan on a wire rack, and cool for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. For the jam: Cut the strawberries into about 1/4-inch pieces, and transfer to a medium, high-sided pot, followed by the blueberries. Add the sugar and lime juice, and

place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and attach a thermometer; stirring regularly, cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until it reaches 240 degrees. Remove from heat. For the French toast: In a low-sided dish, beat together the eggs, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. Heat a medium-sized pan over medium-low heat. Slice the donut bread in roughly 1/2-inch slices, and soak an individual slice in the egg mixture on both sides, for 10-15 seconds combined. Melt about 1/2 tablespoon butter in the pan, then place the soaked slice of bread in the pan (two slices of bread can be cooked at the same time, depending upon the size of pan). Cook one side for about 3 minutes, then flip and repeat. Once both sides are golden brown, transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining bread. Top with jam and powdered sugar as desired.

FOR THE TABLE BABY BEIGNETS Ingredients: 3/4 cup warm water 1 packet, or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/2 cup warm milk 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar 1 egg 3 1/2 cups AP flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature Peanut oil, for frying 1/2 cups powdered sugar, or more Directions: In a bowl, combine the warm water and milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar and yeast, and stir lightly. Cover, set aside and let the yeast activate for about 10 minutes, or until foamed. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar and salt, and mix until combined. Pour in the yeasty wet ingredients when ready, and mix until it comes off the sides of the bowl (about 3 minutes) and forms a ball. Transfer to a large, well-greased bowl; cover and let rise for an hour or two, or until doubled in size. Before rolling out the dough, fill a large, heavy pot with about 3 inches of oil, attach a thermometer, and place over medium heat. Line a baking sheet with paper towels, and place a drying rack over that. In the meantime, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, shaping it into a rectangle that’s about 1/2inch thick. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough into roughly 1x1.5-inch rectangles. Once the oil reaches 350 degrees, begin frying about 6-8 pieces at a time. Flip the dough over after about 2 minutes, and cook the other side for another 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Use a frying spider or similar slotted spoon to scoop out the beignets, and place on the

prepared drying rack. Repeat with remaining beignets. When all the dough has been fried, carefully transfer the beignets into a large bowl, add the powdered sugar, and toss to coat –– or just sprinkle liberally. Serve immediately. CRISPY HASH PATTIES Ingredients: 5 russet potatoes, peeled and shredded 2 eggs 1 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons AP flour 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/4 cup olive oil for pan-frying For the dip: 1/2 cup sour cream 1 tablespoon diced chives 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Directions: Immediately after shredding the potatoes, transfer to a large bowl and cover completely with ice water. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to three; this will draw out extra starch, which will result in a crispier hash patty. Once done soaking, use a cheesecloth or a salad spinner to remove as much excess water as possible. Preheat a large or cast iron skillet over medium heat. In a large dry bowl, toss and fold the potatoes with the remaining ingredients until well mixed. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to the pan. Shape the patties: Scoop about 1/3 cup of the potato mixture, and place on a cutting board or flat surface. Group it together as tightly as possible, then use a spatula to transfer it to the pan. Fill the rest of the pan with more hash patties, and cook undisturbed for at least 5 minutes. Once they have a golden sear on one side, flip and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate, and sprinkle with flaky salt. Repeat with remaining mixture. In a small bowl, stir together all the dip ingredients until well combined. Sprinkle the hash patties with more freshly diced chives, and serve with the dip. M

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HERITAGE AND HOPE Bessie Johnson’s Folk Art Revival story and photos by LINDSAY PACE Rooted in the soil of Bessie Johnson’s backyard is a longleaf pine tree. To see its tawny, rutted bark, you’ll pass two white churches – the kind of unembellished structures that sing of heritage and tradition – in the rural Tibbee Community of West Point, Mississippi. There, she keeps the craft of pine needle basket weaving alive, sharing with her community the art that is her foundation.

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aster basket weaver and folk artist Bessie Johnson has practiced pine needle art for over 50 years. Since 1978, when she was welcomed into the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, she has traveled across the country, exhibited for the Smithsonian and decorated a tree for the White House. Now a folk art phenomena, Johnson’s roots wind back to a little girl in Clay County whose parents were adept in crafts like weaving and quilting. Johnson’s father understood weaving as a means to an end. He would intertwine strips of split white oak into baskets tall enough to fill with cotton and sturdy enough to carry across the field in harsh weather. He was one of many using their crafting skills to ease the strain of labor and inequity. Johnson says that during the Great Depression, people were apt to make hats, baskets and other tools to save money, relying on publications from the United State Department of Agriculture to teach them how. “You know, back then, they would do what they had to do,” she said. “The community schools, they taught pine needle basket weaving and art from nature.” Now, Johnson is the teacher. After retiring from a 30-year stint

teaching home economics, she continues sharing folk art with students, church members and the elderly. She’s brought folk art to every school in her tri-county area, and it’s this dedication to community that tilted her craft into the public gaze. “In my early career, I did a program for senior citizens at Mississippi State,” she said. “Somebody there picked up my name and gave it to the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, and it got to the Mississippi Arts Commission. And that was my beginning of going public with [folk art].” After 10 years of recognition with the Guild, she began to garner national attention. The accomplishments she speaks most fondly of, though, are rooted in Mississippi, like the Governor’s Award for Excellence in 2010, or being named a Hometown Hero du r i n g West Poi nt ’s sesquicentennial celebration. To Johnson, her art is her heritage, and with the craft itself dwindling in popularity, it’s a heritage she’s compelled to keep alive. “It’s a lot of work in basket weaving,” she said. “A lot of patience. It’s slow.” To work with pine needles, which grow abundantly in southern Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana,

Opening page: Johnson designed a wastebasket according to the classic “Trip Around the World” quilting pattern. Her mother was a quilter, and Johnson recalls having to choose between quilting or basketweaving. She chose the latter. This Page, counterclockwise from top left: Bessie Johnson in her studio; This vase is one of Johnson’s more intricate matchstick projects. She made it by gluing charred matchsticks onto the vase. She often scours places like Hobby Lobby for matchstick art bases; Johnson highlights her matchstick art designs in her studio. Her work includes everything from utensil holders to vanity trays.

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This page, clockwise from bottom left: Johnson used a quilting pattern created this tissue box design; She buys matchsticks in bulk, burning them at least two weeks before teaching matchstick art sessions; Johnson buys premade items to cover in scorched matchsticks. Here, she gives new life to a Pioneer Woman utenstil holder; A small pine needle bowl includes a lid with pine cone. Johnson often uses different components of her longleaf pine needle tree to create her art. For natural decoration on her designs, she favors gourds and black walnuts.

they must be sourced. Johnson harvested her first collection when visiting her in-laws in Prentiss, and she’d often gather some from a neighbor on Highway 50. Finally, she planted a longleaf pine tree in her own soil and began cultivating an endless supply. Johnson harvests needles in July, making sure not to perform any yard work beforehand that could damage them. She rinses and dries them, later pulling a tiny cap off the ends. Part of the wonder of her craft is that pine needles remain indefinitely flexible, usable. If they stiffen, a quick soak in water revives them. Once groundwork is laid, Johnson follows a simple method: “Wrap, fold, secure, repeat.” She says her crafts are unlike those that depend on paced perfection, on keeping place without anomaly. “You don’t lose yourself,” Johnson said, laughing. “It’s that simple. Once you get the basics, you know you’ve got it made.” Johnson’s favorite pieces are ornamented by black walnuts. She splits and softens the nuts in water before slicing them into thin layers, soon to be plaited with pine needles. Another favorite, her “Trio” basket includes pine needles, pine cones and a bowl made of pine wood. It’s one of her best sellers, and for good reason: those who purchase her work honor its magic and craftsmanship. In fact, one of Johnson’s works was so beloved that it was returned to her after the client’s death. “His wife passed away. He got in touch with me and asked me to accept the baskets back that he had bought about 20 years ago for his wife,” she remembers. “He talked about how she treasured them, and he wanted them to be back in a safe place.”

