Low Country Fall Color then and now: 11 '19

Willbrook Plantation Cypress 11 / 2019

I was looking at this photo, I took yesterday of the fall foliage colored cypress trees at Willbrook Plantation (see first attached photo. It reminds me of one of the first oil paintings I painted shortly after we moved here in 2006 (See 2nd attached photo). It was of cypress trees growing at the edge of one of Pawleys Plantation's ponds. I guess my aesthetic interests haven't changed all that much in 13 years.

Pawleys Plantation Cypress 2006

First stop in Savannah, the Telefair Museum: 10 '18

Bruce enjoyed posing with Shakespeare 
at the entrance to The Telfair Academy 

 The Telfair Academy contains three nineteenth-century period rooms and houses nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and European art from the museum’s permanent collection including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and decorative arts.

Henri Matisse's  'The Palace, Belle Ile'  c. 18 96

But what we had really stopped here for was to see the French impressionist Exhibition Monet to Matisse at the Jepson Gallery.  The exhibit contained thirty early works by Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin, and Henri Matisse.

Marc Chagall's  'The Dreamer'  c. 1945

We have seen far finer works by all of these artists, but it was instructive ( and reassuring to see that even the best-known artists in the world had to study and practice and their craft before they developed their own style and achieved mastery of their art.

Gallery Hopping in Asheville: 9'16

No trip to the Up Country would be complete without a visit to Asheville to check out some of the finest art and crafts in the nation. 

We started out visit at the Folk Art Center at Milepost on the Blue Ridge Parkway Asheville, NC. We were fortunate enough to get see the Fine Art- Craft exhibit ,"Fellowship". The exhibit showcases works of collaboration by over fifty members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Housed in the upstairs main gallery, it features over thirty multi-media pieces crafted and fused through multiple hands.

Going to the Flute Circle on exhibit in the Fellowship Exhibit

Fine Arts and Crafts are not just limited to the Upstairs Gallery, the entire Folk Art Center is dedicated to the creative spirit of the residents of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The art craft -works displayed include metal, fiber, ceramic, paint, ink, glass, stone, and more.

Folk art fence, made of wormy chestnut, carved by Helen Bullard Krechniak 

Next on our list of must see was the Surface Gallery located at 14 Lodge St, Asheville, NC 

The art at Surface is always current; and always exciting. The featured artists for this month are Melissa Engler and Graeme Priddle whose collaborative exhibit is called "Birds of a Feather". The exhibit references not only the subject, but the artists' deep love of birds. Their sculptures are made from various types of wood that have been carved, turned, burned, painted, stained, or a combination of these methods. Some pieces are made individually, while others are made collaboratively , but all reflect their deep love of birds.

Wooden Sculpture by Melissa Engler and Graeme Priddle 

Bruce and I absolutely love this gallery. It is where we always go to purchase an art souvenir for our trip. This time there were so many fine artists to choose from that we had to come back twice just to decide what we wanted the most. We eventually settled on a pair of ceramic tea cups to add to our handmade tea cup collection. 

Teacups by Akira Sataki 

The staff at Surface, including their friendly dogs, are sure to make you feel welcome, and are more than willing to help you and answer any questions you may have. This is not the gallery to miss if you are shopping around Biltmore Village.

The Surface Gallery pups are always happy to welcome visitors. 

Our next stop was at The Blue Spiral One Gallery which is focused on presenting compelling works by artists and object makers of the Southern United States.

Blue Spiral One Gallery is located at 38 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 

The unassuming exterior hides a three story treasure trove of some of the best fine art and craft in the South.

This gallery is always at the top of our list of must see places whenever we are in Asheville. We can spend hours looking at all of art. There is so much high quality work that it is hard to know where to begin, but if we had to pick our favorites it would be.

The porcelain sculptures of Vicki Grant. Ms. Grant's highly textured, multimedia organic forms have consistently been our favorite pieces. There is something very compelling and viscerally about her work that always claims our attention.

The other artist who caught our eye in the Blue Spiral One Gallery was Plein air painter, Peggy Root.

Peggy has spent the last 35 years painting the landscape of the Eastern United States. Root paints her large scale oil paintings on location. often over period of several days, catching the natural light in 2 hour sessions — before it changes too much from her initial impression. I particularly enjoy the way she often plays with splashes of light and color that reveal planes of varying distance in her landscapes.

