After a one-year hiatus, Lazy Daze was back in downtown Cary, marking the 45th annual event. Vendors, artists, food, drink and entertainment lined the streets, all around Cary’s town hall for a full weekend of fun in our ever-expanding world down here. Let’s take a quick walk up Academy Street and meet a trio of unique artists along the way.
We start with Sheila Hamilton who traveled all the way from Lutz, Florida. Sheila came to Lazy Daze in 2019, and like all of us had 2020 off because of the pandemic, but she’s back this year with her license plate art.
“We love it here in Cary, North Carolina, because we just feel so welcome and the town is beautiful,” said Sheila.
As for her inspiration, “I was gifted three boxes full of license plates from a friend and my husband does metal yard art, so naturally I started making my own and bringing them to events like this. I just have a lot of fun with it.”
Around the bend from Sheila’s booth we met James McDonough out of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. James, and his growing crew (his toddler grabbed his leg while we were hanging out), have been coming to Lazy Daze since 2018, bringing their State of Shaka clothing and apparel with them.
“It all started when I drew North Carolina as a shaka hand, so it’s the play on words with shaka and good vibes, it’s a state of mind,” said James, who also sang the praises of the event telling us everyone is super nice and accommodating.
“The layout at this event works great, and everyone is so nice and chill.”
We ran into a local artist in the middle of a live painting session. Charlton Cole is originally from Jamaica, but calls Cary home now.
WATCH: ABC 11 Lazy Daze Arts and Crafts Festival in Cary
“Right now, I’m painting like the old masters, just painting what I see,” Charlton told us.
“This is my first Lazy Daze and I’m loving it.”
Charlton draws on inspiration from things around him, including a love for farm and rural scenery.
“I love the country scene, and so moving here I try to take some record of, paint things like farms and barn scenes from our local area.”
Here are a few more pictures that we snapped from Lazy Daze:
