Blair Atherholt
Fine Artist
Local art aficionados have undoubtedly viewed Blair Atherholt’s beautiful paintings displayed at Canary Gallery in the heart of the Magic City. As a child, Blair admired his father, also an artist, and followed in his inspirational footsteps, enrolling at the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore. In 2016, Gallery Owner and Founder Libby Pantazis discovered Blair’s work on social media and reached out, knowing the paintings would be an ideal addition to her gallery.
Since then, the full-time artist has had more than one solo show at Canary Gallery and has made a name for himself throughout Birmingham. He describes his art as “traditional still life with contemporary factors.” Find him at blairatherholtart.com or on Instagram, @blairatherholt.
Samuel Fisher
Custom Woodworker
Raised in Birmingham, Samuel Fisher was “drawn to arts at an early age.” His father, an architect, encouraged him to explore multiple forms: painting, drawing, engineering. While studying industrial design at Auburn, Samuel “spent one summer studying design in Kaohsiung, Taiwan at Shu-Te University, where [he] was first exposed to furniture design.” He returned to Alabama and finished his degree, then moved to New York for an industrial design internship.
Now, Samuel is home again with a successful woodworking business. As a “one-man-shop working with a combination of hand and power tools,” he designs custom furniture for a variety of clients. His favorite wood is cherry, and his favorite challenge to date was designing his daughter’s baby crib. Find Samuel at sfwoodworker.com or on Instagram, @samuelfisherwoodworker.
Jake Reiss
Custom Clothier
As the fourth generation of his family to serve Alabama’s best-dressed gentlemen, Jake Reiss celebrated 40 years of creating wearable art in April 2022. “Our ‘old world’ niche business thrives today, in spite of challenges,” he noted.
The continued success at J. Reiss is a result of treating each client as an individual and taking great care to provide the highest level of service, products and attention to detail for a wide range of lifestyle needs. Jake said it is especially fulfilling that the majority of his business is from repeat clients, who count on the staff to make them look and feel fantastic, no matter the occasion.