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Just as treasured as her baskets is Johnson’s burnt matchstick art, a relatively new venture for her. She calls it an art of necessity: She needed something suitable for the public school system, whose education programs are historically underfunded in Mississippi. Due to its affordability, matchstick art does the trick. It simply requires matchsticks (which she burns ahead of time for safety), glue, a base to build upon, and toenail clippers. Matchstick art is commonly referred to as “prison art” for its modest budget and uncontentious tools, she notes. Johnson will pack the matches in a votive, place them over a boiler, light them and cover tightly to snuff out oxygen. She prefers to do this about three weeks before she needs them, but just as with pine needles, she keeps a large supply at the ready. Later, students will glue scorched matchsticks onto a base, such as a picture frame or vanity tray. It

sharpens fine motor skills, and keeps hand and finger muscles agile – so she is particularly fond of sharing this with the elderly, too. Johnson’s personal matchstick pieces are much more intricate. Think: vases reminiscent of Amphora or Neoclassical movements and umbrella holders. Most of Johnson’s designs follow a Trip Around the World quilting pattern – a favorite of her mother’s. Its form is geometric and plainsailing, patterned by squares and triangles. In this way, Johnson considers both burnt matchstick art and weaving to be a “revival” – a link to her history and heritage, her birthright as a maker, a gift from her youth. Because when she creates, she does so in the likeness of her mother and father, and in the spirit of hallowed tradition. “I’m in the process of trying to give back, because I was given so much. That was my foundation – my childhood was my foundation.” M This page, clockwise from top: Johnson’s “Trio” basket incorporates pine cones, pine needles and a bowl made from longleaf pine wood. Due to the fragile nature of Pine wood, it is not a standard medium for woodcarvers, but a local likes to make these for her; Johnson grew her own longleaf pine needle tree so that she could cultivate an endless supply of needles for her craft; Shown is the top of a hat, which was crafted in the early 1900s and later given to Johnson as a gift. Pine needle weaving dates back to Pre-Columbian times. Indigenous American communities paved the way for the craft.

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DIY: Marbled Plate Wall Décor by KRISTINA DOMITROVICH photos by LINDSAY PACE

This DIY is a friendly project to renters and homeowners alike. The process involves spraying paint on top of water, and dipping the plates; the paint will stick to the plate, and the water will act as a pillow, pressing the paint onto the plate. This project is as fun as it is beautiful and simple! Materials 7 plates of varying sizes 3 acrylic spray paint colors** A large disposable tub, filled with lukewarm water † A drop cloth 2 disposable skewers or paint stirrers Long disposable gloves Clear top-coat spray paint D-rings †† Liquid Nails glue

Directions

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the plates. 2. Lay the tub of water on top of the drop cloth (recommended: outside). Gather all the plates, colored spray paints, gloves and skewers. 3. Shake the spray paint before using, then spray directly onto the surface of the water, from about a foot away. Try varying methods to get a design you like (spray two at once from opposite sides to get splatters, etc.); use a skewer to scoop out the paint to get a “clean canvas” to start over if needed. 4. With gloves on, slowly dip the plate at an angle (the front of the plate should be facing upward). The paint will slowly adhere to the plate; the further into the water it is dipped, the further up the plate it will attach. Fully submerge the plate (for full coverage), or stop where desired

and gently wiggle the plate free of the remaining paint floating on the water’s surface. When lifting the plate out of the water, if the paint is “floating” on the plate, slowly angle it until water is draining off the edge and the paint adheres. 5. Set the plate on the drop cloth to dry, and use a skewer to clean the “canvas” before spraying more paint. 6. Spray more paint onto the water as desired, and repeat the process with the remaining plates. 7. Allow the plates to dry undisturbed for at least 12 hours, preferably 24. 8. Once dry, use the clear spray paint to seal in the marbled design. Dry for another 12-24 hours. 9. On the back of the plates, glue the D-rings into place. Dry as directed by glue’s packaging. 10. Mount onto the wall as desired.

Editors notes

*Use as many plates as desired, but consider buying two or three extras for the first couple of tries dipping it into the paint. **We used black, gray and gold spray paints. † Make sure the tub is larger than the biggest plates you’ll be dipping, plus your hands holding the edges. †† Opt for D-rings with flat pieces that can be glued or nailed down, or use another mounting option if desired. M M &M

coastal ARTISTS Above: A glass sheet from Cassandra Godbold’s collection.

photos and stories by KRISTINA DOMITROVICH

The following spreads were gathered for a special section, featuring Mississippi artists from the coast – Pascagoula and Diamondhead, specifically. Meet Hope Walker-Morgan, a painter whose pieces are thick, voluminous, colorful and contrasting; and Cassandra Godbold, a Chattanooga native turned stained glass artist in retirement. M &M

ope Walker-Morgan never considered herself an artsy person. Growing up, she had a very different relationship with painting. “I painted when I was younger, but it was not good,” she said with a laugh. “I just didn’t enjoy it.” Though she wasn’t necessarily interested in making art herself, WalkerMorgan always appreciated it. In fact, when she was living in New Orleans –– where she moved right after college and stayed for 22 years –– she’d attend art events regularly. “The culture and the art there is amazing,” she said. “They would have those white-linen nights with the beautiful galeries open for free, and it was like every Friday night, and all my girlfriends and I, that’s what we would do.” But all her time going to gallery events, “I never saw this kind of thing,” she said, gesturing to her painting on the wall. About seven years ago, Walker-Morgan moved back to her small, southern beach hometown of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her mother had dementia and was diagnosed with Alzheimers. She came home to spend as much time with her mom as possible, and to help her two older sisters with care. She visited her mom for three hours every day, while still keeping her full-time job as a paper supply representative to the southern states, traveling between Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and parts of Florida. In search of something life-giving, and looking for a way to communicate with her mother, Walker-Morgan picked up her first paintbrush as an adult. From there, her love affair began. “It’s just been a really big therapeutic help for me,” she said. “Very calming.” Walker-Morgan’s style of work is bright and bold and has what she calls extreme volume. She uses heavy-bodied acrylic paint (very pigmented) and mixes it with molding paste: A very thick white substance she mixes with her paint colors, and applies on the canvas. It helps hold the textures she’s trying to capture in her work, while also adding a lot of volume. Before the paste, she would just use a lot of paint, but found those paintings would be rather heavy and difficult for her to transport to shows; the paste makes the paintings lighter and more manageable. Since her paintings have so much mass on them, she buys the paste by the gallon-sized tub. She used to cover her paintings in a high-gloss finishing coat, but has started experimenting with pouring resin over the dried product because “it’s a lot

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Left: A piece titled “Sweet Melody” features several birds painted in blues and greens, Walker-Morgan’s favorite colors, on a yellow background, all covered in resin. In the bottom right corner is her signature, which reads “Hope,” followed by three hearts. This page clockwise, starting left: A medallion-like piece in white shows the extreme volume Walker-Morgan’s pieces have. Though her color spectrum leans toward bright, vibrant colors, her pieces occassionally feature neutral tones; Walker-Morgan brightens some blues on a piece titled “A Thousand Paint Chips” in her home studio; A close-up of Walker-Morgan’s vibrant flower paintings. It was a flower painting like this that she donated to a nursing home during the pandemic, and painted on it, “Heroes Work Here,” to brighten staff and patients’ spirits. These flower paintings are usually a big hit among commission customers, too, and she laughed that she has a lot of men approach her to paint a flower piece for their wives.

