Springtime is Time to Hit the Quilt Trails in North and South Carolina

May 7th, 2013

During cooler times we were receiving info about developments in SC’s Quilt Trails. Info on the expansion of the trails in SC comes in spurts, so we tend to wait until we have a few in the hopper before we release this info to readers. Now that the weather has changed, it’s time to hit the road and see some of these quilt blocks. And to help you do that there have been two publication published – one a map of the “Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail” and “Quilting A Legacy: The First 100 Quilt Blocks of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail” is a guide offering a photo and description of each quilt on the trail. I’m not sure where you can get these publications, but I imagine SC Tourism Information Centers and offices of the SC Heritage Trails would be a good bet. You can also get a lot of info from (http://www.upstateheritagequilttrail.org/).

Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail in Upstate SC, Announces 2013 Quilter of the Year – Verla Warther

The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail in Upstate SC, announces the selection of Verla Warther as the 2013 Oconee County Quilter of the Year. This award recognizes a local quilter who provides leadership and community service through their quilting.

Warther grew up and went to school in San Jose, CA. She became a teacher of children with special needs and met her husband, William, there through a computer dating service. This was long before the Internet!

They spent 31 years in California, raised a son and then moved to Silverton, OR, a small farming community. She taught math for 27 years there. In 1998, upon retiring from teaching, they moved to Tamassee, SC. Between Verla and William, they have four children, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren living in Ohio and Oregon. Warther is overjoyed that several of the women in the family are becoming quilters.

Warther was always a seamstress, having learned from her mother, making everything from children’s clothing to Civil War uniforms and dresses, even toys. When her mother-in-law died in 2002, she inherited many hand pieced quilt blocks that had been made by Mary Elizabeth Muelhoffer, her husband’s great-grandmother. She visited Heirlooms and Comfort, a local quilt shop in Central, SC, for advice on how to clean, assemble then eventually create 3 different quilts from the pieces. She was hooked!

A quilting neighbor invited her to join the Lake and Mountain Quilt Guild in Seneca, SC, and that’s where she learned her quilting techniques. Her interest in the history of quilting has led her to doing presentations in local schools and at Guild meetings. She’s served on the Guild’s Comfort Quilt Committee and their Program Committee, as well as taught classes for the Guild at their annual Retreat.

Warther’s twin sister, Laura, is also an accomplished quilter. “In 2005, we took a self-guided tour of New Zealand with our husbands. Laura and I visited many quilt shops and found it to be a wonderful way of getting to know the people of the country – a fellow quilter is never a stranger.  Laura comes every fall and joins me in attending the Retreat offered by the State Guild.  It gives us quality quilting time together.”

When asked what kinds of quilts she likes to make, Warther told us, “I’m a traditionalist. I prefer doing piecing and appliqué by hand – it’s where I find peace, a form of therapy. I do have an appreciation for those who have made quilting a fiber art form, but that’s not where my talent lies. One must enjoy the type of quilting they get involved in. Someday, I would like to become as accomplished a quilter as my fellow guild members, especially people like Marge Edie and Dixie Haywood.”

“Quilting can lead you up many paths. Through an announcement at a Guild meeting, I heard about the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. I decided to check it out and now I’m an active member of the production team. I help with the drawing and painting of quilt patterns on specially prepared boards, which are then mounted on both public and private buildings. It’s a nice art form for our community, a reason to bring tourists as well as other quilters to the area,” says Warther.

Warther has made many contributions to Oconee County through her volunteer efforts with Keep Oconee Beautiful School Program; Tamassee DAR School special programs; Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild making charity quilts for donation through the Guild programs  and the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail production team and school program. She is always willing to help in way she can.

Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail Expands

Anderson County Farmers Market Quilt

The Anderson County Master Gardeners have sponsored a table runner quilt block to be displayed on the Anderson County Farmer’s Market located on the corner of Tribble and Murray Streets in Anderson, SC.

