2010 Canton Festival of the Arts
Their annual fine arts festival took place this past Saturday and Sunday in the historic Brown Park in downtown Canton. Its centerpiece was the Artist's Market with more than sixty exhibitors. The attendance was great, the food was fantastic and the organizers, volunteers and fellow artists are a really great group of people.
The forecast called for some rains, but the weather held out just until past closing hour on Sunday giving enough time for everybody to pack up and find cover. It was a hot and humid weekend but at least our tent was under a beautiful large tree which gave some protection from the sun the few times it decided to show up.
We showed for the first time two of our prints on canvas, Periwinkle Iris and Brook Reflection. Both, but in particular the Iris canvas, drew everybody's attention, with people pointing to it and in many, many cases getting very close and touching it. We also answered questions from a lot of people wanting to know how it was done.
In general, maybe as a result of these hard economic times, people bought smaller and less expensive items like our new desk calendars, which were a success.
Saturday afternoon, my older son and his family came for a visit. My grandson and future artist asked me for a piece of paper because "with so much art around" he was feeling inspired and wanted to do some drawings while my granddaughter, who is very much interested in creating her own jewelry, asked for tips and bead sources from some of the vendors.
Despite the weather it was a very nice weekend which was well spent with some very nice people.
Our booth
General view
Pointing...
Looking at the Periwinkle Iris canvas
Celebrate Clayton 2010
This past weekend, April 24th-25th, was Celebrate Clayton 2010.
The weather was a mixed event. Saturday morning started cloudy but dry. That changed around 2:00 PM with intermittent showers and some lightning in the distance and then just plain rain. Around 4:00 it was time to break camp for the day and take shelter.
After a rainy night, Sunday started semi cloudy and windy but otherwise the temperature was nice and the air was clean and crisp. That brought out a lot of people who enjoyed the different arts and crafts on display.
Our booth had a lot of visitors and we got many compliments on our photomontages but everyone seemed to be attracted to our new desk calendars, 2011 Flower Portraits and 2011 Bluebird Country, especially the latter. Everybody seems to love bluebirds!
Also nice was the camaraderie between the artists, ready to give a hand by helping the newcomers and running to assist each other when the strong gusts threatened to fly a tent away. In many cases, by the time the show closed, people who had met for the first time ended up feeling like they have known each other much longer. Add to this the friendliness and helpfulness of the volunteers, easy identifiable by their blue event shirts and their smiles, and you have a winning combination.
A good experience and the promise of more and better for next year.
 Wet Saturday afternoon, with all the tents battened down |
 On Sunday, locals and tourists strolling around the festival |
 Putting the last touch |
 Open for business |
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The 2009 Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens in pictures
Our booth
The race
Before the race
Hats!
Our next show
Having been a tradition for the last quarter of a century, the Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens will host its 25th Running on Saturday November 7th.
This year, for the first time, the organizers have added a Vendor Village Tent and we will be exhibiting there.
The show as well as all the other activities will run all day long starting at 10AM. There are also many activities planned for the kids: pony rides, Jack Russell Terrier races, rock climbing wall and the Kids Corral.
There will be bagpipers and blacksmiths, the parade of the Midland Foxhounds, the Southern Views Hat Contest, the Sunny 100 Tailgate Competition and the Ledger-Enquirer Terrace Box Competition.
Hope to see you there.
The Lodge at Tallulah Falls
Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the town of the same name, The Lodge at Tallulah Falls offers a place to relax between arduous hikes to mountain tops and long walks to waterfalls.
Spacious and bright, the lobby of the newly opened Lodge is warm and welcoming, qualities that you also find in all of its staff members. With a beautiful and large chimney as its focal point and comfortable armchairs, it brings up images of a good book on a snowy day.
The Lodge has implemented an excellent idea, using the walls of the lobby and other public spaces as a gallery where the works of local artists are displayed.
We are showing there one of our PixelGraphs, Sibley Pond, and its color and peaceful composition matches the ambiance of the place.
Looking forward to spending a long weekend there soon!
Art at the Lake, Georgia 2008
It was called Art at the Lake 2008 Show & Sale, and it lived to most of its name. Art everywhere with a beautiful lake as a backdrop. A lot of people, looking and admiring, but not many sales.
Our booth
It took place at the Pavillion at Lake Rabun, on Saturday, July 26th. Our booth was on the lower level, the lake level. The day started a little cloudy but it cleared by the afternoon and the temperature next to the water was pleasant.
There were people walking and looking on both of the levels and in our case coming back to our booth more than once, but it looked like the decision to buy was missing. Why? The doldrums of Summer? The idea of a social event more than a sale occasion? The fact that most of the visitors had already established houses with little space for new things? Some overheard comments seem to point in some part to the last reason:
“Very nice, but we don’t have any room for it”.
“I like it too, but where are you going to put it?”
Whatever the reason, for most of us, the sales did not materialize. A pity, because besides our photomontages (to which I’m very partial, of course) there were some really beautiful oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, photographs, digital art, wood works, and ceramics.
View of Lake Rabun
NGAG group show at the GHCA, Georgia 2008
From May 3th to June 7th, 2008. A group show of the North Georgia Arts Guild at the Georgia Heritage Center for the Arts. Paintings in oil, watercolor, pastels and acrylics, ceramics, photographs and wood carvings, as well as three of our photo montages. A lot of creativity under one roof!
The Guild had the reception on the 10th and we spent a very nice couple of hours talking to the guests and other artists about our work and other themes that are important to us as artists, such as upcoming shows and how to better manage our time and our resources in that respect.
Celebrate Clayton, Georgia 2008
Surrounded by the beautiful mountains of North Georgia, the city of Clayton in Rabun County celebrated the art, crafts, foods and sounds of the region during the weekend of April 26th-27th.
Saturday was cloudy but the rain held off until the evening. A nice crowd and a typical Spring day. We showed three of our framed photomontages in the large booth of the North Georgia Art Guild, of which we are members, and sold several prints.
Sunday dawned cloudy, cleared around noon and grew very stormy by 3PM. Time to pack up, say our goodbyes and head home.
Sandy Spring Festival, Georgia 2007
It took place during the weekend of September 15th. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too hot. A lot of young couples with kids but not too many shoppers due in part because there was another large art show in town during the same weekend.
Our booth
Our booth got a lot of compliments and we sold several prints and greetings cards.
Sunday was also our wedding anniversary and my husband got me a beautiful iron sculpture with two gigantic blue butterflies which looked very much at home that same afternoon in our backyard garden.
This was the first time that people outside our circle of family and friends saw our PixelGraphs photomontages and it was a very good first experience to talk to people about what PixelGraphs prints are and how they are made.
