Everything can change in an instant—take it from Cindy Pacileo, owner of Little Guys, an art studio based near Boone, N.C. Last year her home and studio were impacted by Hurricane Helene, a category 4 hurricane which devastated Western North Carolina. Many of its impact can still be felt today by the people who live there. Despite the chaos, Pacileo was still able to make it to the N.C. State Fair last year. We checked in with her to see how life has changed since then as well as learn about how she’s prepping for this year’s State Fair.
“Most of my customers don’t have any idea what happened here,” she shared. For her, traveling to the State Fair last year gave her the chance to glimpse a world that was undamaged by Helene. It only took about a two-hour drive for Pacileo to feel like she’d been transported to another world.
Back home, west of Boone near the Tennessee border, life still hasn’t returned to normal. Pacileo shared that she just recently discovered some damages to her studio that she’ll need to pay several thousand dollars to have repaired including missing paint and separated boards. Additionally, she shared that many of the roads into town are either in terrible shape or still completely washed out. What used to be a 30 minute drive to Boone now takes her almost an hour.
However, she’s incredibly thankful that despite the damages to her studio and the roads surrounding her home, most of her work wasn’t badly impact by the hurricane. She was able to move several boxes of her equipment out to higher ground before the worst of the flooding. Due to the damage in the area, however, she did have to stop production for a couple of weeks because of lack of water and electricity as well as communication issues.
“My life was very confusing. Everything was out of kilter,” she reflected. Despite the challenges, she tried as best as she could to stick to her routines and continue working. As soon as she was able, she got back to work creating the Little Guys and getting them packed up to be mailed out ahead of the Christmas season. Additionally, she had a backlog of several hundred figurines she needed to make if she wanted to make it to the State Fair that year.
Her inspiration for the Little Guys mainly stems from her love of animals. When she was in college she got involved with animal art and later ran an art center in Ohio where she was able to teach children.
“We all loved animals, so it was perfect,” Pacileo laughed fondly.
Her favorite animals to make are frog and cats. She’s made hundreds of her frog figurines over the years, each of them hand painted. For her, that’s what makes her Little Guys so unique—the care and attention she puts into each one. She shared that after creating the body for each animal, she goes in and hand designs each of them. Because of that no two Little Guys look the same. Her favorite part of painting them is putting smiles on each of their faces.
“I was once known as the ‘Frog Lady of Cincinnati’ for a while, but that’s a story for another time,” Pacileo shared.
Looking forward, Pacileo is hoping to continue bringing a bit of joy to all of her customers with her Little Guys. Although life at home hasn’t returned to normal, she’s still making it a point to keep creating. If her work is able to bring a smile to someone’s face, then that’s a success in her book.
Cindy’s Little Guys can be found at the N.C. State Fair in the NC Pottery Tent near the SkyGazer.