Ease Chapel

The Heritage Festival had a parade from 9 - 10 AM. It shuts down the road. All traffic comes to a complete stand still. I arrived on the island at 10:15. Security officers directed hundreds of cars down country roads flanked by marshlands toward the "back entrance" which was also closed. Finally, I parked and hiked the mile into the festival. It was a glorious day, however, and I ended up beside Ease Chapel, structure that had been built in the late 18th century and had been burnt to the ground in the late 19th century. It is a beautiful ruin of oyster sell stucco sitting lazily beside magnolias covered in Spanish moss.

St. Helena's Island; The 25th Heritage Festival

On Saturday I went to St. Helena's Island for the 25th annual Heritage Festival. This is an event that celebrates the Gullah and Geechee culture...the African-Americans of the sea islands along the South Carolina/Georgia coast. I was accepted into a juried art exhibit focusing on emerging, local (South Carolina) artists. Black God XXIII won the first prize in one of three categories...mixed media. The entire day was an experience.



First, let me say for the record, that I have no problem being among the racial minority...in fact, I felt perfectly comfortable all day. Because I "stood out", I made a few acquaintances and had a great time. South Carolina is my adopted home. This is now part of my culture...it is where I live, who I live with, where I work, what happens here, and is every bit a part of my artistic sphere of influence.

So, here's some photos:! Above is one of the shrimper at Chisholm Seafood. Below is a detail of the shrimp he is preparing.




This nice guy told me, "I's catch 'em; I's clean 'em; I's cook 'em". I asked if he also ate the shrimp. He said, "some times." Personally, I could eat these every day. The smell alone was intoxicating.





Above is a view to the "center stage"...a platform on which every local wannabe talent performed. All of it was heart-felt. None of it was any good whatsoever but totally enjoyable at the same time.



Above is an image of a house sign I passed while walking into the festival. I had a provided parking pass...there was, however, no way to actually drive to the parking lot! This is an area of the United States that is still totally laid back and relaxed.



Above is internationally acclaimed artist Jonathan Green signing autographs at the juried art reception. Amazingly, this opening was a ticketed event. People (other than accepted artists) had to pay $25 to attend. Jonathan Green delivered an intelligent speech that urged everyone to put original art in homes, insist that churches collect art, and said that citizens ought to demand that government agencies also make art collecting a top priority because visual artists are the best and truest recorders of history. It was quite inspirational...but he was "preaching to the choir".



Bus loads of people arrived on the single-lane road from Atlanta and elsewhere. Most of the festival resembled a county fair....but instead of stuff animals, people were eager to carry off stocks of sugar cane, yams, collards, and styro-foam packaged dinners of fresh caught fish.



I got a lead on a gallery in nearby Beaufort, South Carolina that specializes in African inspired artwork. I drove by it on my return trip and will definitely look further into this possibility.

In my studio

The next two weeks are among the busiest of the year. With this time comes Thanksgiving...which is a good thing because it causes me to reflect on all the positive things in my life amid the total reckless bursts of energy required to endure.



My friend Ellen Yaghjian took this photo of me, sitting in my studio wrapping rusted nails with variegated yarns. It was last Friday night. I was dressed for an art party at Wim Roef's if ART Gallery. It was his first business anniversary. I spent hours reflecting on my own business experiences...which stretches back to 1982. Since then, I've only spent three month drawing a pay check from a business I didn't own. Except for three and a half years (Jan. 1986 through July 1990), my work/businesses have been the sole income for our family.

Later in the evening I went to celebrate Wim's first year selling art...not mine...he doesn't take me or my artwork seriously. Part of the evening was totally surreal. Perhaps that is why Ellen insisted upon taking this photo. She said the image was "perfectly me". I'm not sure yet what she meant...but I wanted to post it...remember it...think about it. Plus, I rather do like the odd assortment ideas captured...me dressed up working in a messy environment of my own making.

Going to the Ballet on the Moped

Alex as Jeffrey Day

Every year Alex looks forward to Columbia City Ballet's Halloween production. Most year's this is Dracula: Ballet with a Bite. Dracula is a special ballet in our household. It is the show that really inspired Mathias to dance. This is not a fact he is thrilled about...but it's true. In fact, his very first ballet lesson was a private class with Count Dracula himself. At the time, Artistic Director William Starrett was dancing this part.

Alex and I don't generally look forward to the dancing, however. In truth, there's not that much "classical" ballet in this show. There's lots of Gothic touches, very little costuming, stroup lights and smoke effects, fake blood spurring across the stage, and an energtic, sexy 80s club inspired score by Thomas Semanski who unfortunately died earlier this year. Actually, there was better actual DANCING in Dracula than in last week's Columbia Classical Ballet's Snow White (which I might write about later).



Alex and I go to enjoy the campy fun and for Alex to enter the annual Halloween costume contest. Last year he went as MySpace. (Image and entry are found by clicking here.)
He won second place, tickets to Nutcracker. This year, Alex outdid himself. He went as our local art critic, Jeffrey Day.



Jeffrey isn't exactly the most popular person in our small arts community. He has a reputation for being overly negative. He doesn't review ballet though. The judges, however, have strong theater ties. Jeffrey does review theater. Larry Hembree, Robin Gottlieb and Dewey Scott-Wiley awarded him another second place...and they didn't even kick him! This time, the prize was a season membership...now, Steve has to attend the future productions with us! (He stayed at home watching Ohio State beat up on Penn State....rah! rah! rah!)

I went to the ballet on the back of Alex's moped...door to door service...waving Jeffrey's face at all the passing traffic (video is in the post above).

To conclude this entry: JEFFREY....YOU KNOW ALEX AND I REALLY LOVE YOU!

Cheap White Wine

As promised, here's a photo of the nice dinner Steve made to go with the bottle of "Cheap White Wine" brought home from the west coast. We eat dinner on the living room coffee table on nights when Dancing With the Stars is broadcast. Steve is addicted. I tease him about the entire show being "rigged".

By the way, Steve is thrilled with the comments he's received!

Steve's beach video

This is one of Steve's three video clips from Ruby Beach on the Olympic peninsula. Please note, he trips over his own feet during the filming which gives an excellent view of the gorgeous stones on the beach...only one of which he brought home to me!