"Shopping in the Hills" is being planned for Nov. 28 and 29 to give an alternative to crowded stores filled with the latest in gadgets.

It's designed to offer holiday shoppers a chance to buy one-of-a-kind arts and crafts and support area artists while visiting two of the area's popular wineries.

Amy McMorrow, a partner in new business HeartlandArts.net, has helped organize several local art events in Southern Illinois, including "Art Around the Square" on Oct. 10 in Carbondale, and "Colorfest Art Trail" Oct. 11 and 12 along the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail.

A fair at Blue Sky Vineyard on Rocky Comfort Road will feature jewelry and wearable art; the other, at Von Jakob Orchard and Vineyards, will feature items with a "home decor" theme.

"We are planning to set up additional art shows at other spots in the Shawnee Hills region," McMorrow said.

HeartlandArts.net is a for-profit partnership business set up by three women. McMorrow is owner of Innucopia LLC, an online Web site and marketing service; Sue Mills owns Art Lovers Trading Co. in Carbondale; and Lauren Zadikow owns The Red Ear, a gallery in Alto Pass.

They hope to host additional events to give artists more exposure, to "help both the starving artists and the bare-walled collectors," McMorrow said, by exhibiting artwork at a variety of area businesses.

"Artists are still signing up," she said. "We're bringing everybody out of the woodwork."

So far, three "artist socials" have attracted five to 25 attendees. The latest social was Thursday at Rustle Hill Winery, with about a dozen artists gathering to share tips and meet others.

Another "Art Around the Square" day will be Dec. 12 in Carbondale, McMorrow said, with art displayed in businesses around the historic Town Square. The Historic Town Square Business Coalition will participate, she said.

McMorrow worked for a year at an online art gallery; she said her long-term strategy is to help artists sell their work online, which will provide them with a broader audience.

"We'll put up more examples of the artists' work on our Web site," she said. HeartlandArts.net will get a percentage of the selling price of each work of art, ranging from 10 percent at craft fairs to 35 percent at events organized and sponsored by the business.

A native of Chillicothe, McMorrow graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, and lived in Chicago and Brussels, Belgium, before moving to Southern Illinois. The niece of Marty McMorrow of Cobden, she fell in love with the area while visiting him and his family. "The scenery, the different pace of life" were so appealing she relocated, she said.

She's hoping to serve not only Southern Illinois artists, but also those in southeast Missouri, western Kentucky and southwest Indiana.

linda.rush@thesouthern.com / 351-5079