Art has always been of interest to Mark Amidon — drawing, painting, theatre — but when he was asked to compete in the Logan County Art League’s Not So Bad Art by Good People contest, he didn’t go with any of the standard mediums. Instead, he combined his job and a new hobby to create a sculpture he named “Space Flowers.”
You could say this art piece had its genesis almost 40 years ago when Amidon moved back to Bellefontaine in 1988. That’s when he took a job at Holden Brothers, a metal fabrication company in West Liberty.
“I started doing things with metal,” Amidon explained, “and they taught me how to weld.“
This isn’t the first time he’s turned scraps of metal into pieces of art. Over the years, Amidon has been known to make steel roses as gifts, so a bouquet seemed a good way to go. But flowers need a vase.
That’s where his new hobby comes in. About a year ago, Amidon’s dad, C. Forrest (Woody) Amidon, gave Mark a year of classes at the Cracked Pot Studio in Bellefontaine. Forrest started working with clay during the lockdown and thought his son would enjoy it as well.
He was right. Amidon loves the art form, though he admitted, “I’m not proficient, but I’m getting better.”
As for calling it “Space Flowers,” Amidon glazed the vase to represent the earth, with mountains and sky reaching into the atmosphere and touching the flowers floating there.
“I’m challenged by pottery,” Amidon admitted. “I want to make things uniform and symmetric. I’ve learned to go with off-center. But the wheel is challenging and probably always will be.”
Besides his dad, Amidon is grateful to his mom, Katie; his daughter, Emily Alexander; and his wife, Molly, for their support. He mentioned his daughter in particular as she promised to “stuff the ballot box.”
Amidon, who graduated from Bellefontaine High School in 1980, has been with Holden Brothers for 36 years. He’s now the general manager there.
“It’s a needful and beautiful thing to create art,” Amidon concluded. “Just creating something is good for a person and the community.”
The Not So Bad Art by Good People contest once again gathered art work by local celebrities to raise money for the Logan County Art League. Each piece will be on display at Citizens Federal Savings & Loan, 100 N. Main Street, Bellefontaine, weekdays during bank lobby hours until Friday, Jan. 31. People can vote on their favorite(s) by putting money ($1=one vote) in the artist’s box next to the particular piece.
This year’s winner will be announced at the celebration event and dinner, which starts at 5 p.m. on Jan. 31 at Honey Birch Farm, 550 E. Township Road 30, West Liberty. After the dinner, each of the works of art will be auctioned off. All proceeds from the votes and the auction will go to the art league.
Anyone in the community can attend. Tickets for food and drinks, including dinner at 6 p.m., can be purchased online for $30. Reservations are due by Friday, Jan. 24. You can find the form at logancountyartleague.org or by emailing [email protected].