Dare County Art Show Highlights Student Creativity

childs drawing of a cat with butterfly wings
Happy Cat with Fangs & Butterfly Wings. According to the artist the cat has butterfly wings because she likes butterflies.

One of the most remarkable facets of life on the Outer Banks is how strong the art community is and how much a part of everyday life artists, musicians and writers seem to be.

This past Sunday there was a great example of that at Glenn Eure’s Ghost Fleet Gallery in Nags Head where Glenn and his wife Pat hosted the annual Dare County Schools Art Show.

An art show of a very different type, the Gallery is given over to the art of Dare County students . . . all students . . . from first grade to seniors in high school. And every school is represented.

The reception was Sunday afternoon, although the show will remain on display through January 24. The reception is amazing as every child who has a picture hanging brings at least one parent, usually both as well as assorted aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and friends. The kids are always excited, but there is every possibility that the parents are even more excited about what their child has accomplished.

The show is a remarkable display of the talents of the kids. Some of the work of the youngest artists is striking in the joy they depict in their paintings, giving way over time to a much more nuanced and sophisticated view of the world.

The Eure’s have been putting the show on for a number of years. Glenn wasn’t sure if it was 28 or 29 years, although he was certain it was less than 30. The number of years doesn’t really matter, though—what is important is the generosity of the couple and the spirit of creativity of the kids.

A New Outer Banks Author Comes to the Scene

book cover nautical theme

Cover of Creatures of Imagination by Carol Willett.

Outer Banks authors are a diverse lot writing everything from children’s books—Suzanne Tate and her Nature Series; to history—David Stick; mystery—Joseph Terrell, and even a best selling novelist who has settled here. That would be Matthew Quick, author of Silver Linings Playbook and his latest novel, Love May Fail.

Add to that list Carol Willett’s Creatures of Imagination-A Journal of Discovery.

Words fall short in describing how marvelously different this book is. Carol has been creating art in the form of whimsical mythical creatures for a number of years, and her book takes that whimsy to a whole new level.

Telling the story of intrepid 19th century world-traveller, Gwendolyn Remington-Burke, Carol traces her heroine’s journey from her native England to the four corners of our planet. Her story is recounted through journal entries, primitive photographs and paintings that recreate the creatures she encounters as she circles the globe.

Typical of her entries is this from 3 August 1889.

“Tracing the path of the notorious pirate Blackbeard past the Island of Ocracoke and up the Albemarle Sound, I encountered a deep-billed sea bird that seemed a cross between a pelican and a cockatoo . . . This Frilled Pelican answers to the name ‘Elvis.’”

The journal entries are guaranteed to keep the reader chuckling; Carol’s artwork is spot-on and adds perfectly to the sense of adventure the book evokes.

A large format book, beautifully produced by Linda Lauby of Outer Banks Press, this is the kind of book that will engage just about everyone.

Just published, the book is available at the Dare County Arts Council in Manteo, Glenn Eure’s Ghost Fleet Gallery in Nags Head and should be making its way to other locations soon.