Sunday 4^th October saw the 47^th annual Art in the Park event at Boulder City, Nevada, where a wide range of interesting jewelry items were on display.

A artist of note was Karen Carmichael, who spent 35 years dancing and performing acrobatics on Broadway, has performed for European royalty, and even top-scored on ‘Star Search’, but five years ago decided to retire and turn her hand to all altogether new field. Karen now designs jewelry, and as with many budding jewelry designers it is a hobby that has grown and grown, to now become her primary activity in life and a new-found love.

Karen’s jewelry collection was one of the biggest displays at Art in the Park, and the Summerlin resident walked away with the Best in Show award after impressing the judges with her Tahitian Queen necklace. The necklace is blue-green with purple beads, and was a finalist in the 2009 Bead Dreams International Jewelry Design Competition. Karen hopes to entice a Hollywood starlet to wear the piece at a red carpet event someday, but for now she is delighted that her designs are attracting a positive response from the public.

Another interesting attraction saw dozens of handmade greetings cards being collected to be sent to military personnel currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving them a welcome link back home and showing the appreciation of the general public.

The two-day show, which is free to enter and helps to raise money for Boulder City Hospital, draws around 50,000 people every year, and showcases the work of around 300 artists. Seasoned veterans mix with emerging talents, with another notable prize winner being Seattle native Sandra Rodgers - a former Boeing engineer who was competing in her first art show - who won a prize in the Traditional Crafts category.