Pine Knoll Shores, NC—the 24th Annual North Carolina Seafood Festival presented by U.S. Cellular, unveiled the original artwork for this year’s Festival at the North Carolina Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. Artist Sharon Kearns is this year’s artist of the artwork selected by the Board of Director’s called “Today’s Catch”.

Sharon Kearns, an artist from Concord, North Carolina, has spent summers on the Crystal Coast since she was a child. Her inspiration for “Today’s Catch” came from family trips to local fish markets to buy the evening’s feast.

Kearns’s body of work ranges in subjects and reflects her love of coastal areas, small towns, historic buildings, and sprawling landscapes. Her original paintings, illustrations, and limited edition prints can be found in galleries, as well as corporate and private collections along the East Coast. Kearns’s strong composition skills, infused with both imagination and realism, transports viewers to remote and overlooked places like an abandoned hunt club on the North Carolina coast or a beach path well worn by children’s bare feet.

Ironically, although she has always had a creative flair and a desire to illustrate, Kearns holds no formal artistic training. She graduated from St. Mary’s College in 1981 with an associate of arts degree and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in business communications.

“The Board was intrigued with the use of colors and the fact that the painting represented the local fish houses and the types of local seafood available”, stated Stephanie McIntyre, Executive Director.  Artist from all over the state sent in paintings for the prestigious claim of Seafood Festival Artist. Only 1,000 prints are created and sold county wide at various frame shops and at the Festival office in downtown Morehead City. “We are pleased to have Sharon as our artist for this 24th year” said Dr. Denny Lawrence, Chair of the 2010 NC Seafood Festival, “Along with the incredible colors in the painting, I was impressed with the fact that the painting was inspired by her memories of visiting the fish house as a child growing up and vacationing in the area”.

Prints can be purchased by calling 252-726-6273 or visiting our website at www.ncseafoodfestival.org or from various frame shops in Carteret County. They will also be sold on the waterfront at the North Carolina Seafood Festival on the waterfront in Morehead City October 1-3, 2010.