Local artists work featured in Gallery Shop in McCormick

In May the Gallery Shop at located inside the historic Keturah Hotel in downtown McCormick will feature two local artists.

Judi Besier, a native of Massachusetts, has lived in Georgia for over thirty years. Through the years she has expressed her art in various mediums including ceramics, oil painting, watercolor and interior design. It has just been in the past few years that she has found her true love, gourds. Her ability to transform these hollow vegetables into beautiful works of art is inspiring to many in the gourd world.

Judi's gourds have been entered in gourd shows throughout the southern United States, including Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky, where she has won multiple blue ribbons. She uses many different techniques on her gourds such as dyes, burning, paint, rim decor and many other creative ideas. Judi also inspires others by teaching weekly classes to as many as twelve individuals as well as through the Georgia Gourd Society. She has taught the past two years at the Georgia Gourd Society's Ebenezer Retreat in Effingham County.

Jewell Birks was born in Nova Scotia, Canada where her family owned a seafood restaurant. She says that her creative nature cam tot life in the kitchen with her father, where she assisted him in creating new dishes and bake goods for the restaurant.

Her family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida when she was seven, but continued to travel to Canada each year to operate the restaurant.

Jewell began her career as an artist at the tender age of ten. Inspired by her uncle Glen MacNutt, the renowned Boston painter/photographer, Jewell started her journey with a Kodak Brownie. After graduating from Daytona Beach College with a degree in photography, Jewell did many projects with major accounts such as Canadian Broadcasting, National Lampoon, Real People and other production and TV companies. She honed her creative talents by working as a set designer for a major animation company.

She currently lives in Lincoln County where her studio sits on a hill overlooking a picturesque pond deep in the woods of northeastern Georgia. Her love of wildlife, especially birds, inspired her to develop her unique line of artwork using old vinyl record albums. As is the case with many artistic endeavors, the use of recycled PVC was more of an accident than a plan. However, the process has been perfected through trial and error and the application of a little modern technology. Jewell uses a special treatment process, combined with heat to create her unique items using scrap PVC obtains from several manufacturing sources.

As you can see, our artisans are brimming with talent. Come and see for yourself the delightful array of work these folks produce.

The gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.