Barry Crowder of Stink Bug Studio is originally from Maryville. He attended Georgia Tech, where he participated in a work-study program. After two years, he soon discovered he was better at ultimate Frisbee. Having friends in Fort Sanders, he moved in with them and transferred to the University of Tennessee in 1988. He participated in the College Scholars program at UT with a concentration in ceramics, where he built a salt kiln and learned the salt-fire technique. He moved into his Knoxville, TN house on top of Chapman Ridge in 1999, a craftsman’s house with a pottery studio to spare.
Barry’s passion for history and art led him to create his unique mushroom sculptures. The idea grew out of a garden art project for a friend, sculpting unique representations of pre-Columbian sculptures. “Not all of the decorations are faces, but they are always on the stem,” Barry says. He’s taken the form further with custom chess sets. The chessboards are handmade from hardwoods, and each chess set is individual.
Barry’s craftsmanship as a woodworker is evident in his project at the Riggio-Lynch Chapel on the Alex Haley Farm for the Children’s Defense Fund. It is one of Barry’s favorite projects. It involved molding the wood planking to curve around the building frame. Barry’s throwing wheel is also a work of art. It’s a kick wheel handmade from the plans for Leach’s pottery wheel that Barry built himself. He enjoys creating unique solutions, often simplifying and adding beauty along the way.