Georgia Magazine - June 2021 - 28

Georgians AT WORK

By Karon Warren

LEITA COWART

Meet mixed-media
artist Simone Wilson

LEITA CO

R
WA

rom an early age,
Scottdale resident
Simone Wilson loved creating art using wood, steel,
paint and reclaimed materials. Initially, she created figurative and abstract assembled pieces
such as American flags, hearts and birds.
" It's a very organically put-together process
when I do this work, " she says.
However, while living on a mini urban farm
with dogs in Asheville, N.C., Wilson needed some
gates. Instead of purchasing a manufactured gate,
she decided to create her own.
" I just made some crazy gates, and people
would come over and ask if I would make them
gates, " she says. " I would be like, 'No, that's not what
I do, but thanks.' "
One reason she declined was that she is not a
woodworker; when she does use wood in her art, it
often is reclaimed pieces. Her friend Bryan Jackson,
though, was a woodworker, so in 2005 they started
making garden gates together. These proved to be
very popular. After Jackson retired, Wilson continued
constructing gates with her assistant, Jackson Roberts, another talented woodworker from Asheville.
For the last five years, Wilson has paired with
woodworker Tom Colon of Atlanta to create gates at
her Pleasant Hugh Studio in Scottdale. Some showT

Georgia Magazine

case plasma-cut panels, while others feature found objects.
" It's sort of evolved over the years, and it will continue
to, but a lot of my work took a turn toward functional back
when we started making gates, " she says. " Over the last 15 or
so years I have had [these three] gentlemen work for me who
each brought their own unique talents and helped me develop the
gates that we make today. "
Along with the garden gates, Wilson makes fire pits, screen doors,
privacy screens, lighting and more. In 2009, she formed a partnership with
Tupelo Honey Café, a national restaurant chain that started in Asheville, to
create custom metal storyboards, lighting and architectural pieces for its
locations.
Today, much of Wilson's work is commissioned, but anyone can
purchase her work at her studio.
" The response that I get from clients is what keeps me going and
makes it worth it, " Wilson says. " Everyone says my work makes them happy,
so that's a good thing. "
While she continues to make the gates and other functional pieces, she
looks forward to doing more sculptural work. Wilson says she enjoys the
design process-coming up with the concepts and then seeing them come
together in the end.
" [My art] may come full circle to assemblage work, " Wilson says. " That
seems to be where my brain is going these days. I've been all over the place,
but there has to be some cohesion, I guess. When I think about it, it sounds
crazy, all the things I've done. "
Karon Warren is a freelance writer from Ellijay.
Simone Wilson Art & Design, Pleasant Hugh Studio, 3172 E. Ponce de Leon Ave.,
Scottdale. (828) 230-4813. simonewilsonartanddesign.com.

June 2021

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http://www.simonewilsonartanddesign.com

Georgia Magazine - June 2021

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