TAKE IT OUTSIDE
Triangle region offers some of the best outdoor trails

by L. Haywood Coffey

There's no shortage of nature trails throughout the Triangle, from those with endless miles of hiking and cycling trails to those ideal for sitting back and taking in nature's beauty. There's bound to be something for everyone, so whatever your pleasure, grab your sneakers and hit one of these featured trails.

Triangle-wide
In the Triangle, perhaps the most well-known trail is The American Tobacco Trail, which spans 22 miles and offers cycling, hiking and incredible scenery. What many don't know is that sections of the trail in Durham County, as well as the Dunn-Erwin Trail in Harnett County, are part of the East Coast Greenway, a new countrywide off-road path measuring 3,000 miles from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Fla.

Orange/Durham counties
In Orange and Durham counties, the well-traveled and well-known Eno River State Park travels along the Eno River for more than 30 miles. There are 21 developed trails throughout the park, all unique and worth exploring.

Eno River State Park, which offers primitive camping, fishing, canoeing and hiking, offers day hikers excellent opportunities, including a variety of trails, a swinging bridge, and paths that range from beginner to advanced. Most trails travel along the river with well-marked dirt paths and solid rock, but be aware that heavy rain can transform what already is a fast-moving river into a raging torrent that, while impressive, can be unsafe. However, it's still worth a visit after rain to see nature at its most impressive.

The Eno River Association offers guided wildflower hikes along the river each spring, while the Eno River Watch water quality-monitoring program welcomes volunteers to participate in its continuing programs.

Durham
In Durham, Duke Forest — owned by Duke University — comprises almost 8,000 acres, which are divided into six sections over four counties. The forest, which encompasses land from recovered farms and woodland purchased since the mid-1920s, also is part of Duke's forestry program.

While there, hikers can find educational materials and explanations of how forestry is conducted at ranger stations, as well as on the trails themselves. In addition to hiking and nature, there is something for every cyclist at Duke Forest, with at least 15 miles of trails, some casual and others that will challenge the most extreme cyclist.

Haw River Trail
The Haw River Trail, which stretches from Chatham to Forsyth counties, features a series of trails that connect the Triangle and Triad. Visitors can take part in a variety of activities on the trail, including fishing, paddling, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, camping and horseback riding. For paddlers, it offers calm stretches and rapids, while remaining an impressive home for all sorts of wildlife. Historic textile mills, Native American structures and small towns give the trail its unique character.

Hillsborough
The Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail in Hillsborough — home to one of the original NASCAR tracks — now is home a three-mile wooded nature trail on a 44-acre land tract and near Ayr Mount, a structure built in the early 1800s. Inside Ayr Mount, visitors can pore through antiques unique to that historical era, as well as more than 50 etchings by native North Carolina artist Louis Orr, making this trail site ideal for nature and art lovers alike. While there, be sure to take the PoetÕs Walk trail.

Carrboro/Chapel Hill
In Carrboro, there is Adams Tract, which is accessible via Wilson Park and features a stunning, winding, and seemingly endless trail. Hikers and cyclists will find abundant flora and fauna, in addition to a train trestle and what appears to be the foundation of an old mill. In 1950, Dr. J. Edison Adams, a University of North Carolina professor of botany, purchased the land and restored the homestead on the property.

Not far from the Adams Tract Trail is an unusual trail situated alongside the Chapel Hill Library. Pritchard Park offers a one-mile loop around the library and two connecting side trails that funnel back into the main pathway. For those who love books and hiking, this unique combination can't be beat. Be sure to look for the small stream running along this undulating trail.

Chatham County
In Chatham County, Jordan Lake is an outstanding hiking and cycling location, as well as an ideal spot to watch bald eagles. The site, which attracts more diverse wildlife than just about any other spot in the region, has more than 12,000 acres of water and is surrounded by more than 32 acres of game land and recreation areas, including, overnight camping, fishing, boating, hiking, cycling, and wildlife.

Pittsboro
Perhaps the most spectacular sights to be seen when hiking are a bit south of Pittsboro, just off Highway 15-501 at White Pines Nature Preserve, where the Rocky River converges with the Deep River. The sight of two rivers coming together like a street corner is one that must be experienced.

Photographs cannot convey the feeling one gets when seeing this spectacle of nature. There also are several stands of white pines, which typically are found in cooler mountain climates. Other plants generally found only in the North Carolina mountains such as Catawba rhododendron also grow at White Pines because of its unique ecology. Its hiking trails offer beautiful views of the forest and river, and range from high overlooks to low-lying areas along and adjacent to the rivers themselves. This truly is the must-see hiking area of the Triangle.

About two weeks ago and two posts ago, I wrote about doing a vanity search of my name on the net and finding my name listed at the Danville Museum Of Fine Arts, which I thought was pretty cool, but what happened to me last Friday was even cooler.  I found myself near Danville with a carpenter and suggested we go to Danville, not for the art, but to see the incredibly beautiful pre Civil War houses that line the street near the Museum, which to me are the most incredible domiciles I've ever seen, many actually look like castles. When we got up there, I suggested we check out the Museum, something I do if I can while there, since I did once have an art show in one of the galleries there in the late nineties. When I hung art there were two galleries, but now there are there, and when I walked into one gallery I found first something I didn't know existed, prints by Howard Finster. I had no idea Finster did prints, I was under the impression that all Finster work was original. I then found  few other artists I had some knowledge of and was enjoying the stuff I saw when I turned around and saw one of my own paintings. I honestly had no idea it would be hanging, and really wasn't planing on going to the museum, it was a total lark. I'm glad I got there. I have no idea how long my painting will hang there, but it was cool to find it. Hopefully my stuff will hang in many museums in the future.

