A bit of booth chaos - hot, tired but so happy!
I used to come to this fair as a visitor.
Years ago, when my children were very young, my first husband and I would visit the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Arts & Crafts Festival. I remember walking those aisles, looking at the artists' work, and quietly dreaming: someday, I want to be here. Not as a visitor. As an artist.
This year, I was.
A sweet, curious bunny stands up to view the world. Fired ceramic paper clay.
The bunny fountain proved, once again, to be very popular! I have several “in the works” in the studio, and would be happy to make one for you! I also take commissions for specific animals and glaze colors for the bowl. Contact me at info@carollakestudios.com to inquire.
Being juried into a show I dreamed about for decades felt like coming full circle. The festival, organized by the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary, has been included in Sunshine Artist Magazine’s “Best 200 Shows in America,” draws an estimated 6,500–8,000 collectors and visitors over the two-day event, and this year hosted over 100 artists. But there was a sweet surprise I didn't see coming. I was awarded 2nd place in three-dimensional art, competing with juried artists from across the country in a category spanning ceramics, metal, and mixed media. There's a cash prize, and I won't need to jury in again next year. But honestly, what moved me most was simpler than any of that.
The people.
The line forms early to enter the 43rd annual Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Art Fair
Visitors stepped into my booth, leaned in close, and really looked. They told me the work had a unique voice. That it felt alive. That the animals had movement. The large otter found a new home. The manatee with her calf. The large single manatee. The burrowing owl. The painted turtle. All my bunnies sold, including the bunny bowl fountain, and all the smaller, hand-held creatures sold as well. So many animals that lived in my hands first are now living in someone else's home. I am so grateful to every collector.
But the trip itself, the whole journey, gave me something I couldn't have anticipated.
On the drive down, we stopped at Crystal River. It is the only place in the world where you can swim with wild manatees, and I was not going to pass it by. I chose Birds Underwater Dive Center for my tour, based on their reviews. Both my tour guide and boat captain were knowledgeable, safety-conscious, and concerned about the welfare of the manatees. I highly recommend them.
Snorkeling at dawn in the Crystal River
Before we ever entered the water, our guides were clear and careful about what that meant. You do not approach a manatee. You do not chase, crowd, or corner one. You enter their world quietly, on their terms, and you hold still. You snorkel from a respectful distance and let them come to you - or not. These are protected, vulnerable animals, and the privilege of being near them carries real responsibility. That framing mattered to me. It shaped everything about the experience that followed.
We were in the water at 6:30 in the morning. Seventy degrees in the river, forty degrees in the air. Mist was rising off the surface as the sun began to come up, and all around us, just beneath that mist, were the slow breathing shapes of over a dozen sleeping manatees - surfacing, exhaling, inhaling, sinking back down. Rising and falling like the river itself was breathing.
And then there were the snook. Legions of them, along with other game fish, moving in slow formations within inches of us, completely unbothered, completely present, as if we were just another odd feature of their morning.
I floated there and tried to take it all in.
The osprey pair nesting nearby had strong and vocal opinions about the dawn, wheeling overhead as the golden light caught the white undersides of their wings. The mullet were hurling themselves entirely out of the water, which apparently has something to do with parasites and gill-clearing, but looked exactly like Poseidon flinging them about for his own amusement. Small flocks of Ibis and fish crows flew overhead into the gold and blue. An anhinga surfaced nearby, bobbing. And then one curious juvenile manatee appeared right underneath me, and slowly settled back down to the sandy bottom. The babies are the boldest. And they make squeaking noises underwater!!
Curious Juvenile Manatee surfacing at Crystal River, FL
The sun finally broke through, and the water (Crystal River earns its name) lit up from within. Light bouncing and dancing off the pale sand bottom, refracting off the backs of the manatees, everything glittering and shifting. I kept drifting away from our group, just to take in the whole width of the river, the whole impossible scene. I would float on my back and laugh. Shake my head. Then duck under and peer at the massive, peaceful, potato-shaped silhouettes hanging in the clear water below me.
I was in the middle of something I will never forget.
Quietly observing the manatees in the dappled light of dawn at Crystal River, FL
Getting out of my wetsuit and into forty-degree air was, let's say, a memorable transition. I came home inspired in a way that's hard to fully describe. There are more manatees to make. More animals waiting to come to life under my hands. More shows, more collectors, more mornings that feel like gifts.
I came home with river water still in my ears and a head full of manatees. If you'd like one living in your home — or if there's another animal whose spirit you'd like captured in clay — I'd be honored to make it for you. You can reach me anytime at info@carollakestudios.com.
Another (sold) Florida Manatee sculpture
I can't wait to go back.
The iconic Sanibel Lighthouse in the early morning mist