Page 76 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2019

Featured
ARTIST
STORY BY ALEXIS WILLIAMS
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRENDA STOKES
HOLLEY HILL: POTTER CELEBRATES 40TH YEAR AT FESTIVAL WITH FAMILY
“chocoholic”
DESIGN
FINDS
StopBy
These Special Ocean Springs Retailers
Hershey’s Chocolate Heart Necklace
by Kathryn Taylor Grey
Coastal Magpie
918 Washington Ave., Ocean Springs 228.215.1815
And
Molten Glass and Wood Sculpture Bowl
Blessons
910 A Washington Ave., Ocean Springs 228.215.3115
Celebrating their 40th year at
the Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival, Holley Hill Pottery owner Brenda Stokes remembers being invited to the second ever Ocean Springs festival in 1979. When the first weekend in November came, Brenda and her husband Marty filled their van and made the trek from their studio in Navarre, Florida, to the Ocean Springs Chamber parking lot, accompanied by their one-year-old son Jason.
That year they were one of about 50 exhibitors in the show. Rain
shut down the festival on the first Saturday of November in 1979 and postponed it to the next weekend. They came back the next weekend and sold out all the pottery they had fired for the show.
Excited they’ve hit the 40th milestone with the festival, Brenda can’t believe time has passed so quickly. Jason, now a fine artist himself, has merged his talents with his parents and the festival and the art is very much a family affair.
“The festival in a large way, defines
who we are as ceramic artists,” adds Brenda. “It all started with local artist Anita Gallagher who wanted an urn with baby sea turtle hatchlings crawling out. The next year we brought her several urns
to choose from and sold the others before she left our booth.”
Sea turtles remain the theme of Holley Hill Pottery.“The sea turtle
is always our most sought after
pot,” says Brenda. After Hurricane Katrina, the Stokes made what
they called hurricane pots, which depicted palm trees blowing in the wind and waves. That particular pot sold out by noon the first day. They are bringing back a limited series
of hurricane pots for their 40th festival, as well as more sea turtles. They will also have folk style pottery celebrating the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce and the depot area of the festival.
“They’ve maintained such quality in the show,” says Brenda. “Other shows aren’t the same anymore, but Ocean Springs has maintained the level of enthusiasm and appreciation of their artists.”
76 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • October 2019
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