March Evening in Sunlight by Peggy Root 

Our final stop was at the Haen Gallery is located at 52 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

(It is right down the street from the Spiral One Gallery, making it a no-brainer to to visit when in the area.

The Haen Gallery is an open, bright, well spaced and comfortable gallery. They have offered compelling works of art since I first went when they were just opening. 

Lynn Buggess' art is absolutely fantastic and is some of the best work that they have featured. It has changed somewhat since we first saw his paintings here. Many of his early works were very large scale landscapes with a medium to wide point of view. ( see above) Most of what was on display this visit were (relatively) smaller scale (e.g. 3'x3') with a single object focus. Both views retain his signature style using heavy impasto.

We also enjoy Larry Gray's work of vast ethereal landscapes of mountains and clouds.

Prairie Shadows by Larry Gray

Staying Young Together, SAG Open House: 7 '16

Had a nice visit with our many artist friends at the Seacoast Artists Gallery Open House this evening.. Light hors d'oeuvres,, wine, and soda were being served, and Jef Sturm was demonstrating his artistic skills by creating a new work of art during the Open House.

CC's Pastel are on exhibit at SAG 5 '16

CC decided to exhibit some of her Pastel beach scenes at the Seacoast Artists Gallery this month.

Sedona Series now on Exhibit 10 ' 15

Eight of CC's Sedona Series' Oil Paintings are now on exhibit at:

the Seacoast Artists Gallery  

3032 Nevers Ave. Myrtle Beach, SC

Charleston Series Complete 8 '15

"The Good Life" 10 "w' x 8 "h pastel

I've  finally finished all of the  paintings of Charleston's landmarks that I started working on at the end of May.  My goal when I began this project was to have eight paintings completed, framed and ready to exhibit by the middle of July.  

St. Phillips on Church Street 8"w x 10 h pastel

I had four of them completed before we went to our family reunion in Sedona,

Chalmers Charmers  10"w x 8"h pastel

and had plans to paint another four by the first week in July. 

The First Red Dot 8"w x 10"h pastel

 Add another week in for getting them named, framed, and all the paperwork ready for the gallery and I should have been right on schedule for delivery some fresh new artwork to the gallery right at the peak of the summer tourist season. 

Pineapple Fountain 10"w x 8"h pastel

 Well you know what they say about the best laid plans.    I hadn't thought about what a strong impact the trip to Sedona would have on me.   

The Museum on Meeting and Market

Not only was I terribly homesick for the West, I couldn't get the images of Sedona out of my head.

St Michael's on Broad Street 10"w x 8"h pastel

Five paintings of Sedona later, I've finally worked most of Sedona out of my system.  Bruce and I took a day trip to Charleston so I could refill my mind's eye with all of that city's unique charm.  It worked.

Midday in Philadelphia Alley 8"w x 10"h pastel

I was able to  complete the paintings had begun in June, and added four new ones to complete the set. Of course, I will be delivering them to the gallery  a month later than I planned., but the good news is that I have rediscovered how much fun it is to work in pastels.

Bell Rock Meadows. 7 '15

Bell Rock Meadow painting

 I just finished my latest masterpiece. It was painted in oils with a palette knife from a photo I took of the meadows adjoining the Bell Rock parking lot. I've attached both the photo and a photo of the painting so you can compare the two. 

 ( PS I will sign it once the painting has dried).

Photo of the actual Bell Rock  meadow

Shopping for a Singing Bowl 6'15

You might recall from our June 19th post, that acquiring a wind chime, or a singing bowl was on CC  Sedona   wish list. CC) often listen to an online recording of Tibetian singing bowls in preparation for painting. The harmonic vibrations serve to help her push aside all the noise in her head, and focus her full attention upon the task at hand i.e. painting. Knowing that Sedona is a mecca for those searching spiritual enlightenment, peace, and/ or healing she thought  that a singing bowl would make a useful memento of our visit to the Sedona area.

 Our Tibetian Singing Bowl  (shown  above) 'sings' in throaty F and G chord harmonics.

What is a singing bowl you ask?

