Coming up for air...Finally!

Okay, so a whole month has past, but trust me, I was not just hanging around! Art of the Carolinas went off even better than I had imagined! All the hard work and planning and help and encouragement and input I received from everyone was so worth it. Without my girls, Christina and Carissa I could not pull this off. You two are so incredibly awesome. I feel very fortunate to have you both by my side, so THANK YOU!

There are so many things to say about the show. Great artists, wonderful talent and creativity flying around everywhere, lots of laughter and the energy in the trade show is just throbbing! It is such a pleasure to see all the people flock to this show. The bargains presented by the vendors are incredible, and that makes it so much easier to be creative! If you have not experienced Art of the Carolinas, definitely add it to your bucket list. Two weeks before Thanksgiving. That Thursday marks the beginning of the workshops and the day all the vendors come in to set up their booths. The next day, Friday, the trade show begins. Both the workshops and the tradeshow continue on until Sunday. Then we pack it all up and start planning the following year! Speaking of packing it up, a big THANK YOU shout out to Donnie Johnson, our new Henderson Warehouse manager for stepping up to the plate and tackling this huge undertaking for the first time. Fabulous job! You, Ed Lingg, Fred and all the boys did a bang up job.

Another huge shout out to my girls at Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild! You gals are just incredible. Thank you so much for all of your endless hard work, input, creativity, demos and celebration at the show. Again, I could not pull this off without all the helping hands on every level, so THANK YOU!

Here are a few shots for you:

Penny and Michelle hauling TONS of water!

World of Art Challenge

World of Art Challenge

Here are some random shots taken at the show:

Painting in James Sulkowski's Class

On part of the trade show floor

In Paul McCormack's class (Hi Meghan!)

In Karlyn Holman's class

Caroline Jasper's Oil Painting Workshop

These are just a few photos to give you an idea of Art of the Carolinas!

So much FUN!

After the show, Joe and I drove to Savannah with our friends Bruno and Laurence Charvin. They own the Charvin Paints and since they were in the USA for Art of the Carolinas, they wanted to visit more of the South. Last year we went to Charleston. SC, here are a few photos from our trip to Savannah:

Some Italian Restaurant with great food!

At The Marshall House in Savannah

"I am American!"

Crazy Frenchman at Tybee Island

Good bye friends! See you in June at Port Grimaud...

Savannah, GA is a special place to me because Zach was born there. It was wonderful to be in the city 26 years later on November 17th. I called Zach and sang Happy Birthday to him (as I always do...he must endure!) from the city to wish him a great day. Hard to believe that 26 years ago he was only 3 pounds, 3 ounces! Here's a photo of both of us:

The Countdown is ON!

Okay, now the time has come! I can't believe it is already so close to the show. Art of the Carolinas begins one week from tomorrow...Well, that is, it begins for me! Wednesday the 11th is when I have the truck come to the store and load all of the workshop goodies I have been accumulating over the past month or so and deliver it to the workshop area at the Hilton. We unload all the stuff into our storage room and try to keep it semi sorted out. Then back to the office to download all of the workshop information so we can move it manually to the show. Then we will check in to our new digs for the next five days! Thank God for comfortable Hilton beds!
Thursday the alarm goes off at 6:00a.m. and I meet my team of Divas at 7:00a.m. to discuss last minute details. We'll be set up at 8:00a.m. in the workshop area with bells on! We'll be ready to get registration started and I just can't wait to see all of your anxiously excited faces again this year! WooHoo! This is my favorite moment of the show. After all the months of anticipation, it is finally here! Yeh!
This year we'll have two computers that you can "register" with. You'll check in with either Christina, Rusti, Carissa or Joanne, verify your workshops that you signed up for, receive your goody bag (with some delightful treats!) and then, "Let the Games Begin!"
We will officially open AOC 2009 at 8:45 a.m. and let the first round of fabulous workshops begin! What a line up we have this year. We've been working very hard to bring you the best of the best and have things run a bit more smoothly than ever before.
Remember:
FREE admission to the trade show!
FREE parking!
FREE demos in most of the trade show booths!
FREE Artist Trading Card "Make it and Take it" Room in the Workshop Area
FREE World of Art Challenge Exhibit in the Boardroom in the Workshop Area
Also, this year we will be celebrating Jerry's 80th Birthday, so be sure to find him in the Jerry's Booth. Look for the charming gentleman and get your picture taken with him! He is a true gem! Happy Birthday Jerry!

We have lots of new and special treats for you at AOC 2009!
Thursday, we'll have about 8-10 tractor trailor truckloads of art supplies shipped to the Hilton. We'll spend all day unloading, setting up and pricing (REALLY LOW PRICES!) all the goods.
Then at 9:00 a.m. Friday, November 13th the doors OPEN and Art of the Carolinas is here!
Grab a friend and head on over to the country's Biggest Consumer Art Supply Show Ever.
We are oh so proud to offer you the best art supplies at the best prices!
So, okay, I need to get some more rest because there are still plenty of things to take care of in this last week. We still have room in our workshops, so if you're interested, give us a call! 800-827-8478 x 156.
Otherwise, we'll see you at the show!
Cheers!
Sharon DiGiulio
Event Coordinator

"Tricky Weekend"

Starting on Friday, we all dressed up at work and ate more chocolate than usual...

