First of a series: Jim

In February I was fortunate enough to be able to get a small studio in an old building that is being transformed into an art community called The ArtWorks. The big, one story, rambling red brick structure housed a shirt factory back in the nineteen-forties and fifties. It was empty when Jim and Betsy bought it close to twenty years ago, and they have used it for several businesses, the current one being art! I have enjoyed every moment spent there whether hanging out with my new friends, talking and sharing art, listening to beach music on the massive boombox, partying on Fourth Friday, or sitting quietly at my table piddling. So I am going to tell you more about it and the people there.

Most of the credit goes to Jim, the creative "genius" behind the concept, and he keeps coming up with great ideas.  He also is constantly busy. "Whether constructing walls, fixing pipes, promoting or encouraging, we all agree he is the hardest working guy we know. And when he talks about his goals, values, observations and priorities, we can see that he is one of the wisest. Jim is always there when we need him. What he enjoys doing in art is illustration and cartooning, but that is mostly for relaxation.

Another cool thing is we found out we went to the same high school, though he went only his senior year and is younger than me.

I hurriedly took this poor photo this evening. See the zebra on the shirt? That is an example of his support for us. One of the artists (will tell about her in another post) draws great pictures of African animals, and she has had T shirts made with them on the front. Jim said he bought ten!

A BW pic from yesterday

It is a female anhinga

After a few hours of tending to "chores" at home, I felt the need to be in nature. I love the outdoors, and what better place to go than Greenfield Lake, only about five minutes up the road. There is always something to see there. Today I was looking over the lake, watching the turtles poke their noses through the green water, admiring the moss swaying from the cypresses, when I saw a slender brown bird swoop down on then quickly dive under the water. It stayed forever it seemed, then many yards away, I spotted its long neck rising up and a gleaming silver fish was in its beak. He lifted his head and swallowed the fish, and even from my distance, I could see it sliding down. Then just as quickly, it disappeared back under the murky lake. It reminded me of the Loch Ness monster!
I asked the two guys I saw there if they knew what it was. One shook his head no. The other said it was a stork. I have no idea, but I am going to find out. Note: also called a snakebird because that is what it looks like! It is new to me.

Shrimp Scampi

Last summer when I was still in ecstasy over being in Wilmington, I would stop by the shrimp truck more than necessary and buy a pound or two. Buying fresh shrimp right out of the back of a truck seemed like so much of a treat that I didn't even mind popping off their slimy heads, a job I had chosen not do previously, ever in my life. I fixed them many ways, boiled, fried, in salads, etc so much that I tired of them. But that didn't stop me from buying more so I could just pull them out of the freezer during those cold, out of season months.

Since I am now at the coast, I wanted to have a seafood specialty to serve the flocks of visitors I expected, and I decided on shrimp scampi, a relatively easy but richly flavored main dish. (It involves more prep time but a brief actual cooking time.) After many attempts - and adding way more butter and garlic than I could imagine - I can now say I make a mean shrimp scampi.

But I have learned that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for it. "Oh no," a friend replied when I asked if she liked it. Only a bland traditional cuisine for them. Another claimed an allergy to all things seafood. My plan has been foiled by the shrimp haters!
So this evening I made shrimp scampi for just the two people who live here. The way the sauce glistened on the linguini was beautiful sight, and it tasted great, too.

I hope to use up all my last year's frozen shrimp before the truck pulls off for good in November.

The Bellamy

The Bellamy Mansion is a big beautiful old home in Wilmington that I have wanted to visit for a long time, and finally I got my chance via an art thing. It is sponsoring an exhibit for "emerging" artists in the fall, and for twenty dollars a person can enter. That also allows the artist to go anytime she wants  prior to the opening to take pictures and see what she wants to paint. What a good deal, I thought. It is hard to decide on some simple arty thing to do, but I have now committed to it.

Art and me

Though both could be challenging, difficult and frustrating, I always totally loved my most important role, that of being a mother. Then when my boys started getting older, I became a nurse and loved that, too. Now as both careers are behind me and I am on the brink of turning seventy, I really need to have something I can sink my teeth into, something I love to do. Perhaps it is art in one of its many forms, but I have not yet built up the needed passion for it.

At church recently I met an artist who has had a long and successful career in illustrating and portrait painting and at age seventy-six still has plenty of commissioned work to do. I decided to give him a call to ask if he could give me some art lessons emphasizing drawing and painting people. That is what I was first interested in doing. 

Today I met him at his studio to make plans for the lessons, or as I look at it, to help with the  encouragement I need. It was an interesting time. Most notably to me was his poor state of health, but he kept saying as much as to himself as to me, "I'm fine." I didn't think so. But on the positive side, I did see the wonderful portraits he is working on, and saw how he pulled a cute drawing out of what looked at first like a few messy scribbles. 