The 3 block quilt was chosen by several members of the Master Gardeners who are quilters. The table runner quilt was made by Robin Kaja of Anderson in 2012.  She made the specialty quilt in honor of the long time commitment of the Master Gardeners to the Farmers Market. It consists of one Cornucopia square centered between two Corn and Beans blocks. This cornucopia celebrates the harvest in Anderson County which is the reason the Farmer’s Market was conceived. The pattern dates back to the 1930s and is credited to Dolores Hinson. Her version didn’t include the seams in the background. There is a similar block called Nosegay that includes the seams with the “handle” pointing to the corner.  The version in the table runner is possibly based on both designs in order to get the desired orientation in the runner. The Corn and Beans block is credited to Nancy Cabot who had the pen name Loretta Leither Rising used for her “Chicago Tribune” column in the 1930s. Her patterns were printed in the “Progressive Farmer” and were widely distributed according to Barbara Brackman’s “An Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns”.

Robin learned to sew in the 1960s from her mother, who learned from her father and uncles who were all tailors.  A self taught quilter, Robin’s first quilt was handmade when her daughter was born in 1982.  She currently resides in Anderson.

The Anderson County Farmer’s Market Hours:

Thursdays & Saturdays through May:
8 am – 1 pm

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays June 2 – November 22:
8 am – noon

Tamassee-Salem High School has joined the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail

Tamassee-Salem High School (TSHS) has joined the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail with two quilt blocks. The Tamassee-Salem High School Class of 1981 and former classmates sponsor the first block, the fan pattern quilt is “In memory of our dear principal, Sam Bass, Jr., principal from 1976 – 1989.” Helen Jones who worked with Bass at the school made the original fan quilt. He had asked her to make a quilt in honor of his maternal grandfather, Ben Armstrong, on his 100th birthday. He wanted a quilt made from pieces of clothing from all of Mr. Armstrong’s descendants. So, the quilt was made in 1989.

A quilter all her life, Jones designed the fan pattern using the fabrics from clothing donated by members of the Armstrong-Bass families for each of the ribs of the fans. She learned to sew and quilt from her mother and remembers that the quilt frame hung from the ceiling in her parents’ bedroom. She and her husband, Jerry Jones, were raised in South Florida, and moved to Walhalla from Palm Beach County, FL. They visited the area on vacations and liked it here – the mountains and cooler weather. Today, she makes custom quilts to sell to the public.

Sam Bass was born and grew up in Columbia, SC. He attended the University of South Carolina where he met his wife, Mary. As she told us, “We were young and in love. Sam quit school to support us, then later went back to college and graduated from Mars Hill in North Carolina. In 1976, we moved to Salem, SC, where he served as principal of Tamassee-Salem Middle School for 13 years.”

These former students are dedicating this artwork to Bass, in appreciation of his service, not only to the students and school, but also to the community of Salem.

There are many variations of Fan patterns which seem to have emerged in the last 19th century, when they were popular in crazy quilts and outline embroidery.

The 1981 Class of Tamassee-Salem High School is sponsoring second addition to the school. This quilt block is in honor of their former English teacher, Ron Rash, well-known local writer.

The original quilt, called Crossroads, was made by Rash’s mother, Sue Holder Rash of Boiling Springs, NC. Born in Blowing Rock, NC, Rash attended Gardiner Webb College.  She and her husband, James, had three children. He was an art teacher in Chester, SC, and died in 1980. She made this quilt for her son, Ron and his wife Ann. She began making utilitarian quilts in the 1950s and by 2000, had made more than 100 quilts.  She uses a long armed quilter.

The Crossroads pattern is believed to be part of a series of “Underground Railroad” blocks, designed to assist escaping slaves, unable to read, to their freedom. Crossroads was the seventh block in the series. Once escapees made it through the Appalachian Mountains, they were to travel to the “crossroads” meaning a city where they would find protection and refuge.

Rash taught for two years at TSHS and recalls that it was a wonderful experience. He now teaches at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, and has published 15 books, including “Serena” which will be released as a movie in 2013.

Westminster, SC, Expands Quilt Trail

The home of Melanie and Scott Burton on Theo Martin Road in Westminster, SC, has been added to the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. The quilt pattern is Dutch Doll and was originally made by her grandmother, Ruth Azilee Shirley Black. Black was born in the Earles Grove Community of Oconee County in 1913 and died in 1993. She was married to Henry Fletcher Black, a dairy farmer, and they had two children, Henrietta Black Harbert and Joe Henry Black. According to Burton, “Ma-Ma Black had six grandchildren and made each of her granddaughters a Dutch Doll quilt and each of her grandsons a Fisher Boy quilt.”

