And… It’s November!

Many thanks to all who kept my shop humming for Art Walk on October 26 and First Friday on November 1! I appreciate the conversation, the encouragement, and of course – the $upport!

Last in, first out… I had just finished making this small collage with a page from an antique 
book, vintage typewriter parts, and a vintage clock face, and it sold first on First Friday!

Special thanks to Anne Glaze for lending a hand for Art Walk, and for artsyletters regular Kim Poovey for all the help on First Friday.

With my partner in historical and literary mischief & artsyletters
Chief Creative Promotional Officer, Kim Poovey.
I love happy customers!!

I’m posting “Harvest to Holidays” pictures over on Instagram – Feel free to follow artsylettersgifts. And if you don’t receive my quarterly (if that!) newsletter, you can click over to the right and sign up. :0)

Thanks for reading along! And Happy Novembering…

HAPPY SPRING! Mark Your Calendars for ART WALK/First Friday, April 5!

Enjoy Spring Fling-ing in Beaufort! Our next First Friday will include ART WALK, plus entertainment, artists in action, and even pets available for adoption. Mark your calendar for April 5 from 5 pm to 8 pm, and come say hello in my artsyletters studio at 811 Bay Street #3 (upstairs).

The street will be closed, so it will be a great outing for the whole family. See you there!

First Friday and June Calendar


EventPhotoFull_First Friday Poster June 1st - Dads and Dudes

Happy JUNE! We are getting ready for FIRST FRIDAY AFTER 5,                              5:00 – 8:00 p.m. downtown on June 1.  Come on up for a howdy, and maybe a gift for letter-loving grads or literary gents for Father’s Day! :0)  Look for my little A-Frame sign on the 800 block of Bay Street.

The rest of the month we will be either gallivanting around soaking up literary inspirations on vacation, or I’ll be tucked behind the door madly making, making making.  We’ll be back with bells on in July.  My Etsy shop will be on holiday from    June 7-24.

CLOSED JUNE 2018 artsyletters hours old paper add calendar page red

Hope your Summer starts out with plenty of art and poetry!

Play. Work. Play. (Boxes of Surprises!)


 

DSC05777 box of blocks

My husband and I couldn’t resist.

We’d gone to the nearby town of Bluffton to the (wonderful!) HighTides Bead Shop – where I couldn’t resist either – and then popped into a few galleries along quaint Calhoun Street.

We came home with a box of blocks.  They are the end pieces that an artist couldn’t use, so he cleverly bundled them up and sold them, box and all.  Jeff wants to carve some, and I want to use some as “grounds” for art.  We have a new box of toys!

This has all reminded me of the importance of play in creating. In other areas of life, too.  I’d started the summer with a dutiful plan to add jogging to my walking routine – walk/jogging a few miles for two days in a row, then taking the third day off. I kept that pattern for a solid couple of weeks.  Until I ended up at my regular neuromuscular massage therapy appointment with a twisted knee in addition to major aggravation to my still-recovering injured neck.

“Did I say you could jog?” asked my therapist. “Most people, when they run, lead with their head!” (a big no-no for me).  “You can walk.  Or ride a bike.”

So I finally did what I’ve intended to do since moving here to the coast– I bought a simple cruising bike at the hardware store.

Robyn and bike 2015 06 crop

 

No gears!  No decisions!  Granted, it doesn’t get my heart rate up quite the same way as running, but I go farther and actually enjoy it.  And a magical thing happens when I climb onto the seat.  I become 10 years old.  Having grown up in Florida and spending countless hours on bicycles, I really do feel like a kid again whizzing by the water and ducking under Spanish moss.

 

 

One more box story.  This week I dragged a box out from under the house, where I put it a year or so ago.  My studio is upstairs in a wonderful historic building smack in the middle of downtown.  I walk in and out, most days, via the wooden stairs in the back. The building is owned by a family which runs a lovely jewelry store, and there’s an art gallery and interior design shop there, too.  I’ve been known to scavenge the boxes they’ve tossed out back.  Maybe I’ve salvaged bubble wrap and shipping boxes.

Anyway, right after moving here, I walked down and saw a large box labeled “Necks.”  Now tell me, would you have been able to just pass it on by?

DSC05790

Me neither.  To my delight, it was full of discarded jewelry displays for necklaces.  You can see in the pictures that I finally got around to sorting them and deciding some were worth cleaning up and spray painting.

DSC05803

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSC05806

Somehow I managed to spray a little paint toward my face.  Thankful for glasses.  But then I had to go to my studio and find some mineral spirits to get the specks off.  It was bright and sunny when I left on my errand, and left my sparkly “new” necks out to dry.  But a few blinks later, I was driving back home in a torrential storm.  Oh, well – at least the necks will be really clean.

I’m finally getting around to making some more adventurous jewelry with typewriter keys.  Here are a few examples of necklaces in the works, though I might still add a bit of vintage bling to the chains of the pendants.

1 necklace 2015 07 c

[PS - Got the pewter pitcher at a church thrift store last week for $1.00!]

[PS – Got the pewter pitcher at a church thrift store last week for $1.00!]

two necklaces one pin 2015 07 c

Or perhaps I’ll leave these simple. But  I’ve been amassing all these wonderful treasures to PLAY with… supplies 2015 07

If you’re in the downtown Beaufort area and in a playful mood tonight (Friday), swing by downtown for First Friday After Five.  Several galleries and shops will be open with refreshments and such, including my studio.

first friday poster

Here’s to a summer full of creative surprises!

 

First Friday Fun in Downtown Beaufort


 

artsyletters sandwich board sign first friday 11 2014

I might have still been rushing around at 5:00 trying to package cards and bookmarks, but I’m so glad I opened my studio door (for the first time!) for Beaufort’s First Friday last night.  Thanks to everyone who came by to visit, have some cider or cookies, and do a little art shopping.  Special thanks to my hubby Jeff and to friend Barb Ettl, who did all the heavy lifting (literally) as I slowly get back into the swing of work and fun events like this.

Somehow I only managed to get a few pictures, but here’s a peek into the evening:

Hubby Jeff welcomes folks with a small display down at street level on Bay Street.

Hubby Jeff welcomes folks with a small display down at street level on Bay Street.

 

Lots of friends dropped by!  Here I am with Cyndi Allison (aka neuromuscular massage therapist/miracle worker.....)

Lots of friends dropped by! Here I am with Cyndi Allison (aka neuromuscular massage therapist/miracle worker…..)

And friends brought friends! Cyndi came with her beautiful friend, Takiya.

I enjoyed sharing my space with familiar and new faces.  Everyone loved the Modern Jewelers building, which has such historical character.

display shelves outside

framed letters etc.See you in December, when First Friday is on steroids, for Beaufort’s NIGHT ON THE TOWN on Dec. 5!