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Above: The table inside Walker-Morgan’s in-house studio is covered in dried paint and glitter. For her piece “A Thousand Paint Chips,” seen on the table, she spent hours scraping these dried paint bits up and attaching them to a canvas. Right: A medallion-like painting hanging in Walker-Morgan’s house. She said another reason she decided to try painting when she returned to Pascagoula was because her new house was in need of wall décor.

glossier.” She says she’s having a bit of a tough time with it –– there are a lot of fluctuations with weather and the drying time, and the smell is so strong she does it out in her barn. Her paintings vary from chunky flowers growing off the canvas, to birds, butterflies, pelicans and some crosses or smaller items around the holidays so people can buy “just a happy” to give as gifts. Before adding a top coat, she said the canvas’ paint-paste mixture takes about five days to dry. “All my paintings probably have imperfections,” she said, as she’s been struggling with the resin. “But my husband says, ‘You’re the only one that can see them.’” Her husband is the reason for her art business’ name, Butter Bean and Bird. Her husband loves to cook, and since he’s from Louisiana, he tends to make a lot of cajun food and frequently uses butter beans. “I hate butter beans,” she laughed. “So I think it happened as a joke because he loves and cooks these butter beans with all his creole-style (food), and I’m like, ‘I’m not eating that.’” He started calling her Butter Bean as a wry pet name. The other part of her business’ name is her dog, Redd Bird.

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Redd Bird is a 10-year-old Australian Shepherd and a bundle of energy. When he rebounded from an injury he acquired while playing ball with Walker-Morgan –– the vet said he wouldn’t be able to walk again, but thanks to his pet parents’ dedication and rehab efforts, Redd regained his mobility. She saw him as a source of inspiration. Redd Bird frequently stays in the barn with her while she paints. She laughed that he typically has paint on the bottom of his paws. In the colder months, she’ll pack up her studio and move into a spare room upstairs. Redd Bird doesn’t like this, since he hasn’t been able to master the stairs again quite yet. Along with Redd Bird, when WalkerMorgan is painting, she may or may not have a glass of wine, but she is always listening to music. “(If) I am painting, I always listen to this station called ‘French cooking music,’” she said. “I just feel like (and) just wish I was in Paris.” So on any given night, since she prefers to paint at night, she can be found in her studio with French music playing in the background, piling paint onto a canvas. Loaded with texture and bright, cheerful colors popping off the canvas. “I think we all need that right now,” she said smiling.

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tained glass is a bit of a dying art. One of the most threatening pieces of the equation is its expense. The labor costs alone is enough to discourage potential customers, which in turn is discouraging to potential artists. So why did Cassandra Godbold pick up this craft, especially in retirement? When she and her husband moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Diamondhead, Mississippi, for retirement, they mostly did it for golf. “My priorities are number one, my husband, number two, my dog; number three is golf,” she said. Diamondhead is a neighborhood on a golf course –– “the best-kept secret down here on the coast” –– and she and her husband usually go golfing every day, depending upon weather. But when she moved down, she wanted to see if there were any stained glass courses. She had a few pieces hanging in windows in Chattanooga that she loved, so she wanted to see if stained glass could be her new hobby. “I’m not going to tell you I’m creative as far as an artist, but I’m very crafty. I love doing all kinds of things,” she said. “I was retired; I wanted to see if there was a stained-glass opportunity somewhere.” So, she signed up for a continuing education course. “I thought, you know, I’ve always wanted to

do this or look into it,” she recalled. “ I had these two side light windows (on either side) of the front door, ‘I’m just going to see if I can just make two pretty, colorful stained glass windows.’” And she got hooked. It wasn’t long before she started expanding her arsenal of equipment and supplies and realized how expensive the hobby was. She hoped if she started selling a few pieces, she could at least break even. She wasn’t too serious about it though; after all, she was retired. “I’m not trying to make a career out of this, what I’m trying to do is pay for my addiction,” she laughed. “Pay for the glass and all the tools that it takes to do this.” But that would change. Godbold has found Facebook to be a great place to grow her collection of glass sheets and tools. When she was visiting her daughter in Nashville, she saw a large collection for sale. She called to inquire about the materials, “glass and tools and supplies and everything,” and learned the seller was retiring from his career of making pieces for country musicians. “‘I want you to think about what you would sell the whole thing for,’” she remembers saying to the seller. Her daughter tagged along to get a look at the collection, and the seller became a little enamored with the two. “He just thought we were two of the cutest things since sliced bread,” she said laughing. He offered to sell his whole life’s collection

to her for $500. Godbold was shocked, and couldn’t pass up the deal. Once figuring out the logistics of transporting it back to Diamondhead –– a Uhaul and custom-built crates were involved –– Godbold had to call her husband to give him a heads up. “I said, ‘I’m not going to tell you how much this is, because you’re going to freak out if I tell you,’” she said with her eyes wide. “‘Get everything out of the garage, and when I get there, just know that I’ve decided to take this seriously.’” The seller has become somewhat of a mentor to Godbold, and she has drawn inspiration from his work and techniques. “What he did with his glass was unique and different than anything I’d ever seen,” she said. “I just was overwhelmed at his skill level.” One thing she was enamored by the most was how he taught her to use clear glass. When people think of stained glass, oftentimes a church window first comes to mind. These are large windows made of a pattern using a lot of very small pieces. While she appreciates these windows for what they are, it doesn’t quite fit Godbold’s style: First because “I don’t have that kind of patience,” but she really prefers the one-of-a-kind pieces that tell a story. She’s learned she can depict just about any scene by “paint(ing) with clear glass –– the wallpaper, the floor, the banister, the stairs.” It sounds confusing, because stained glass is

supposed to use colorful pieces to guide the viewer, right? Yes, but by making the background clear, and using a textured clear glass, the subjects stand out in color. One commissioned piece Godbold created demonstrates this perfectly: A client came to her with a photo of her daughter dancing with her husband and wanted it in a stained glass form. Godbold used clear glass for the floor, a different textured clear for the walls or backdrop, and put the two dancers in color. The outcome is powerful and clean, while still telling a story. The figures don’t seem to be floating in air; instead, they become the center of the room and of the story. This can be accomplished in part because of the varying glass textures she can use. Some of her clear glass sheets have patterns on them, like fleur di lis, flowers and different squiggles. Some glasses have sweeps of color streaking through, overlapping each other, called baroque glass; if it’s white, Godbold loves to use this glass for imitating the sky. Some glass can even be iridescent. And that’s barely scratching the surface. Sometimes, the glass variety can be “totally overwhelming.” “You start going crazy,” she said. “The worst part, and the best part, is that glass is so diverse. And the problem with that is landing on what you like to do.” Glass can be tricky, too, and its colors are hard to read. Godbold has some sheets that look almost black at first, but in front of a light, they could be a dark purple, red or green –– there’s no telling what a sheet is until it has light shining through. But before she can begin choosing colors, she has to choose a pattern. Some glass artists sell their patterns for people to copy their designs, while others will sketch out their own images. Godbold says she does a combination of both: She designs her own work about 50% of the time, and for the rest of it, she’s looking at other artists’ designs to

figure out which elements she likes. She then creates her own version using a hodgepodge of things she’s seen elsewhere. “It’s a nice art form that, if you fall in love with it, you can use your own creative side,” she said. “Or, you may just want to (use) other people’s.” If she’s making an animal, she prefers to look at real images instead of stained glass so she can create her own accurate depiction of an animal, like an egret, haron or cardinal, which are popular designs for Godbold. Once she has sketched a design, she will place a sheet of glass over the paper, and put that over the top of a lit table. She traces out the sketch onto the glass using a marker. Then, she will use a scoring tool –– the trick is “it’s basically your shoulder you’re working from” –– paired with oil as a lubricant, and she’ll score the glass. The whole time, she’s carefully listening to the sounds the glass makes, because it will tell her if she’s scoring with too much pressure. Scoring the glass allows Godbold to tell the glass where she wants it to break. When she’s done scoring, she’ll grab pliers. There are a lot of different options when it comes to pliers. Which she chooses is dependent upon the different sizes she’s trying to cut, or the textures of the glass. With long skinny pieces, she’ll do a tiny “break” at one end, “then go to the other side and come back and slowly crimp toward the center.” The next step is to grind the glass’ just-cut edges to smooth them out. Then she washes each piece with water and vinegar to remove any particles from sanding, followed by rubbing it down with an alcohol wipe to dry it faster. Then she wraps the edges using copper foil. “Nothing’s going to stick to glass, so this is sticky along one side,” she said, “so it sticks to the glass, and then you have to do what’s called burnishing.”

