Faerie Enchantment

Saturday June 21, 2008 was a day filled with fun. To start I taught to back to back two hour workshops at the Newark Museum and met so many wonderful people. The two workshops I taught were altered art crowns, basic style for beginners, the more involved workshop is on August 1, 2008, where the student will choose between three crown styles to make: The Marie Antoinette Corset Crown, The Carnival Assemblage Crown or The Fairyland Opera Crown. I will have samples of all three of these crowns in a few weeks.

My morning at the Museum was topped off by an excursion to the one and only Mermaid Parade at Coney Island, NY, which was by far one of the most interesting events I have attended in a while.

We started out by driving for a few hours to find parking, then had dinner at a wonderful seafood restaurant by the water, which was remminescent of a century ago, I choose the shrimp scampi over rice, a perfect decision I must say.

Eventhough we missed the parade, there were plenty of mermaids and mermen walking along the boardwalk and the surrounding streets, from frilly to tacky to theatrical to bizarre, the costumes were the best part of the day, not to mention the pina coladas with free refills and the Nathan's hot dogs we consumed a few hours later. I actually opted for the corn dog on a stick, topped with some mustard, just too good.

As we walked the boardwalk, nostalgia set in, I elasped into time to the 1900's revisiting what Coney Island used to look like and what it has become today. The area has definately seen alot of changes over time. With Dreamland Park fire of 1911 and the building of Luna Park soon after. Then there was the whole burlesque and side show movement, still going strong today, with the wonderful Side Show Museum, which I had to take a stroll into, alone my boyfriend and friends opted to wait outside, LOL. The entire building is covered with vintage and modern side show banners which have so much eclectic imagery gracing their canvases. Nearby are more stands and an area of rides, including the cyclone which we all went on, and will never forget, I still have a headache from that ride, LOL! But it was fun and a must do at Coney Island, the line for the Wonder Wheel was way too long, so we opted for the roller coaster instead.

In The next installment of The Faerie Zine, Vol. 6 I have written a history of events, vintage images and a story around the original Coney Island. To read more on this pick up vol.6 due on the shelves mid July!