THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509120108
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Around Town
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Phyllis Jones' house looks like pigs live there.
That's because they do. At last count, more than 400.
But that wasn't Jones' count. It was her husband, Charles'.
The collector doesn't care to count them. She just wants them. More. More.
More.
Jones has glass pigs. Wooden pigs. Ceramic pigs. China pigs. Stuffed pigs. Salt and pepper pigs. Basket pigs. Cracker-holder pigs. A Hawaiian pig, complete with hula skirt. An air-freshener pig. Dancing pigs. Musical pigs.
She has girl pigs. Boy pigs. Playful pigs. Sleeping pigs. Kissing pigs.
Kissing pigs?
Here a pig, there a pig. Everywhere a pig, pig . . .
Jones brought out her music box pig that plays - you guessed it - ``Old MacDonald Had a Farm.''
Pigmania, for Jones, started when a woman she works with brought a kind of container pig for her desk to hold paper clips.
``I looked at that pig and thought, `I've got to have my own.' ''
That was about 15 years ago.
About two years ago, Jones started adding to her stock by making her own piglets when she took a ceramics class.
Dell Joyner, instructor at Nike Park, has been great about searching out new pig creations for her, Jones says.
``I knew nothing about ceramics. Dell, when she found out I liked pigs, started looking for them for me.''
Jones soon created a pig at rest, with its front legs crossed. Next came a pair of pigs. An entire pig family followed, and that's when Jones' enthusiasm for what she was doing and her love of the subject came shining through in talent.
She started winning ceramics competitions with her pig creations.
Last June, in Richmond, she took the International Ceramics Association's blue ribbon for a planter pig that would look almost real if he weren't wearing a hat. That same pig has taken prizes elsewhere as well, she says.
``I've done lighthouses, a few nautical things. But the pigs come first. I wouldn't part with a one of my pigs.''
The pigs Jones has created, including the already-several-times-awarded planter, will be entered in a special category this weekend at the Isle of Wight County Fair: pig crafts.
That's right, folks. There apparently are lots of crafters around who, like Jones, have an uncommon affection for pigs and not only collect them but make them all the time.
In the pig crafts category, crafters can create pigs in the following media: fabric painting, needlework, soft sculpture, ceramic and wood - plus, there's an exhibitor's choice, which certainly leaves it wide open to make a pig out of just about anything.
``It will be a real pleasure to have my work there and let others see it,'' Jones says.
And what a shopping opportunity! Jones should be in hog heaven.
She plans to exhibit several of the pigs she's made in the fair competition. Win or lose, she knows she'll be happy just being surrounded by them.
``I started with one, and I thought it was so cute. I've never collected anything before. I just like the pigs.''
There is a bit of irony to this story, however.
Jones works for Gwaltney, as a clerk and receptionist. She's been with the company for 38 years, and today she works at its hot dog plant in Portsmouth.
The moral of all this: Bring your pigs to the fair.
Entries in the pig crafts category will be accepted at the fairgrounds between 1 and 4 p.m. Thursday.
MORE COUNTY FAIR COVERAGE/ 4 ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Phyllis Jones began collecting pigs about 15 years ago.
by CNB