The Honeymoon Is Over

So, today was my sixth day at my new job. I kinda drifted last week... I had to wait for my shiny new laptop to arrive and then get that set up. I shopped for office supplies. I read their 2006 tax return. I brought in some extra artwork from home to hang on the walls. I sent out some emails. I piddled around on the files on the server and in the accounting data file. Easy as pie.

But things changed this week. I am finally getting a idea of what my job is going to be. And I am a little scared. It's a whole lotta work. More than I thought. I am going to have to make some system changes here that I know it is going to make me into the bad guy at work. And that stinks. Sigh.


In any case, I love the robot on the wall in my office.

And I loaded my work laptop with all my Richard Hawley music. Yay!

Clyde Angels

So many wonderful things have happened for me this year. I think that 2007 has been one of the best years of my life.

One of the great things to happen to me this year is reconnecting with my old friend, Clyde Jones. In the mid-nineties, I would go out to the Critter Crossing to visit Clyde at least once a week. I learned about Clyde through Craven, who studied Clyde during a UNC folklore class. He said, "Charlotte, you just gotta meet this guy." So, I went out there with only the knowledge that this guy built animals out of wood using a chainsaw. Whatever. Big Deal. Yawn.

But wow. Before you even reach his yard, you can see his work from down the street. And then when you finally reach his yard, it's just mind-blowing. There are critters and paintings everywhere. I was instantly charmed by his work. I squealed when I saw his animals. The passion in his artwork could immediately be felt upon entering his yard. The critters were cut by chainsaw from logs and pieced together with huge nails. The heads were made of cedar and decorated with paint, glitter, flowers and other found objects. Each horse, dog, cow, mosquito, giraffe, person, elephant, fish, deer, and cat had individual personality. I found myself wandering around his yard petting each one and talking to them.

Eventually, one time when I was out visiting, Clyde came outside to meet me. We had a great time talking and soon became really good friends. During our weekly visits, I'd talk to him about how I wanted to move away or how I was having a hard time with my parents or stuff going on at work, and he would always offer simple but wonderful advice. And he would discuss his artwork with me. He would discuss how he was trying to paint new animals or how he was out trying to find new cedar stumps. I was honored that he sought my opinion on his work.

During that time, we even made several critters together. We made a HUGE giraffe for my porch. We made painting for my parents. We made little critters which are still scattered all over my house. I even made some artwork for him to hang on his porch. My favorite subject to paint was Clyde and his dog, Speck. But once I moved to Durham and started working in Raleigh, our visits became less frequent. And when I did make it out to Bynum, it seemed that he was never at home. He's a busy artist.


But this summer, when I was regularly out tubing on the Haw, I started visiting Clyde all over again. And we just picked up where we left off. And I've been out to visit him about once a month ever since. Yesterday afternoon, I went over to Clyde's for a visit and to pick up an angel that he was supposed to be making for my for my Christmas decorations. He had been working on the Nativity for his yard, but was having trouble with the Baby Jesus. He instructed me to drive by the Bynum Church down the street from him to see a finished Nativity.

This is Clyde's Baby Jesus from the Bynum Church Nativity:


So, Clyde ended up giving me three angels for Christmas. Two for me and one for my mom and dad. While listening to my favorite radio show of the year, Bill Burton's Best of the Year Show, I wrapped my angels in lights. It's better than a Christmas tree:

I was going to get a real Christmas tree for the first time ever. (The thought of that just seems so grown-up.) But since I was out of town last weekend and I am swamped this weekend, I decided to put off getting a Christmas tree for another year. I think that the angels look better than a tree anyway. Now I just need to wrap some presents to scatter at their feet.

My Christmas Wish List

If you've ever been to my house, you've seen how my fascination with outsider art has manifested itself. I have artwork not only on walls and over door frames, but also under beds and in closets. I've kinda run out of wall space, but you know... I can always try to squeeze more somewhere. The ceilings are bare... I need ceiling art.