This weekend I saw the movie "Renoir" that focused on the last few years of the famed artist's life, and how he struggled to paint while his health declined. If I had not seen that, I think I would not have had as much appreciation for Chuck today. 

For my first lesson a week from now, he suggested that we go to the Riverfront with our art pads and sharpened pencils and draw people hanging out there. I hope it works out.

Another one from yesterday

All the way from Texas

It's been fun to have Jessica and family around. Today we went to Wrightsville Beach, and was it crowded! The ocean was rough and the waves were big. But that just made for more fun for all the boys, dad included, especially since they have never been to a beach on the Atlantic Ocean.

The sun also sets

The setting sun made the sky amazingly beautiful this evening at Wrightsville Beach.

Good job, Son.

With his own hands, Trip built this boat out of cypress. It proved to be fit when he took it in the water on Saturday. I am proud of him. 

The Arboretum

Just about every day I try to have a new Wilmington experience. Today I visited the arboretum for the first time, and why I waited so long, I don't know. It is a real treasure, a big beautiful garden.

CB Last Night

The top pix are from the beloved doughnut shop. Locals and visitors alike line up during the busy season to savor the melt-in-your-mouth sweetness hot from the fryer. The bottom two are just people enjoying the fair like atmosphere.

Black skimmers

A small area at the end of the beach is roped off to protect nesting shore birds, so I respectfully never went there. Today I got to check it out, and it was pretty cool. I saw quite a few bird families, including some growing chicks. We were looking at oystercatchers and black skimmers, and I think these are the black skimmers.  The first pic shows a chick being sheltered by the mother, and the other one shows possibly a male bringing a fish for the family. That pic actually has five birds in it, but three are camouflaged. These were as good as my mediocre pocket camera could get at the time.

pic du jour

A pleasant pic of the evening sky near the ferry at Fort Fisher.

A Reminder on America's Birthday

"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor."

George Washington

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

Proverbs 14:34

The grass withers, the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever.

Isaiah 40:8

A is for Arthur

The first hurricane I have been in since moving here, and it hasn't been bad. Nothing like the storms of winter or the hype on television.
Though this was a low category hurricane - and that is pronounced "hurra-kin" among many of us old Wilmingtonians - it does give me some idea of what to expect when another, larger one comes.
Yesterday the sky was beautiful and filled with magnificent clouds. Overnight was uneventful, and this morning a light rain started to fall. Then the sky exploded with heavy rains and gusty winds that lasted off and on the rest of the day. The many tall pines and other trees in the back of my house swayed and shook noisily and rid themselves of dead limbs and whatever else needed to go. I marveled that Mother Nature was at work to maintain the equilibrium of the tiny ecosystem.
I went out to do some duties in the early afternoon and saw that a little bad weather did not prevent life from going on. The roads were crowded as usual and stores were busy. Now at ten pm, after several brief power outages in the house, Arthur is moving up the coast. All is quiet except for some lingering rain. Tomorrow is another new day.
Here is a pic of yesterday's awesome sky.

out and about

On this first day of July there were a few things I had to do.
First I realized I had to get a haircut and stat. Funny how the need for one always sneaks up on me. Since being here I've had several haircuts at a Great Clips from Daisy, a chatty middle aged black woman who is a Wilmington native. Our conversations are full of stories and memories, and I like her. As life would go, she wasn't there today due to a move to another store, and I got a brusque young woman from New England. I suppose she did OK, but next time I am going to drive to the other side of town and visit with Daisy.
Then I went to Sam's where I picked up an order from my new BFF in the photo lab. He told me he was the one running the print machine as my collages were coming out so he had a good look at them already. Though I appreciated his input, his question as to why I included the big tree left me aghast. It was the Airlie Oak, the oldest and largest live oak in the state!
Then I went by Hobby Lobby, where business was going on as usual, and got some poster frames for the new project. I took them to the studio and showed them to the few folks there.
Since the drive through line was long I went into Starbucks for a delicious green tea Frappuccino, compliments of the giver of the gift card that had eight dollars left on it. Though the frap was good, I don't like to see people handling money and the top of my drinking vessel in the same few seconds. Call me picky.
And being almost out of flour, I stopped by Food Lion on the way home and found that my favorite, White Lily, was fifty cents off a five pound bag. My lucky day! So I bought four bags, ten pounds of bread flour and ten of unbleached. The cute girl at the register asked me, "Are you going to make something amazing with this?" What a sweet and dreamy thought. I wish! I told her I mostly just bake bread for myself, and that I have been doing it for so long it has become a part of who I am. She said she knits, crochets, and makes things with beads, and next time I come in to find her and she will show me her art work.
I figure the flour will last until Christmas.