The 60th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival in Fairhope showcases over 230 exhibitors and artists from around the nation, and one veteran artist is sculptor William Colburn, a native of Birmingham who has since made Fairhope his adopted hometown. While his works can be found in galleries and exhibits in Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and numerous other cities, several of his pieces have also found more local permanent homes, such as Mobile’s Government Plaza, which houses a collaborative piece he created with fellow artist Charles Smith. In addition, Fairhope’s Eastern Shore Art Center received two of his larger works as a gift from Senator Jack Edwards. Working mainly with steel, the versatile sculptor granted us a phone interview to talk about his livelong love of steel, finding inspiration from a special mountain, and how his first visit to the Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival in 1993 forever changed his relationship towards art.

PL: Can you tell us a little about your education and background in the arts, and what made you become a sculptor, in particular?

WC: I actually majored in Business in school, but I was always told throughout high school that I could succeed as an artist. I never really listened or pursued it seriously, but I would do stuff like make my own furniture throughout college. I made my own bed, my tables, and stuff like that, but I didn’t think about it seriously back then.

PL: Wow, that’s fantastic that you made your own furniture throughout college. Do you still make any these days?

WC: No, I don’t really do any studio furniture these days because it’s a much harder medium to sell, but I did make my daughters’ beds and they were really pleased with them. Now I do anything from small, whimsical pieces that are animals or flowers, to more experimental, abstract larger pieces that are more high-end. I like being able to offer the wide range in styles and prices so that it’s affordable to everyone. My smaller pieces start at $35 and those are really popular.

PL: It appears that you work exclusively with steel, in terms of use of material. What is it about steel in particular that draws you to it?

WC: Well, my parents owned a company in Birmingham that dealt with mining and drilling equipment, so I was always around it and grew up playing with metal as a kid. So because of the family business, steel was something that I was really comfortable and familiar with. Then as I got older, I started experimenting with it a bit, like using fabricated steel, which gave it a more 3-D look, a look with more substance. We also lived by Ruffner mountain, which used to supply a lot of the steel for the mills in Birmingham, and they would also make cannon balls from it. It’s an iron ore mountain, so it always had this real rusted patina look to it, like it was made of rusted steel. Growing up, I always just thought it was the most beautiful thing.

PL: So that love of steel, and that rusted-steel look, started young for you. But as you mentioned before, you didn’t give art much of a thought until later in your life, so what would you say was the impetus? Was it one particular thing that inspired you, or was it a gradual process?

WC: Actually, it was when I went to the Fairhope Arts & Crafts festival for the first time, in 1993. It made an impression on me, so I decided to submit a piece to its sister show, the Daphne Arts & Crafts Festival in 1994, and I ended up getting Best in Show! That was when I started to think that maybe I should pursue this.

PL: What was it about the Fairhope art festival that left such an impression on you?

WC: It had a lot of really great works and was really well run, in my opinion. Plus, it’s always nice when it’s in your hometown.

The 60th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival in Fairhope will be held on March 16, 17 and 18 from 10 a.m-5 p.m. daily in the streets of downtown Fairhope. Admission is free. For more information, call 621-8222. For additional information on William Colburn, including images of his works, visit colburn.com.