DUSKY RESPITE

DUSKY RESPITE

At around 5 pm, I closed down my booth for the day, and rushed over to try to catch the beautiful Latin harp music of my friend Pavelid Casteneda (joined by an All Star ensamble of local talent to die for).

An incredible wellspring of beauty, it was a perfect treat to wind down such an incredible day with this melodious and rhythmic, relaxing and inspiring music.

It was also a quite reward to find an adolescent audience member clutching the water drop that she had made down at the Environmentality Public Art Studio earlier that day. 

After enjoying Pavelid’s music, at around 6:30, I went back to my booth, and spread out in back, and took a long, deep drink of sleep. I had not stopped moving since 6 that morning, and it was time rest my weary bones.

But before I drifted off, I reached up and snapped this shot of my work bench and stool.

When I awoke, the curtains of night were drawing down on our the day's stage of the river.

I shot one more, capturing the last of these stage lights, reflecting between the inky black depths of the mill race, and the ripples therein.

NEW REPTIRE ADMIRER- (a spider)

LITTLE WEIRD SPIDER

This little spider seemed pretty bowled over by my crystal ball.

"Oh, what a veritable cornicopia of delectable oddities and curiosities"

(I like to imagine him saying)

REPTIRE COLLECTOR PROFILE: BANX DIXON

BANKS DIXON, OWNER FROG HOLLOW OUTDOORS

            Perhaps one of my greatest supporters at the Eno, since the beginning, has been Banks Dixon, Owner and Founder and Director of FrogHollow Outdoors.

BACKGROUND

            I have known of Banks tangentially for many years through the skate/punk scene of our youth. And it has been really fun to watch him go from Great Outdoor Outdoor Outfitters at North Gate Mall, to owning his own wonderful operation, Frog Hollow Outdoors. I first got to know FHO through their excellent work with Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA) clean ups, where Banks and Frog Hollow won the appreciation of my Father, Steve, a pretty challenging judge of character!

OUTSTANDING STAFF

And they have won mine too. Frog Hollow has hired some of the finest people I know in Durham, including Tasha Teasley, as well as her Sister Rainbow (aka Gizelle) and her Mother “Rose”, River Bottle Bluesman, and The Wigg Report’s Steve Lambert. (?..)

A SPECIAL PARTNERSHIP

For these reasons, when Frog Hollow moved  their operations to their new location- a house on Trent street, and made me a special invitation- to set up some tire art decorations, and a mini display at their offices, I enthusiastically decided to take them up on it.

And what a great partnership has been, and is still becoming!

Tasha has arranged a beautiful display of my art, alcolates and a great bio.

And when I get done with the festival, sometimes I bring them over something new for their porch!

And, taking it to a whole new level, I have been speaking with Banks and Tasha about a redux of their front lawn!....this could be really exciting!..

Banks has been a great collector of my Dragonz Eyez Tire Talismen, hanging one, I believe from a tree in his back yard, which makes me proud!

This year, Banks really clued into my Ouroboros Street Snake Belts, and bought 4 of  them-1 for himself, 1 for his wife, 1 his brother in law (a great local DJ), and 1 one for his sister in law (a very sweet person).

I could not by more honored that such a cool dude would want to wear these himself, and share them with his family of cool folks too!

EVEN MORE FROM DAY ENO 2014, STILL DAY 1, STILL!

MOYA AND GERALD

Got a visit from some other Chatham Friends, Moya and Gerald! I first met Moya I suppose through her work at Piedmont BioFuels, where she was at that time in charge of pick up and deliveries. Her partner Gerald is a great clogger with renowned Cane Creek Cloggers! They seemed to be having a grand old time exploring my Reptire River Hut.

It seems that Moya does not have a fobia of snakes.

DEUCES OF DIAMONDS- Jonathan Davis and Emily Wimbush

A received a great visit from a pair of exceptionaly stylish Chatham friends, Jon Davis and Emily Wimbush.

EMILY

You might see Emily at Shakori hills wearing pigtails, a canary yellow onesie, and not much else- (besides maybe a hula hoop) (“I towt I taw a putty tat!...”). Always a Style Maven, I also particularly enjoyed Emily’s lavish pirate ‘booty’ on Ninja and Pirate days downstairs at Succotashed

, where Emily worked (and regularly lent her pinache) and also contributed the large logo painting on the window. In Siler City, sometimes you’ve just got to “Let your freak flag fly”, and Emily does this with chutzpa and relish, which I have always admired and appreciated about her.

JON

            Accompanying Emily was none but The Duke of Style Himself, Jon Davis. A glass blower from Durham, Jonathan has taken the Chatham studio scene by storm, winning Best In Show with such gripping pieces as the insipiently erotic pitcher plant sculpture he made a few years ago, that I watched sell at an auction to one wise collector. Would that I had had the money to wager for that one. Louise Bougouise meets Dale Chahuli…!

            I also happen to know that Jon travels in his own style. I will see him at Shakori hills, trade mark sunglasses and back pack, jamming in his own groove. It takes a certain confidence to rock your style, and Jon has clearly got that.

JON DONS THE FLO TIE

For this very reason, I felt extremely gratified and honored that Jon honed right in on the Flo Tie.

Within in an instant, he had already placed it in a costume he said he was assembling for his next great balls-to-the-wall-hip-hop-till-the-sun-comes-up-throw-down at his home out tin in the Chatham wood.

Magnetic pull product placement, at its best.

That is one dude that I know will carry the flo tie like a champ. 

EVEN MORE FROM ENO 2014, AND JUST DAY 1!

Oh Man, oh Woman, Eno 2014 was such a wonderful year for me at the Reptire River Hut.