Ruth Black was a member of the JOY Club at Earles Grove Baptist Church. These ladies often gathered together to quilt. Burton remembers going to Ma-Ma Black’s house and spending a week during the summer and often on weekends. “She always let me play in her trunk of scrap material. She would give me a needle and thread and let me sew to my heart’s content.”

Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail Donates Quilt Block to Oconee County

The Building Blocks quilt block has been donated to Oconee County by the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail, working collaboratively with the County to preserve our heritage through the stories of the quilts and their makers. This quilt block is displayed inside the County Administration Building at 415 S. Pine Street, Walhalla, SC.

The Barn Quilt Trail Project began in Adams County, Ohio in 2001. Today, there are over 4,000 quilt blocks in 47 states. In the spring of 2009 Oconee County became the first county in South Carolina to embrace the Quilt Trail concept. The founding group of volunteers thought that extending the Quilt Trail to homes, historic buildings, public buildings, destination venues and businesses would be a good way to preserve the area’s heritage and promote Oconee County. The Quilt Trial quickly expanded to encompass Anderson and Pickens Counties and is known today as the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. The local Oconee County group has helped several counties throughout the state develop trails for their areas.

The Building Block pattern first appeared in the “Chicago Tribune” January 15, 1938, with the name of Nancy Cabot.  According to Jinney Beyer, Author of “The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns”, the one-patch design is an arrangement of multiple patches of identical shape with varied colors. Ellen Henderson of Landrum, SC, made the fabric Building Block for this painted quilt block. Six members from the Landrum Quilters Guild have each contributed a block that is serving as the foundation to create the Foothills Quilt Trail for the City of Landrum, SC. The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail has served as their mentor for this endeavor.

The Oconee County Government Annex was originally Pine Street Elementary School from the early 1950’s until 1996. The County acquired the building in 1996 and began centralizing many of its offices to this location in 1997. Currently about 60 alumni of Pine Street Elementary are working in this building. The County Council Chamber once served as the school auditorium.

Quilt Trail Expands in Tamassee, SC

The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail continues to grow with the addition of a new quilt block in Tamassee, SC. The quilt can be found on the home of Jeanie and Dave Christopher on Jumping Branch Road on Lake Cherokee. She is the quilter and even created the pattern from the flags used by the lake association. They are in the shape of triangle flags.

As Jeanie Christopher told us, “This quilt was inspired by our living here at Lake Cherokee for 10 years. It celebrates our first 10 years enjoying the lake with friends and family. Every year when we pay our lake association dues we are given a colorful flag to put on our boat. This flag signifies that we are members of the association and therefore, have the privilege of using the lake. So, I selected colors for the quilt that were the same as the flag colors over the 10 years.”

“We are Clemson fans and retired here after raising our three children in Athens, GA (Bulldawg territory!). I grew up in Anderson, SC, so our move here was like ‘comin’ back home’ or at least back to my beloved state of South Carolina! I have always loved quilts and helped my Grandmother, Julia Morris, make quilts when I was a little girl. There has always been something special about making a quilt to comfort me or someone else and I treasure those memories of working with my maternal grandmother in Anderson. In the early 80s I took a quilting course while living in Seneca, SC, and made some quilts for my daughter’s doll beds. But, having 3 children kept me too busy to sew except for smocking and other crafty type projects, painting t-shirts or whatever.”

For more information and pictures, click on (www.UHQT.org).

Arts Council of York County adds Barn Quilts to Ag + Art Tour Farms

The public is invited to attend a workshop hosted by the Arts Council on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, at 2pm at the Center for the Arts, 121 E. Main Street in Rock Hill, SC. The workshop will illustrate the process for painting four new, permanent, wooden quilt blocks to adorn barns and other outbuildings at participating Ag + Art Tour farms. The Ag + Art Tour is a self-guided tour that has been designed to generate interest in local farms, fresh foods, and “Made in York County” traditional arts. This year’s tour will be held over the weekend of June 8 & 9, 2013. Participants will assist in painting four new quilt blocks in the following patterns: Cluster of Stars, the Star of Virginia, a variation of the Broken Plate pattern, a variation of the Paper Daisy pattern, and a variation of the Prairie and Blazing Star patterns.

