ROLLING FORK, Miss.—Twenty-five years ago, agricultural power and machinery teacher Lee Washington sat inside an empty classroom at South Delta High School in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, tinkering with some old cotton-picker spindles. Instead of the normal chatter and laughter accompanying the hum and drum of workshop tools, the artist was working in quiet—as his students were on spring break.
Letting his creativity run free, Washington crafted a stickman out of the loose materials. From there, he started cutting and bending, heating the metal and bending the character’s limbs into new positions and more refined shapes until he had fashioned those discarded machine parts into the form of a man.
That Friday, shortly before school would resume to complete the spring 2021 semester, Washington had birthed what would become his Lee’s Cotton Picker Art brand. Not fully satisfied with his prototype, the artist experimented by altering his approach here and there until he could produce a product that “looked pretty decent,” he said.
Evolving beyond exclusively creating sculptures of people, Washington, an Army veteran, learned to also turn simple cotton-picker spindles into animals, instruments, religious symbols and more.
“It feels good to me because nobody else does it,” Washington said of the niche his art fills. “When I make a piece, I’m satisfied with it. It feels like my child or something, especially when I first started making them and I wasn’t selling them. I was just making it because of the gift God gave me.”
Seven years into his career as a craftsman, Washington moved out of the workshop in his classroom and began operating out of his own shop and art gallery on Walnut Street in Rolling Fork. Since 2008, the artistic welder has expanded his collection to hundreds of pieces that embody the culture and history of the Mississippi Delta.
Sharkey County, founded in 1876, is rooted in the Delta’s plantation economy. The county had a high population of enslaved African Americans until the Civil War. In 1880, the first census taken in Sharkey County after emancipation recorded that 77% of the population was Black. Washington’s art takes materials that represent Black labor in Mississippi and repurposes them into sculptures that take on new meanings.
Alongside creating and selling his pieces to art lovers all over, Washington has made figurines for two very notable people.
“I have given them to two famous people. Congressman Bennie Thompson had a speech at one of the casinos in North Mississippi. They invited me to make him a piece. It was Jesus carrying the cross.” Washington told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 24. “I also made one for President Obama. It was a piece that looked like an angel had a hand on his shoulder, standing behind him.”
‘I Like to Feel Good About it’
Lee Washington’s quarter-century art has granted him many prestigious opportunities. In 2008, organizers for the Chicago Blues Festival invited him to showcase his work as one of six artists from Mississippi represented at the event.
Chicago was not the last stop for Washington’s one-of-a-kind work, however. The craftsman also has pieces for display inside the EE Bass Cultural Arts Center in Greenville, Mississippi, as well as the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, which holds one of his most notable works: an 18-piece blues band set consisting of nine performers with instruments and nine audience members.
With traces of his work throughout the Mississippi Delta and across the country, Washington feels pride in practicing such a niche art. The artist added that the creativity behind making the figurines comes to him in random places.
“I don’t put anything on paper; everything I put out comes from my head,” he said. “I can be driving down the highway or sitting in bed and think of something to make. I got to be in that state of mind.”
While he puts a lot of effort into each figurine, Washington believes that part of the secret to his success lies in starting projects while in the right headspace.
“I just can’t throw something together you know. I like to feel good about it,” the artist said. “The only way I can feel good about it (is) I got to be feeling good before I even start.”
‘Little Ladies Going to Church’
Appreciation for Washington’s art is not limited to himself or other art aficionados. One of his biggest fans is very close to home.
Barbara Washington, Lee’s wife, has admired her husband’s tenacity and talent in artwork since the very beginning.
“When he did get started, it was really fascinating because they were so real-like even though they didn’t have eyes or a mouth or nose or anything,” she told the Mississippi Free Press on Oct. 8.
Though the artist has a prolific portfolio of pieces, his wife inspired a special collection of the figurines that he made.
“Some that he made resembled my grandmother,” Barbara said. “She used to love to wear hats, and she didn’t think she was dressed up for church unless she had her hat on. So he got some little things and made hats and put them on little ladies going to church.”
The Delta native often frequents her husband’s art gallery in search of a gift for family and friends.
“Sometimes I’ll tell him, ‘You know what? I wanna give so-and-so a piece of art.’ He’ll look at me like, ‘Really?’ I’ll say, ‘Yes, I’ll pay you for it. He’ll say, ‘Yeah, uh-huh. Sureee,’” Washington recollected.
‘Talent for Transforming Scrap’
While most of Lee Washington’s work is located in the Mississippi Delta, his artwork can also be found in Central Mississippi at the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi in Ridgeland. A member since 2002, Washington’s work has been featured in the Madison County center’s archives for more than two decades, drawing attention to talent in the Mississippi Delta as well as his uniqueness in the use of scrap metal.
“Having known Lee since 2013, I can attest to his remarkably diverse background as a schoolteacher, retired military officer and artist,” Elizabeth Montambault, the guild’s director, wrote to the Mississippi Free Press in an email on Oct. 20.
”He possesses a great talent for transforming scrap metal and tractor parts into intricate sculptures of flowers, marching-band members and insects,” she added. “I always enjoy visiting with Lee when he stops by the Guild, as he constantly has a funny story or a new project idea to share.”
Montambault said that Washington will be returning to the guild from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14 with new pieces to share at the 50th anniversary of the Chimneyville Arts Festival, held at the Bill Waller Craft Center.
The annual art festival showcases the craftsmanship of artisans from all over the state. Some will be performing live demonstrations for guests, who can shop from vendors present at the milestone festival. Tickets for the preview experience on Thursday are $40 while general admission to the main festival is $10.
For more on Lee’s Cotton Picker Art (219 Walnut St., Rolling Fork), find his business page on Facebook. To view his art, either visit his Rolling Fork gallery or visit the Craftsman’s Guild of Mississippi’s physical location at the Bill Waller Craft Center (950 Rice Road, Ridgeland).
Follow the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of the Mississippi Delta and read past stories here.
Mississippi Free Press stories are always free because we believe everyone should have access to quality journalism. Donations from readers like you make that possible. Please click here to give to help sustain and grow vital, people-over-power journalism for Mississippians.
Readers can sign up for our free newsletters here.