Singing bowls (also known as Himalayan bowls, rin gongs, medicine bowls, Tibetan bowls or suzu gongs in Japan) are a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell. Rather than hanging inverted or attached to a handle, standing bells sit with the bottom surface resting. Singing Bowls are struck with a padded mallet or rubbed around the sides and rim of singing bowls vibrate to a fascinating blend of harmonic resonance's and rich overtones.. Singing bowls were traditionally used throughout Asia as part of Buddhist meditation and ceremonies. Today they are employed worldwide both within and without these spiritual traditions, for meditation, trance-induction, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice.

Historically, singing bowls were made in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bhutan, China, Japan and Korea. Today most singing bowls are made in Nepal, India, China. Each region's bowls are different

Hand hammering is the traditional method of creating singing bowls. The method is still used to make traditional type singing bowls today. The best known antique and new traditional type singing bowl come from the Himalayan region and are often termed Tibetan singing bowls. Creating a hand hammered bowl is a labor of love and each one in unique! The artisan starts with a thick piece of metal and, by heating and hammering, shapes it gradually into a bowl. Most hand hammered bowls have a uniform thickness, another testament to the crafts-persons skill. The surface of the bowl will feel smooth but in all cases, the hammer marks, as are seen in the picture above. These relatively plain looking bowls are often the ones that produce the most lingering sound. Their tone is often lower, more complex and more prolonged than the molded bowls.,

The majority of the singing bowls on eBay are cast. These bowls are easier and cheaper to produce and can often be offered at a price.The modern method of manufacturing metal singing bowls is by sand casting and then machine lathing. Machine lathing can be done only with brass, so machine lathed singing bowls are made with modern techniques and modern brass alloy. Sand Cast bowls may be plain or decorated, but are always perfectly even with no hammer marks.  India is a large producer of these types of bowls.

China produces a large number of quartz / crystal singing bowls. Frosted crystal singing bowls are the most common type of quartz singing bowl. Referred to as frosted bowls, or classic frosted they represent the original quartz singing bowl. Adopted from the semiconductor industry, they are heavy, rigid and generally uniform. They are called frosted due to the rough exterior, which is a byproduct of the manufacturing process. The surface is rough and readily provides friction against a suede striker or rubber tool used on its surface.Sound is more easily produced on crystal bowls than on brass The sound produced from crystal bowls is very pure, but can be overshadowed by the sound the striker tool makes against the bowl. (To prevent the striker noise a rubber ball tool works well with the texture of the bowl to make a great tone with very little other noise.)

 Spiritually oriented souls  are drawn to the bowls for their ability to assist one in naturally enter into a meditative state with the ultimate goal being enlightenment.  In addition to their traditional usage for meditation, Tibetan singing bowls are used for deep relaxation, stress reduction, holistic healing, Reiki, chakra balancing, and World music. Many people find that the rich blend of harmonic overtones which the bells produce have a direct affect upon their chakras. ( Each Bowl corresponds to a  specific note which is believed to interact with a specific chakra and provides a clearing of any stresses of blockages to the chakra one is working  on.) 

Singing bowls produce sounds which invoke a deep state of relaxation . Playing the bells usually causes an immediate centering effect. The tones set up a "frequency following response" that creates a balancing left/right brain synchronization. Meditating on the subtle sounds of the Tibetan singing bowl tunes one in to the universal sound within and without.   (BJ and  I will be attending a free  Crystal Singing Bowl meditation at tour resort's activity center later this week)

To listen and play with the  online singing bell  application  CC uses  to prepare for painting 

click here  SINGING BOWLS

Painting the Town 6"15

Devil's Bridge in Boynton Canyon 

Much of our time for the past month has been spent working the house for us being gone  during the week we are tin Sedona.  You know,  all the usual preparation:  clearing out all the leftovers in the fridge, deep watering the plants, arranging for a cat sitter, rearranging the garage so we could get the car in it ...  work work work ... It's not the way to get excited about  an upcoming trip.

Trail to Bear Mountain 

I decided to build some enthusiasm by looking through some of the photos I took on  several different Sierra Club trips to the area.  It worked!  I started remembering all of the wonderful hikes we had taken in the area, and getting excited about revisiting those places, and finding new  ones.

