He said, “It’s really high quality and people from all over come to it, and that’s for Mississippi, that is a big deal.” On Saturday and Sunday, fellow painters will be showcasing their work at booths located along Colony Park’s Renaissance at Colony Park. This is the 10th anniversary of the festival. Harold Miller, a Brandon sculptor, said that the festival is a “great show man.” I like the quality of the art. It’s going to go big,” organizers believe. The festival is open to all. Mary Beth Wilkerson (one of the organizers and executive director for the Ridgeland Tourism Commission) said, “We hope that people, even those who are not fine art lovers, will come out to see the festival and event as an outdoor experience, enjoy music, and even learn more about art.” Mississippi Today spoke with five of the artists participating in the festival, including Mars and Miller. H.C. Porter is a Jackson native who has served as both the ‘artist liaison for’ the festival since its inception. She recruits artists from all over the country to apply for the show’s spots. Q: How busy has the preparation been? Q: What role do you play in the preparation? A: I’m the artist relations person. Bob McFarland is the art director. Ridgeland Tourism hosts the event and all the work goes into it. I am the one who runs the event and promotes Mississippi’s strengths as an arts festival and as a welcoming state to attract all the talented artists. Most of them have never visited Mississippi before. Q: What is it that you think sets this festival apart from other festivals in its field and others in the region? A: It’s how we treat artists and the ease with which the show is presented. We do our best to be as Mississippians would, it’s the hospitality state. The Mayor of Ridgeland, Gene McGee, is usually there. Malcolm White, director of the Mississippi Arts Commission has spoken many times. It’s rare to see the city officials welcoming these artists in all my years. The event is really well attended by us. Q: As an artist, it’s easy to be open with other artists about how they will be treated. They appreciate it, for sure. It makes a big difference to make it an artist-run event. I know what they expect. I know what they want from me. It’s a great help. Q: Are there artists who are amazed by Ridgeland’s offerings? A: They talk about people. I know that they love Ridgeland. It’s amazing how friendly they are and how sophisticated they are. We exceed patrons’ expectations, even though they can be very low. Q: How do you choose which art to show as a participant? A: I have 31 years of experience as a professional artist so I know how to create a style that is easily recognized as a H.C. Porter painting. My personal series include several. A large series I produced about Mississippians living on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina premiered in 2008. Then, I did a series called Blues @ Home, Mississippi’s Living Blues Legends. That show has been touring museums for the past four years. Q: What is your favorite phrase for describing your work? It’s on your website. You said that you prefer to “respond to the reality” of your subjects. I was curious to know what you meant. A: I think the viewer completes the piece by sharing their experience. My pieces are mostly figurative, which means you interact with the subject in the image. The viewer completes the experience. Your reality is how you experience it. It is not always what you see — the piece will be a narrative about the reality of (the subject). However, what I want to inspire is for people to connect beyond the narrative of the person in the piece to their own personal experiences. Q: Is it a shared reality? It is, in a sense. My work is exciting because it’s not just a match for your couch. It’s thoughtful and thoughtful. Q: So you’re in the mixed media category so you use paint and — Answer: Silkscreen. It’s my original photograph. Then I take the photo and I silkscreen it onto paper. This is similar to Andy Warhol’s ’60s work with high-contrast ink images. Next, I paint over the ink image using acrylic and a Prismacolor pen. That’s it! I just add my colors to the pieces – whatever is in my mind’s eye. Greg Harkins, a Vaughn native, became famous after he donated a rocking chair to Ronald Reagan at the Neshoba Country Fair in 1980. He estimated that he has made chairs for at least four other U.S. presidents, as well as approximately 75 senators or congressmen. Q: This is your first year participating in the event? A: Yes, I have participated in it every year they have it. I am the local boy who has done well. I have a unique product. Tom Bell, an elderly man, gave it to me. He was in third grade when he began building chairs. He built them for 64 years. He said that he had all the education needed and didn’t want to go back to fourth grade. He taught me. I had originally planned to become a brain surgeon and was planning on (making chairs) between college and graduate school. Q: How many chairs are you responsible for each day? Q: How many chairs do you work on in a day? A: I used to make 1,800 per year. That includes rockers. Straight chairs, footstools, and other things such as that. Over the years I had several people working for my, sometimes six to eight. Now, I make between 140 and 160 chairs a year. It was nothing before. These things were easy to make. It’s quite a challenge to build it now. I still love it. It’s still my favorite thing. It’s almost like a religion. It’s something I cannot imagine myself ever doing without, and I have no plans of ever quitting. They will take my chisel from dead, cold hands. Q: What is the most memorable compliment you have received about a chair in your life? A: I made the chair for Reagan and I made the chair for George H.W. After Bush, I was able to meet Dan Quayle as he ran for vice president. He was walking past me at a Georgia show with his entourage. I replied, “These chairs look just like those Mr. Reagan and Mr. Bush have.” After that, the show attendees wanted to buy one of my chairs for him. I asked him if he could deliver it to the Executive Office. He replied that he could. He also sent me a 30 year Christmas card. He sent 100,000 or so of them, but still sent one to him. It’s that simple. It was a great time. Q: What is it about chair-making that people find surprising? These things have been my passion for a long time. I’m looking for an apprentice who can teach me, someone to whom I can lend my equipment. Tom Bell was desperate to find someone to teach him this, and that’s what I understood when I first met him. Now, at 66 years old, I understand exactly what he was looking for. It would be a shame to lose all of this knowledge and die. In the first half of life, I felt like I was more concerned with taking than giving. The last part of life has been about trying to give and not take. Harold Miller, a Brandon-based mixed-media sculptor uses reclaimed materials like cypress, tin and furniture legs. This is his second participation in the festival. Q: Are you in the “mixed medium 3D” category? A: Yes, it’s clay sculptures and ceramics. Clay is the main focus, but I also use wood and tin. It’s a mix medium. Q: Can you tell me more about the people who are featured in your sculptures? A: I do many church figures. These are ladies who go to church. These