Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 9

Well, this winning image was appropriate for today.

Merit Award

"Dark Cloud" by Beth Williams

Congratulations to Beth Williams for her winning pastel, "Dark Cloud". This exquisite piece is small but packs a lot of power and mood.

Today started out fine weather-wise with crowds of people at PSOAE Art Show and Charleston Farmers Market at Marion Square:

Shuler's Peaches at the Charleston Farmers Market

(I LOVE these peaches. Great for painting - then you get to eat them!)

Music by one of my favorite bands, Volcanoes in the Kitchen

Ashley Hall Class of 1971

Lucia Oliver from (now) Atlanta, GA (born in Charleston, SC)

What a treat to see Lucia who was in town to visit her mother and found me at the Art Show - she and I were in high school together & keep up through Facebook, so it was nice to see her in person and catch up!

I was in the middle of Marion Square, headed to the Farmers Market to pick up some lunch, when the mayhem and madness of the Great Rains began, so I turned around and let down my tent sides, removed my watercolor paintings from areas that might get wet (watercolors do not do well in the rain), and then the rain got worse. People scattered everywhere they could for cover. Tents pretty well shut down.

 The "river" in front of my tent

Lisa and Jeremy Willits, directly across from my tent, try to stay dry

I had 5 Captive Customers stranded in my tent -

2 from Charleston, 1 each from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania

I really thought the rain would blow over - after all, I don't look at those radar weather apps on my iPhone because I don't understand them.. but it got worse.  Then the thunder claps started - followed by the lightning, and I realized we might have serious problems.  When the firetruck stopped at the church across Meeting Street (because the church may have been struck by the lightning), I decided that really, a tent with metal on all sides and art panels held together by metal was not the safest place to be.  I was also not prepared to help deliver a baby in my tent if the girl above went into labor brought on by the storm.  The lightning was coming closer and striking close together so I suggested they all take their umbrellas and go to the lobby of Embassy Suites because I didn't think the tent was safe.  Which they did, and I'm thankful we had no lightning strikes or a new baby in Booth #67 today either!

But, all was not lost...

Laurie Meyer spent the time painting, barefoot in the river flowing through her tent.

And, what can we say - 

Madison Latimer sells art, rain or shine!

So I'll end this post with my surprise visitor in yesterday's rain

Cecelia Franko

What a treat to have Cecelia stop by my booth yesterday when I was "hunkered in" during the rain. She was on her way to meet her daughter for dinner and then onto a Spoleto event.  We had a short but great visit.  Cecelia has attended both of the Watercolor Prayer Journaling Retreats I've led at St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center, and not only is she talented and enthusiastic, she finds the most fun and adventurous events.  We talked about her recent women's biking trip in Louisiana - they averaged 35-40 miles per day! And she and her husband just got back from NC where they went on a privately guided horseback tour of waterfalls - just being around her gives you "joie de vivre"!