Oh My! It’s been WAY too long since we’ve posted ANYTHING! Sorry about that. We’ve been swamped with shows, custom jobs, workshops, and creating!
Last month Nancy and Kim had the privilege of attending the Unfolded 2014 Annual Stockist Conference in New Orleans! This is Kim writing the blog – so it will be first person from here on out. 🙂 We went down a couple days early and left late in the afternoon the day after it was over. Jennifer Reichert and Melissa Wagner of Interiors to Inspire joined us. For those of you that don’t know… Jennifer is Nancy’s daughter. She and I grew up together. She and Melissa have a very successful Faux Finishing business and shop that sells Chalk Paint® among other things in Clagary, Alberta – Canada. Needless to say it was kinda like a family trip. It was an awesome time being in such an artistic environment. We shopped, did a Katrina and City Tour with Tours by Isabelle (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!), ate so, so, so much good food, listened to fantastic jazz music, and learned a ton about everything CHALK PAINT®!
Here are a few highlights from our trip.
All four of us – (L-R) Melissa, Jennifer, Nancy, and Kim, catching our breath and relaxing with a drink at The Carousel Bar and Lounge at Hotel Monteleone. We spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how the bar tender gets in and out. 😉
The architecture in the French Quarter has such incredible character and history. While there we saw a bride and groom parade through the streets with their wedding party and band. The natural gas lanterns are common on both home and business doors.
Of course we had to have Beignets and Cafe Du Monde.
Our tour of the city and Katrina was eye-opening. We would highly recommend this outing if you have time. Our tour guide, Jenni, was full of New Orleans knowledge. She shared history and current information during our tour.
Our favorite place to listen to jazz and watch some spontaneous swing dancing. It was also a great surprise to find an Art Show located in the alley beside The Spotted Cat. We purchased gifts for loved ones back home from this “fair”. It was our pleasure to support local artists.
Yes… We did work during this conference. During the Social Media session Artworks Spokane FINALLY set up an Instagram account! This lovely large “selfie” of Nancy and Kim is the first photo for Artworks profile. 🙂 Follow us… Please.
We also had an entire session on interior photography and shooting the projects we have completed in natural light – both with a phone camera and a digital camera. This one was taken with Kim’s Nikon. #nofilter #nophotoeditinginphotoshop. 😉
Wednesday night we had a wonderful event in the City Park. We heard New Orleans opera, saw acrobatic dancing, and a puppet show. The evening was finished with dinner, dancing and live music. Jen and Nancy got a mother-daughter photo opp on a bright green swing in the gardens.
I told you… lots of good food. This was a beautiful restaurant in one of the common buildings in the French Quarter, the outside nothing spectacular or different from most of the buildings surrounding it. But the food…. Oh. My. Goodness… another full tummy at bedtime. 😉
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a photo with Annie. She is such a wonderfully creative and artistic person. Her presentations were easy to follow and listen to. She shared on color mixing, new products, waxing techniques, and general encouragement for her stockists.
Okay! We learned a TON about Marketing and PR and Shipping and Distributing and … and…. and… 🙂 We came home fired up to make changes – and we have done just that. Have we perfected everything? NOPE! But we’re passionate about getting this paint to the people. It’s so much fun!
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to share and leave comments or questions.
artworksspokane 