Imagine a special place in North Georgia where you can explore, shop, ponder, perform, learn, listen, create, sing, dance, cook, eat, play, walk and enjoy. That place is the Sautee Nacoochee Center, which has activities for people of all ages.
Smoky Mountain Living and the Sautee Nacoochee Center are celebrating the season by profiling 12 North Georgia artists and their ‘12 crafts for the holidays.’
The Sautee Nacoochee Center was created in 1981, dedicated to nurturing creativity and committed to preserving and protecting the natural and historical resources of the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys and the surrounding area.
The Sautee Nacoochee Center is home to the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia, the Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center, and an African American Heritage Site. The Cultural Center houses two art gallery museum shops that showcase artwork by local juried artists who live within a 50-mile radius.
Constructed in 1928 as a school, the main center building contains the Center Theatre, a local history museum, and an art studio. Located on the 8.5 acre campus are a playground, a walking trail, the Native Peace Garden, and a blacksmith shed.
Pat Brake
For years I have been dabbling in jewelry design as a retirement hobby. I am self taught and have always liked working with my hands. I seem to have an eye for color and detail. Perhaps that is why I enjoy creating unique pieces. It is definitely a hands-on art form.
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Pat Brake
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Pat Brake
Prices range from $25 to $150.
The more I study the history of jewelry and how gemstones are formed, the more I want to learn. About six years ago I took a class on enhancing the beauty of gemstone cabochons. The technique used in this class surrounds the stone with complementary beads, pearls, etc., that actually hold the stone in place. Each bead is individually sewn on. They range in size from 15 millimeters per inch or larger depending on the size of the stone. Additionally, the back of my cabochons are covered in leather or suede. If a stone is beautiful on both sides, I may choose a netting technique which highlights both sides.
At times I work designing traditional necklace and earring sets. I’m always looking for vintage pieces, pins, antique chain, findings and decorative components. Unusual handmade glass beads and jewelry from another era give me endless inspiration.
Kathy Williams
I am a fiber artist who has added bookmaking and mixed media to my resume. It started when I decorated sketchbooks with fabric scraps and became intrigued with the different stitches that bound handmade books. Over time I’ve fine-tuned my designs and utilize Coptic stitching so the books will lay flat when open.
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Kathy Williams
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Kathy Williams
Sketchbooks and journals, $45-$60. Decorative papers used for covers. Designs and colors vary. Coptic stitched, 60 pages, 80# paper
The sketchbook/journals are a good size to drop in to a purse or bag. I’ve also made one-of-a-kind books for my own writing and worked on collaborations with other artists and other writers. I continue to learn new techniques and experiment with different materials.
I’ve tried my hand at paper making, but since it is labor intensive, I limit its use to accents on covers and in mixed media pieces. Mixed media allows me to combine a variety of skills, found materials and a short piece of text to pique someone’s imagination. I find inspiration and materials in nature whether for books or mixed media pieces.
I have memberships in the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association (SNCA), Oconee Cultural Arts Foundations (OCAF), andSoutheast Fiber Arts Alliance (SEFAA).
Susan Macgregor
In my life I have had two passions; art and music. The music part was 25 years on the stage in opera and musical theater, but always there was my art. Whether serious portrait or caricature done backstage, I was always drawing. I am a self-taught artist who strives for accuracy and realism in my work.
Intense study of human and animal anatomy helped me understand and build figures from the inside out, as well as studying botany and native regional vegetation. I paint Plein Air as well as from photo references and having the figure live in front of me. My main media interest is colored pencil art, although I enjoy acrylics and other types of painting as well.
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Susan Macgregor
Scooba (black cat). Acrylic, 16”x16,” private commission.
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Susan Macgregor
My work can be seen in several area galleries, and I was chosen by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, featured in Craftworks for the Home, Traditional Quilter and others. I also was the artist for the Cat Fancier’s Association USA. I also do pet portraits and create portrait remembrance boxes for those who have lost their beloved pets.
Sharon Fowler
I first became interested in gourds at the Helen Gourd Shop when we visited Georgia nearly 39 years ago. They inspired me so because I had never really heard of gourds before that. They were relatively unknown up in Michigan where we came from.
