Home From Beaufort, NC

Got home from a fun trip to Beaufort with two of my four sisters and they left yesterday to fly back to their homes. 

We drove down on Thursday then I did a pastel demonstration at the Artestry Hideaway on Friday afternoon.  It was sooooo hot out there on the boardwalk and not many people were about.  But it was still a fun experience and I was forced to actually make some art!  I didn't get to finish it during that 2 hour session but I'll finish it soon and post it here for you to see.

Before and after the demo, my sisters and I did fun, touristy things and just had a ball.  One of the things we did that was the most fun was going on a boat tour out from Beaufort.  We got to see much of the area from the water including both Carrot Island and Shackleford Banks (or Island) both of which have wild ponies.  While the ponies on Carrot Island are wild and are probably from Shackleford, they were once cared for by relatively modern means.  The horses on Shackleford Banks, called "Banker Ponies" or "Bankers", are direct descendant's of Spanish mustangs brought to the New World by Columbus and other Spanish explorers in the 1400's and evidently have the most pure Spanish mustang blood of all the wild mustangs in the U.S.

I did get some photos of the horses both on Carrot Island and Shackleford Banks but we were some distance from them and the photos aren't all that clear.

The photo above was taken from Shackleford Banks and shows a parasailor.  The area around Beaufort is full of fun things to do.

My youngest sister acted as our chauffeur and spent a lot of time looking at maps and reading brochures.  Because she was doing the driving, we often ended up in places we hadn't planned on going!  The last evening in Beaufort, we thought we were going to dinner at a restaurant a few blocks away and ended up at the very end of Harkers Island about 15 miles or so away!  We also ended up at a local "greasy spoon" instead of the classy restaurant we had intended to go to!  The four hour trip to Beaufort ended up being an over eight hour trip home but we stopped at a farmer's/arts/crafts market, a couple of art galleries and a spice packaging and distributing company along the way!

As I said, it was a fun trip and so nice to be able to spend that time with my sisters!

A Bit of a Plug

Just a quick mention that I'll be doing a pastel demonstration at the Artestry Hideaway gallery in Beaufort, North Carolina on August 23rd at 2 pm. 

I hope you'll stop by if you're in the area.  The Hideaway is a great gallery and the owner, Angie, is fun and friendly.

My sisters and I will be enjoying a little "Sisters Reunion" and taking in the sights of beautiful Beaufort after the demonstration.  I'll hopefully have some photos to show you when I return.

The Artestry Hideaway - Beaufort, NC

The Artestry Hideaway Art Gallery, Beaufort, NC

Boardwalk view of the Artestry Hideaway

It seems as if we've been on the road more than we've been at home lately.  Day before yesterday, we drove down to Beaufort along our beautiful North Carolina coast to the Artestry Hideaway Art Gallery.  I needed to trade out some of my unsold paintings and put in some new ones and I wanted to do it before the weekend as they're having a fishing tournament there.

Little did I know that traffic and the crowds of people would be almost as  dense on a Wednesday as on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday!  But it's the beach and the beach is always crowded during the summer months!

The photos above are from our trip there this past February as there was no way I could get any decent photos this time around!  The boardwalk was wall-to-wall people and we ended up parking about two and a half blocks from the gallery!  That's a rather long trudge when you're carrying several large paintings and it's near 100 degrees F even with a breeze blowing off the water!

However, we made it there and back in about 10 hours and I tried to do a little bit of catching up around here yesterday.  I finally finished the graphic project I was working on and it just got mailed out while ago.

Now I have to go to work on preparing several sets of coasters for sale in both the gallery in Beaufort and hopefully for some galleries and gift shops near here.

Will post any new paintings as soon as I have time to paint something!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!