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Sculpted Beauty

The Marmon Wasp. [Photo by Jack Webster]

The Marmon Wasp. [Photo by Jack Webster]

By Jack Webster

At the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance you are surrounded by works of art – the works of art that are the classic automobiles on the show field and the fine paintings and prints from top artists from around the world that are displayed and sold on the show field and inside the Ritz Carlton.

There are also examples of sculpture by very talented artists on display as well. Standing out from the crowd with incredible, fanciful and beautifully detailed clay sculptures are the artist pair of Craig and Pam Booth, who operate Cartoons by Booth. You can see their work on their website: cartoonsbybooth.net

They were set up inside the Ritz Carlton at Amelia Island and a journey through their display is a feast for the eyes. Exhibiting quite a few of their unique pieces, it was hard for me to pick a favorite, they were all so good.

They specialize is doing custom work and producing “one of a kind” clay sculptures of you and your car – whether it be a classic street car or race car.

Craig does the car sculptures from scratch, starting with a lump of clay and using reference photos that the client has provided as a guide. Pam specializes in the figures and faces and with the two of them using their combined talents the results are outstanding.

They have been doing this for over 30 years, but as Pam explained, it never gets old as each project is so different. “It doesn’t seem that long because every piece we do, every commission, has something we have never done before, so it’s always new.”

The couple do between 10-15 events annually, from car shows to race events to Concour events like Amelia Island. It was at one of those events a couple of years ago in Hershey, Pennsylvania that they were “discovered” by a very popular car guy, Wayne Carini, who has his own show on the Velocity Network titled “Chasing Classic Cars”. Needless to say, Wayne was quite taken with the Booth’s work and at Amelia Island last year they were featured in segment on the show with Wayne. It was a popular segment and they have since been included in other episodes, with more to come.

That relationship with Wayne Carini sparked the idea for a joint project that benefits charity.

Craig explains: “I made a mug with goggles and a white mustache and Wayne posed for a photo with it. It made it to Facebook and everyone went crazy over it. So, I started producing them with the proceeds going to Wayne’s charity, Autism of Connecticut. Wayne signed the mugs, and they have been very popular.”

He continues: “This year at Amelia Island at Wayne’s request, the proceeds from the sales of the mugs are going to Bill Warner’s charities through the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Foundation, which is great.”

When an episode of “Chasing Classic Cars” airs featuring Craig and Pam, they usually get 300-400 new inquiries about their work, so they are keeping pretty busy.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer or more talented couple of artists. Be sure to take a look at their website, cartoonsbybooth.net and then let your imagination go wild. The Booths can translate your imagination into reality.

Just goes to show you that car people are the best people.

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