In Orange County, NC, the fam went to the 33rd annual Hog Day. The festival is devoted to North Carolina BBQ. For those of you not in the know, NC BBQ is whole hog pork, deboned, chopped, and doused in pepper vinegar. For someone like myself who 's trying to lose weight, my menu options were limited. So I decided to devote my attention to the crafts section in search of pop culture folk art.
My search was not as hard as I thought it would be.
My first stop was at a booth called Blown Glass by Winston. Along with a menagerie of dragons, birds, and other animals, there were honest to God superheroes. As you can see in the picture, Winston crafted characters such as Deadpool, Superman, Green Lantern, Captain America, and an upside down hanging Spider-man. I couldn't get him in the picture, but Winston also does a mean Lizard.
Winston's son paints the glass and his work is amazing. To the right of Superman, you see a green and white figure they made of a Miami Hurricane football player. The detail was crazy good and I would love for them to make me a Steelers one.
My mother-in-law and I went halfsies on a Tinkerbell figurine for my wife. Here she is in her new home, a display case devoted to Peter Pan and Star Wars collectibles that are very fragile.
The next stop for me was
AmourableArt. The below duo of Darth Vader and the TARDIS was enough for me to A) fetch the wife immediately and B) start shopping. Pat Kenrick does an amazing job of sketching anything from seashells to silhouettes to pop culture icons the images below. After his sketch, he watercolors the interior of the pictures to look like ocean scenes or in the case of the Doctor Who print, the Time Vortex. I snatched up an 8x10 of the TARDIS and once I get a frame, it'll be hanging in my office next to my autographed Kelly Yates print of the Fifth Doctor.
I bought a couple more things here, but I can't put pics of them up yet as the art due to be anniversary gifts for my bride next month. But I strongly advise that if you love fan art like this, you need to check them out at their website or
their Facebook page for more selections. You can also email Pat's wife Alexis about commissioned works if you can't find what you're looking for.
Throughout Hog Day, I found little odds and ends that would make excellent gifts for the superhero or pop culture fan in your life. On the left, you see little bottles with images of Iron Man, Capt. Jack Sparrow, and such forth. At that booth, you could make your very own sand or aqua-artwork.
At several booths, skilled knitters and sewers created everything from M&M bibs to Ninja Turtle and Superman bows like in the pic in the middle. At another booth, a woman sold maracas made in Guatemala. These music shakers had images of just about every cartoon imaginable. But I thought the likenesses of Batman, The Thing, and Black Costume Spidey were quite good. (Image on right.)
Your collection doesn't have to have only officially licensed stuff to be yours. It's the little treasures that someone took the time to craft that can make your hobby unique. There are dozens of festivals and craft fairs nationwide every weekend that have little curios and artwork such as the examples I've shown today. These events are worth checking out. They're good for the community, filled with good music, delicious food, and quite possibly the next addition to your collection of favorite characters, movies, or books.
