Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 16 LAST DAY

The Last Official Day (but many Artists will be open Sunday until about 3pm)

 Kathy Clark with that last minute flurry of Buyers

We did not have the Red Solo Cup Race this year but just so we won't forget...

 The OFFICIAL Red Solo Cup Winner Crown!

and

For your viewing enjoyment - those 3 High Society Box Seat Babes from 2012!

Alas, for many of us, So Long, Farewell, Adieu until May 2015...

 6:00 p.m. - Beginning of "Pack Up and Take Down"

Photographer Michael Nocher helps fellow Photographer Alison Weick dismantle and pack up

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 15

Last Weekend for 2014 PSOAE!

Well, we started our last Friday in the rain...

but a little rain never keeps good artists down!

Helen K. Beacham gives the last demo (in watercolor) of the 2014 Show

and of course, inside her tent, working on this wonderful scene of Venice!

Beth Williams, prepared for the rain, painting away and open for business

Fortunately, the weather cleared up and we all had a fine day!

Picnic time at my booth

Artists Alicia Leeke, Lisa Willits, Nance Sneddon and Sherry Browne

"Reconnecting" at Piccolo Spoleto!

My college roommate, Gail Anderson Totherow

It was so great to see Gail! We were roommates at the University of South Carolina for 2 years but we'd not seen each other since we'd graduated and then at her wedding  She lives at Hilton Head, has 4 grown children, has started a whole new career path - nursing - and she'll be great at it! 

Earlier in the show, I was crossing Marion Square and saw someone coming from the direction of my booth - we both recognized each other immediately and then ran to hug each other - my roommate from our senior year at Ashley Hall - Josephine ("Josie") Lyles - no picture of her for the blog as she  was rushing to an appointment, but great to see her!

So, I feel really blessed to have reconnected with both Gail and Josie over the show!

Steve Jordan creates portrait of Rick Reinert

Notice the frame Steve is using.

Notice the subconscious composition with the portalets in the background

(Credit: Photograph by Lesley Johnson)

Rick seems really pleased.

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 14

Honorable Mention

"Beach Dogs" by Nancy Davidson

Congratulations to Nancy for her winning oil "Beach Dogs"!

Another "lazy ole painting' day" in Marion Square

 Colleen Wiessmann still painting on a piece already hanging...
Check out the "little black (painted) dress"!

 Hilarie Lambert and Laurie Meyers - still painting...

Michel McNinch painting lots of petite artworks.
These sell fast. Get down to Marion Square ASAP!

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 13

Honorable Mention

"Dancing Poppies" by Diane Dean

Congratulations to Diane for her winning "Dancing Poppies"!

Another day of sunshine in Marion Square - hope it will keep now that we are in the "home stretch". The last full day of the show is Saturday - come on down and check out some of the finest art South Carolina has to offer!

Our PSOAE Artists Know How To MultiTask

Rick Reinert and Molly the Dog entertain a visiting school group in Marion Square

Artist Diane Odachowski painting

At the End of the Day, an Artists' Social

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 12

Honorable Mention

"Starlight" by K.C. Collins

Congratulations to K.C. for her winning oil, "Starlight"!

A lovely day in Marion Square - kind of lazy and laid back - unless you are the Artist Demo!

Danita Cole demos Encaustic - when she finishes, she lets all the lookers do one, too!

Here's a close-up of Danita painting fish with an encaustic stylus.

Rick Reinert's Oil Demo

The afternoon demo was oil by Rick Reinert - he paints ALL the time, and it was fun to watch him work from the start. He had a nice gathering, and even 2 people announced themselves as "hecklers", but they were pretty nice hecklers!

Close-up of Rick's oil landscape

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 11

Honorable Mention

“Beguinage of Bruges, Belgium” by Fred Jamar

Congratulations, Fred, for your winning piece, "Beguinage of Bruges, Belgium"!

Paper Cuts Demo

Sherry Browne's Paper Cuts demonstration is always fascinating! 

Sherry demonstrating inside her tent (paper and breeze don't get along), and 
I took this picture through her paper cut "bird house" - an exquisite "doll house" just for birds..everything cut out of paper - What fun!

