Driftwood Art

By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter

It is said Michelangelo could look at a block of marble and see the statue inside. One Gulf Coat artist can look at very ordinary objects and see them as...well, see for yourself. Driftwood Art

Published: Fri, June 13, 2008 - 1:45 pm Last Updated: Mon, July 28, 2008 - 10:41 pm

Jere Hough

A man who signs his name TRex makes fishing lures, carves faces in cut-open golf balls, and uses an old root to make a jumbo shrimp. What kind of art IS that?
Rex Turner laughs, "Kind of trash to treasure, I guess."
Rex Turner and Jere Hough drag a plank across the floor of his garage/workshop. Another unique piece of art.
Turner explains, "Eight of the most unusual people that I'd met when I first came to Fairhope. This is a couple of ladies in town that still set out, even at their ages, 150-foot gill net. And this is a local fisherman that goes to Pensacola and preaches on the waterfront to the people."
Mostly Turner uses driftwood, and old fencing, when he can find it, to create somewhat distorted shore life...birds, a crabs, a seahorse.
This wasn't always his style.
"The first few pieces I made I actually tried to make look real," he recalls. "I would paint them and everything. Nobody was interested in them. But the more abstract I made them and the more natural-looking finishes they had, people started buying them."
In fact one of his pelicans recently received a Special Merit Sculpture Award at the Eastern Shore Art Center.
How does he recognize artistic potential in driftwood?
He declares, "If it doesn't talk to me, I don't pick it up."

Rex Turner has a PhD from Georgia and spent 27 years in research and development with International Paper Company. Here are some locations where you can see more of his art.

(1) Green Gates Market, 801 North Section Street, Fairhope (251) 928-2525
(2) Fairhope Street Artist, 212 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope (251) 990-8763
(3) Eastern Shore Art Center, 401 Oak Street, Fairhope (251) 928-2228