In the early 2000's, I frequently visited San Francisco and would always stop by Creativity Explored. It's a non-profit arts center for developmentally disabled adults. The artists create some of the most amazing artwork I have ever seen. And their monthly gallery openings in that space are just phenomenal. The artists are more than willing to talk to you about their work and are always very excited to see folks buying it. The artwork is powerful and rich and emotional and raw. Creativity Explored is the one non-NC non-profit to whom I regularly send contributions.

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival screened a documentary this April called Cross Your Eyes Keep Them Wide about this facility, the artists and their work. I took Christa with me, who was quite impressed. This film won Full Frame's Jury Prize for Best Short.

This piece is by Andrew Li:


The last time I was in San Fran YEARS ago, I ate dinner at a restaurant where I struck up a conversation with some folks from the Black Rock Arts Foundation (the arts group who provide grants for Burning Man artists.) They were headed over to Creativity Explored gallery opening after dinner and invited me to tag along. I was more than happy to go! I had the best time meeting the artists and checking out their abundant masterpieces. I shipped stacks and stacks of artwork back to North Carolina. It was a great night.

This piece is by John McKenzie:


In the mail today, I received a postcard from Creativity Explored that their annual art sale is going on December 7-9. I really wish I could go. But there is no way that I could swing that. But if you happen to be in San Francisco looking for a Christmas present for me next weekend, Creativity Explored is where you should go. Whee!

My Favorite Things About My Vacation

Besides being away from work for two entire weeks, which is wonderful on a whole different level, these are the things that I loved most about my vacation:

1. Pupi. This is the Italian plural for puppets. We saw a puppet show in Siracusa which delighted me to no end. There were pupi for sale in every chatckie shop and tourist stand. In Taormina, we saw giant pupi. And I just love saying pupi. Pupi. Pupi. Pupi.



2. The seafood. It was the best. Robert, sent me a newly published book of slow food restaurants in Italy. We tried a couple of them and we scored. I had tuna tartare at a restaurant called Metro in Catania that blew us all away. I don't have a picture of that, but here are sea urchins from the market in Siracusa.



3. Mdina at Night. We arrived in Mdina, Malta, very very late and had a tiny bit of trouble finding our hotel at first. So, we ended up walking around Mdina, (The Silent City) in the middle of the night. It was gorgeous and quiet. This is the entrance to Mdina (a medieval fortressed city) as we saw it after being dropped off by our driver.



4. The Opera at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. I know bits and pieces about music here and there. But opera is a genre that I know little about. I think I have only seen two or three operas in my lifetime. Ross, Maggie and I saw Tosca at this opera house in Catania. There was a part in the opera that made me tear up a little. It was beautiful and sad. And the opera house was jaw-droppingly beautiful. And they served corn nuts.



5. Dwejra, Gozo. As I said in a previous post, the Mediterranean is so blue. It was thrilling to take a little boat ride out into the ocean and around the enormous rocks.



6. The Cardinal Visiting the Antique Car Show in Mdina. We got back to Mdina after doing some sightseeing and walked into the Cathedral Square to find hoards of people and rows of antique cars. We had so much fun looking at the cars. And then the cardinal arrived. Whee!



7. The Hike to Castello Saraceno in Taormina. I was sick at this point of our trip. And I am embarrassingly fearful of any sort of heights. The hike was steep with overlooks that made me dizzy. I wanted to give up about 1/5 of the way there. But Ross and Maggie encouranged me to continue. We hiked from way down in Taormina toward our destination which was the Castella Saraceno. Here is a shot taken during our hike. At this point we were 3/4 of the way there.



But dagnabbit! We were denied! The gate to Castello Saraceno was locked!



8. Mgarr Harbor in Gozo. It was just beautiful and we drank beer and ate malt balls as we overlooked the harbor.



And then we saw a horse swimming in it.



9. Mt. Etna. Hiking along snow-covered craters of an active volcano felt like walking on the moon. The lava rocks were extremely hot to the touch in some spots. It was so amazing up there.