In May of 2011, Arts Council staff traveled to Pickens County to attend a similar workshop on how to build barn quilts.  The idea was to mark all of the York County farms participating in the Ag + Art Tour with a permanent barn quilt, rather than temporary vinyl ones . It was also an attempt to learn the craft and add a new layer of tourism to York County by becoming members of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Tour (UHQT). UHQT is a grassroots public art project consisting of more than 100 quilt panels, winding through Anderson, Oconee, Pickens and York Counties. The quilt blocks can be found mounted on barns, businesses, homes and public buildings, inviting visitors to stop and listen to their stories. So far, the Arts Council has created two new 48″ x 48″ wooden quilt blocks for permanent display. One is located at the Center for the Arts, 121 E. Main St., Rock Hill, featuring a variation on the Cathedral quilt square. The other is located at Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill in York, SC, featuring the Hovering Hawks pattern.  Quilt designs are painted on ¾” MDO board that is finished on both sides and then sealed with a marine-grade sealant.

With the installation of the blocks, both sites have been added to the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. Each year, the Arts Council plans to create 4-5 new quilt blocks for permanent display at Ag + Art Tour farm sites. As the quilts blocks are installed, each new venue will be added to the UHQT, adding to the appeal of agritourism in York County and across South Carolina. Grant funding has been received from York Electric Cooperative and Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC to help fund the project.

The Ag + Art Tour, developed in 2011 by partners, Clemson Extension of York County, the Arts Council of York County, the Olde English District Tourism Commission, the York County Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Culture & Heritage Museums, is partially funded by City and County Hospitality Tax  and Clemson University.

For more information on the Ag + Art Tour, please visit (http://agandarttour.com/).

Other Quilt Trails in South Carolina:

Foothills Quilt Trail info (http://www.foothillsquilttrail.com/).

McCormick Quilt Trail info (https://www.facebook.com/McCormickCountyQuiltTrail)

Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina

With over 200 quilt blocks, we have the highest concentration anywhere in the USA! Come to Yancey County to get started on your great quilt adventure! We are just 45 minutes North of Asheville, NC – exit 9 off I-26, or exit onto Hwy 80 off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Six contiguous counties host quilt blocks, with the highest concentration in Yancey and Mitchell Counties. While in Yancey County, visit Mt. Mitchell, highest peak East of the Mississippi. Mitchell County is home to Roan Mountain (the rhododendrons are in full bloom in June – gateway through Bakersville, NC) and Avery County offers Grandfather Mountain with its mile-high swinging bridge. Of course we have waterfalls, supreme hiking, great trout fishing, canoeing, golf, horseback riding, and great shopping.

Nine different driving trails take you to view vividly painted quilt squares installed on barns and buildings of participating communities. Even if it is raining you can still enjoy a day of adventure finding the quilt blocks. Stop by the Quilt Trails Gift Shop in the OOAK Gallery on the Loop in Micaville, NC, to purchase a driving map and one or more of the nine tour guides that tell the stories behind the blocks.

For info about other WNC Quilt Trails check these links:

Ashe County Quilt Train info (http://www.ashecountyarts.org/BarnQuilt.htm)

Haywood County Quilt Trail info (http://www.haywoodquilttrails.org/)

Macon County Quilt Trail info (http://www.maconcountyquilttrail.org/)

McDowell County Quilt Trail info (http://mcdowellquilttrail.org/)

Wautauga County Quilt Trail info (http://www.quilttrailswnc.org/index.html).

Share this article

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in NC Visual Arts, Quilt Trail, Quilts in the Carolinas, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

A Few Observations About the 2013 ArtFields in Lake City, SC

May 3rd, 2013

We first brought our readers news of ArtFields (www.artfieldssc.org) back in July of 2012. When I first heard of the event I started asking questions to get a grip on what this event was all about. I wanted to make sure I was clear in answering questions that I knew I would be hearing from artists as they found out about the event. Info was a little fuzzy at first and it seemed the more I asked questions the more distance the organizers put between me and themselves. I got the feeling they were not sure how things would work themselves and they were sensitive to being quizzed on their plans. That usually sends a warning flag up for me. If I can’t figure out what was going on – how could I explain it to others.