Left: A circular collage Godbold assembled, featuring glass and sea shells. These pieces are made to stand alone, not in a window. This spread, top: A lighthouse Godbold designed for her son. Here, she used baroque glass to mimick clouds in the sky; Above: Three in-flight butterflies mounted on a piece of driftwood. This piece originally hung in the Gulfport Gallery of Fine Art until a hurricane caused damage to the building. The butterflies’ wings feature a light-blue iridecent glass; Right: Cassandra Godbold holding a piece she made, drawing inspiration from her mentor. Clear glass is featured all around the subject, and varies in texture – the pavement, sand, tree and border are all different patterns – while the woman, her car and the sea draw attention for their color.

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Burnishing is a process of pushing the foil onto the edges to make sure it’s really secure, and then folding it over on both sides of the glass. Eventually, the copper foil is where the soldered lead will adhere, so if there are any flaws in the burnishing process, she has to trim and correct it, so lead won’t accumulate later on. She’ll brush the foil in flux, an acidic base that helps the lead adhere evenly to the foil and prevent oxidation. Then, Godbold will use thumbtacks to pin pieces in place on a horizontal foam board. She gets the pieces as close together as possible, so the lead will adhere easily between the two. If it’s a larger piece, it may need weight reinforcement. So she has to run a metal strip between each of the glass pieces before soldering. She will then take lead and her soldering iron and will add little dots here and there along the two edges. She will add just a few dots of lead initially to secure the pieces enough so she can remove the tacks; then she goes through and solders the whole seam. She does this whole process for every piece that goes into her image, and at the end, she usually wraps the whole outer edge in more copper foil, followed by more lead to give it a finished, encased look. Then she has to thoroughly wash the entire piece again to remove any residue or leftover flux. Then she has to patina the soldering. Traditionally, most stained glass uses black patina, but Godbold prefers her pieces to have a silver finish. “The glass itself lends itself to silver to me,” she said. After patinaing, she has to wash the piece again, and then polish the silver solder lines to have a bright finish. By the time she has a finished product, she has completed about 10 steps on individual pieces before she even begins soldering. This art form is very time consuming and rather meticulous, which lends to why stained glass is so expensive. Even a small piece may have taken hours of details, and customers can’t always imagine the justification of the costs. Another factor, outside of the labor, time and equipment it takes, is the material is expensive, too. Between the different textured glasses available, each piece of glass can push the final bill a little higher. Especially, if it’s red or pink glass, which gets its color because it contains gold. Despite these challenges, Godbold is excited about the future of her craft. She sees an uptick in people being attracted to stained glass because of the endless possibilities for each piece. “What’s happening in the stained-glass world is you’re seeing a lot more unique pieces that paint a picture or tell a story,” she said. “People are going to collect anything from their trip or their vacation, so we’ve got to change our way of thinking.” On a typical day, Godbold can be found on the golf course in the morning, and in her studio in the afternoon into the evening. She said it’s hard to leave her work when it’s 11 o’clock at night because she loves it so much. While her husband, dog and golf are her top priorities, glass now comes in at a close fourth. M

Above: A blue harron mounted on a piece of driftwood, featuring floral pebbles at the base. “The problem with the wood is I don’t have a boat, and driftwood is impossible to find if you don’t have somebody to get it,” she said. Below: While Godbold first took classes to decorate the small windows on either side of her door, she crafted a year-round window fixture above her door, too. Though she’s made this piece and a few comissioned pieces to fully fit windows, she has since discovered it is too stressful and causes back pain. “I don’t like the stress of having to make something to fit a window that has to be perfect,” she said laughing. “I came down here not to be under stress.”

Above, left: The inside view of a telescope Godbold crafted; Above, right: A lot of stained glass goes to waste as it’s cut down to smaller and smaller pieces, until an artist can no longer use them; Godbold hates this reality of her craft. Searching for a resolution, she uses glass shards on a painted canvas, covered in resin. For these pieces, she’ll use any type of glass, ranging from her car’s old windshield to a Skyy Vodka bottle.

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LONG LIVE HANDMADE: the power of paisley hamilton story and photos by LINDSAY PACE

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aisley Hamilton is fluent in gratitude. She celebrates the power in it – power from claiming worth and intention over one’s life. Power made vivid by color and earth. At her conscious-goods shop, the Serendipity Hippie, she welcomes the community into her benevolent magic. She realized Starkville needed something “a little bit spirited, and a little bit soulful,” but the shop really began when she was little. A friend sent her a box of freshly-mined crystals, and their iridescence enchanted her. “It was the best thing that ever happened. [The crystals] have always been in my life, but it wasn’t until I started to find myself in college that I got into the spirituality that comes along with the elements,” she said. “I feel most like Paisley, most like myself, when I’m surrounded with different kinds of Earth.” Hamilton’s early travels laid the groundwork for her shop. In her 20s, she identified with the free-spiritedness found in the Appalachians and the determination of native Peruvian women. She realized, though, that the qualities she loves about herself – the things she carries with her still – were made in Mississippi. “Our community is awesome. They’re really warm and welcoming, and I realized that’s not something you get everywhere,” she said. “So if that’s something that you value, then you don’t have to bring sand down to the beach. You’re already at it.”

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A journeyman in textile, Hamilton often spends late nights at the shop dyeing fabric or grading patterns, “loving on” pieces that feel resistant or difficult. Especially then, she makes use of her gratitude and grit. “I’m like a tech designer. It’s very detailed, very involved. It’s like architecture, like building something from the ground up,” she said. “You’re using a 2-D [pattern] to fit a body that’s 3-D. So you’ve got to be really, really inclined to make it work.” Because Hamilton’s work is handmade from start to finish, her pieces are truly one-of-a-kind. They range from wire-wrapped crystal jewelry to handmade “Magic Carpet” bell bottoms, and are largely inspired by India and Indonesia. Fabric dyes with names like “Supernova,” imbue Mother Earth’s essence into her artistry. “I try to create and offer things that you want to take with you, no matter what walk of life you’re in. Things that aren’t necessarily seasonal, they’re not necessarily trendy,” she said. “They’re timeless.” Hamilton also instills a spirit of connectedness into her work. While designing, she remembers the person it will adorn. She prioritizes their comfort. She hopes to empower them. Her joy for customers is preconceived, personal. “Long live handmade,” she said. “Handmade holds power.”

Opening page: Hamilton’s desk is in her studio, which functions as the latter half of her shop. Sometimes, events or tarot readings will take place there, since it is more spacious than the front of her store. This spread, counterclockwise from left: She collects jewel-toned, vintage chairs. Most of her decor carries a Bohemian, retro vibe; She dyes textiles herself. One of her favorite tasks is turning white cloth into something vibrant; Lately, she is fond of Indian wedding trim as an embellishment for clothing; Books and bandanas are for sale at Serendipity Hippie, among other unique finds; Dozens of gems fill the studio for decoration and spiritual connection.

