Studio Tour!

The first weekend of my studio tour is over, and it went great! I met lots of new people, and sold nine pieces, plus some other stuff (prints, magnets, gift cards, books). I'm looking forward to this coming weekend (Nov. 13-14). This is the Orange County (NC) Artist Guild’s annual event, in its 27th year. You have the chance to see the spaces where artists work, and to purchase their work.  

Here’s how it works: 

First, download the brochure here (at the Orange County Artists Guild website, ocagnc.org) and figure out which studios you want to visit. All the studios are numbered, and there's a handy map. I'm stop 68. 

Next, grab a friend or two (and a mask, which is required inside all the studios this year), and start your drive. At each location, signs mark a spot. Parking and accessibility varies from location to location, because these are private homes, in most cases. At my house, parking will be on the street, and then there’s a short hike up a steep driveway to the studio entrance that faces the street.  

A painting of Dr. Fauci (by wonderful local artist Katie Porterfield) greeted people at my door with a not-so-subtle reminder to put on your mask before coming inside. Orange County has the highest vaccination rate in the state of North Carolina, and correspondingly low rates of COVID, and we’d like to keep it that way. 

Inside, I have displayed most of my smaller pieces, and some of my larger ones. I also have binders of my entire portfolio, and merchandise like magnets, prints, notecards, and books to purchase. I even have some of my hand-knitted dishcloths that I made during COVID lockdown!

And what’s an event without a little drama? We’ve been renovating the guest bathroom just off my studio, and it was completely done a week before the event, EXCEPT for the toilet seat! (It’s a German wall-hung toilet, and we couldn’t just run out to the store and buy a seat that would fit it.) Luckily, our contractor came through in the nick of time and we had complete facilities available for visitors. Whew!

If you live in the area, I hope you’ll come this weekend, Nov. 13-14. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday hours are noon to 5 p.m. If you don’t live nearby, why not plan a visit to the area so you can attend next year’s tour? It’s always the first two weekends in November.