3rd Anniversary Press Release

The Blue Giraffe Celebrates 3rd Anniversary

with a Sea Turtle Event, Nov. 16

 

WaterColor, Fla.–Nov. 7, 2013–The Blue Giraffe, an art and gifts boutique in the WaterColor Town Center, will celebrate its 3rd Anniversary on Nov. 16 from 1-4 p.m. with a Sea Turtle Event. In partnership with the South Walton Turtle Watch, The Blue Giraffe aims to help build awareness and support for endangered and threatened sea turtles, which nest along South Walton beaches each year.

“As a turtle watch volunteer, I’m keenly aware of the many threats that jeopardize sea turtles survival,” said Debbie Taylor, co-owner of the Blue Giraffe. “There are many things we can do to improve their chances of survival and ensure hatching sea turtles make it safely to the Gulf of Mexico from the beach.”

The family-friendly event will feature a variety of interactive activities and turtle-themed art.  At 2:30 p.m., there will be a book reading for children and Q&A about sea turtles. Moore Family Folk Art will join the fun with “make and take art” projects that invite families to make their own turtle-inspired creation from recycled materials on painted boards. Artist Constance Snellgrove (aka Sassy Jewels) will feature her sea turtle-inspired jewelry and a variety of sea turtle art will be on display.

The Blue Giraffe will be selling TurtleSafe flashlights and sea turtle books, and the South Walton Turtle Watch will be on hand with sea turtle literature and coloring books.

Drawings for prizes will take place throughout the afternoon and proceeds from the sale of sea turtle art will benefit South Walton Turtle Watch. The Blue Giraffe is located on Hwy 30A in the WaterColor Town Center. For more information, visit bluegiraffe30a.com or call 850-231-5112.

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Press release written by Tracy Louthain, TLC – Tracy Louthain Communications

Sassy Jewels Trunk Show

NOTE:  DUE TO FRIDAY’S RAINY WEATHER, Sassy’s trunk show has been moved to Saturday & Sunday, November 2nd & 3rd.

Connie Snellgrove, aka ‘Sassy, is back again for her ever-popular 2-day Trunk Show on November 1st and 2nd.  The Blue Giraffe is incredibly proud to exclusively represent Sassy Jewels on 30A!

Sassy is a local artist with a heart as beautiful as her creations. Her use of nature’s colors … a sparkle of sun on azure waters, sunsets, delicate flowers, silver sea life, sea oats, sand and driftwood … give a natural and real life to her unique jewelry designs.

Inspired by the beauty of our beaches and faith in God’s grace, Connie has created the most exquisite coastal jewelry on 30A! Each piece is personally designed and handcrafted using sterling silver and other metals mixed with precious gemstones such as aquamarine, coral, freshwater pearls, sea glass, and Keshi pearls.

We’re expecting perfect fall weather November 1st & 2nd. Please join us at our gallery and see all the new designs in Connie’s beautiful collection!  Saturday & Sunday, November 2nd & 3rd from 10:00 – 5:00.

Jeanie Posey Paints in Oils

Jeanie Posey Paints in Oils

Jeanie Posey is more than just a fun-loving woman, she is an incredibly gifted artist who paints primarily in oil on canvas. Her artistic journey spans a lifetime, but for many years her focus was on building a successful career in the educational systems of Florida and Georgia. She likes to say that she started painting in 2009 but the fact is, she received a First Place in Portrait award at the Florida State Fair in the early ‘70s. While her artistic creativity may have been on hold for more than 40 years, it was always an integral part of who she was.

After retiring in 2007, Jeanie plunged back into the artistic world. Being a woman who not only loves to teach, but also to learn, Jeanie committed to studying under the best of the best. She credits her new level of artistic skill to her total immersion in week-long workshops with nationally-acclaimed portrait painter, Thomas Nash, expressionist artist, Michelle Torrez, and world-renowned plein air artist, Morgan Samuel Price. Learning from these master oil painters helped Jeanie hone her skills doing what she loves best – painting action portraits. Her training also taught her “how to make the color gray a hundred different ways”; knowledge that only a true artist can appreciate. One of Jeanie’s proudest accomplishments was winning the People’s Choice Award at the Roswell Fine Arts Alliance Show in 2011.

Jeanie lives in Atlanta, Georgia with Ken, her husband of 12 years, whom she met on a blind date. She likes to say she got married so she could have grandchildren “the easy way”. Jeanie has no children of her own and Ken blessed her with five grandchildren – they are her greatest joy! She and Ken live a rich and full life in Atlanta, staying busy with a variety of cultural activities. Their beautiful home in Roswell is where Jeanie paints; in fact, she turned the Great Room into the perfect studio where she can paint surrounded by their home life. It has windows that are two-stories high with beautiful lighting and two sofas, so when guests visit they are surrounded by beautiful artwork! She also has friends join her on a regular basis to paint together and inspire each other.