10. St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that. It was beautiful in there. There was different kinds of marble everywhere. Every surface was covered with some sort of decoration. It was just stunning.



11. Francesco, Our Taxi Driver. He was just supposed to take us from our hotel to the bus stop in Siracusa, but he ended up driving us all the way to our destination in Pozzallo. He gave us a tour of Noto on the way. He was such a nice man. I sat in the front seat of the taxi with him and he played music for me and I wiggled and danced in my seat in appreciation. That is Francesco in the lower right corner.



12. The Good Graffiti in Catania. I wasn't all that impressed with Catania. I thought it was smelly and dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. Most of it was really really lame. But then I discovered this one artist. I found a couple of his works in the city. I thought it was really amazing stuff. If you're going to do graffiti, do it right.

The New Art Genre: State Fair

Skip and I went to the State Fair this week. I always look forward to the State Fair... not for the American Idol runners-up playing at the arena, not for the deep-fried food, not for the rides, and definitely not for the Village of Yesteryear. I go for the arts & crafts. This year there were some really phenomenal pieces.

This one caught us by surprise. Are those supposed to be eye bags?



This vest is made from the tabs from aluminum soda cans. It looks itchy.


It took us awhile to figure out what this was. It's a "decorative" birdhouse. The attendant said that it was supposed to be a conversation piece to be displayed in someone's house.


I have to say that the deep fried banana pudding was really good. Weird, but good.

Barbecue Country Doctor Drag Strip

On Saturday, a group of us took a road trip to eastern North Carolina for a day of barbecue sampling in Goldsboro and Wilson, a winery tour, Vollis Simpson's whirlygigs in Lucama, the Dunn-Benson Drag Strip, and the Country Doctor Museum in Bailey.

Ross can give you all the details about the barbecue we sampled over at Chowhound. Let me just say that I am ready to take a banana pudding tour of NC barbecue restaurants. Oh my god. I have never been a big banana pudding fan, but I am now!! Do all barbecue restaurants in this state carry banana pudding? I think I need to take a road trip to find out!!!

As far as barbecue is concerned, my friend, Robert has always sung the praises of Wilber's Barbecue on Highway 70 in Goldsboro. Other NC barbecue enthusiasts hold Wilber's as the eastern NC standard by which to gauge all others. Hmm. We weren't that impressed. Some coworkers and some other Goldsboro natives have told me that right across the street from Wilber's you'll find better barbecue at McCall's. They were right. McCall's ran out of barbecue soon after we arrived. We got the last pound of it. Time to make more.

The visit to the Country Doctor Museum was amazing. The museum itself didn't thrill me all that much, but our tour guide was the best. I swear this woman looked like she was an 18 year-old, sweet-as-pie, sorority girl wearing the cutest little sundress. She kept amazing me with her ability to just spout off the facts of the museum collection in this matter-of-fact tone. She told us which instruments were used to saw off limbs in less than 60 seconds, which plants could induce the shits, and how the iron lung chorus used to creep nurses out. It was borderline performance art.

You should definitely check out the Dunn-Benson Drag Strip if you are in the area. Don't forget your earplugs. I have never witnessed anything like that before in my life and for some reason, I really loved it. Wheelie-poppin' fast cars!!! Woo hoo!!!

Have you ever been in the presence of Vollis Simpson's whirlygigs? There's nothing I can say to explain the experience. So, if you haven't ever been to Lucama to see his artwork, please go. He is an amazing person to chat with. Very sweet man. He's 87 or thereabouts, so don't put off your trip to visit him. And his artwork is phenomenal. I bought one of his pieces a few years ago. I haven't put it out in my yard yet, but I should. It's got a bird sniffing a cat's butt on it. Now that's what I call art.

Haw River Vacationing

In a couple months, I'm going to Italy. For two whole weeks. I don't think I've ever taken two weeks off work EVER... except about 12 years ago when I was in the hospital, but that wasn't necessarily a vacation. In fact, it was pretty awful, except for the morphine-enhanced Welcome Back, Kotter marathon on the hospital TV. But that doesn't compare to a healthy two-week holiday in Sicily... I cannot wait.

