The shelf is filled with stones that I wrote on. No one has taken one home but people have added natural objects, the black walnut shell, the stick and today a small magnolia seed pod. On Friday night, I met a friend at the Folk Life Festival who introduced me to a neighbor who is an ELF! An "elf" is a person who adds to the shelf anonymously, of course. She had added a long, glass bead. It's on a nail above the shelf, not seen in this photo. I was so happy to meet another elf.
My tattoo is based on the Spencerian calligraphy by Michael Sull that my friend Amy found for me in a book about calligraphy. I simplified it from the original as you can see. About a month ago, a friend sent us a catalog that she thought I'd like to use for collage, but instead, we found this glass plate for sale and Chuck got it for me as a treat. How cool is this? No attribution to the image on the plate so we don't know if it's a Michael Sull or an old Spencerian design. In any case, I love having it.
The Outer Banks are a long sandy strip that follows along the coast of North Carolina. It's where the Wright brothers got their plane off the ground and started this whole flying business. It's also known for having lots of kitsch Pirate stuff, lots and lots of it, and salt water taffy. We couldn't leave with out stopping at a Forbes shop for our souvenir taffy. Eating some of it in the dark on the drive home, we couldn't tell one flavor from another...just very soft and sweet. The OBX marathon (which takes place next weekend) art competition was held at the Dare County Arts Council. This image shows last year's winner and on the wall, which doesn't show up well, is this year's winner (we were the judges.) The image will be on a tee shirt, the phone book, and a lot of other things for the 2009 OBX marathon. It was fun to do. We were happily surprised to see this Art-o-mat at the council though it was out of order at the moment. We were thinking about how many nice vacations we had on the OBX and how we need to remember that it's only a 3 1/2 hour drive from our house and we could go more often. Hmmm, a resolution for the new year.
Our trip to the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina was brief (an over night) but lovely. The weather was perfect and we got to walk on the beach twice, looking for sea glass and shells, enjoying the breeze and the sound of the waves. The sky was so blue with puffy little clouds. More photos on my other blog, if you need more sea and sand. We went to an old haunt of ours, where we'd get fudge and walk in and out of shops. It's now an antique "mall" with lots of little antique shops, a children's dance studio, a hair cutting place, some offices. Ah, memories. And of course, the birds. Here's a little fellow by him/herself. In Manteo, where we judge the OBX marathon art competition, we ate lunch at Full Moon Cafe, which we recommend. Really tasty food and lovely umbrellas!
Here are a few of the ATCs that I've made over the years. This selection is from 2004 to 2007. I'm posting them to promote my Artist Trading Card workshop which will be held on 7 February 2009 at the VMFA studio school. It'll be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The last hour will be a trading session and I'd love to have anyone in this area, who makes cards, come by and join my class for the trading session.. Mark your calendars. Okay, so I'm assuming that I'll have at least 10 people interested in signing up for the class. Hint, hint, hint. If you aren't familiar with this form of art making and sharing, check out the site of the founder. Some of you, my long time readers, will remember that I met him, M. Vanci Stirnemann, in 2006. You can see the picture of me with him in my archives (Sept. 2006.) I was grinning like crazy! Over the years, I've exchanged with people in person and via mail. I've taught a workshop to students at University and high school level, and tried to spread the word about how much fun this is, plus it's a real boost to any blocked creativity. You don't have to be an artist do make the cards, just a desire to participate and learn. Once the Studio School get it's catalog out, I'll post a link.