When we move in and settled in our new home here in Georgia, I happened to meet someone at a Cleveland Christmas street market. She was selling her gourds and she invited me to the local gourd club. I have been hooked ever since.
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Sharon Fowler
Big Red Flowers.
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Sharon Fowler
Belonging to the local gourd club enabled me to reach out and learn from so many really fine artists here in the South. Even at nearly 85 years of age I still take classes several times a year, and teach some as well. I learn from the American Gourd Society, the Georgia Gourd Society and, of course, our own Northeast Gourdacious Patch. There is always something new to learn and share, especially new techniques and products.
Working gourds is much the same as woodworking and they are treated nearly the same, whether its carved, wood-burned or painted. I laugh now as I see my early, feeble attempts to craft gourds, but by attending many classes I finally learned how versatile gourds can be. I make everything from hummingbird feeders to finely carved flowers, and of course, very unique bird houses.
Starting out I knew nothing about the quality of gourds and that the way they are grown and harvested makes such a difference in the quality of the finished product. So, as an avid gardener I decided to grow my own. I am fortunate to have the space as they are huge plants, sometimes 40 feet across. I can go to my storage and pick out most any size and shape I want. So back to work I go. I have all these ideas running around in my head. So many gourds, so little time.
Debbie Dowdy
Habersham County native Debbie Dowdy took her first pottery class in 2002 from Debbie Craig at Glynn Art Association on St. Simons Island, and loved the feel of her hands in the clay. Working at a full-time job as professor of Physical Education at Coastal Georgia Community College, she continued taking classes at Glynn Art Association and eventually became a studio member. Upon retiring she moved back to North Georgia and continued learning her craft and taking classes.
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Debbie Dowdy
Debbie works out of her home studio in Cleveland, Georgia.
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Debbie Dowdy
Christmas tree mug by potter Debbie Dowdy.
“I still love the feel of the clay in my hands to this day. I truly enjoy the process of making pots!” Debbie primarily makes functional pottery for everyday use. “I want the people who purchase my pots to enjoy using them as much as I enjoy making them.” She mixes her own glazes and likes the freedom it gives her to create her own signature combinations.
Debbie works out of her home studio in Cleveland, Georgia.
Kim Padula Trautner
“I manipulate floating acrylic paint on seaweed moss creating stunning organic patterns. After a preparation process I lay materials such as silk, cotton and leather on to the pattern and it adheres.
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Kim Padula Trautner
Daydream leather accessories, $24 to $255.
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Kim Padula Trautner
Drawing from my Italian ancestry and early background of quilting I proceed to hand craft the materials into fashion statement pieces. I pull inspiration from bright energizing colors found in the Mediterranean Riviera and aquatic life. I feel my perseverance through trial and error of countless mediums and pushing the boundaries of color theory has awakened a modern approach to the ancient technique of marbling.
My work is not only utilitarian and functional; each piece celebrates the wild unencumbered temperament of the individual.”
Keith Burgess
Keith Burgess is a fine artist working primarily in oil. He has received numerous one-man gallery shows, commissions, awards, and is also a teacher and show juror.
His formal art education began at Valdosta State University and continued at Georgia Southwestern State University where he earned a B.A. degree. After college he began a long career as a graphic artist/illustrator for a publishing corporation in Atlanta.
Though he set aside painting during the early part of his corporate career, the urge to paint again led him to pursue a fine art career on a serious level in the early 1990s. He then began studying with nationally renowned artists from the Art Students League in New York City. In 2003 he left the corporate world to pursue his passion for painting full time. He now resides in Hiawassee, Georgia.
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Keith Burgess
Creek and Hollow by Keith Burgess. Oil on canvas, 18”x24,” $1,200.
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Keith Burgess
Artist Keith Burgess at work.
Keith is inspired by nature and light, being an avid plein air (outdoor) painter. He is honored to carry on the time honored tradition of representational landscape painting.
He holds memberships in Southern Appalachian Artist Guild (Signature Member), Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association, Pines and Palms, Georgia-Florida Arts Association, and Hiawassee, GA Plein Air Painters, (Founding Member).
Rob Patrick
After moving to the mountains in 2002 and getting back to nature I was looking for a hobby to immerse myself in. Once at a craft fair I spotted a guy woodturning. I found it very intriguing and I shortly became hooked. I found a woodturning club in the next county and attended a meeting. Everyone was so friendly and one gentleman became my close friend and mentor. He taught me the basics and advised me in buying the proper tools and equipment.