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Hamilton enjoys collaborating with local artists. She lovingly calls the screenprinters at Copy Cow her “best friends,” and her shop is filled with ornaments like beeswax candles from a craftsman in West Point. She didn’t always see herself in league with them, though. Advertising her grand opening in 2017 meant showcasing her work publicly and addressing her selfimage as an artist. That seemed terrifying. “It was like this voice said, ‘If you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t expect somebody else to,’” she recalls. “And I try to relay that message, because if you believe in what you’re doing, and you’re passionate in who you are and what you’ve got going on, then people will be interested. You can’t deny love and good passion.” Customers, especially new ones, anticipate Hamilton’s wealth of spiritual knowledge. “Start with what you’re drawn to,” she’ll say. Perhaps that’s green tea incense or a rose quartz crystal, but to her, it only matters that their intrigue is sparked. What resonates

will be a conduit for peace. Some are jolted by this sort of witchiness, but she thinks everybody could use a good wake-up now and then. After all, she believes magic is inherent in everyone. It simply has to be embraced. And when magic is made, it might be audible. “Every now and then, somebody will let out a little holler in the parking lot [after their experience at Serendipity Hippie], and that melts me,” she said. “That is the most beautiful, those two: the entrance and the exit.” Hamilton welcomes the offbeat, the underdog, the unusual – those who are bright in color and unafraid of it. To her, allowing one’s truth to “light the way” means recognizing that believing in oneself can be hard. But when one does, they stop denying their power. They step into abundance. And she’ll be there to join them. “Whatever pathway leads you to the light, I’ll meet you there,” she said. M

This spread, clockwise left to right: Atop a ledge in Hamilton’s studio is her mannequin, Deeva. “Spelled with two E’s, not an ‘I,’”she said; “Trust with Action” is one of Hamilton’s mantras. She trusts in the goodness of the Universe while also putting forth positive action toward her dreams and goals. As for the jeweled leather clutches – or anything – she says, “Just throw a crystal on it;” The front of her store features goods such as incense and books on spirituality. A few human interest novels, such as Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild,” are staggered in between; Hamilton also sells teas and herbal tinctures. She’s a huge fan of rose hibiscus tea and her homemade “Mother Fungus” immunity booster, which she loves to have with oat milk; The top of her desk is adorned with crystals like amethyst, which some consider to hold metaphysical properties like groundedness, calmness and tranquility.

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Firing up Connections: SJ Ceramic Co by DANNY MCARTHUR photos by LINDSAY PACE

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Shelby Toole transformed her love affair with making pottery and clay jewelry into her own business, New Albanybased SJ Ceramic Co. “It’s so funny because it’s one of those things where you look back, and I didn’t know if it was going to take off. I was just kind of doing it,” Toole said. The Saltillo native started her business in earnest last September, but Toole has made and sold ceramics for years prior to launching. Her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Thomas Toole, unintentionally kindled her interest when he enrolled in a pottery class while in their school’s dual enrollment program. She also signed up, and though he dropped the class, Toole stayed on and instantly fell in love. As a freshman at the University of Mississippi, she continued to improve, graduating from beginner to advanced over the course of five classes. Under the tutelage of ceramics program head Matt Long, she pushed herself to think about what inspired her work. “I just fell in love,” Toole said. “I just really found such a confidence in making pottery.” After graduating in May 2019 and becoming engaged, Toole searched for her next step. Whether its hunting for jobs, deciding to attend graduate school for a degree in integrated marketing and communications, getting married in November 2019 and moving to her husband’s hometown of New Albany, or graduating again this upcoming May, Toole is seemingly at a crossroads. Some, however, come with new starts. Jane Wiegartner, a friend she met through First United Methodist Church, asked her to teach pottery classes for the Union County Heritage Museum’s Art House after Toole made senior mugs for the church. She was teaching classes on hand building when she had the idea to create clay jewelry. By September 2019, Toole had created 30 pieces of jewelry to sell at Tallahatchie Riverfest. While intimidated at first, she quickly sold out of both jewelry and previous pottery pieces she brought to sell. Toole learned what materials worked best for her vision – gold filled instead of gold plated, using speckled clay instead of white – and honed in on her craft. “I’m definitely inspired by more modern shapes for my clay jewelry, and thinking about the functionality of it,” Toole said. “I’ve learned a lot in the process.” Toole’s jewelry is designed to help people feel more beautiful while also being a fun accessory. She’s made dangly earrings and stud earrings, and enjoys the process of creating new designs. Lately, she’s been doodling designs, and even stayed up three hours one night thinking of what she wants to make for spring.

Opening page: Toole’s home includes a built-in cabinet where some of her pieces are displayed. This page, top to bottom: Toole stands in her yard, across from her studio. She’s excited for spring so she can work in the studio with the garage door open; Toole’s ceramic pendants are a popular item. She sells them at pop-ups and festivals. Next page, clockwise from top: Toole shapes a pot for a plant; Toole and her husband, Thomas, eat from this blue set. She considers it their everyday dinnerware; Her wheel sits at the edge of her garage so she can see out into the open.

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When making jewelry, she likes to hand cut each piece of pottery so she can be in complete control of the shape. She flattens it, and after cutting out the shape, she flattens it some more to ensure it’s lightweight. After flattening and smoothing it again, she begins designing, often opting for the abstract. She bisques them before adding a glaze and glaze firing them over a three-step firing process. Since it takes 24 hours to cool between each step, Toole often tries to make multiple items at a time, and said it can take as little as a week to complete the whole process. It took several more months to get her business started in September 2020 and settle on an official business name. By then, she decided to attend the Tallahatchie Riverfest for a second year as the SJ Ceramic Co, with SJ holding a dual meaning: her name, Shelby Jane, and “share joy.” The mantra behind it is to remind people “that life is good,” Toole said. “I hope it’s a reminder to slow

down, to look to their left and their right and see people that they love because in this digital age, we’re so quick to move on to the next thing,” Toole said. Since launching, she’s been busy making pottery, updating her social media and working on building a website. While she enjoys selling in person, COVID19 made her realize having a digital space was important since there aren’t as many festivals. She started an Etsy page, where she’s been able to keep busy with commission work. Toole finally created her own home studio this year, which she called a step of faith. As she was debating if she wanted her own space, remain at the Art House or find another space to rent, she realized, with the encouragement of her husband, that she “just needed to do it.” “It doesn’t have to be picture perfect in the moment. Your dreams, or your visions for your life, will never be exactly how you plan, but you just have to take that step,” she said.

Tour Toole’s studio with us at mudandmag.com.

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This page, clockwise from left: Toole’s signature earrings are improve constantly. She recently learned how to glaze both sides of her earrings so that no matter which way they dangle, pattern and color are visible; Toole recently finished her studio. She brought in plenty of inspiration, including a tiny disco ball from her wedding; Toole creates servingware. She envisions her items as a vehicle for community and conversation.

Toole first purchased a kiln, and then acquired a wheel in February. In the time it took to save money and get the space ready, she envisioned what her wants and needs were, and decided she wanted a space that was functional. While it’s not perfect – heat is barely there and air-conditioning is nonexistent – she’s glad she took that first step. “That’s OK because there will always be a problem in any situation in life,” Toole said. With the studio has come a lot of joy, as well. Toole calls it a new fresh start; because her studio is in her own backyard, she has had a lot more productivity and freedom to create at any time. She likes to keep the garage door open to have more space, and she loves being outside and being able to hear the birds. Her husband helped her get their garage ready, even finding a way to drill holes in the concrete for the kiln. Every step of the way, it’s taken a village to create and start her business, with her family playing a huge role in that, she said and New Albany contributed to her artistic development overall. There is a huge ceramic community, and Toole felt her success at her first Tallahatchie Riverfest was driven by

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people desiring and appreciating transparency and shopping local. In those first months before she had her own studio, she made use of the Art House, and continues being involved, such as teaching Spring Break Kids Pottery classes. Toole never imagined she would have her own studio space this soon. She has future plans of having a creative space for local artists and to empower women in the community. She would love to have a creative retail space that sells pottery, and has a teaching space and studio space as well. For now, she’s content with where she is. Whether it’s a bridal dinnerware set that will invite people to gather around a table during a meal, building relationships, or a piece that invites conversation, Toole hopes her work invites people to truly connect. “That really is my hope for all my vessels, whether it’s a dinnerware set or a vase,” Toole said. “I just hope it helps people to slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy their life and each other just a little bit more.” M

Don

Louise

& Kingfisher

Designs by KRISTINA DOMITROVICH photos by LINDSAY PACE

Above: Shot glasses, drams and wine glasses in the Don and Louise Coulson’s Tea Time to Happy Hour line of products. Don said, “Because of the heaviness, they’ll hold either cold or hot very well, and on a nice cold day it’s nice to have something warm, and on a nice hot day the thing will start sweating like crazy.” Right: Don & Louise under an awning they built on their Aberdeen home, which they also built. When they aren’t metalworking, Louise enjoys making sourdough and kombucha, and Don loves to raost coffee beans and make his own cheeses.