Chimney Rock 

 Looking at the photos  I realized many of them would make great paintings, but I have never painted scenes from Sedona, or any of the Southwestern desert.  Painting this landscape would require, me to explore a whole new color palette. In all probability.  I won't have time to do any painting next week   while we are in Sedona,  so any landscapes  I paint of the Sedona area are likely to be based on my reference photos.  I decided to try painting  a few landscapes from my  favorite Sierra Club trip photos.  That way I will be familiar with the color scheme, and set to go when I returned home with a new set of photos.

Bell Rock

Above are some pics of the Sedona Series that I have been working on since the end of May.  Unfortunately I don't have time to  do a porter photo shoot, so the color is off, and they look a bit cartoonish due to the low resolution. They are much nicer in person.

For the paintings I have completed so far, I am using the old photos I took of the Sedona  area landmarks prior to 1995. It will be interesting to see what has changed in that time. I will add more paintings to the series from the new photos I take on this trip. Once  they are completed, I properly photograph  both these and the new paintings and repost them.

Big Island Art Gallery Hopping 3 '15

A visit to the Big Island would not be complete with out a tour of its Art Galleries .  Much of Friday was spent seeking out former artist friends and revisiting  those galleries that have survived the strains of years of economic downturn .  While the decline in tourism has had a huge impact on the entire economy, I am happy to report, that the art community is still very much alive.  Granted,  Big Island artists may be depending more on jewelry and (suitcase art, than museum size pieces), but most  of the artists I known for the past ten years  are still showing in galleries today, and quite a few new ones are now also on the scene.

Here's a few of the art places we have visited this week .

The Volcano Art Center Gallery

This rustic cabin was once the original Volcano House Lodge, and has been preserved as a gallery displaying the art-ware of over 250 of Hawaii's finest artists and craftsmen.

The Gallery of Great Things

The Gallery of Great things bookends  one end of  Parker Square in Waimea.  As it's name suggests, the clapboard bungalow is filled with handmade wonders from the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Rim. Part art gallery, part upscale one of a kind resale store, the quality of everything from jewelry to home decor to fine art crafts is staggering. I walked out with a pair of antique black coral earrings and the distinct feeling that I would need another full day of browsing around just to be sure I had seen all the great things they had to offer.

The Isaacs Art Center,  is a combination of art museum and retail gallery  is also in Waimea, across the street from the Gallery of Great Things.  It is housed in a building that was once waimea's first public school.   IThe Center is a part of Hawai'i Preparatory Academy and provides a venue for people to donate appreciated art and receive the benefits of a charitable donation. The mission of the Isaacs Art Center is to raise money for the benefit of HPA students while giving the community access to art and sculpture and providing students and parents living on the island a cultural learning experience. . It contains a large permanent collection of paintings, furniture, rare books, and Hawaiiana. A section of the art center operates as an art gallery, and a variety of fine Hawaiian art work is offered for sale. The funds generated by these sales are used to support the HPA Scholarship Fund.

The Dolphin Gallery  at the Kings Shops in Waikoloa  has become well known for its unique collection of marine art, unique gifts, collectible glass and fine jewelry.

Lahaina Gallery interior

The Lahaina Gallery in the Shops at Mauna Lani represent major regional and international painters.  I was happy to see they were still carrying the remaining  artwork of my late friend, Darrel Hill.

Downtown Kona

Closer to our Home base we visited the Kailua Village Artists. This is one of the oldest and longest surviving artist run galleries on the island.  It features original art created exclusively by Big Island artists.We have purchased multiple pieces of fine art craft from this group on previous trips, but they have relocated since our last visit, and we had difficulty in locating them on this trip We finally found the gallery is in a small shopping mall set back from the main drag in  downtown Kona.  It was worth the search.

This colorful shop is the gallery of my friends Mary and Mat Lovin

We saved the best for last  by setting aside all of Friday afternoon for a visit to the Holualoa Artists  enclave in the heart of the coffee growing region. This is one of my favorite places in the whole world and I was truly afraid that the death of one of its more famous artist,s and the stagnant economy, might have damaged the quaint charm of this artists colony.  

Holualoa's original post office has been turned into an art gallery

To my relief  I found art studios and local coffee  shops still occupy over two dozen historic buildings from Hawai‘i’s past.

 and tourists were still filling the streets and  the colorful shops with business.  Way go go Holualoa.!