But since I am taking that trip to Italy, I've had no other vacation time to use for any other trips this summer except for the few days in Brooklyn for the hot dog eating contest. But it's been ok because I have been taking weekly mini-vacations on the Haw River. After work or on the weekends, I've joined other folks tubing on the Haw in Bynum. It's been incredible.

I grew up around the Haw River in Burlington, but didn't think much about it except that we drove over it on our way to my grandparents' house as we headed north toward Danville. I really fell in love with the river and with Bynum in 1992-93 when Craven took me out to meet folk artist, Clyde Jones (see his paintings above) and to sit by the dam by 15-501. I just thought that Bynum was magical. Over the past ten years or so, I've unfortunately spent less time in Bynum with Clyde or by the Haw (except a few visits to Glencoe).

But latey, I've had the opportunity to go tubing about once a week on the Haw in Bynum. It's such an amazing experience, I don't even know where to begin to describe it. The craziest, most stressful day just melts away while lounging lazily in a tube floating down the river. The scenery is breathtaking and the water is so calm. My favorite thing is seeing the water reflected in the trees... which looks like little fairies. Usually we're the only people around. We able to see creatures such as damselflies, herons, and some little fishes. We've even seen a bald eagle. I like to zone out on the sound of the cicadas (which I called crickets growing up). I'm sad that it's mid-August and the summer will be over soon and I won't be able to experience the Haw like this anymore.

But until summer is over, I want to tube the Haw as much as possible.

I Heart Richard Serra

My trip to New York this month was filled with wonderful things. In addition to various hot dog activities, there was a recording session with the Badgers and Ewald made bacon-wrapped figs dipped in chocolate. The music was rough and I learned that attempting to play Duran Duran's "Rio" on ukulele is harder than I thought. And good lord. Figs. Wrapped in bacon. Dipped in chocolate. Incredible.

On my last day in New York, we went to the MOMA to see the Richard Serra retrospective. His work is so amazing and I think he might be my favorite sculptor. To be in the presence of one of his works is just thrilling. Serra creates these magestic metal torqued ellipses and spirals that have subtle bends and twists. I feel like you have to spend a good five or ten minutes with one of his pieces to "get it." Upon first glance, the sheer size and material of his works can be very intimidating. But the closer you get, the more inviting they become. Walking in and around them is dizzying and mezmerizing. They manipulate sounds as well as your perspective and balance. Heck, I can't describe his works. I lost the art history lingo when I graduated 14 years ago. But if you have the opportunity to see Richard Serra's work, I highly recommend that you go.


All the pictures from our Richard Serra experience can be found here.

I Have Versus Stuck In My Head

I had mentioned to Rossi that I was thinking about going to find this outsider art stone village north of Hillsborough. He wanted to go, too.

In my life, I've passed by this house a million times on my way up Hwy 86 on the way to Danville to see my grandparents. It on the right soon after you pass Hwy 49 in Prospect Hill. I have always loved this house... the trees, the porch, the stone wall and stone fountain. If I were to move out to the middle of nowhere, I'd want to live in a house just like this.


But I had no idea of what was on the other side of the driveway down the embankment. Wow. I squealed. It was a miniature village made of stones, concrete, bricks, and found objects. I was blown away.

In 1968, retired tobacco farmer, Henry L. Warren started building his little stone village. And it grew. It was very inspiring.


If this ukulele thing doesn't work out, I want to make beautiful, crazy yard art, too.

But when I say the word "Shangri-La" in my head, I cannot help but think of the song by Versus. I'll have to play that tomorrow night on the radio.

Anxiety Anxiety Anxiety Anxiety Anxiety

The word "anxiety" is very interesting visually when typed five times. The upward point of the capital 'A' and the downward point of the lowercase 'y' makes it flow nicely. The 'x' makes it feel kinda like a plaid design.

