PineStraw magazine continues its pursuit of being the "art and soul" of the Sandhills. Now, just picking up a copy of PineStraw treats one to an artistic experience.

Local artists designed and painted distribution boxes for PineStraw that are now on display around town. Four have been completed, with several more in the works. The boxes are located at Flynne's Coffee Shop, The Ice Cream Parlor, Aberdeen Feed Store and the Carthage office of The Pilot. There are plans to have as many as 20 boxes painted.

The idea was proposed by publisher David Woronoff at a production meeting.

Andie Rose, the creative director of PineStraw, took the initiative by enlisting several local artists to create designs for the boxes.

Both Rose and Woronoff described the aim of the project as "making the boxes into pieces of art" that would then be displayed for public enjoyment. Darlene Stark, the circulation director at The Pilot ensured the boxes were weather-proofed by having them coated with a clear protectant.

Johnny Venable, a Carthage-born artist, painted the box in front of The Pilot's Carthage office with his own childhood memories of the town in mind. Andie Rose had contacted him after hearing about the mural he was painting on the wall of the Moore Coffee Company.

Denise Baker took a different approach and created a collage upon her box using old newspapers from the 1930s and '40s. She enjoys the coloring and look of old newspapers, and notes that she wished to "create a new surface with the lines and patterns of newspaper." Her box is covered entirely with text and images from the old newspapers, with the word "PineStraw" repeated all over the surface of the collage in different textual styles and even in small Scrabble pieces in one place.

Sherry Samkus' box is sky-blue with pieces of pinestraw realistically rendered upon the surface and on the front. Samkus' art tends to focus on natural subjects and scenes, so the choice of a natural image is no surprise. However, she remarked that her choice of the pinestraw is not only a reference to the title of the magazine, but also stands as a well-known symbol of the area itself. Samkus was featured in PineStraw's "Artist Among Us" section in the July issue.

Mary Schwab says that on the box she painted she "tried to capture everything the town has to offer." On the top, a horse and rider are pictured in the midst of a leap. The front shows a golfer, and the sides feature portraits of a dog and a fox. A solid black background causes the images really to jump out at the viewer.

On the back of the box, Schwab inscribed "Every picture a story," elegantly summarizing the effect of her art on the viewer. Schwab, who is known for her murals, moved to the Sandhills after living in Florida. The "Artists Among Us" section of PineStraw featured Schwab in the June issue.

Pinestraw now prints 10,000 glossy-print issues monthly, which are available at various locations around town, including the ones mentioned above. Subscriptions are also available for the magazine at a rate of $25 dollars a year for in-state addresses and $35 dollars a year for out-of-state addresses.

Contact Laura Eddy at laura@thepilot.com.