By Brody Moore, Special to Nighthawk News

Whether it’s digitally crafted or it’s painted, it’s still considered art. Perhaps it’s even the art of baking, as vendors and artists of various talents have their wide range of products for sale at markets after constant preparation for each big day.

For many of these craftspeople, each sale is a reminder of how special it can be to find a job they love. At least that’s the way Erin Moore, a 16-year Outer Banks artist, sees it. 

“I started my own business in graphic design shortly after college creating logos for businesses that reached out,” she said. “During COVID I redid my son’s room and painted the walls a couple different colors and I wanted something really beachy and modern but couldn’t grasp it. I happened to have a photo of the beach road and outlined it in Adobe, and hung it as a frame on the wall instead. I posted it online and it got a ton of likes, and that’s when I knew I had found something.”

Moore has been doing art markets ever since at places such as Dowdy Park, Under the Oaks in Corolla, and even a few in Cary, but she typically signs up for local events. 

“I have been to Raleigh a few times and my stuff does well there, but I have found that my sales do way better on the Outer Banks with tourist buyers,” Moore said.

Not only has art given Moore a career, it’s also built her friendships. 

“I have made quite a handful of friends. I’ve made one really great friend named Loli, who’s also an artist and very supportive and helpful to bounce ideas off of when I’m kind of stuck,” Moore explained. “We always try to do markets together.”

That would be Loli Salamone, another local artist who started her business nearly completely from scratch. She creates gypsy jewelry made all from recycled resources.

“It started when I quit my corporate job and jumped into this 100%,” Salamone said. “I was inspired by all the different resources that we have at the beach and trying to figure out a different way to repurpose them and reuse them to make them wearable jewelry pieces that people love.” 

Salamone has been selling jewelry ever since, such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

While sales tend to be pretty consistent, being prepared for each market’s crowds can be a problem, especially during the Christmas shopping season. 

“I feel a little bit more stressed during the holidays because the weather is different – the unknown about what’s going to happen with the weather for each one of the markets,” Salamone said. “Do I have enough inventory? Enough inventory that’s not going to get wet if it rains? That’s a big factor in my stress.” 

Many artists tend to struggle with this, especially when it comes to selling baked goods. Chris Caroll might not be considered the typical artist, but she is very familiar with the art of baking. Whether you prefer to buy online or in person, or even through a subscription, Carroll can do it all with Sweater Box Confections.

“When I started my business, it just kind of happened,” Carroll said. “It was a hobby. I like to bake cookies, and then one day it was a full-time job.”

The hobby came from her grandmother’s love for holiday treats, a love that passed down to the person many friends and family now call “Cookie Chris.”

“It was her way of showing how much she loved her entire family because we each received our favorite treats,” Carroll said.

While the summer tends to be hot and humid, Carroll tends to have an uptick in sales around the Christmas season. And the stress couldn’t be any higher, she said, when asked about the challenges she must overcome in preparation.

“Yes, yes, yes – you have to bake more. More baked goods are needed for sales, and even boxes, because people are buying gifts for each other,” Carroll said.

One thing that makes Carroll unique from many other artists is that she doesn’t just sell cookies locally. 

“We ship all across the U.S. to other stores,” Carroll said. “We also just signed a broker out of Atlanta as a salesperson that we’ll be selling our cookies to, which is really cool.” 

Close to Carroll’s tent is a festive beach artist. Laurell Stowe, a local artist from Hatteras has been her own boss for over 30 years. Stowe started off her business, This Little Cottage Crafters OBX, with the wisdom from her last. 

“I used to make Adirondack furniture,” she said. “I was doing that and I had a bunch of wood scraps left, so I started to make dot drawings and designing and making small wooden art.” 

Stowe has brought out products such as a wooden painted reindeer, snowman and even a Santa for the holidays. The wood used by Stowe can withstand age for quite a while.

“I wanted something fun outside that would last so people could enjoy,” Stowe said, adding that most pieces degrade quickly if left outside for long periods of time unless made of furniture scraps.

Brainstorming for Stowe can be a very long process: “My octopus, it took me 18 months to come up with that design.”

All of that painstaking work put in by all the craftspeople is worth it, though, when another happy customer leaves the booth with something special to take home. Don’t miss everything they have to offer the next time a market pops up at Aviation Park, the Soundside Event Site or anywhere else up and down the Outer Banks.

Sophomore Brody Moore wrote this story for his Intro to Publications semester project. He can be reached at Moorebr6875@daretolearn.org.