My main question was, is this just a big juried art show with an unusually big Best of Show award or was this really going to be something like Art Prize which takes place in Grand Rapids, MI? I’ve seen what goes on in Grand Rapids (population around 200,000), but I didn’t get the impression that’s what the folks at ArtFields were calling for in Lake City (populations around 7,000). And, I wasn’t sure they knew with whom they would be dealing and how those folks see things and “folks” would be artists – a different breed of folks. Artists see things differently.

I basically decided I wanted this event to happen and chalked up some of the fuzziness to a first year effort. The first year of anything goes through growing pains and I’ll just have to judge the event by the first effort. So I backed off and waited.

My first sign that something was wrong with the marketing of this event was when I got an e-mail on March 13, 2013 inviting me to the ArtFields Media Luncheon on Apr. 3, 2013, which I would have been interested in going to except for the fact that it was being held in downtown Charleston, SC, instead of Lake City, SC. I still wonder to this day – who showed up?

Why they would want to hold the press luncheon almost 80 miles away from Lake City where the event would take place – I haven’t a clue. Were they hiding something?

And a lot good it did them as I didn’t see a lot of coverage of ArtFields in the Post & Courier. They should have invited the press to see Lake City. Charleston’s media can’t devote enough space to cover all the arts that go on in its own city much less one 80 miles away. Which is a surprise since ArtFields outsourced some of the operation of their art festival to folks in Charleston – who made sure a lot of their friends became part of the first ArtFields – almost 25% of the artists participating in the competition came from Charleston and many of the invited installation artists were from there or have roots there.

In my opinion ArtFields made a mistake connecting themselves to Charleston a little too much. They may have gotten a lot of entry fees from artists there but it didn’t do them any good recruiting artists from the rest of the Southeast.

Those folks say they did a lot of work getting the word out to visual artists in those other states, but the results just don’t show it.

Here’s some examples that back my opinion up.

In June of 2008, the SC State Museum offered a call for entries for its 20th Anniversary Juried Art Exhibition – 500 artists from just SC submitted 1000 works and there were no cash awards.

In 2009, the Elder Gallery in Charlotte, NC, started Carolina’s Got Art! which attracted 1,100 entries, from nearly 500 artists throughout the Carolinas with cash prizes of less than $10,000 with $2,500 going to the Best in Show work. During the third Carolina’s Got Art! (being held at the same time as ArtFields) over 1,000 artists from North and South Carolina entered over 2,800 works of art with over $15,000 in cash and prizes.

ArtFields had $100,000 in cash prizes! Why didn’t they have artists coming out of the woodwork to enter this show?

There are a lot of reasons – some not the kind you would think would stop an artist at a chance to win $50,000, but artists are funny about some things. Here’s some of what I heard. Can’t be right – not $100,000 and not in Lake City. Where is Lake City? No insurance – I’m not giving them my work. I’m not going to have someone in Lake City decide where my art will be placed. Where is the Pee Dee? I can’t figure out what they want from what I read on the website. Who is jurying the entries? Where the heck is Lake City? I could win $50,000 by entering one painting? That can’t be right.

By the time the entry deadline arrived there were 100 entries that were not completed. Something gave those artists second thoughts or confused them about the process of entering.

There also was a disadvantage to artists who lived further away from Lake City and an advantage for those who lived closer since a lot of what might determine if you won two of the prizes was based on the public’s voting for you. Some artists camped out at the event campaigning for votes. This could be a problem in getting more entries from those other Southern states.

But distance isn’t always a problem – many artists enter juried shows all over the country by mailing their entries to the presenting venue – so it’s a puzzle as to why so few artists from other states entered this show. And, from what I saw of some out of state entries, it makes me wonder if some didn’t make the cut because they were from a state on the fringe. I know some of the other 400 artists who didn’t make the cut and compared to some entries I saw – they should have, but that happens in all juried shows.

So, the marketing of this event needs to be better. Especially their use of social media. Take Facebook for an example. In 2012 when they should have been offering artists info about how to join the competition they were making posts like: “The Art of Video Games at the Boca Museum in Florida”. “Lost Renoir Painting at Potomack Company’s Sept. Auction”, “Contemporary Focus 2012 in Knoxville, TN”, and “Phyllis Diller, outlandish comedian, dies at 95″. Did they think this is how they would get the attention of artists and art lovers in other states? They wasted a lot of time not trying to inform people about what ArtFields was and the opportunities it offered. They also didn’t give people a picture of Lake City – which has a story to tell and a plan for the future.

