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TRENDS | PEOPLE | CULTURE | HAPPENINGS beachbites
Culture
The High Tide of Creativity
No Boundaries International Artist Colony retreats to this South Beach
Bald Head Island destination, November 2 through 16.
By Jamie Lynn Miller
This November, No Boundaries International Artist Colony enters its 14th
season on Bald Head Island, as local and international artists leave the
distractions of the work-day world to commune and create around the
dune-filled horizons of Captain Charlie’s. Co-founders Pam Toll and Gayle
Tustin are looking forward to the uninterrupted time and space to create.
“It’s about the ocean, the meditative sound of the waves, deer in the dunes, seeing
the sunrise and sunset over the water — and having the time to work like there’s no
tomorrow,” Tustin says.
Toll elaborates on the transformative power of No Boundaries: “You’re surrounded
by people who are all the same tribe and you instantly feel at ease,” she says. “I’m like a
little kid. I don’t want to go to bed because I don’t want to miss anything!”
For Pam Toll, this includes making time to swim in the sea.
“My work is very physical,” Toll says, “and I love water. I recently went to my grand-ma’s
97th birthday in Texas and swam in the Rio Grande,” she says with a laugh, recall-ing
her grandmother’s surprise. “Once, I followed some dolphins out to sea; I saw their
raggedy fins, heard their clicking and the sound of water being pushed out of their air
holes. I even had flippers on,” she says, laughing. “And finally, this boat came up along-side
me and asked if I needed a lift back, because I was out so far.”
“I always knew I was somehow going to be an artist,” Toll says, “but sabotage and
distraction got in the way. I worked at Pearl Paints; I remade clothing for a costume
designer — I was always working around art. I studied English and art at Chapel Hill
Above, Pam Toll creates in Captain Charlie’s
No. 1. Top, No Boundaries artists create flashlight
art at Captain Charlie’s Station on Bald Head Island.
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