While doing a vanity search on my name, I was surprised to find out that my name is included in the "permanent collections" of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts:



Here's the link  .

The Art of L. Haywood Coffey

Viewzone review by Susan Laslo

One exciting opportunity on the internet is the potential to find new and uniquely interesting objects d'art. "Art" is a very large category on the search engines.

If you dig deep in to the pages of links, you will sometimes find devoted or new artists who don't have agents or galleries to hinder their creativity or affordability. These artists create because they are "who they are." Often they, themselves, are mystified by the work that comes through their own hands. I have an absolute fascination with masks. It started when I was given a rather frightening ceremonial mask from Bali. I had so many comments from that one mask that I bought another "to keep it company." Soon friends and family were giving me masks from their travels all over the world. Masks are kind of a signature of culture- often taking their origin in religious or ritual heritage. These masks by North Carolina (US) artist, L. Haywood Coffey, struck me as icons of a different kind.

Created from a sudden epiphany of inspiration, Coffey's bold masks demand attention. At first glance they are totally unexpected and sort of shocking. After a moment of observation, though, they transform into a pleasant celebration of shape and color.

Coffey, in his late 40's, only recently discovered his painting talents. Originally a jewelry maker and leather worker, Coffey took some painting classes and felt something inside of him come "alive." Within one year, he painted over 200 canvases and started to create his unusual masks. His paintings, like his masks, are mostly primitives, with symbol-type designs and lively palettes. His unorthdox use of color and ragged shape impose visual dominance, and evoke an immediate reaction. The odd symbols and shapes seem ready to speak to us through some forgotten language. His masks are almost haunting images, yet somehow they seem strangely familiar. Coffey creates the masks from pieces of leather in a process that is almost "magic." "They pretty much just happen..." confesses Coffey. "The ideas that I have when I begin are seldom present in the result. What I create is something that seems to come through me and express itself. The drying of the leather allows the mask to really take a form of its own." His creations, 2 to 3 feet tall, are not representative of any specific religion, culture or ceremony, but they do seem to have an almost "esoteric" quality. Even if you're not a collector of tribal or cultural art pieces, the color and shape of these strange creations are temptation enough to make you want to own one.

Link to original article

Art critics are scum. Movie critics are scum. Pretty much all critics who review anything are scum. Until Ebert of Siskel and Ebert died, I didn't know which was which and I refered to them as "The Fat Boy and the Bald Headed Weasel".* Anyone anywhere who listens to critics is an  idiot. Anyone who has to have others feed them opinions is a moron. If a person can't make up their own mind about things, they should put a plastic bag over their heads and facilitate themselves in an effort to stop breathing. The opinions of critics are no better than the opinions of the average wino on the street, only the average wino probably smells  better than an art critic. Indeed, the average wino almost certainly has more fortitude than anyone who would place value on what a critic of any stripe says about anything.


Still, in all things there are exceptions. In the land of art critics, if indeed you can call her that, there is the eccentric Catholic Nun, Sister Wendy.




Sister Wendy is an English Catholic nun who somehow got herself TV show all about art. She seems to have access to every major art museum in the world from what I've seen of her shows, some I've rented on VHS, some I've seen on TV. However she got the gig, she knows her stuff, and she obviously loves the art she reviews. It's pretty clear Wendy is a nutty old broad as well, a true eccentric is all ways, which to me, makes her doubly cool. It's a good thing Wendy sought out the nunhood (is that a word?) because it's doubtful she had much future as a Playboy Centerfold**. Sister Wendy is filmed with the art she adores and reviews, usually directly in front of the paintings, at the locations of the residence or towns where the artists lives while she talks about her ideas of the art and the history of the artist in her somewhat raspy and lispy voice. The fact that this woman is famous in the art world and on TV is to me, a fantastic fact since I love just average folks getting world wide attention. I also love if that she seems truly in love with the subjects she covers, the art, the people, and the locations. If you haven't seen Sister Wendy, you need to seek out her videos. I wish I owned them all, I could watch her hours on end.


The Works of Sister Wendy



*in reality, I was much less nice in my description but I try to keep the site family friendly.



**(but hey, Hef is getting on up the years now and I doubt his eyesight is as good as it was in his youth).

These are jewelry pieces I've made over the years. I once attended Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and was once awarded a small scholarship for jewelry making. I've made more items than pictured here and I'd like to make more still in the future.




The above chain is hand made from fine sterling silver and it took me three days to complete. It was my first experience with making a chain from scratch. The pendant is jewelers brass and acid etched after a free hand drawing using a resist.





The cuffs above are made from bronze on the top and brass on the bottom. I drew the patterns on free hand before acid etching them.







The above cuffs are made exactly like the pendant and brass cuffs using free hand drawing with a resist before acid etching, but these cuffs are sterling silver.

These are paintings I did in the nineties and early 2000s. I found them online and now I'm putting them here.


      



      



   



                  

I'd forgotten about these watercolors but I found them posted on the net by the person who purchased them.