The aisles of Artist Alley at MegaCon are mostly filled with various takes on pop culture mainstays and the latest video game crazes. There’s a Scrabble board featuring the demonized face of Reagan from The Exorcist, Precious Moments-styled postcards with characters from the video game Overwatch, pillows made of Star Wars T-shirts and endless other options.
But at the end of the alley is something recognizably different, the nature-based work of Plant City’s Rebecca Nipper and Charles Galvin’s hand-crafted natural leather goods, each unique in its own right.
Nipper and Galvin manage Off the Tracks art gallery in Historic Downtown. In addition to fine arts festivals, they travel to events around the country that feature more “nerd” culture related art and have begun to build followings with work that doesn’t necessarily fit in with the rest.
“The giant pink flamingo got a lot of attention,” Nipper said of a prominent piece at her booth.
Her art started with fairies and more fantasy-based subject matter, but an interest in nature and animals shifted her art to more “whimsical, nature-based” paintings, she said.
“My fascination with all the critters helped,” she said, “but the background in environmental science really fueled the fire.”
Nipper’s art is a stark contrast from much of the other work at MegaCon. There are no superheroes or famous film characters. She stocks her both with bright, original paintings of owls, foxes, turtles and all manner of natural life.
Galvin, her husband, said despite the difference, she still draws a crowd.
“There’s so much going on at every corner you turn,” he said. “It’s a little spot of happiness amid the chaos.”
MegaCon Orlando, held at the Orange County Convention Center over the last weekend in May, was her eighth MegaCon experience, it was Galvin’s fifth.
Nipper said she now has people returning year after year to buy pieces to add to their collections. One of her regulars, she said, stopped by to add a new owl painting to their growing collection.
Just next to his wife’s booth is Galvin’s leatherwork. He, too, offers something a little different than other artists at the conventions. While some of his work incorporates aspects of “nerd” culture, it is unique in its practicality. Unlike some of the other leather craftsman, Galvin’s work is wearable art.
Most of the other leather sellers at the convention are vendors reselling manufactured products or custom makers of costume items. Galvin makes “living art” meant to be used everyday like belts, wallets, purses and flasks.
He uses traditional methods and natural leather to make his pieces, which is where they come alive.
“The leather changes when it comes in contact with the sun, outside elements and even your body chemistry,” Nipper said. “It almost becomes a collaborative piece.”
Galvin has also begun to see his brand grow at conventions. His booth isn’t the only place he can find his work now.
“I’ve seen people come back wearing my stuff,” he said. “You can see a lot of the stuff they’ve worn day in and day out. It picks up their efforts and becomes theirs.”
Nipper has become a full-time artist traveling to major shows and conventions about once a month. Galvin still works a full-time job as a salesperson for an engineering company, but
spends nearly all of his time outside of the 40-hour work week on production when not at a show.
“When we’re not at a show it’s make make make,” Nipper said.
It’s a lifestyle that both agree can be strange to some. Both are completely devoted to their crafts and the idea of craftsmanship as an important aspect of society.
When home in Plant City, they said they’re usually creating new work or planning for the next show. They usually stay with friends and family or friend’s of friends and family of friends. Often, they’ll travel with artists they’ve met at shows. After MegaCon, Nipper is set to drive to Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia with an artist she met while working a convention. When she gets there, she’ll be staying with a middle school friend she used to be in the Girl Scouts with.
“Sometimes it’s hard for others to understand,” she said of the lifestyle she and her husband lead.
“We’re living life by our own rules,” Galvin added. “We figure out how to make life happen in different corners of the world.”
And, they said, they wouldn’t have it any other way.