Christmas Events at Tides Inn, PRAC, and More Make Busy Weekends

Showing Art and Signing Books at Tides Inn

What a busy few weeks it's been for artists and authors in our area. December 8, Tides Inn hosted its annual Christmas Marketplace. I look forward to visiting the picturesque location at least twice each year for the special marketing events. This year, I was able to attend the Labor Day weekend happening as well as Memorial Day and Christmas.

December 9, Arts Alive in West Point featured a festive holiday presentation of a barber shop quartet, and I was given the opportunity to sign books during intermission.

December 14, Petersburg Regional Arts Center hosted its annual Christmas Gala. This year, art and musical presentations spread from the main gallery onto the mezzanine level as well.

December 15, 20 Virginia writers held the Celebrate with a Book authors book fair at Regency Square Mall in Richmond. While we signed books, we got to see lots of beautifully dressed children en route to and from seeing Santa.

It's been fun, productive, and a learning situation on many levels.

 Entertainment at Petersburg Regional Arts Center Christmas Gala

Regency Mall Book Signing

Tides Inn Makes an Inspiring Setting for Art and Writing

Monti painting at Tides Inn

The setting at Tides Inn on the Chesapeake Bay is serene, scenic, and inspiring for both artists and writers. Throughout the year, the Inn has Art Shows three different times--Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Christmas season (usually the first Saturday of December). The Memorial Day and Labor Day events are two days each--the Saturday and Sunday preceding the Monday holiday.

During this year's Memorial Day event, I watched the many jewelry-makers who participate put their time to good use by creating bracelets and necklaces during times when few people were inside browsing. I was envious and considered becoming a jewelry-maker, not that I need something else to do.

When I got the invitation to participate in the Labor Day Art Show, I considered not going. After all I wasn't ready to make jewelry and I wanted to do something productive while I was there. Then, it struck me. I did some plein air painting in Williamsburg one day last September, enjoyed it, and produced two paintings that I really like. So I suggested painting at Tides Inn. However, they were concerned that I wanted to use water media including acrylic paints. Then I thought about my pastels, a dry medium I love and have used for years. To my delight, pastel painting met with approval.

Since I like to stand and work on an easel, I gessoed two canvas panels ahead of time and experimented from there. Over the weekend, people stopped to watch me work. Some of the jewelry-makers and other artisans watched, too. It was fun and productive. I wound up with two virtually completed paintings.

Boats at Tides Inn - MMSikes

As a writer and photographer as well as an artist, two days at Tides Inn is time well spent. People come in from their boats. I love to chat with them and tell them about my books, many of which are set on islands they may have visited. Although I hoped for some book sales, I didn't make many. I was encouraged when I learned from a manager that jewelry sales were the first to go down when the recession hit. Now those sales have been the first to come back. The jewelry-makers did well at the show. I learned a lot, enjoyed the delicious free ice cream on Sunday afternoon, and I created two new works of art.

As an added bonus, I used a photograph I took at Tides Inn on Memorial Day weekend as the source material for one of the paintings. The dramatic setting on the Chesapeake Bay is indeed inspiring for both art and writing.

Mary Montague Sikes

Apologies to My Mother

In the middle of last night, I realized I owe my mother an apology. I misquoted her in my last blog and some of you probably realized it. What she actually said was, "You can't tell a book by its cover."

She, of course, was giving me a life lesson about not judging people by the way they look or dress. She always told me what a person was like under their facade was what really mattered. That may be a good lesson about characterization in our stories, as well.

These days my mother might have a hard time knowing anything about people by looking at how they dress. She would probably just shake her head because everything is becoming more and more casual. Up until the last couple of years, people at our church dressed up to attend services and all the men wore suits and ties. Now you see everything at church services including shorts and blue jeans. The new trend appears to have improved church attendance which is a good thing. However, I suspect my mother would be shocked by the change.

Yesterday was Christmas Marketplace day at Tides Inn, a beautiful little historic hotel located on the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. It was fun to be one of the artists and writers invited to participate in this annual event. And, of course, I love being with creative people. As I looked around the spacious room where each of us had wide tables with linen cloths provided for our setups, I realized how true it is that you can't tell a book by its cover. Many of the artists wore jeans or other casual clothing while others were dressed up quite a bit.

All of this has me thinking that life lessons aren't as simple these days as they once were. But it's fun to learn some of them at the Tides Inn.

"Tides Inn - Reflected Waters" MM Sikes photo