Well, readers, it was a bittersweet day indeed! It has been 24 days since we left Tacoma, WA, drove across our fair country, and delivered Mat safely into the arms of his Creator,
Clark Whittington, in Winston-Salem, NC. I can't believe it is all over and that this is our last blog post! It was a beautiful spring day and before we got to Clark's place we stopped (and made one last new friend for Mat) at a pre-fab home design center,
Topsider Homes, that happened to be in the neighborhood. Victoria is thinking about building a house and wanted to take a quick tour of the facilities. One look at our cool Art*o*mat® sweatshirt "uniforms" got the associate from Topsider interested in Mat and our quest and he happily posed for one last on-the-road photo.
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| The associate from Topsider Homes loved meeting Mat and receiving some art samples |
It was great to finally see Clark's home and art studio and we were greeted by his friendly pooches, Jethro and Ellie May, (and his cool human wife, Julie, too) and treated to a tour of "where the Art*o*mat® machines are born." We saw at least a dozen machines in various states of artistic rehab including the very first machine he created back in 1997.
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| Mat is happy to be home with his Creator, Clark Whittington |
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| The Original Art*o*mat® from 1997 in Clark's studio |
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| Ahhh, the room where ALL the Art*o*mat® art is sorted and stored! |
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| Mat at home in the studio with his "brothers" |
Clark treated us to a delightful lunch at a restaurant that hosts an Art*o*mat® machine called
Mary's where we dined al fresco. It was nearly 80 degrees today! Then we took a tour of a few more local joints that hosted machines (there are 8 or 9 machines at various venues scattered throughout town) including a co-op gallery and an über hip coffee shop, called
Krankie's Coffee, where the iced decaf americano totally hit the spot! Our visit with Clark was short and sweet and it softened the blow of finally letting Mat go... hopefully to a good new host-home someday soon!
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| Checking out another machine in Winston-Salem: Krankie's Coffee |
Our drive back out west begins tomorrow and it just won't be the same without the metallic bangs and clangs of Mat coming from the back of the minivan. It truly is the end of an Epic Art*o*mat® Road Trip and we appreciate you, readers, for taking the trip with us. THANK YOU!!!!!
The End.
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