Day 10 - Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Honorable Mention Award Winner

Congratulations to Deborah Hill

for

"Abandoned Beach"

A slow, sweltering, sultry Sunday in Marion Square. Late afternoon brought a breeze just in time for some of the artists to have a pizza party. And yes, that is Little Gail, eating her veggies on a pizza so to growl all the better..

HIGH DRAMA DAY:  We were all in a somewhat state of shock when we arrived at the show to open our booths this morning.  Several artists had original artwork stolen.  One was even stolen in broad daylight.  And while the scumbag thieves got away yesterday with original artwork, they are definitely not smart scumbag thieves.

I guess the thief who stole the painting on Calhoun Street in broad daylight did not notice the 24/7 SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS across the street.  And with the new facial recognition technology - you just might want to go ahead and leave the country now. 

And to the joker who actually went into a tent and removed a painting from inside the frame, it was so thoughtful of you to leave the the frame behind WITH ALL YOUR FINGERPRINTS ON IT.  You might want to leave the country, too.

BECAUSE...

Crime does not pay in Charleston - just ask Stede Bonnet and 29 other pirates in 1718 who were hunted down like dogs on the high seas, captured by Colonel William Rhett and hanged at White Point Gardens, with their bodies buried under the low water mark in Charleston Harbor, i.e. they "swam with the fishes".  And guess what? Charleston just didn't have a problem with pirates after that...

Day 9 - 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Merit Award Winner!

Congratulations to John Michiels

for

Philip Simmons 3

Philip Simmons, even after he died at the age of 97 in 2009, remains a Charleston icon.  I love to talk about this Charleston blacksmith on my walking tours because his work and spirit permeate downtown Charleston through his ironwork.  Thanks, John, for the visual reminder of a great man!

CHARLESTON STYLE & DESIGN

Publisher Quentin Senise and Fashion Editor Anna Stahl Senise

a/k/a "Mr. & Mrs. Senise"

This weekend is the last weekend to pick up your

FREE MAGAZINE

at Charleston Style & Design's Tent on the Calhoun St. side of the Art Show!

Painting Fun!

Colleen Wiessmann with her Acrylic Pours

Kids not only love to paint 

They also love to climb trees!

Judah Radin, who loves to draw and climb trees turned 6 yesterday. 

Happy Birthday, Judah!

Day 8 - 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Merit Award Winner!

Congratulations to Mary Segars

for

"Swans in the Early Morning"

Today was a day in the park with no purses being stolen, no little dogs in pink tutus creating pandemonium, and best of all, no growling.  A good day!

Oil Painting Demonstration

Carla Johannesmeyer has a nice group
in Marion Square taking advantage of
Free Art Lessons!

Some even brought chairs...

And then there were some who simply wanted to climb trees!

The Little Gymnast

Day 7 - 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Merit Award Winner!

Congratulations to Steven Hyatt

for

"83 Meeting Street"

(but I think I took the title down wrong

as this is "69 Meeting Street", one of

Charleston's historic homes that I

frequently talk about in my Tour Guide Life)

BREAKING NEWS!

(ok, so this doesn't have anything to do with the art show but it IS important)

Melissa Whaley Graduates from First Baptist High School!

Congratulations, Melissa!

Back to the show:

Regarding the case of the purloined pink purse, the artists who were going to recreate the EPISODE from yesterday are still a little wired up, and we all agreed that we were just happy Pat got her purse back with almost everything still there. So you'll just have to use your imagination from yesterday's write-up.

On top of all the drama on the Meeting Street side of the show, the Calhoun Street side has its own particular drama, namely "the Growler"...The Growler is threatening and uses a lot of profanity.  As a city, we don't need this in our public parks.  We think the problem has been somewhat mitigated however because a video of The Growler has been turned into the police department and we understand a trespass warrant is going to be issued on the The Growler. Any day now.

