I have an opening reception this Sunday afternoon at Liquidambar Studio in Pittsboro NC, one of the nicest galleries around. I'll be there at about one, so come on down and visit the gallery, me and downtown Pittsboro.

Liquidambar Studio of Art

Location	80 Hillsboro Street, Pittsboro, NC 27312
Affiliation	Liquidambar Gallery and Gifts
About	Liquidambar is an art gallery and gift shop in Pittsboro, North Carolina. We feature over 40 artists! In our home studio we mainly focus on clay and glass, but love combining all materials in to our work. http://www.liquidambarstudio.com/

Biography	We have Liquidambar Gallery and Gifts in downtown Pittsboro. And we have Liquidambar Studio of Art which is our private art studio out on the Haw river. Hours: Closed Mondays, Tues thru Fri: 10:30-5:30pm Sat: 9:30 - 5:30pm Sun: 11:00 - 5:00pm
Personal Interests	We love all things in art!

Email	contact@liquidambarstudio.com
Phone	919-542-1773
Website	http://www.liquidambarstudio.com

Gift Shop · Art Gallery · Pittsboro, North Carolina

Here's a photo of artwork I have now in Central Carolina Community College. The guy in the photo is student in the culinary program. The painting is in a classroom adjoining the work area of the culinary program.

Artwork Portfolio


........click the link above..............

Those lucky enough to find it will happen  upon a stone spiral just outside Carrboro located just off Johns Woods Road. Made up of huge boulders and cut  stone adorned with brass plaques emblazoned with totems and poems, this is the Carrboro Spiritual Circle. Since not many people seem to know this circle exists these photos are proof that while the Spiritual Circle may be a state of mind it is not imaginary.

My art has come down from the walls after a month  at Flynne's Coffee Bar in downtown SouthernPines. It was nice to have it there in that town, and below are photos of it when it was there.

Here's the link to Flynne's  myspace page.  Stop in and tell her you saw her listed on my site and say "Hell" from me!!

Southern Pines is a lovely town that must be seen to be appreciated.


Flynne's Coffee Bar
115 NC Broad Street
Southern Pines N.C.
910-693-1999


Here is the place from the outside:

Here is my art hanging inside:

I now have art hanging at Flynne's Coffee Bar in downtown Southern Pines. My plan is to go down there next Friday and do a little painting in front of her shop and hang around till the early evening. Come on down. Southern Pines strikes me as a town where the streets are paved with gold. It reminds me a little of a beach town but cooler. Below is Flynne's Myspace page. If you need it, here's the link to her myspace page  .

Below are articles I wrote for Panorama North Carolina Magazine. Panorama has folded but my articles are below the photo:

The Sanford Pottery Festival

The Sanford Pottery Festival is the largest pottery event in North Carolina and certainly the largest event of it's kind within the readership of this magazine. While the main emphasis is on North Carolina and "Seagrove"
pottery, the Festival accepts potters from all over the country and has had exhibitors come from as far away as Washington State. The show features well known potters both regional and national and hosts over one hundred and twenty unique artists.

North Carolina is a state known world wide for it's pottery with the town of Seagrove and the Seagrove area being the national pottery capitol, but the term "Seagrove Pottery" is an all encompassing phrase referring to potters of a five county area that includes Chatham, Lee, Moore, Montgomery and Randolph Counties, Randolf County being home of the actual town of Seagrove, and also home of the Seagrove Pottery Festival, the "original" pottery  Festival in North Carolina. The town of Seagrove is recognized as the birthplace of traditional North Carolina Pottery. It turns out that the Sanford  Pottery Festival has it's roots in Seagrove through Richard Gillson, the driving force and inspiration behind both Festivals.

Gillson died in a tragic accident in January of this year after a fall from a ladder but his vision still lives in both festivals and many other pottery promoting endeavors started under his leadership. The upcoming Sanford Pottery Festival is paying tribute to Gillson because he did more than any other person to promote pottery in the heart of North Carolina.

While pottery fans sometimes somethings think there is a rivalry between the older Seagrove Festival and the newer Sanford Pottery Festival, they were designed originally by Gillson and Sanford Pottery Festival creator Don Hudson to compliment each other. The Seagrove Festival caters exclusively to Seagrove Area potters while the Sanford event was designed to take all qualified clay artisans with emphasis on Seagrove area potters. Both festivals have benefited from mutual cooperation by sharing information and advice throughout the years, and according to Don Hudson, the Sanford event would have never come into being without the visionary ideas of potter Richard Gillson.

In addition to creating the twenty-seven year old Seavgrove Pottery Festival, Gillon and Hudson also worked
to create the extraordinary pottery exhibit featured at the yearly State  Fair in Raleigh, an all encompassing showcase designed to promote both festivals and regional and state potters. The State Fair exhibit has become so important that it has drawn attention of Raleigh lawmakers who have approached fellow members to encourage expansion of the annual display. Gillson created the Seagrove Pottery Festival 27 years ago and was the major in the creation of the Sanford Pottery Festival.The story behind the story of the two evens if one of of cooperation for the benefit of all, potters, pottery collectors and art aficianos. Since the beginning of the Sanford Festival, Seagrove show has grown significantly since the Sanford festival and this years Sanford festival will celebrate the life and legacy of Richard Gillson at the same time that it seeks to help raise funds to keep his vision of a permanent home for the Museum in downtown Seagrove.

Gillsons death leaves a great void in the pottery community and places many local pottery arts endeavors in
jeopardy, according to Hudson, who says that no matter what amount of work it took "Richard somehow got it done, with money, time, community support, whatever". Gillsons efforts include securing real estate and
financing for the Museum of North Carolina Traditional Pottery in Seagvove, which is now open to showcase the work of potters from all over the Seagrove area, the survival of which is now complicated by the death of it's visionary founder.

In keeping Gillson's vision the Sanford Pottery Festival was originally envisioned as a way of bringing one of the states traditional arts closer to the Triangle area of North Carolina utilizing it's proximity to Chapel Hill and Raleigh and the roads that connect the area to Sanford which has the thoroughfare of Highway 421 and is roughly forty five minutes from Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham and less than an hour from Greensboro, all major metropolitan areas bringing thousands of out of town art fans who also sometimes tour the entire town of Sanford. In Historic Downtown Sanford, visitors encounter fine brick buildings and unique shops. Extensive promotion usually brings between ten and fifteen thousand attendees to the event, most living outside Lee County. This year's featured potter is Phil Morgan who began college as a business major but "walked through the wrong door" into a pottery studio and after time became an artist. Now along with his wife Julia they produce fine hand turned porcelain enriched with unique crystalline glazes. In addition to featured artists at the Sanford Pottery Festival you can find traditional and contemporary clay creations in extraordinary variety. Each booth seems overflowing with one of a kind  creations that are turned on a traditional wheel, hand built, carved clay sculptures and some done in techniques that can't be readily identified but are nonetheless extraordinary. Pottery fans know glazes and it's rare to find more beautifully finished pieces and colors than at the Sanford Pottery Festival. Traditional brown clay colored face jugs are just next door to avant guide colored bowls and large art items with detailed paintings with both traditional and modern motifs. Talking about glazes is a favorite pastime of those who collect pottery but it's rare that a potter will give up the formula to unique glaze recipes since it can often take thousands of hours of experimenting and years trying the right combinations to create that "special something" that makes a potters art their own. You can also see the unique vision of each potter in the way pottery items are created one at a time by hand. People interested in pottery will be amazed at the extensive selection and extraordinary artistic expertise displayed by the world finest clay artisans when attending the Sanford Pottery Festival. The festival is a great family event for all,and because of it's date near Mothers Day, it's especially a great day to show Mom how much she appreciated. Don Hudson, the festivals creator quips "Your mother gave you birth, the least you can do is give her pottery", and adds "Maybe money can't buy love, but you can invest in brownie points".

The Sanford Pottery Festival has seven year tradition of being held the week before Mothers Day and will take place this year on May

3-4 at the Dennis A Wicker Civic Center There is plenty of parking and getting into the center is quick and easy. Admission is five dollars and children under six are free.

..........................................................................................................................................