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Rob Patrick
Woodturner Rob Patrick works at the lathe.
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Rob Patrick
Full of Love. Flaming box elder and bloodwood, $485.
Living in the mountains there are plenty of naturally fallen trees to harvest wood from. My new life experiences filled me daily with inspiration, nature’s art was everywhere and I was in the middle of it.
Through the years I’ve been a member of the American Association of Woodturners plus several turning clubs. I’ve met and been blessed to have been able to learn under masters for weeks at a time being taught their different artful skills: stone inlay, carving and texturing, staining and coloring, hat making, pyrography, the use of epoxy and more.
Beverly Mannes
From the time I was a girl, I have sewed; doll clothes first, then on to clothes for myself and children. I made my first quilt for my daughter’s new bedroom when she was in elementary school 50 years ago. I made quilts occasionally when I worked. Now after retirement, I devote all my free time to quilting and other sewing. It is very rewarding to look at a beautiful piece of fabric I have bought or hand-dyed to see what design best uses that fabric. Inspiration is all around in these mountains - colors, patterns in nature and glimpses of interesting designs send me to my cutting board and sewing machine.
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Beverly Mannes
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Beverly Mannes
I am an active member of the Mountain Laurel Quilters’ Guild in Clarkesville, Georgia, and join with friends through the Bee Sharps and the Bee Artful subgroups that meet monthly. They are sources of friendship, inspiration and instruction.
Melodie Cowart
I am a nurse by profession and practiced obstetric nursing in Savannah, Georgia, for many years in the hospital where I trained.
When we retired to Rabun County and moved to this magical sacred space known as Turkey Mountain, I became very aware of the peace and beauty around us. I’ve become very aligned with the elements, especially Mother Earth. I draw upon her gifts as I envision my art expression with my choice of fabric and beads, as an embeadery artist.
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Melodie Cowart
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Melodie Cowart
Embeadery take a fresh approach to bead embroidery by creating new beadwork stitches based on classic embroidery stitches.
Each piece is an expression of my inner spirit, my heart, my soul and my love of the beauty all around me. Each piece I create holds something of me and I derive great satisfaction when I complete one of them.
Jo Ackerman
Moving to the North Georgia mountains in 1996 was a step into gracious Southern living for my husband and me. As an artist and woodcarver, I was delighted to find Cleveland, my new town, filled with many creative people in various mediums. One friend gave me a chunk of clay, offering to fire any finished piece. At 58 I began hand building all kinds of face jugs, vases and other functional ware. Six years ago I developed a line of hand cut and glazed necklace and earring sets, and rings for fun accessories that are all unique as the clientele that chooses them.
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Jo Ackerman
Jewelry by clay artist Jo Ackerman.
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Jo Ackerman
My jewelry price range is from $20 up to $45. Luminaries are $40 to $50. Tea sets are priced according to difficulty and numbers of items in the set.
Juanita Greenspan
When asked why I became a stone sculptor, my usual answer is, “because I was a bad painter.” Actually, it is because I enjoy the physicality required to sculpt and the added creative challenges of working in a natural media like stone. Carving stone can be both intimidating and empowering. Since the majority of my carving occurs outside, I am very fortunate to live and work in the beautiful North Georgia mountain town of Hiawassee.
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Juanita Greenspan
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Juanita Greenspan
A Definite Presence. Chlorite on soapstone base, $1,100.
I am primarily self-taught, and my simple approach to stone carving is more intuitive than planned. Instead of imposing an idea on a piece of stone, I rely on the unique characteristics of each stone to inspire me. It is not until I take hammer and chisel in hand and start chipping away that I begin to discover the stone’s secrets, develop an idea, and decide how to proceed. During this early stage of the carving process, I explore the natural contours of the stone, the way it breaks when chiseled, and the hidden colors and veining. This approach allows an idea for the sculpture to develop naturally, which results in the organic flow of the forms I create. With the stone as my guide, a sculpture emerges.
I hold membership in the Tri State Sculptors, Valley River Arts Guild, Blue Ridge Mountains Art Association and Southern Appalachian Artists Guild.