Jeanie and Ken also love their monthly visits to Scenic Highway 30A and staying in their vacation home in Blue Mountain Beach. Jeanie belongs to a local tennis team that keeps her busy playing her favorite sport. She is also a member of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, the local Women’s Art Network and the Emerald Coast Plein Air Painters. She feels blessed and humbled by the life she leads and the people who are a part of it.

The Blue Giraffe is proud to represent Jeanie Posey exclusively in the 30A area. We accept requests for commission work and will happily help you obtain a custom oil painting based on your vision, working with photographs of the things you love most. Jeanie has a passion for action portraits but also loves to paint beach scenes and our coastal dune lakes. Contact us at 850.231.5112 for more information. When you’re in the area, come by our gallery to see her amazing, original artwork and browse the variety of prints we now have available.

Below are examples of Jeanie’s beautiful oil paintings on canvas. The original piece titled “Watersound Beach” was commissioned by Larry and Debbie Taylor, co-owners of The Blue Giraffe. You can read more about Jeanie Posey on our Artists page.

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MEYER Board Painting Workshop w/ Artist Alan Moore

MEYER Board Painting Workshop w/ Artist Alan Moore

You won’t want to miss the super-popular MEYER Board Painting Workshop, featuring the super-rad artist Alan Moore!

On August 7th from 11:30 -3:00 The Blue Giraffe will host one of Meyer’s last workshops of the year. Come on out and have a blast creating some cool artwork on a skim or skate!  Complete skateboards start at $120, skims start at only $60!

Please call us at 850.231.5112 for more info or to pre-register.

Karen White Author Event – ‘Grit Lit’ in The Walton Sun

Karen White Author Event – ‘Grit Lit’ in The Walton Sun

Interview with the Author – Special to The Walton Sun by Deborah Wheeler.

Karen White, a part-time resident of the WaterColor community, has penned her 16th novel — “The Time Between” — and will be reading from it and signing copies at The Blue Giraffe on June 25.

White said her latest work spans between 1944 Hungary to modern-day South Carolina. “It’s about sisters and forgiveness,” she said. The idea for the book came through an article the author came across in a newspaper a few years back.

The article was about two sisters who escaped Hungary in 1944, never married, lived in the same house together and were very socially active in their community. However, the sisters suddenly became reclusive, and a couple of years later, both were found dead in their home within days of each other. “Obviously something happened to make them become reclusive, and while I didn’t know what it was, it sparked my imagination and I made up my own story. So, it is a work of fiction,” White said. White doesn’t have a sister, but her mother had five and she always enjoyed sitting in on their sisterly talks and watching their close interactions. “I always wished I had a sister and the way sisters interact intrigues me,” she said.

A native of “nowhere” while growing up, White lived all over the world, with the longest time spent in one place — the seven years she lived in London. A constant, though, were summers spent with her grandmother in DeFuniak Springs. So, it became a given that she would bring her own family to vacation in South Walton. White says reading has always been her favorite thing to do. She describes writing as a dream that she never took seriously even though she still remembers a teacher telling her “You’re so creative, you should write!” Instead, she went into the field of business management until her daughter was born and she moved from Washington, D.C., toAtlanta. Ten years later, after leaving the business world, she began writing her first novel in 1996 just to see if she could. “In the Shadow of the Moon” took three years to complete and came out in 2000. She entered it in a literary contest and was thrilled when it won. One of the judges was an agent who asked to represent her. “In the Shadow of the Moon” was nominated for the prestigious RITA award in 2001 in two separate categories. Her books have since been nominated for national contests including two more RITAs and the SIBA (Southeastern Booksellers Association) Fiction Book of the Year. She has also twice won the National Readers’ Choice Award for “Learning to Breathe” and “On Folly Beach.”

She enjoys writing what she refers to as “grit lit” — Southern women’s fiction. However, White’s creative writing sparks could be ignited by almost anything, she said, such as someone saying something interesting, or a picture she might see in a coffee table book. Her interests are varied and easily inspired.

“I know when I get a tingly feeling that I am on to something,” she said. That tingly feeling has paid off as the author’s work has made it onto the New York Times Best Sellers list twice. “That achievement came as a complete surprise, but it is good to know that more than family and friends are buying my work,” she said. Her 2012 releases, “Sea Change” and “After the Rain” debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 12 and 14 respectively. Her fourth and final book in her Tradd Street series, “Return toTradd Street,” is scheduled for publication in January 2014.

Debbie Taylor, who co-owns The Blue Giraffe at WaterColor with daughter Christi Sheffield, said White’s publisher contacted The Blue Giraffe to be a part of a multi-city national tour as the author debuts this first hardcover and novel, “The Time Between.” “”The Time Between” is by far one of the best books I have read in many years,” Sheffield said. “I started reading it on a Monday night and was finished by Thursday night. I literally stayed up reading past midnight every night because I didn’t want to put it down. What a beautifully written and enthralling story with such an important life message. We are thrilled to be part of her national book signing tour.”

White will read an excerpt from the book, followed by a short Q&A session before the signing. The event begins at 10 a.m.

Published in The Walton Sun 6-22-13