Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Family rescues a dog from hunger and cold in Chantilly Park (and how you can help too)





This is Sampson. Or Shadowfax.

He was hungry, cold and alone in Chantilly Park near 135 Wyanoke Ave., off Seventh Street at Firefighter Place.

A family found him, made friends and took him home, then called Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control to pick him up and try to find his owner, in case he had just wandered from home nearby.
Is he yours? You can check with animal control to find out how to get in touch and reclaim him. The family that found him, though, has fallen slightly in love and hopes to adopt him if his rightful owner doesn’t show up.

(Update: Animal control people on Tuesday contacted the family who found the dog to let them know the owner had reclaimed Sampson/Shadowfax. Word had gone out on the Yahoo message group for the Chantilly neighborhood, and perhaps that's how the owner located the missing pet.)

The family deserves praise for not only rescuing this dog from hunger and cold but also helping to make one local park feel safer for people with very small children or smaller dogs. The German shepherds that roamed the Briar Creek Greenway near Merry Oaks were intimidating for awhile, but persistent neighbors rescued those dogs after tons of work.

While you’re browsing: check out the other stray dogs, cats, rats and rabbits at animal control that need homes. Or consider donating through animal control to the pet food bank through Second Harvest, which helps feeds pets as well as humans.

Photos: Courtesy of Jim Mitchem, a local adman and dad. (Yes, his family found Sampson/Shadowfax.)

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Merry Oaks art crawl appears on Crossroads Charlotte




The neighborhood art crawl for Merry Oaks generated visitors, sales and a Youtube video and story by Tanya Jameson on Crossroads Charlotte, a site that highlights people working across cultures in Charlotte.

The video is embedded above, but do yourself a favor and check out the full story on the art crawl and the rest of the Crossroads Charlotte site.
And here is background on the artists.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Merry Oaks prepares for annual art crawl



It's back!

As part of a full day of holiday celebrations in Merry Oaks, neighborhood artists are offering their wares during an art crawl from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12.

It's a great chance to shop really locally and support neighborhood talent.

Here are the artists, with links to their web pages when available:

Adrienne Dellinger and Greg Scott
Pots with Purpose
2109 Arnold Drive
Ceramics
Adrienne is studio manager for Charlotte's Clayworks, has studied at Penland and has fired pots and dug clay with the legendary Carolina potter Burlon Craig. Greg Scott is a potter and has also created large projects such as a mural on Central Avenue (that's a detail of the mural at the top of this post.)

Meredith Hebden
the laughing earth
1911 Graybark Avenue
Photography
Meredith won a "Critic's Pick" as Best Local Artist from Creative Loafing's 2006 Best of Charlotte awards. She's also an amazing gardener.

Alex Clark, Rebecca Jones and Kurt Gabriel
3430 Draper Avenue
Paintings (Alex), encaustics (Rebecca) and jewelry and sculpture (Kurt)


Raed Al-rawi

3540 Draper Avenue
Paintings


Patty Perkins

The Princess Beads
2301 Arnold Drive
Jewelry

Patty created a map of where the artists will show their work.

Also Saturday, groups are getting together for caroling between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the neighborhood, followed by a gathering with hot chocolate and dessert at Cate Martin's home at 2301 Arnold Drive from 8:15 p.m. to 10 p.m.


Image:
Detail of Greg Scott's mural funded by an Arts and Science Council grant, on the side of Blue Bar at 2906 Central Avenue. Greg, who is primarily a potter, used the greenway bridge over Briar Creek as part of his inspiration.