Gulley's Garden Center In Southern Pines

A North Carolina native Pete Gulley was born in in the tiny Edgecome County town of Tarrboro. After serving in the US military as a Green Beret he attended East Carolina University and majored in physical education. Settling in Virgina Beach after college seemed like a logical choice after marrying in 1971, but after a time Pete began to feel the the flowering of another interest when he felt an inner urge to try his hand the art and science of horticulture. Discovering the existence of Sandhills College and it's renowned horticulture program, he and his wife sold literally everything and moved to Southern Pines so Pete could pursue his dream of working with plants. Living on the GI Bill and working toward his graduation Pete and his wife rented a vacant building and opened a garden center selling almost nothing nothing but azaleas. "Calling it a shoestring venture doesn't come close" says Pete. "I didn't even have the rent money at the time,but the azaleas kept selling".With each load I picked up and sold, I garnered more credit and attracted more customer interest in my business". After losing the lease to the original building they purchased the house next door was and filled the front lot with plants. From there the business grew says Pete: "My entire family became involved" and Gulley's Garden Center soon became a family concern employing his son Graham, daughter Megan and his wife, Linda who, sadly died in 2005.

Gulley's Garden Center has been in business since 1974 and has grown from humble beginnings of an near empty building selling little more than azaleas and a few flowers into an entire complex of structures located on Southeast Broad Street in the middle of downtown Southern Pines, just beside the railroad. The Garden Center features an extensive variety of plants, shrubs, a large nursery as well as many materials for the home owner, plant hobbies and even the professional landscaper as well as anyone looking to create green creations ranging from a window sill box to a fine and expansive garden. Pete Gulleys humble dream of keeping the business afloat from month to month has grown so successful that it now employees a dozen person staff, each of them fully educated in the field of plants obtained from years of practical experience and interaction with the different needs of customers. "One of our main focuses is on plant education" says Pete, "but sometimes our customers actually educate us". This close relationship and focus on service has lead to tremendous loyalty in the Sandhills area to Gulley's Garden Center.

Gulley's Garden Center isn't just a place to purchase plants and supplies and has been become a genuine tourist attraction which for some people is a destination spot not to be missed when visiting the area. A year round Christmas House now adorns a complex of buildings which are decorated with water fountains and water wheels with gardens that feature continuous music heightening the sensory experience of all visitors. Upstairs one building houses "The Military Museum" that features military collectibles dating from the Civil War to the modern theater of Afghanistan. Veterans will often visit the complex just to see this exhibit and often educational school groups are ushered into the museum which is free of charge to all. On the outside of building complex, antique gas pumps adorn the pathways with old farm equipment from various locales showcasing technology from different generations. Once inside one main building, there a sort of social gathering place where people congregate and converse in front of a unique wood burning fire place.

Gulleys Garden Center is not simply a place selling plant supplies to people looking for pretty flowers, but also a local concern that draws both tourist and locals because of a unique quality that combines both business and personal interests of it's owner, someone who has created an extension of his own personality by turning the ethereal nature of the love of plants into a concrete and mortar tribute to all his interests. Pete Gulley and his Garden Center is proof positive that those who try hard enough can succeed in the pursuit of the American Dream.

 

This is my artwork on the cover of "The Blotter",
a local arts and literature magazine.

This is one of my favorite motifs, Kokopelli.

                      "Kachina"

       

                 "Woman and Child"

                      "Merlin"

                   This is an attempt to do a Modigliani style painting.

"POW"

 "The Snake That Swallowed The World"

This is a  story I wrote and was published in the magazine Fifteen501 :



It’s not every day the most famous ballet dancer in the world pulls up in his limo in front of your house to chat and look around, but that’s exactly what happened when MikhaiBaryshnikov drove into the tiny town of Bynum to check out the artistic creations of folk artist Clyde Jones.It’s not unusual for people to drive up for a view of the “Critters” that inhabit the Jones estate, but it is unusual for one so well known to arrive, and it was probably more unusual when the driver of Barishnikov’s limo asked Jones about his famous passenger: “Do you know how famous that man is?” to which Jones replied, “Well if he’s heard of me, and I’ve never heard of him, I must be more famous than him.”