Little Gail

Little Gail is a petite and popular Art Sitter at the Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition.  Little Gail has been traumatized the past few days on Calhoun Street by The Growler.  In fact, Little Gail has bravely come forward in an effort to remove The Growler from Marion Square (which is proof she is not an anonymous source). Or at the very least to stop The Growler from growling.  She brought this to my attention yesterday on my way to Starbucks, and my question was, "well, why don't you growl back?" Well, part of her "growling" back was the re-creation of The Growler.  Simply acting it out was therapeutic, and while these type of traumas are not easily healed, I'm glad to say that Little Gail is getting stronger every day.

Little Gail Growling

Obviously, life as an Artist is never dull.

Day 6 - 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Merit Award Winner

Congratulations to Jan Sasser

for

"Sharp Eye"!

Today was cloudy (but no rain!) so the weather was breezy and delightful.  This is the best kind of weather!

Drama of the Day

However, right after lunch, we had high drama again - and again on the Meeting Street side of the show.  However, today's EPISODE was not "a little dog in a pink tutu gone rogue" but the following:

Pat and the Purloined Pink Purse

Which was Recovered with only Money Missing ...

A HAPPY ENDING!

You can see above how happy Artist Pat Fylstra is to have her pink purse back in her hands!

This was what law enforcement calls a "crime of opportunity".  Pat was on her way to Embassy Suites but she was unaware that her pink purse had fallen.  Artist Christy Crosby saw it lying on the sidewalk, and not knowing who it belonged to, went to pick it up to leave at the front desk of Embassy Suites. SUDDENLY a homeless person rushed in front of Christy, grabbed it and ran off down the street. I thought perhaps the purse belonged to the homeless person but Christy said no - because she noticed the perpetrator thief was already carrying two purses...By this time, Pat had come to the frank realization that her pink purse was not with her.  We were all quite frantic. The POLICE came and took her statement.  However, in the interim, a homeless lady saw the frantic artists and, when she found out what happened, she told Pat and others that she had just seen the pink purse and a wallet lying on the street and had taken it to the gas station at the corner.  Pat was relieved and excited to have it back - with keys, phone, cards, etc.  Money was missing but that's all.  And the lady that found it was rewarded. We all need to stay alert and vigilant - wherever we are.  To quote one of my favorite writers, "All's well that ends well."

I realize that it's difficult for people to visualize this "crime of opportunity". Pat requested that we  recreate the EPISODE and post it here so that others will understand how easily an EPISODE like this can happen. Because most of the artists were in shock today, we will be filming a recreation tomorrow and post it here.  STAY TUNED and remember - we do not use anonymous sources.

"COVFEFE"

AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE BEING TOWED

FROM MEETING STREET

Day 5 - 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Merit Award

Congratulations to Carl Turner

for

"Beaufort Bungalow No. 4"

Sunny, slow and hot today in Marion Square

but people still came to see us and stroll among the art.

One of the "perks" of the art show comes in the form of our artist neighbors so when things slow down, we all get to catch up with our friends and WE PAINT. Because that is what artists do. Rain or shine, sleet or snow!

Marissa Vogl, Artist

Day 4 - 2017 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Third Place Award Winner!

Congratulations to Scott Henderson

for

"Dawn in the Lowcountry"

Of course, the big question is whether Scott used his famous "Scott Henderson Photoshop Button" on the above award winning photograph.  Inquiring minds want to know, and perhaps you can figure it out after you view the video below that made Scott and the "Scott Henderson Photoshop Button" internationally famous:

All about the Photoshop Button that made Scott famous!

Day 4 was HOT but it's supposed to be HOT on Memorial Day - how did you spend yours?  At Marion Square, we sold, we ate, drank lots of water and we PAINTED. Because that is what we do. And we want you all to come out for free art lessons!  We have FREE painting demonstrations - 2 per day from today through Friday, June 9th.  There are no scheduled demos on Sundays because most every artist is painting!  Mark your calendars for 11 am and 2:30 pm, and on Friday, 6/9, the last demo of 2017 is at 11 am.

First Art Demonstration of 2017

Lu Bentley kicks off the Art Demonstrations

at the

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition!

And we ended a beautiful Memorial Day with our favorite rousing patriotic songs with the band at the Memorial Day Concert at Marion Square!