figures are called wind figures and they show clay motion. You can see the cloak blowing and it’s almost like a cloaked figure. These 3D wall-hangings are sculptures with a painting behind. I usually work with figurines that are 16 inches high. Q: Do they look like real people? A: It can be, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s a mixture of people that I remember from growing up. As a child in the 1960s, people dressed up to go to church. I tried to recreate that experience as a teenager. They are fond memories. There was so much emotion at church. It gives me the opportunity to express emotions that I remember from my childhood, and I can sort of make them into clay. Q: Is it the emotion of going to church? A: Spiritual emotions. I do blues figures, too. Juke joint scenes are something I enjoy. These scenes are the same — the intensity of emotions was the same. It was just in different locations. My booth has blues figures on one and church figures the other. This is because in the house where I was born, there was a church right across the street and a juke place two houses down. It was fascinating because I could listen to the blues from my porch at night. On Sundays, I could hear gospel from my porch. Sometimes, I could hear both if the service was too long. Q: I was told that you once taught classes. A: Yes. Oakley Training School is a detention facility where I was a teacher. There I lived for seven years. I no longer do workshops at community centers. My sculptures are what I am focusing on now. I am doing more work now than I have ever done in my entire life. I also do more festivals and shows. I enjoy the energy and love to travel. Last year, I was voted best in show in Pensacola. Each year, I strive to be different. You don’t get good, you just get better. It’s a lifelong journey. It’s a lifelong learning experience. You are constantly striving for perfection. You learn something every time you stand in front of a sculpture desk. Ellie Ali, a New York City-based painter, has been participating in the festival every year since its inception. Q: How did the festival first come to your attention? H.C. Porter was the one who initiated the festival with artists she enjoyed. It was a great idea because an artist can curate shows. We were invited by her to attend the first year. I kept coming back due to the amazing community and serious art lovers. Q: What were you impressions of that first year? A: It was a highly intelligent, serious, and art-buying community. I went in with optimism and was surprised to find that I was more thrilled than I had expected. Q: Have you noticed a change in the quality of the artists and the activities at the festival? A: Yes, it has grown. The quality of the artists has improved each year. I believe people hear about the festival from other artists and so new artists are encouraged to take part. It’s amazing to see the people who have taken that chance and found a new audience. Q: Did you expect to be selected for the juried event after your acceptance? Or did you have the same nervousness of, “Will I or will I not get in?” A: There’s always some trepidation because we don’t know what the future holds. It could be that you are their favorite artist, but then they could choose to reject your work. But I have been fortunate. They are just like me, I believe. Collectors return year after year. There are many people who return every year to my house. They should come back this year, I hope. Q: Do you feel like you have a good working relationship with the organizers? They’re wonderful people. They are hardworking and know what they’re doing which is important for artists. Q: What do you think about your work’s evolution since you first started attending the festival, or in the past few years? A: My work is constantly changing. It’s easy to recognize it as mine, but it changes. This is something that I believe a lot artists see when they do these shows. Your work should be exciting and new. Q: Your website mentions that you are inspired by jazz. Is it still something that inspires you? A: Yes, it is. You could ask any artist if they listen while making art or sculpting jewelry. It’s connected. That part of your brain that hears music can sometimes translate into what you do. Q: What is it about jazz that inspires your art? A: I believe jazz’s improvisational nature is what inspires my improvisational work. I am self-taught so I don’t have any specific references when I work. I simply follow the inspiration and just get started. Chad Mars, a Ridgeland-based artist, is Chad Mars. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2004 and has been painting full time for five years. Q: Are you from the area? Q: I’m from Ridgeland. It is right across the street from the festival. I have owned a Ridgeland studio for five years. Q: This is your first year participating in the festival. A: It was my first year. Q: Can you tell me how that festival compares to others? It was one of the top five festivals I have ever attended. It was a great first year, considering I have probably done 50 (festivals). Q: Did the festival help to increase interest in fine art for the people of the area? A: I don’t know. It’s amazing, I think. It’s a great festival because of the high quality work that goes into it. It may be the best state festival. The show has a lot of great artists. Q: Have you been creating new paintings for the festival? A: This year, I began a new series. I have been doing the same style for several years and felt that it was time to change. I had a very profound life experience. I was able to establish a relationship with God through Christianity for the first time in my entire life. While I was on the beach, I felt like I was reborn. I have felt for years that when I am near water, I can surrender my mind and be open-minded, free-minded and open-hearted. I thought it would be great if that could happen wherever I went. Talks with friends and family — all of my friends are Christians — led me to the conclusion that surrendering control of your mind to God can lead to replacing your ego with God’s conscience. This will allow you to let go of the need to control your life and accept that there are always a few bumps along the way. This made me think about what I could do with my art to express it. I let go of the need to make my art perfect and allowed my art to be more spontaneous. Q: Do your thoughts lead you to believe you have a lasting style? A: I believe I have found a style that I like right now. I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago. Because art is a transformative force, I don’t know what I will be like in two years. You can be yourself and it allows you to grow. Q: Do you find painting therapeutic? Since I was six years of age, I have been an artist. Although I wasn’t very good at school, I was able to sit and draw for hours. I have always struggled in any environment in which I was not in complete control. This is one of the best things about my job.
being an artist. Many artists struggle with authority. Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival will take place from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday. For a complete list of artists and a schedule of events, visit the festival website. The festival will end with $7,000 in prize money.