Above is Juxtaposed

With Kathie DuTremble scotch taping the $5 bill she just accidentally torn in half...

We love to collect our artist stories - every artist in the PSOAE show has a story, and the longer you participate, the more stories you have. This is Carla Johannesmeyer's second year, and she's collecting some good stories. Yesterday, a nondescript guy on a bike bought one of her oil paintings and needed her to deliver it his boat at the Marina. When she took the painting to the Marina, she discovered this guy's boat was this 112' yacht with a 4 person crew!

The Yacht

Nice, Carla. Real Nice.

On another serious note, Daryl Knox gets real shook up

and

finally learns the Facts of Life.

This kid climbed up in a tree right by Daryl Knox's tent and fortunately, one of the Committee members saw this (the Committee is always on the alert) and took this picture.  Right after the picture was taken, the kid jumped down "out of the blue" in front of Daryl and Daryl jumped so high he almost ended up in the tree. 

After Daryl was calmed down by the surrounding artists, I interviewed him for this blog. Yes, Daryl had heart palpitations when the kid jumped down right in front of Daryl, but what really shook Daryl up was that kids came out of trees. "My mama always told me that kids came from the cabbage patch - she say anything about coming from trees!"

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 10

Honorable Mention

"Creek Sunrise" by Madeline Dukes

Congratulations, Madeline, for your winning oil, "Creek Sunrise"!

We had absolutely the most gorgeous day today - the sun was out, a breeze was blowing, people were dry and smiling - checking out the art show and the painters in today's paint out!

Lots of people came to visit, and one really special couple who celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary 5/29, Lynne and Tony Hardwick, came by and it just made my day to see and visit with them.  Lynne and I took "Blowtorch  101" at our encaustic workshop in March. Lynne is a talented and excellent artist and retired from this show a few years ago to concentrate on keeping her gallery supplied with original art and entering her fabulous abstracts in art shows all over the U.S.  She and Tony are 2 of my favorite people - good friends and "Mango Moment Buddies".  

Lynne and Tony Hardwick

Tony couldn't find any mango Italian ices, so we all had a peach "King of Pops"!

Leland Smith, daughter of Artist Caryn Smith plays the "egg" instrument

with the Charleston Jazz Orchestra in Marion Square

The orchestra gave a spontaneous "walk through concert" in Marion Square today before and they was wonderful!  Here's a little snippet of "Summertime"!

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"!

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 8

Merit Award

"Burgundy Stream" by Susan Colwell

Congratulations to Susan Colwell for her winning oil, "Burgundy Stream"! Susan's ethereal landscapes make you want to go there.

Before the rains came, Warren Peper with the Post and Courier came and interviewed Artist Jennifer Koach (and perhaps some of the other artists).  One of Sherry Browne's paintings really "caught" Warren's eye, so he was delighted to pose with Sherry and the painting...

Warren Peper with Sherry Browne and Marilyn Monroe

Carla Johannesmeyer was able to get her 11:00 Oil Demo in before the rains came!

And isn't it wonderful!

When the rains arrived,  customers ran into tents to stay dry!

These are known in the trade as "captive customers".

Artist Sherry Browne grabbed an umbrella and went for a stroll.

Co-Coordinator Lesley Johnson and Artist Alvin Green are not dancing in the rain. 

It is my understanding that someone came by and told Lesley and Alvin that a good way to avoid being electrocuted outside in bad storms was to stand with only 1 foot on the ground. I have a better way to avoid being being electrocuted outside in bad storms.  It's called Embassy Suites at the corner of Marion Square...

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2014 - DAY 7

Merit Award

"Waiting for the Light" by Hilarie Lambert

Congratulations to Hilarie Lambert for her Merit Award for the oil "Waiting for the Light" - Hilarie came by from Paris just in time to set up for the art show, win an award and make sales!

These 2 Artists sure look like siblings...

but they're not! 

Bob Graham and Carla Johannesmeyer

They say in Charleston that "everybody's related, it's just whether or not you claim them..."

"Throwback Thursday"

Video Interview with Sherry Browne, Artist and Art Activist

(from the 2012 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition)