Sharon DiGiulio: Mid September

I have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks! Well, really, I stay pretty busy all the time. I like it that way! Last Sunday, I hosted the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild at my house and in the studio for our September Play Date. When these girls get together, the creativity flies! We set up a couple of stations for demonstrations of techniques, then took that to an ATC. Michelle showed everyone a fun and easy marbling technique that yields fantastic results! Dawn showed some really cool "pop-up" ways to make an ATC more interactive, Lynn demonstrated different inks on yupo paper that were awesome and Jeanne wound it all up by showing more of her fabulous inking skills, using silk paints on a number of different surfaces. Such a great afternoon with my creative gals! Throw in a little food, a little wine, some good music and we had some great starts and backgrounds for the artist trading cards that will be traded at Art of the Carolinas! You'll have to come by and see the results at the show and do a little creating for yourself...it's good therapy!

I ordered 750 tees for Art of the Carolinas for my staff and students. The pricing for the screen printing was so high for an assortment of colored tees. You see, I used to be in screen printing for years, so I know what the costs are, but it just seemed so high. So, I came up with this brilliant idea to dye the shirts myself. Since it's our 10th annual Art of the Carolinas, and I couldn't decide on a particular color based on the previous nine years' offerings, I decided to offer an assortment of different colors and who better to turn to than Jacquard Products. As you know, I've become a little obsessed with dyeing things and painting on the fabric, so what better way to combine work and play! Here I could use the iDye products, wash and dye them in my washer and check out the results of practically Jacquard's entire line! So, off I went to Jerry's and purchased some dyes, drug the boxes of tees home and sorted everything out. Oh my God! Before long, my livingroom, spare room, office and laundry area were FILLED with white tees! I just took the plunge and did the first load. I can get about 30 tees max in my washer and if I had two dryers, the process would be much faster! After doing this almost non-stop, except working hours, I think I'm almost 10 loads down: wash, dye, dry, fold, roll, tie and sort. Have your hands ever been sore from folding laundry? Basically, that means I still have 15 loads to go. I'm thinking my water bill might be a little steep this month!? Here is a sneak preview of the colors I've dyed so far:

Then, I think I told you about my first outdoor show: Art in the Gardens. That was this weekend. Friday was set up day. Hot, hot, HOT! I think I lost a few pounds during set up, so I'm not complaining...Everything seemed to run pretty smoothly once the tent was up.

It sprinkled, actually rained a bit and for the most part that was a blessing, except for the fact that some of my paintings were left out in the rain. We won't go there... Friday evening was the reception and opening for the show. Nice. Lots of people and music and they even had lanterns installed to add a little ambiance as the darkness rolled in. I made enough sales that night to cover my booth and have a profit to start the next day! Yeh, gotta love that...

Saturday was not as hot as Friday and proved to be an even better day sales wise. I felt totally prepared, thanks to Theresa Brown and Steve Filarsky for sharing their expertise in providing a check list. Rookies like me definitely need that. Bungie cords are my new best friend and actually Mother Nature was very kind as far as wind goes too, so thanks to all of you! And thank you to everyone that stopped by! It was great to see you or to meet you! All in all it was a great weekend.