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The first noticeable thing about Don and Louise Coulson is how much they love to laugh together. The next is their back-and-forth way of adding to a conversation –– maybe Don’s talking initially, then he’ll turn to Louise who adds a tidbit here or a correction there. They might pause to laugh about something together, then Don will jetty off of what Louise said, and continue on. They were married 1968, so they’ve had plenty of time to learn the ins and outs of conversing in tandem. So when they talk about how they met, it may start out something like this: “I was in a bathtub,” Louise said, and paused for a moment before smoothing over with, “I was dressed. I was just studying.” They met in college. Don jumped in with information about how he was working nights to put himself through school, and his friend was dating Louise’s roommate. He went over to the roommate’s apartment for the three of them to study, but got there too early, so he went to shave in their bathroom. Louise added here that Don didn’t even notice her at first. “So it really wasn’t even dramatic,” Louise said, laughing. “It sounds worse than it was, doesn’t it? It always does.” “Of course, it just went from there,” Don adds. “Of course! Where else could it go?” “About a week later, he asked me to marry him,” Louise said, after elaborating on Don being a bit of a ladies’ man while she was quite the bookworm. “I thought it was weird that you asked me to marry you. Nobody’d ever asked me that before.” “Well, I’d never asked anyone to marry me before,” he replied. They went back and forth for a minute, with Louise asking what possessed him to ask her, then he replies with a mysterious random tidbit that begs for more: “Cause you wanted to make baked potatoes rolled in a spoon handle.” “We had no money. We had 50 cents, that’s all we had,” Louise said, swooping in to explain. “So I said, ‘You know, if we could bake potatoes in the fire at the park, and if we––’ now this is logical, if you pushed the spoon into the potato, and put the brickette on the spoon –– doesn’t that make sense? If you put that in the fire, all is well, you’re gonna have a baked potato, right? It didn’t work.” “Oh, we were poorer than poor back then,” he added, still laughing about the raw potatoes. He said that was their version of a night out: Camping at the park, making a potato for dinner, going fishing and eating their catch for breakfast. Louise let out an “eww” followed by a half-groan, half-laugh, Don laughed in the background as she added a stern warning to avoid fish for breakfast at all costs. The two grew up in West Texas. He went to school to study civil structural engineering, and she studied education. Don had a job lined up in Houston, somewhere he’d interned the summer before. His boss promised him a job after graduation, so they just had to make it back to Houston right after they were married. They had to borrow Don’s dad’s car, a Ford Pinto, and credit card to get there. Without much money, they ate their leftover wedding cake, bought one bottle of celebratory wine, “a real cheap bottle” Don added, and spent their honeymoon driving from West Texas to Houston, eating cake the whole way. “Everything we owned was in that car,” he said. “Her guitar, an ironing board––” “Ironing board,” Louise says simultaneously. “My mother said I have to have an ironing board––” “And a stereo,” he said. When they got to Houston, they got an apartment, and Louise finished school at the University of Houston. About two months after that, they bought their first boat. “And we’ve never been without ‘em,” she said. “Little skips and kayaks and this, that and the other, and then we had the big boat.” The other thing noticeable about Don and Louise is their love for travel –– and good thing, too, because they’ve moved 43 times since they were married. They’ve lived in “hotels or campers or wherever,” and they’ve spent a lot of time living on boats and lived in the New England area a lot. Louise likes to joke that their lifestyle taught their kids to “have wings, not roots.” They moved around so much for Don’s job because he’d get assigned to different building projects for his engineering firm. Louise, a teacher, had to pick up a few other careers –– things more suitable for their flowing lifestyle. She became a fiber artist for 35 years, built websites for marine businesses and artists, and was a writer

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This spread clockwise, starting right: Louise will trace out a rough outline of the leaf’s details. Currently, the leaf is sitting in red pitch, which holds the metal plates in place while she is chasing (hammering) a pattern or doing her repoussé work – hammering a pattern from the opposite side, making it raised on the front side of the metalwork; A small spoon for serving olives in their dining collection – Louise did the scoop, and Don made the handle; Louise uses small hammers to tap a pointed metal pick, leaving small indents and hammer marks into her work. There can be thousands of hammer marks in one piece. Louise said she calculated how many hammer marks are in a large, 14-inch bowl the couple made, and it had over a quarter million; Small, palm-sized serving bowls to use for appetizers and small snacks.

for a monthly column in the now-shut-down “Living Aboard” national houseboat magazine for 14 years. They’ve found it best if they’re always tinkering, working on something. The two refuse to be what Louise calls “sitting, watching-TV people.” “We just do things,” she said. So they decided to start crafting together. In 2002, they started working together on jewelry. At the time, they were living in a camper in Greenville, South Carolina. The same way they tell their story is how Don and Louise work together. “We made a little table and got little torches, and we got our little ‘Dink, dink, dink’ hammers,” Don said, mimicking a hammering motion with his hand as he laughs. “She’s actually the designer, I’m more of the crafter.” Don likes to say that as an engineer his feet are firmly planted in the ground, while hers are “firmly planted midair.” Louise did the details and design, and Don did the configuring to make her visions a reality. “She does gorgeous work,” Don said. The duo did very well for themselves, and attended 25-26 craft shows a year and their work was featured in about 14 different galleries. But around 2008, they saw a shift in the market. As the economy declined, so did their numbers. They decided to shift gears while they could. Or at least that’s what Don saw; Louise was bored making the same pieces over and over, so she was looking to jump ship from jewelry anyways. “You get tired of making the same thing,” she said with a shrug. “(The jewelry aspect) is not totally gone, but it’s pretty well gone.” They switched over and became metalsmiths, instead. With this route, they mostly make serving pieces or small things for the home, “more of a house adornment, if you wish,” Don added. There’s a sense of practicality to their pieces now; more suitable to a scaled-down lifestyle or a purposedriven home collection. “If you drop it, it’s not going to do any damage other than maybe to your floor,” Don said laughing. “We love one-of-a-kind pieces,” Louise said, so they make a lot of those. The couple believes that thanks to their jewelry background, their metalwork now is really ornate and intricate. They mostly use copper, but also a fair amount of silver in their work, too. Louise is still the designer,

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and Don works on bringing it together. She does the finer hammering work –– hammering and chiseling designs and patterns into a piece, then gives it to Don to shape it or add a handle. Don also does engraving, and tends to work with the metals while they’re “cool,” though it’s not unusual to bring metals to their melting points. One process they grew passionate about is what they like to call “silver fusion.” Basically, Don brings silver and copper to their almost-melting points (which are two different temperatures), and they will swirl together and act as one; once it cools, the silver is visible against the copper, but “it actually fuses, it doesn’t sit on top,” he said. “Sometimes you just follow the metal,” he says. “You just do what it tells you.” And sometimes, the conversation between him and the metal doesn’t go well. Metal can be finicky, and it seems to throw a tantrum or crack if it’s overheated or heated too quickly. But if it’s treated just right, that’s when magic can happen. “You can take copper up to various temperatures, and it’ll refract a certain color,” he said. Patinas will also change the color of copper, and Louise does all the patinaing. She said the universal patina is usually Liver of Sulfur, which will turn things brown –– anything from giving copper its signature color, to using on silver, “it will literally make your silver brown.” But she was taught an insider’s tip, and she can patina a copper piece to bring out “rainbow colors” like blues, purples and greens. The whole process, from design to finish, can take quite a while. Once they have a prototype, Don can make certain pieces in batches of six to eight. “Each one has its own little quirks now, they’re not all just exactly alike,” she added. “He’s not a machine.” Whereas Louise’s intricate hammering has to be done individually, one piece at a time. A lot of times, the couple may have to make their own tools, or modify their tools, in order to get them to make the design they want. But they’re both dedicated to the process. “You wish you could do it a lot faster, but then what you do is you’re losing a lot of craftsmanship,” Don said. “A lot of these (pieces) have a