Here are some other nefarious characters I crossed there:

Sol Food Mobile Ranch Hands

Add caption

Kent and Brooke are a couple of young activists who I had the distinct pleasure to meet at Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival a few years ago, aboard their mobile farm bus! Sol Food is a mobile educational tool- so cool! They also shared with me the bible of tire crafting, given to them by the author Paul of Utah! Brooke and Kent dug on my classy ranch-hand suspenders. I think we're going to have to attach a pair onto them somehow.

RIDING THE SUPER HIGHWAY

I caught this young Durham native digging on the ‘SuperHighway’ sculpture, perhaps the first and only person this year to really study it in depth. He really seemed to like it, so I gave him a post card with its image from the Cultural Crossroads Exhibition in Winston Salem from about 5 years ago.

GUTEN MORGAN

I found this lovely lass peering up at the ceiling and around the interior of my booth like an explorer walking into a jewel encrusted cave. Her name was Morgan (German for ‘morning’?), and wearing a deep purpley-blue shit, which set off her raven black head of hair, the name suited her just fine, as did my tire art… On a whim, I decided to introduce Ms Morgan to my flo ties, and they were an instant match. Somehow, the butterfly-like flo tie fluttered up to perch on that raven black cascade of hair, and moments later, the first ‘bow fly” was born. I hope Morgan is enjoying her new friend.

BULL CITY BAD CHICK

This gal took to a fine specimen of the brand new line of Bull City Bad Belts.

And from the looks of her, she is going to wear it well, and with sass!

A BULL SHITY GRIPE

I am a little bit chagrin to jump on that “Bull City” bandwagon, that is seeming a little bit overloaded with mooing cattle en route to market these days. I don’t know if there is a Bull City Pedicure yet, but I would not be surprised… If all you can say about your business in your name and ‘branding’ is that it is located in a place that used to sell cattle,  I am sorry, but I think you need to dig a little deeper!

   However, that said, Durham pride, seems all and all to be a positive thing. And I can certainly understand the allure and temptation to draw from the power of this mythic beast and history, as I myself am now guilty as charged! And hey, who, if not ReptIre Designs, is guilty of drawing from the strength of mythic beasts?!

TYLER

One of my favorite occasional companions on this year’s journey was self described Timberlake-Country-Boy Tyler, whose father and grandfather were selling their beautiful hand-hewn wooden canoe paddles down by the river. These were really beautiful to behold, and Tyler, who would drop by periodically with his sister, to ask an unending stream of questions, was actually really good company! 

Tyler even bought himself an Ouroboros Street Snake Belt! (I gave him a good deal)

I hope to see Tyler again next year.

More Festival For The Eno 2014, Day 1 still!...

 FESTIVAL FOR THE ENO: MORE DAY 1

Another really exciting visit I got was from a lovely asian woman and her partner, who turned out to be Mrs Buttermilk herself, of PJ Buttermilk fame, on 9^th st!

Long have I seen the sign in the alleyway on 9^th St. but I am ashamed to say that I have never ventured down to take a gander! I was flattered to find April and John seemed to like my work, and seemed to appreciate that it stood out from the crowd. Who knows, perhaps Reptire Designs and the esteemed PJ Buttermilk will find some common ground to perch apon someday...

Ana Lena and Allen- Belt Snake Hymnal

A special treat I got to enjoy at the Festival, sweet as a cup of Cherry Chip Ice Cream, was the return visit at long last, of my dear friends Anna Lena Phillips and Allen Bell.

Also Sweetly, it was there at the Eno River State Park that I had last seen these two love birds, when we gathered to wish them farewell on their journey ‘down-river’ to the coastal metropolis of Wilmington! 

I was tickled, and a little bit chagrin, again, to have the chance to show these two the Belt Snake Hynmal I composed to accompany my new Orouboros Street Snake Belts. Why? Because they are each marvelous literary artisan figures in their own right! Alan is a Maestro of the English and Spanish language (and an ESL teacher to boot), and we have always enjoyed together the love for words that we both share. And Ana Lena even won an Emerging Artist Grant for her really exquisite and piquant poetry, posted on small cards, with insect images! I’ll even say that Ana Lena popped into my minds eye as I crafted that poem. So it was cool to get to show it to them, and then take a swim with them!

STAMPEDE!

Probably the weirdest occurrences this year, happened when I decided to lay down some gravel for my porch.

Having a gravel floor to my booth has been a long time dream/ambition of mine, but I could never quite summon the courage (or studity) to import (and more critically export) an entire truck load of gravel, ontop of everything thing else I have conscripted myself to schlep in and out.

So this year, I decided to try a compromise. Instead of a whole truck load, I just brought a single 5 gallon bucket of beautiful river rock pea gravel (from B&L). This I planned to spread on my new ‘front porch’, to lend some atmosphere to the booth, particularly my outdoor furnishings area (tirarium planters and the like).

No sooner had I poured a few dollops out onto the ground, when a very strange thing happened. Suddenly, a man and a woman appeared from out of nowhere, and began stamping and stomping the gravel into place. 

It was a very strange sort of dance that they did on their tip toes, but it seemed that, in their own they were trying to help. Then as soon as they had appeared, they vanished again down the path.

I was reminded of the scene in Crocodile Dundy, when he spends hours making a fire, and then a Rhinosorus appears out of no where and stamps it out.

Who knows what ancient instincts I had awakened in these two. I just thank my lucky stars they were not hostile…

Follow through on Festival For The Eno 2014

I never did finnish my report on Festival For The Eno 2014, which was such a great festival for Reptire Designs.
So here, after almost one year, I will pick up that thread, and follow it through to its end.

By the way, I have decided to take a break from the Festival This Year.
I have just gained a new neice, but also lost a dear uncle, so thought I'd sit this one out, and watch the river flow by me this year.