 What is there to see at Bynum’s most noted residence? “Critters,” as Jones calls his wooden sculptures. Sometimes there are staggering amounts of Critters in his yard, numbering in the hundreds. And just as staggering is the assortment of animal shapes: giraffes, pigs, horses, cats, dogs, birds, mice and some animal shapes perhaps best left interpreted by the maker himself. Jones creates his Critters using a chain sawand tools assembled with various joiners and adorned with whatever items that seem to fit that can be obtained, such as tennis balls for eyes on pig Critters, leather saddles on horse Critters, hard hats on the construction worker Critters and occasionally festive holiday lights on the horns of deer Critters.Sitting on the porch of his house, where Jones “holds office” when he’s not creating, you can read a Critter visitor book signed by people from practically every country on earth: Norway, Australia, Germany, Russia, Africa, Canada andentries from every American state. Jonesproudly observes, “I’ve got art in every  state in the country and pretty much every country in the world.” People really do drive hundreds of miles to seJones’ Critters. One entry inhis visitor book states, “I drove over five hundred miles to see your critters. Clyde, you are a treasure".

 According to Jones, the current visitor book is just one of several. “I have a book like this over 20 pounds heavy at my brother’s.” Also, on the front porch you’ll find thousands of photographs of visitors to the Jones estate, all stapled or thumbtacked to the outside wall. A first visit to Critter Crossing generally results in stunned gasps and loud exclamations by even the most reserved individual. Such reactions are easy to understand. It’s impossible not to be impressed, amazed, stunned and flabbergasted when you encounter a house with an exterior painted with various animals, symbols an totems, and surrounded by a pasture inhabited with hundreds of brightly covered wooden animals. You do get a hint of what is to come as you drive into Bynum, a tiny village just off U.S. 15/501 a few miles north of Pittsboro. You’ll see the first evidence that something unusual is afoot when you spy the occasional Critter in the yard of one tesidence, then another. You’ll pass more houses with more Critters in more yards until you arrive at the home of Clyde’s Critters, where you are greeted by 10-foot tall sculptures on the curb with a tiny planked sidewalk and a sign overhead announcing to you and the world that youhave officially entered “Critter Crossing.” It all started with a walk through the woods. “I was walking in the woods and I started seeing animals in the trees innature,” he said. Jones’ art surely makes one think of nature with the fusion of wood and animals there to be seen by all. He tells me he got to the ninth grade, is from Pittsboro and landed in Bynum when his parents moved there. “I just started putting things together a little at a time,and eventually I had all of this” he said, pointing at his open expansive open air gallery. “Then people started noticing.”

That’s somewhat of an understatement, considering Jones’ worldwide fame—a fact that is even more unusual considering that he does not sell his work. An occasional child who wanders up sometime gets a free Critter, and he also donates some of them to the occasional local auction. But as a rule, Critters can’t be had for money. “I don’t do my art for money, I do it for myself,” he said. Not selling his art hasn’t put a damper in Jones’ art adventures. “I’ve been all over the country doing my art,” he said. For a man who doesn’t drive, Jones gets around. There seems to be no limit of interest in Jones’ work. During the interview for this story, a woman with two children arrived to implore Clyde to accompany herand her family to a festival at the North Carolina Coast, and an elementary teacher arrived with his own children in tow to arrange a tour of the Critter Crossing for his entire class. “I’ve got so much on me I can’t handle it,” Jones explained to the woman imploring him to attend the coastal event. He also tells the teacher: “Come onaround, but I may not be here … but you can go around the yard all you want.”

 Jones lives a sort of art fantasy life and is often sponsored by arts organizations and flown to various parts of the country to produce his Critter art. Not having a car, a computer or modern amenities doesn’t matter to him. The Critter Creator of Bynum lives a sort of rock star art life. Tour buses and tourists, and even longdistance bicyclists, make sure Jones’ house is a destination stop. While his fame is worldwide in the art world, a few locals still say “Clyde who?” when his namecomes up. This is a loss for those who don’t know about the Bynum Critter Crossing. Unlike most artists, Jones is highly accessible, and when at home, he is generous with his time—and generous with his art when the mood strikes him. If you’re lucky enough and young enough, you may just end up with a Jones Critter masterpiece yourself when you stumble upon Critter Crossing.

 

I love finding tidbits about Dali. Here's one I  just discovered:



The famous surrealist painter, Salvador Dali [1904-1989], had come up with a way to remember what he saw in those moments. Legend has it that Dali will deprive himself of days of sleep, sit on a chair with a spoon in his hand, and after the clang of the spoon had waked him up, he'd start painting what he saw.