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personality because I put it into it, or she’s put it into it.” “For me, I don’t care how long it takes. I mean, we’re going to survive whether we sell anything,” Louise adds. “We’ll still have supper. That’s my motto: We’ll still have supper.” One piece, “Walk in the Woods,” now in the Metal Museum in Memphis, took them 70 days to complete. The 14-inch fruit bowl sits on an engraved steel pedestal. The whole thing reaches five-inches tall and weighs three pounds. The bowl’s design, which displays their silver fusion technique, consists of 17 leaves, each intricately detailed by Louise. Leaves are a common motif throughout their pieces, and that’s in part thanks to Louise. “I was raised in West Texas, and there’s a desert,” she laughed. “There aren’t very many trees (there), and I love trees and I love leaves.” These days, the couple lives in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Years ago, around 2003, they decided to take a year off work, back when they were still in New England. They wanted to travel on their boat-turned-home, which was 60-feet long. Louise paints a map of their route, “from Boston down to New York state around the Statue of Liberty for a couple of days, and then we went up the Hudson River, went through the Erie Canal,” eventually squiggling their way down the Mississippi River. They were headed to visit one of their children in Mobile, Alabama, and when they got off of The Mississippi, they found their property. It’s a riverside lot, and at the time there was just a concrete slab and a roof. Louise said they drove their boat through the river and found “it was deep enough for our boat,” and a week later they bought the property. They began building the rest of their home, starting with a laundry room and shower. “We’d done public laundry for 25 years,” Louise said. “It was nice to have a laundry at home.” With their own hands, following Don’s design that time, they finished the house over the next four years –– taking time off to work and travel some more. “Of all the boats we’ve had, we’ve always had a hard time naming a boat,” Don reflects. “We’ve named some that we’ve regretted. We named one ‘Fun Floozy.’” When he said the name, he burst out into laughter, and Louise stifled hers as she was filing down a tool that wasn’t working just as she had wanted it to. She added that her mother made the couple and their two young children satin jackets with the name on the back. So when it came to naming their business, they wanted to be sure. When they were driving onto their property, “a kingfisher flew right in front of us,” Don remembered. “And it was probably the less thought-behind (name) than any other name we had,” he said. “Nope,” Louise adds, “There wasn’t any thought.” There, in their little Aberdeen, riverside home with their boat tied up, and a RV and van ready to go to shows, the two craft together under the name Kingfisher Designs. M

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This spread clockwise, starting top left: A monstera leaf with woven silver threading through the leaf’s gaps; A close-up of a serving spoon. Louise says she rotates through a few different types of leaves for their designs, from geranium leaves, to grape or aspen leaves; A pick holder Don made some time ago (to hold thigns like drink stirrers) clearly shows the silver fusion, along with the flame-torch cut ends.

Mud&Mag | Fashion

g n i r p S FASHION e u g o l a Cat photos by LINDSAY PACE

We channel warmth, joy and color in our annual spring fashion catalogue. After a long, hard winter, it’s time to embrace the sunshine for a little while.

Black Sheep Boutique TUPELO Nikibiki one-shoulder body suit, $24; Entro Ruffled Mock Skirt in baby blue, $42; SODA Stud Heels, $42; Gold hoops, $12. 60

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Bliss Boutique FULTON Tyche dress, $59.95; CCOCCI shoes, $38.95; Meghan B. earrings, $18; Meghan B. necklace, $24; Meghan B. bracelet, $20.

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MLM Clothiers TUPELO Samson sport coat; David Donahue dress shirt; Robert Jensen pocket square; 34 Heritage jeans; Martin Dingman belt; Martin Dingman shoes. Prices upon request. M &M

Milly’s Boutique FULTON GigiO Disty Floral Wrap Midi Ruffle Dress, $45; Macchia di Ruggine natural hat, $24; Earrings, $8.

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Main Attraction TUPELO Embroidered, handpainted jackets; stone jewelry; sunglasses and accessories. Prices upon request. 66

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Reed’s TUPEL0 Cole Haan loafers; Southern shirt; Southern Tide pants. Prices upon request.

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Peacocks and Pearls TUPELO Shannon Pizzaro pant suit; Jewelry by Jeff Live. Prices upon request.

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Reed’s TUPELO Pastel gingham jumper, dress and accessories. Prices upon request.

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Sparrows on Main TUPELO Ivy Jane top; Charlie B jeans; Corkys Boutique champagne shoes; I.D. jewelry. Prices upon request.

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e l Sty

SPRING

MUST-HAVE ACCESORIES 1. HEELS Black Sheep Boutique. SODA Camino natural heels, prices upon request. 2. POCKET SQUARE MLM. Robert Jensen pocket square, prices upon request. 3. EARRINGS Peacocks and Pearls. Kim Gambrell earrings, prices upon request. 4. BRACELETS Bliss Boutique. Meghan B. bracelet, $20. 5. HAT Milly’s Boutique. Macchia di Ruggine natural hat, $24. 6. STONE NECKLACE Main Attraction. Prices upon request.

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BUYER ’S GUIDE

Publish your engagement, wedding or anniversary announcement in The Daily Journal Submit your engagement or weddingannouncementonlineat djournal.com. Click on Menu. Then, click submission forms. Finally, click engagement, wedding, or anniversary announcement. Submissions include a photograph.Multiplesizesavailable. Forquestionsormoredetails,email sarahbrooke.bishop@journalinc.com

BUYER ’S GUIDE

Start your weekend with

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DIY: PASTEL RIVERS by KRISTINA DOMITROVICH photo by LINDSAY PACE

MATERIALS • • • • • •

1 oversized cropped white sweatshirt, prewashed Ice (the larger the ice, the more varied the pattern on the final product) 3 pastel powdered fabric dyes (pictured: dusty pink, canyon orange, burnt lemon) 3 plastic spoons 1 baking sheet 1 cooling rack

DIRECTIONS 1.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6. 7.

Line the baking sheet with the cooling rack. Place the sweatshirt front-side up on top of the baking rack, and pinch the center (for ours, we started at the knot in the front); then begin to twist the sweatshirt on top of the baking rack, creating a spiral. Make sure the sleeves are on the outer sides of the spiral, so they’ll get evenly dyed with the rest of the sweatshirt. Pile ice cubes on top of the sweatshirt, covering the entire surface. Use the spoons to pour the various dyes where desired. For fuller coverage, cover all the ice in dye; for more white space, don’t cover the entirety of the ice. Leave it undisturbed until the ice has completely melted. Once the ice has melted, rinse with cold water until the water comes out clear. Wrap it in plastic wrap, and microwave (if the material allows) at half power for 3-5 minutes. Transfer to the dryer, and use the casual or low-heat setting, until the sweatshirt is dry. M

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Porcelain by Antoinette by KRISTINA DOMITROVICH photos by LINDSAY PACE

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Left: Stacks of finished pottery, bowls and dishes, can be found inside Antoinette Badenhorst’s home studio, where visitors are welcomed to stop by to browse and purchase her work. Below: Dishes that have been stamped with molds Badenhorst made to leave imprints on some of her work.