Although anxiety is pretty typed on the computer screen, it is not pretty when I feel it. And boy, do I feel it. I was told last Friday that I have not one, but two board presentations to do tomorrow!!! I didn't really sink in last week, but it sunk in today. I am a numbers person and not a words person, especially when I have to find words and speak them coherently standing in front of twenty people. I have a rough outline sketched out, but I need to practice it tonight and definitely give it some polishing. Bleah. I'd rather watch my front window or watch Rear Window (which arrived via Netflix).

I am glad that Christa helped hang the art on my wall. I now have a practice audience for my presentation. And friends to keep me company until I can get out and about on my own.

Retail Therapy

Christa calls: "How's the ankle? Do you need anything? Do you need a trip to the store? Do you need any groceries?"

"Well, I am low on chocolate and champagne. Oh, and I need some outsider art."

"Do you need anything else?"

"Yeah, could you help me hang some pictures in my living room?"

"Sure."

Best Saturday ever.

Plantation Sitting

In the mid-90s, I worked in Raleigh with a guy named John who was the caretaker for this HUMONGOUS plantation in Knightdale called Midway Plantation. It was stunning. Catherine Bisher, an architectural historian, described it once as a characteristically restrained example of Greek Revival style with generous proportions and unpretentious portico entrance. (Sometimes I can geek out on some architecture.) Although it had alot of land behind the main house and the outbuidlings, the house was right on the side of Highway 64... which probably wasn't an issue when the plantation was built in in the mid-1800s, but it was definitely a problem in the mid 1990s. But god, it was so beautiful. And the huge old magnolia trees in the yard provided great shade for afternoon get-togethers. I remember thinking that the rooms were enormous... I feel like you could've fit my entire house in one room of Midway.

John lived there with his wife and their two kids. His wife stayed home with the kids and developed beautiful gardens on the property. When their family went on vacation, John would ask me to house sit for them: just feed the cats and water the garden. I always jumped at the chance to do it. I loved it. It felt so decadent. There was one night I was staying there and the wind was blowing really hard and it was storming outside and the house was creaking and I was trying my best to find ghosts, but alas none were found. I did kinda spook myself out though.

Anyway, I discovered today that there is a film about this plantation called Moving Midway. It's being screened at Full Frame this Saturday at 12:15pm. The documentary tells the story of the history of Midway and how the owners decided to MOVE it away from the side of the busy Highway 64 to a new location away from the Raleigh sprawl. I cannot wait to see it.

There are alot of other amazing films being screened this weekend at the film festival. Ross McElwee is being presented with a Career Award and lots of his films are being screened. I wonder how many films I can cram in between Thursday and Sunday. Woo hoo!

Did You Lose Your Wig?

Today, I took a day off from work to try to catch up on work for some of my clients. I had a somewhat productive day, but I am still way behind. But it was really nice to work at home today because I was able to open up all the doors and windows and get a little breeze and feel the sunshine. My office at work is windowless and lit by overhead fluorescents and there is a constant stream of people in and out of my office all day. So, it was a nice break from that. I also ran alot of errands today, so I was able to get out and stroll down Ninth Street and chat with folks which was nice, too.

This morning when I left my house to run to Lantern, I saw a little black smooshed thing in the road. My first thought was "OH NO! NOT PAM JUNIOR!" But the lump in the road was too small to be a cat. And it didn't look like a once-living creature. So, I didn't think much of it and got in my car and headed out. But when I drove past this squished thing in the road, I slowed down to get a closer look. I just thought it was a black plastic bag or a plastic bottle. But it wasn't. It was a *WIG.* Well, I guess it was a wig. Is that a wig or a wiglet or a hair piece or what?

