Sand dollars

On Friday, my friend the sandman, Vic DeGraff, delivered the sand painting of "Lucy the Elephant" I commissioned a few weeks ago -- with the elephant colored by sand from the beach where the "Elephant Bazaar" was first constructed (in 1882, to promote South Atlantic City, later renamed Margate, where I grew up).

16x20 inches, the image was drawn from an old post card, which Victor doctored with his sand pallet. I might sell prints to gift shops on my next visit East. But why wait until then, if it's possible to sell by internet? A search for gift shops in Margate should find a Lucy gift shop that could sell prints to benefit the Save Lucy Committee.

A similar fund raiser is getting off the ground in good ol' Carbondale: Victor created a sand painting of the demolished bank building for Art Lovers Trading Compay to benefit the Jackson County Stage Company, as explained in the press release.

Hopefully, a hopeful reporter will write about this artsy fund raiser when Victor's brick and print goes on display inside the Bank of Carbondale when the Christmas tree comes down.