Ever sifted through a yard sale? You won’t find a prized piece without dedication.
Gulfport’s Art in the Yard is an artist-run, citywide yard sale for art. Even with the detailed virtual brochure, finding that needle in the haystack can be looming. We’re here to help, though: We found three offbeat Gulfport artists who will be lugging their eccentric creators to a front yard near you this Saturday, Nov. 6.
Rebecca Schlabach
2831 Beach Blvd. S.
The electrical blue-haired artist, “Rejoys,” brings the contents of her art-lined one bedroom to her front courtyard.
She started her journey in a small Mexican village, Playa del Carmen – which, at the time, had only 400 residents. The area has since become a resort town, but for Rejoys, it was her first artistic space.
Her work, Salvador Dalí-esque paintings with characters who hint at women she’s known – and never known, are prints of the paintings she’s created in the late ‘80s, ‘90s and now. She’s transferred many of her concepts to clothing, including tye-dye dresses and t-shirts.
“Every one of them has a story,” Rejoice said. “I’ve been painting my whole life … most of the paintings have little hidden secrets.
Denise Keegan O’Hara
2001 53rd St. S.
When multi-media artist Denise Keegan O’Hara first came to Gulfport, she found materials for her work in back alleys, discards in forgotten places. For her, it was a means of survival.
“I had basically no money. I came from the east coast of Florida after doing a variety of things,” O’Hara said. “I knew I needed to make art.”
10 years later, she’s actively selling her unconventional pieces – wine cork keychains, human casts, clocks made from vintage vinyl – to the community.
Her bodices, inspired by the Gulfport Merchant’s Chamber “Body is Beautiful” Art Walk this past June have references to O’Hara’s loves and cult favorites like “Tiny Dancer” and “The Scarlet Letter.”
Shirley Baldwin
5722 17th Ave. S.
The new frontier (craze) for artists, resin, is the base of most of Shirely Baldwin’s work. Her subjects: lazy susans, dreamcatchers and charcuterie boards are draped in wildly colored resin for a beach wave effect.
“I’m affordable for sure,” Baldwin says “I always tell people I could charge more, but I’d have to call them ‘charcuterie boards’ instead of ‘cheese boards’.”
The Gulfport’s artist home at Beachway Mobile Park lies off the beaten path for wandering buyers, plus the neighborhood forbids the activity, prompting Baldwin to combine forces with artist Julie Armstrong at Armstrong’s home.