I laughed out loud when I saw it and continued on to Chapel Hill. But when I came home mid-afternoon it was still there! And then when I went to the grocery around suppertime, it was still there! So at that point, I had to go take a picture of it. I really wanted to add this wiglet to my scrapbook of Front Yard Found Objects and Art, but it's too creepy for me to pick up some random wig out of the road. Besides, rubber cement + hair = mess. Stepping out in the road to take this picture made me laugh. A car had to stop for me to finish the picture since I was having trouble with my camera. I think that the owners of the Mexican restaurant are now even more puzzled by their neighbor.

But what is the story of the wig in the road? What happened that someone lost his/her wig? Was there a fight and someone ripped it off his/her head? Did the wind blow it off someone's head and out the car window? Did someone decide to free themselves of this hairpiece on a trip to the Food Lion for a jug of milk? Did it itch horribly? Was it ever attractive? Is this some sort of sign or omen? And who wears wiglets!?! Where does one get a little wiglet?

I really like the word wiglet. But I can't imagine wearing one on a regular basis. Maybe just for special occasions.

Ukulele, Lamp, and Fire Disjointed Post

All weekend, I played hooky from working... which is bad since I am trying to get tax stuff ready for some clients. Instead this weekend, I had fun. After spending several hours in Granddaddy's Antiques in Burlington and fighting the urge to buy a HUMONGOUS folk art boat made out of twine and tiny sticks, I went to Elizabeth's and played a little uke with a handful of folks. I really struggled at first... having to look down at my chord book for every single chord change and missing most of the notes. But, after awhile (and for the first time in my life) I felt like I was starting to get it. I could actually play along and be a part of the group as I struggled through "Folsom Prison Blues." Eventually, I got most of chord changes down and was able to concentrate on the rhythm and play along. And it felt amazing. Oh my gosh! What a rush. (The snip of whiskey helped as well.)

After playing the ukes, Elizabeth, Noah and I rode over to Hillsborough to see my inspirational friend, Lightnin' play some amazing stuff not only on a regular ukulele, but also on his BANJO UKULELE. He makes it look so easy and sound so good. Just thinking about him playing the ukulele makes me want to keep trying no matter how much I feel like I suck. My goal is to get "Wabash Blues" and "12th Street Rag" down... but that is years off at the rate that I am going. Lightnin' tells me that he's been on a Donovan kick, too. I'd like to learn to play some Donovan on the ukulele, but again... that is YEARS away.

So this evening, after an afternoon of bocce and a tragic basketball loss, I tried practicing my banjo uke and I suck all over again. The freakin' tuning is just messing me up. The "standard" GCEA tuning just doesn't sound right to me. For some reason, I seem to prefer the outdated Roy Smeck tuning of ADF#B. I don't understand how one tuning can sound "better" than another, but somehow that is what is happening. I really tried to play some GCEA songs tonight on my own and it was really discouraging. But I know, I need to keep trying. AND HOW DO YOU KEEP THIS THING IN TUNE!?!??! I think I need to make more of an effort to make it to Uke Jam Night at High Strung. I need some major help... even if it is just sitting and watching other people play while holding my uke in my lap.

Oh, and where the hell did this lamp come from? I walked over to Elizabeth & Kevin's house (Different Elizabeth and not Ukulele Elizabeth) to watch the basketball game. I left during the last minute of overtime because it was just too painful to watch. When I got home, I found this lamp on my porch. It is kinda ugly, but I also kinda like it. I don't like the shell finial, which is actually cut off in this photo. If the finial were an olive shell, I'd like it more. But is this lamp really ugly? I might like it with the right shade.

Follow up to the fallen tree: Elizabeth took this photo of the tree that caught fire last weekend. I was a little doubtful about the tree catching on fire, but this picture proves it. Never a dull moment in our neighborhood. Whee!

No More Backfat

When I was last in Brooklyn in early January of this year, Lee, Fenna and I went on a walk around their Windsor Terrace neighborhood. On our walk, I saw graffiti tags on just about every stationary object that said, "Backfat." When I asked Lee about it, she said that the mysterious Backfat had been tagging everything in sight and that the neighborhood listserv was in an uproar. At one point, I counted six tags alone from Lee and Ewald's apartment to the end of the block.

