“Blue Bench” by Pat Diemand
For the past 33 years, All Saints Episcopal Church has held a spring garden tour, the proceeds of which have been donated entirely to charitable organizations. Last year the garden tour donated approximately $40,000 to six local charities.
For the past nineteen years an integral part of this charitable endeavor has been the Artist Poster Contest. Local artists are invited to submit original artwork in any 2 dimensional medium. Hundreds of local artists have entered works in this competition, and many have sold their work as a result. The artwork selected is used on the cover of the Ticket booklet and on the Garden Tour Poster which is displayed throughout Beaufort and Jasper Counties.
At a reception on February 28, Pat Diemand was announced as the winner of the 2023 Artist Poster Contest. Pat gravitates to color and paints in an Impressionist style where subject matter is anything that catches her eye. She turns to a vast inventory of photographs and sketches from all the places she’s lived.” If my art makes a connection with the viewer then my goal has been achieved and this becomes my greatest satisfaction.”
Pat’s winning artwork Blue Bench was selected by professional artists Joyce and Don Nagel and architect, artist, and winner of the 2022 Poster Contest Neil Clark.
The artwork was juried in a two step process to determine which piece of art would produce the strongest graphic image. After an initial selection of five finalists, those pieces are mocked up as posters to determine which piece would produce the most eye-catching image to represent the Garden Tour.
An additional activity related to the Garden Tour this year is the raffle of a lovely pastel “Up the Garden Path” created and donated by Joyce Nagel, well known in the Lowcountry for her work in pastels. Joyce, an award winning artist whose work is displayed in private and corporate collections throughout the country, initiated the Poster Art competition for the Garden Tour in 2003 and chaired this activity for many years. Raffle tickets ($5 each or 5 for $20) can be purchased on line at www.allsaintsgardentour.com, at All Saints Episcopal Church at 3001 Meeting Street Monday-Thursday between 10-3:30 and on the day of the Tour, May 20, 2023 between 10-3 at the Boutique at the church.
A returning event this year is our boutique and bake sale on the same day and time as the Garden Tour. The Boutique includes crafts by local artists, a bake sale, and another opportunity to purchase raffle tickets. Credit cards will be accepted as well as checks and cash.
Ticket holders as well as the community are invited to the Boutique Sale which will be held from 9-3 on May 20, 2023 at the All Saints Episcopal Church 3001 Meeting Street in Hilton Head.
Go to www.allsaintsgardentour.com for additional information regarding the garden tour which is May 20, 2023 and to purchase Tour Tickets and Raffle Tickets. Tickets purchased online by May 6 will be mailed to you. Beginning April 17, Garden Tour tickets are available at garden centers and other businesses in Hilton Head and Bluffton.
