Glenn House

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Glenn House (born c. 1931; died September 14, 2014 in Tuscaloosa) was an artist and papermaker.

House was the son of Norman Lee and Lucille Hollingsworth House and raised on their farm near Gordo. His family raised food for themselves as well as gladiolas and other unusual crops to bring to market. His mother, best known as "Ma'Cille", led the family on trasure-hunting vacations which combined archaeology, salvage and junking and provided the basis for Ma'Cille's Museum of Miscellanea, which she opened in the 1960s. House graduated from Gordo High School and sought further instruction in art through a correspondence course. His Aunt Ida criticized his pursuit of art, claiming he'd become nothing but "an educated fool."

House found work as a commercial illustrator. He was the designer of the landmark Moon Winx Lodge sign on U.S. Highway 11 in Alberta. Meanwhile he continued to make his own sculptures, and became known for his series of grotesque fireclay faces which he sold at the Kentuck Festival of Arts in Northport. Many of the faces were caricatures of his Aunt Ida.

House also landed a job as an instructor at the University of Alabama, where he developed his skills as a paper maker. His Lost Arch Papermill introduced "Alabama Kozo" papers made from local paper mulberry trees, as well as papers manufactured from mule dung. House founded the University's Book Arts Program, which was the first such program to award master's degrees in the United States.

He married photographer Kathy Fetters. Later he, his wife and son, Butch, established the Crossroads Arts Alliance in his hometown of Gordo, which expanded into a thriving artists' colony. He retired from the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies in 1991, but continued to lead workshops on papermaking and printing.

House died in 2014 at the DCH Regional Medical Center.

References

  • Cobb, Mark Hughes (September 15, 2014) "Tuscaloosa area artist Glenn House dies at 83." Tuscaloosa News