Trader Joe's finally opened with record customers spilling out the front doors and lined up to the back with their carts full of healthy stuff and Three Buck Chuck. Back at Jerry's, we were all hustling and bustling ourselves on this exciting weekend!

Joe did a demo Friday painting on paper (above) and Carissa (The Lumberjack), Christina (Little Red Riding Hood) and I (The Graduate) were busy with some of the final preparations for Art of the Carolinas.

Saturday (Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit), I did a demo at the store on Jacquard's Lumiere paints. Yes, I'm in a toga, but hey, it's Halloween! All I could think of was: If John Belushi can do it, so can I!

Getting set up for the product demo

Explaining the product and the application I use...

Clarifying heat set techniques...

Let the fun begin!

Customers got to test out the Lumiere paints on black fabric and

black illustration board...

Some of our creations we made!

Thanks to everyone who came out to participate!

Divas Painting Nametags

Well, last night was a fun and relaxing couple of hours after work! Christina and Carissa both work hard in backing me up at work with all the demos, workshops and Art of the Carolinas planning. Since we came up with this great idea to create nametags for all of the vendors and staff at Art of the Carolinas, I decided to invite the girls over to my studio so we could throw some paint around! Here are some photos:

That's Carissa on the left and Christina on the right. CHEESE!

I love this shot of the work space! We're experimenting with Jacquard Silk paints and Resist, as well as Pearl-Ex! We're working on 3 x 4 black illustration board. Some of the boards are pre-coated with gesso and the fun begins!

That's me on the left and Carissa on the right.

Christina had this great method of laying all the pieces out and working on it as one large piece, when actually they are all cut to size. These are my pieces: working on 12 at a time! Once the painting is complete, you just pull them apart and let them dry. We'll probably coat them with "The Recipe" and adhere the labels for each name on top...

Here's a shot of some of my pieces drying. I'm using Jacquard's Lumiere Paints.

I'll also be presenting a product demo at Jerry's this coming Saturday, October 31st

from 1pm-4pm, so please join me if you can! 

A close up of one of Carissa's creations! (LOVE this one...)

Christina's fabulous puzzle pieces!

My camera really doesn't do these mini paintings justice, so you'll just have to come and see for yourself! These tags will be adorning the chests of all employees and vendors at the show, so please come and check them out!

Thanks girls for coming over to play! Yeh!

Sanford Brush and Palette Show 2009

Okay everyone, two blog posts in one day...I'm impressed too! So much going on, I just have to keep up! Fabulous reception and award ceremony tonight in Sanford. There were lots of people:

Really great food and decorations:

And lots of talented artists and happy award winners!

Waiting anxiosly for the results of the judging...

Some of the happy first place ribbon winners!

Second Merit Award Winner

First Merit Award Winner

Best in Show, Doug Rowe!

Here's a closer shot of this FABULOUS painting! Wow, really well painted and finished.

Such a treat to see this painting up close and live! Great job. Doug, you really deserved this award, so

CONGRATULATIONS!

BEST IN SHOW!

And our lovely hostesses: Sandy Scott, President on the right and Mary on  the left:

Thanks so much for inviting us to judge the show Sandy! Joe and I truly enjoyed the challenge!

Great job on all of your organization and hard work.

Congratulations on your 45th Annual Sanford Brush and Palette Show!

OK, I'm addicted!

I'll admit it, I'm addicted to making Bali Bowls. Thanks Cindy!
These are so much fun to make! They take about 3 hours or so and work as great therapy.
I like working on these in the evening after dinner or first thing in the morning before work. I just head out to my studio, crank the music and off I go into the world of creation! I went and picked up some more fabric on Wednesday, just in case I run out of what I have... A girl's got to get all of her ducks in a row, right?
(For those of you who don't know: this addiction is in addition to the ones that I already have that are fine art related!)

Joe and I spent all day yesterday in Sanford judging the Sanford Brush and Palette's 45th Annual Show. WOW! What an undertaking that was! They have over 400 entries, 13 categories with 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and honorable mentions (up to 3 in each), plus Best in Show, 1st Merit, 2nd Merit and a special Expresionistic Painting Award! Holy Cow! Tonight is the reception and awards banquet, so I'll take some photos to post.

Today, it's back to work! Still lots to do in finalizing Art of the Carolinas! Hope you'll join us!

What? October 15th already?

Holy Cow!
So much to do, so little time!
Time flies when you're having fun!
Any other appropriate cliches?
Well, as you may know, this is my BUSIEST time of the year.
AOC, shows, competitions, projects, judging. Then we have football and hockey too! You name it.
So, here are a few highlights from the past 10 days:

Hand painted and stitched bag by me!

I think I've been sewing lately, because it's so rewarding and happens rather quickly!

Bali bowl: I love these! This is my fourth one...

The Charm Swap with the Carolina Mixed Media Guild. 42 different hand made charms were exchanged! Wow, it felt like Christmas morning. Lots of creativity! Lots of fun! Thanks ladies...

Now off to Asheville with Joe for a little R&R before the big show!

This is in Montreat. Susan Lake. Beautiful, huh?

Downtown Asheville. Drums and hoola hoops

Joe playing a 3-string guitar

Work by Vicki Grant (above)

Close up of Scott Upton's work - Just awesome!

Jerry's Artarama Award of Excellence

at the NC State Fair - High School

Layton at work on my hair