Dahlonega Art and Wine Festival

In northern Georgia, one hour from Atlanta, is a beautiful small town named Dahlonega. The town has many wineries, talented people, beautiful scenery and many festivals.  

Next weekend, May 21 and 22nd, the Chestatee Artists will be having the Dahlonega Arts and Wine Festival (formerly known as the Mountain Flower Art Festival). This group of artists have potters, chainsaw artists, works in all medium, jewelry and more. The group does not lack in talent or creativity. 

I have had the pleasure of meeting some of these artists , like Oscar Rayneri, Ann McCormack,Letty Rayneri,  Carl Pirone  and Patti Pirone.There will be fifty arts and crafts booths at the Historic Dahlonega Square. A block away at Hancock Park they will have live jazz performances. The wine garden will include wines from Montaluce  Winery, Habersham Winery, Crane Creek Vineyards, Tiger Mountain Vineyards, and Hightower Creek Vineyards.

Some of these artists exhibit year round at the Hall House Fine Art Gallery at the square and at Canvas and Cork  by Hancock Park. 

Come enjoy a weekend of arts, crafts, wine and the historic beauty of Dahlonega.

Bear Heading to the Square

You probably already know that painting people and animals are not my thing. However, I can make an exception when it comes to the Bear on the Square Festival in Dahlonega, Georgia. The town has many festivals yearly, but this one has become my favorite. The people took the story of a bear appearing on the square years ago and have now turned it into the most fun-filled music festival. Blue grass, food, art and friendly people are the ingredients to a fun weekend. One of the fun activities used to raise funds are the live and silent auction. Each year,  I say that I will paint a bear and donate it to the auction, but time gets away from me.

This year I planned early and painted a sweet bear heading to the square. This bear plans to take part in the festivities and play some music. This is the least I can do to support this festival and the town I have grown to love.

"Bear Heading to the Square" - acrylic on canvas

Serendipity

Many of you know that I paint in many mediums, but I  have been into photography for many years capturing images to paint. Recently, I have been taking more and more photos, and not just for painting. While in Dahlonega this Spring, I decided to enter a fun photography contest sponsored by the Dahlonega Downtown Development Authority. I fell in love with one of my photos and decided to paint it. I needed a hard copy print of it to get started. 

In a small town, you can't run down to the corner Kinko's to have a copy made. We drove down to a print shop outside of town and it was closed due to family emergency. We went to the Walmart copy center and I refused to pay the outrageous price for a copy (5 X that of Kinkos). As we walked out of Walmart, there was a van with a Pirone Printer sign. It seemed to be parked there just for me. I knocked on the window and the man actually offered to do my print for free. He works out of his home which is actually down the street from my house.

It turns out that this lovely couple, Carl and Pattie Pirone, is from Miami and know another Miami artist I met in town. Here we had Miami in common and now a new community in common. He and his wife are very creative. She is a graphic artist/jewelry designer and he paints and carves.  I was able to see his watercolors and wood carvings. He is also involved with a local artist group Chestate Artists. He printed my photograph for free and now I know someone else in this beautiful place.  What a small world!

Below is the photo he printed for me. It did not win in the photo contest, but it will be a future painting and who knows........................

Plein Air in the Mountains

Even if you are not an artist, you may have heard the term "plein air". It is a French expression which means "in the open air" and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.

On my recent trip to Dahlonega, Georgia, we went to find Loganberry Heritage Farms. As we drove up,  we saw that the fence was closed, but we could see some people from afar. I was able to walk in on the side and decided to find out if there was another entrance to this farm.  As I got closer, I was able to see that these people were artists, with their easels set up and painting outdoors. Needless to say, my family waited outside the gate while I started talking to these artists and snapping photos; forgetting their wait. To my surprise, Anita Elder, a local artist I had met on a previous visit,  was part of the group. I learned that had I known, I could have signed up for this 3 day paint out.  I have done "plein air" in the past, but not as often as I would like. This definitely inspired me to go out and do it. A goal for the upcoming months!

Please take a look at what I saw and get inspired! (click photo to enlarge)

Conner Memorial Garden - Free Little Library

Downtown Dahlonega is the most pleasant place to visit to shop, eat and meet friendly people. To my surprise, I found a gem of a place right in downtown, a little free library at the Conner Memorial Garden (Adjacent to Public Square- "Old-Time Mountain School House" In Honor of Lumpkin County Retired Educators").

This small garden has beautiful plants, a fountain, walking paths, benches and to top it off a free little library. What a gift from the Conner Family and the Lumpkin County Retired Educators! A peaceful place to sit  and read, meet friends or just listen to the birds or watch the squirrels.

As a big city girl, I was delighted to find one of these free little libraries that I had read about. By coincidence, an article was posted in the Huffington Post the same week that I was enjoying the one in Dahlonega.  Click HERE to read it.

I may not exchange a book here, but this little library is definitely a place to sit, relax and enjoy the "LITTLE" pleasures of life........and I will be back to do so!

Northeast Georgia Arts Tour 2011

Last week we went to Georgia. The trip had been planned in advance, but I was disappointed that I would not be able to attend the Miami Watercolor Society 2011 Fall Exhibition opening reception and receive my award. To my surprise, I was just in time for the Northeast Georgia 2011 Arts Tour.  What a treat! Four counties open their doors and make it possible for you to meet over 100 local artists--painters, potters, jewelry makers, fiber, glass, metal artists and more demonstrating art in the making. Our first stop was above the Dahlonega Welcome Center. As promised, there was not only art, but artists creating. At this location, I ran into Oscar Rayneri  demonstrating watercolors. 

Oscar Rayneri - Watercolor Artist

We left the historic downtown center and traveled a few miles through the beautiful Georgia mountains to our next location, The Funky Chicken. We were greeted there by Christina White. She gave us a tour and demonstrated her wood carving. After some hot cider and homemade cake, we went to our next location, Moonrush Jewels. This working studio houses a husband and wife team, Paul and Florence, creating beautiful jewelry with stones. I had to buy a necklace.

The Funky Chicken - Dahlonega, Georgia

 As if this was not enough, we continued the tour and ended up at The Art Loft. At this location, artist Anita Elder and Dorothy Abercrombie  had an art activity for all visitors. My husband and I were given a piece of a large photograph, canvas and paint. We painted and all visitor's art will be compiled to create the entire painting. All participants will be emailed a photo of the finished piece.

Anita Elder & Dorothy Abercrombie - The Art Loft

 

Anita putting out the paint for me.

I met so many talented artists in Dahlonega and my 84 year old mother enjoyed picking up my award in Miami. It was a week full of color from the trees and the local artists.

Chestatee Artists - http://www.chestateeartists.com/artist-index.php