Antoinette Badenhorst is a worldrenowned potter and teacher, who reaches students across the globe through her online courses. In a normal year, she travels to teach classes in various countries and holds in-person classes in her studio, though some of that has looked different this past year due to COVID-19. Badenhorst is also a member of the International Academy of Ceramics, a highly prestigious organization that caps its membership at 1,000 artists worldwide. But like every artist, there was a struggle at the beginning of her career. In fact, as a child, she never even considered herself creative. Badenhorst was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was raised in Namibia. Her mom was a painter, but she remembers being shooed away while her mother was working on her pieces: “I think she needed that to concentrate on what she was doing.” “There was a book of Michelangelo that was sitting on our coffee table in the house,” she remembers. “I don’t know if it was maybe (because it was) sculptures –– I’m not into realistic sculptures –– I’m not into that.” Badenhorst has a memory of her mother talking on the phone about her. “She was telling somebody else that I’m really creative,” she said. At first, she thought her mom was surely talking about something she had written, because if Badenhorst liked any art form, it was writing; but instead, it was a craft she made using old Christmas cards. “It actually ended up on the wall for some reason,” Badenhorst said, somewhat still doubting her younger self. Not overly interested in visual arts, she enjoyed writing short stories, poems and would later want to become a journalist. But growing up, what she really enjoyed was being outside. She remembers being outside –– Namibia is mostly made of desert terrain –– entertaining herself. “I would go out in the country,” she beamed, “And sing loud for myself!” Badenhorst wouldsit in a rocky area, and she would “make that my little room.” She’d designate certain areas as the kitchen, the bedrooms and so on, and she would make believe and play house. In these little pretend homes, her love for rocks began. She would play with them, examine them and study their texture.

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Now when she’s working on a piece, as she’s tracing the lines and grooves in her work, she realizes “it all goes back to those days when I was literally examining rocks.” But that realization wouldn’t happen for a while, because she didn’t take her first pottery class until later on. Badenhorst attended college and started nursing school, but never finished her studies after she met her now husband and started a family. After their first daughter was born, she walked by an art gallery offering pottery lessons. “We were dirt poor at the time,” she remembers. She signed up for the class and paid 20 South African rand for the lessons. “Less than $2,” Badenhorst said. “And we could barely afford it, but I was too hooked on it.” Badenhorst took the class for six months, and laughs when she remembers her first, “hideous” pieces. One was a pencil holder that she didn’t properly account for how much the clay would shrink in the kiln; she laughs that it looked more like a snail bowl for serving escargot than anything. The other was a crudely pinched ashtray, though she and her husband didn’t smoke. She laughs when she remembers her husband seeing those first pieces: “he said, ‘You’re never going to be a potter.’” Now, he photographs all her pieces and helps with videography for the online classes she teaches. Badenhorst realizes she’s almost always been a teacher, though she didn’t have an ideal teacher for those first classes. “The lady (teaching), she was not really interested in teaching me, she was more interested in having the facility so that she could do her own pottery,” she said. Laughing, she adds, “I don’t think I was her favorite student.” Before she even knew all the ins and outs herself, “very early on” Badenhorst was teaching anyone and everyone who was interested in pottery, “because we lived in a rural area.”

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“In the land of the blind,” she says, “I was the one-eyed king.” Badenhorst believes, this pushed her to stay ahead of the curve and continue to learn as much as she could. “In those days, there were not a lot of resources available. I remember I had access to one book in the library, which I read and reread and reread again, and it was in English, which is not my first language, so there were many things that kind of fell through the cracks,” she said. “Then later on, I bought myself another book with my very first award money, I bought my first porcelain book, which was the thing that put me on track with what I’m doing here.” Originally, she started out with ceramics, but before leaving South Africa, she began dabbling in porcelain, which has a higher silica content. In 1999, she and her family moved to the United States, and found themselves in Mississippi for her husband’s work. When they left, they had 10 boxes of things to bring with them, but the boxes didn’t arrive until about six weeks after they did. “We literally had nothing,” she said. With her husband having the work visa, and her not being allowed to earn an income in the U.S. without a green card, she found a potter in Saltillo and made a deal: Badenhorst would work for the potter in the shop, and in return, she would “make myself a few pieces for my kitchen, because we left everything behind in South Africa.” In no time at all, Badenhorst found herself teaching those there in the studio once again. In November of that same year, she won an award with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Over the course of five years, she would struggle to get a green card. Her first attempt was denied. After the 9/11 attacks, it set the process back for what would seem like an eternity. “It was a very insecure period for us,” she recalled. Eventually, she got her green card and could begin accepting payment for classes and pieces of work, instead of trades she had to use in the

Left: Badenhorst in her studio. There, she can often be found wearing a denim-like apron for her work. This page clockwise, starting top left: Small dishes on a shelf; Badenhorst’s teapots vary in design, and are most often pinched. The color schemes tend to differ from her other pieces, as well; A leaf pattern Badenhorst made in order to press patterns onto her pieces, often giving them ridges instead of groves; A platter in progress. Often, Badenhorst will leave pieces unfinished until she’s ready to continue working on them. When she is, she simply sprays a little water on the piece, and gets back to work. Once Badenhorst takes a piece out of the kiln, she said she spends a lot of time debating whether to let the world see it. She’s constantly checking her work against her personal standards.

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Above: A shelf in Badenhorst’s studio is lined with colorful mugs and jugs, as she likes to call them. Below: The exterior of a vase is left plain white with intricate leaves growing up the front, while the inside is a pastel coral.

limbo to make it as a potter at the time. She began really focusing on porcelain. “It’s very hard work. There’s also this kind of love-hate relationship,” she said. “I have to walk away from my work from time to time.” In 2005, Badenhorst started making translucent pieces. Her pieces look characteristically very delicate and elegant in nature –– and the translucency plays into that. These qualities are why Bardenhorst is so attracted to porcelain. “I call it a diva. She’s tedious. She’s very unpredictable. But I have a good relationship with her,” she said, grinning. Badenhorst knows in some ways, porcelain will do what it wants, so she comes to terms with her idea of “perfect imperfection.” “I use the clay to teach me, to show me what it wants to be,” she says. “I want my work to be smooth. It needs to sit nice and smooth on the table. When you look at it, it needs to be pleasant for the eyes.” The process of learning what the clay wants to become is a long one, and Badenhorst doesn’t rush it. Oftentimes, she’ll have several pieces covered in plastic in her studio, sometimes sitting there for months as she works on other projects, goes on vacations and comes back to wet the clay and continue grappling with the piece. Oftentimes, her decorative pieces like bowls and plates are white on the outside and brightly colored pastels on the inside. When held up to a light, the pieces warmly glow whatever color she has painted the interior. “A lot of what I (am) doing’s referring back to my heritage from South Africa,” she said. “South Africa is considered as a rainbow nation. People are very bright and outspoken with colors.” Some things, like her water jugs or tea pots are usually colored on the piece’s exterior. She likes to have fun with the teapots, and will make them by pinching them together. She says pinching is often viewed as a beginner’s crude method –– picture a small ceramic dish a child would make and give to their mother, or Badenhorst’s first ashtray –– but can be smoothed out and refined with proper practices. She finds the process rather fun. Her teapots are small, smooth and delicate, but her finger’s indentations can be felt from the inside. In a lot of ways, these teapots serve as a personification of Badenhorst’s artistic career and background. “That juxtaposition between primitive and refined,” she says, drawing the line herself. “First world versus third world.” Her work shows how she sees the world, too. Not only do the lines and grooves reflect what she sees in nature, but the flow of the leaves reaching out of her pieces show how she sees humanity interacting with itself. Oftentimes, her leaves will grow out from the rest of the piece and touch other leaves. Part of this is because porcelain has glass-like qualities, it needs the structural integrity of leaning on other portions of the work. But she also believes she can see people needing to lean on each other in her leaves. For her, every interaction impacts another person, as seen in her leaves. She held a bowl with pointier-than-usual leaves jutting from it, some standing on their own. “I was probably in a very sassy mood the day I made that one,” she said giggling. Things like humanity and nature have a “huge, huge impact” on her and each of her pieces, tracing back to being a little girl, in her makebelieve house. M

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