Lee and I tried to envision what this tagger might look like. We thought he would be young, since his tags are not that intricate or unique and some of them are just plain dumb. "Your girl is wack." "The pen ain't shit." We also thought he was short since alot of his tags were on low surfaces.

Lee and Ewald told me that Backfat was probably trying to imitate a well-known graffiti artist, Neck Face, but I don't know. But Backfat's reign has now ended. Charles Abamo, 21, who relocated to Windsor Terrace only a year and half ago from Seattle, was finally caught in mid-January. He was charged with two counts of criminal mischief and scrawling graffiti on a public library and a commercial establishment for which he faces up to four years in jail, if convicted. Since his arrest, many of his tags have been painted over or scribbled out. Backfat's short-lived terror has ended. But I photographed some of his tags on our walk yesterday. We'll miss you, Backfat.

It's funny that when I was researching for information about Backfat, several of the articles ended with a definition of backfat. So, I'll include one here (via NY Daily Times): " Backfat is slang that refers to the rolls of fat caused by an ill-fitting bra, particularly on someone who is overweight."

Weakness for Outsider Art

Friday afternoon, I called David to invite him and Jennifer to go to Fearrington Village for their annual Folk Art Show on Saturday. I knew that they would appreciate the art, as David has accompanied me on other folk art shopping trips in the past. Lemme just say: the art was amazing. I saw so many pieces that were really stunning. I am still daydreaming over this pottery pitcher that I saw... I might have to go back on Sunday!

I arrived a few minutes before David and Jennifer and the first person I ran into was Clyde Jones. He had some huge sparkly paintings that he was exhibiting, but not selling of course. I saw him sitting in some random chair outside of someone else's booth. He was eating one of the biggest barbeque sandwiches I have ever seen. I first met Clyde about 15 years ago... back when I used to make art myself. It took a couple trips out to Bynum to visit Clyde before he warmed up to me and we soon became very good friends. I would make art for him and he would make art for me. The last piece I made for him was STOLEN off his porch!!! He's even made my parents some artwork that hangs in their kitchen. Clyde is truly inspirational. But he picks on me and today was no exception. But it is always fun to throw a few jokes back and forth with Clyde.

Anyway, David, Jennifer and I wandered around the Fearrington Barn to look over everything. There was this one artist there from whom I bought some paintings two years ago for $10 - $20 and now the smallest piece in his booth was about $60!!! I said hello to him and kept going. After several laps, I hadn't decided on anything and I met back up with David and Jennifer. They decided on this angel painting and then they asked if I had seen the work of Benny Carter.

The three of us walked back over to Benny Carter's booth and I was blown away. His work was great. He loves to paint water scenes particularly Noah's Ark... but all the animals on the boat are of a single kind (all giraffes or all lions) and there are lots of people on the ark all fishing.

Carter also had a series of 9-11 paintings. I was turned off by them at first, because it seems that images of 9-11 are taboo. But the more I studied these pieces, the more intrigued I became. There were three similar 9-11 themed paintings in which Carter painted a diamond in the middle of a vibrant blue ocean with bridges carrying either taxis, NYPD or NYFD vehicles. At each point of the diamond was an apple tree (signifying the "Big Apple") and a sign on which an island was written: Staton, Ellis, Long, and Coney. In the center of the diamond, he attached circular button on which he created his image of Manhattan on 9-11, complete with the Twin Towers and planes and little people on a backdrop of an orange sky. I have no idea how he got that level of detail on there. My hands shake too much to even imagine trying to capture that sort of detail. (Click on the photo to see what I am talking about.)

I had a nice chat with Benny Carter about his work. He loves to include water in his paintings and he loves the Adam and Eve and the snake theme. He had this one painting that included 9-11 and Adam and Eve being chased by snakes. It was crazy. He lives north of Greensboro in Mayodan... a town I have never heard of. He showed us pictures of his house and yard... and it is reminiscent of Clyde Jones house or even Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens.. I feel a road trip coming on very soon...