On March 21, 2013, ArtFields posted an entry on Facebook to tell people who lived in the Columbia, SC, area how to get to Lake City, SC, (a two hour drive) and gave suggestions as to where people could eat along the way and what they might see on their travels. I would think that the people in Lake City were hoping people from Columbia would come eat and check out what Lake City has to offer. Let the SC’s tourism folks do the job of informing folks what’s available elsewhere.

It makes me wonder if the folks in Charleston doing the marketing were really interested in promoting Lake City.

I know this all seems like a lot of back seat driving or Monday morning quarterbacking, but these things need to be pointed out (from the outside) in order for the organizers to improve this event.

So, what about the event?

I went twice and still didn’t get to see everything due to two basic problems. One, I know too many artists and people in the visual arts community and I like to talk and find out things and they like to talk with me; two, we were on deadline to finish our biggest issue – ever. Every hour in Lake City cost me big time. But, I really enjoyed my visits there.

Overall, I think ArtFields and the City did a great job of presenting this event for a first time effort. In the buildings they controlled the artworks were presented well and not crowded together. In the merchant venues – some art was well presented as best it could while some places were not so good. Some venues were just too far away from the bulk of the art being presented. This is something they can improve on by being a little more selective as merchants were happy with the crowds the event attracted. They can pick where they want to be now.

People were friendly, helpful, and seemed really happy to see so many people walking the streets of Lake City.

They need bigger and more signage. I would have expected a few banners running across Hwy. 52 – which sees the most traffic passing through the outskirts of Lake City. But I did see a sign on a Captian-D’s welcoming folks to ArtFields – good for them.

Lake City has something some bigger towns and cities are running out of – a lot of empty buildings which can be used for future expansion or development. Something Charleston wishes it had more of. So there is lots of room to grow.

I don’t know how many people came to Lake City for this event or how many registered and voted in the competition. You need those numbers to really show the impact of the event. Hopefully at some point we’ll be offered those hard numbers. Remember it was a first year event – what ever they were – it’s what it was.

Getting 800 entries again next year or even more than that might be harder than you think. The 400 who didn’t make the cut might not be interested in trying again and many of the 400 who did – after seeing what kind of art won the top prizes might not enter again. But I think everyone who made the cut should be happy to return if it wasn’t all about the money. And, remember $50,000 or $25,000 is a lot of money, but it’s not life changing these days – not for most people.

This was a great event and great exposure for many of the artists. Some who didn’t win or didn’t get a lot of votes might find they made even more valuable connections by participating in this event. Plus – lets hope that the 2014 ArtFields will have all new jurors. Having the same folks selecting who gets in and who wins awards would send the wrong message to artists. You want them to think they always have a chance at getting in or even winning a prize.

Here’s some suggestions – take ‘em or leave ‘em.

Make sure the website gives as many details as possible. Give examples and show pictures from the first year of what artists could do – such as: if you want to connect 20 paintings together which are in a series – that can be your “one” entry; if you are a sculptor and want to present a number of works that are related as a series – put them together as you would on site – take one photo of it and submit it as your “one” image; give dimensions of the venues so artists can visualize how big their works can be (it’s hard to imagine that a 10″ x 12″ painting would win the $50,000 top prize – it could, but most likely won’t); the point is – more details are better than less. Artists are different than most folks – which is good, but they don’t see or read things the same way others do. I was told at one point they heard no complaints from artists – believe me I heard plenty. They’ve learned not to bite the hand that might feed them, but they do have complaints.

As I said before – bigger signs and more of them all over Lake City and the areas coming into it.

Make the venue area more compact, with less areas way out on the fringe.

Provide a shuttle service to stop at the four corners of the venue area – get help from the local school district. It was a lot of walking for some folks.

Allow visitors to register to vote in other areas around the venues. Artworks at the HUB where people registered had an advantage. Also the HUB needs restrooms.

The handout that showed people where the venues were should also have a directory to show where each artist’s work could be found. Unfortunately some folks only want to see some people’s work. It’s sad but true.

Get some rolling vendors to offer hotdogs and drinks for folks who don’t want to have a sit down meal or wait in line at a crowded restaurant.

Contact some tour bus companies in larger cities to organize trips to Lake City from larger cities. They’ll probably take on the expense of organizing the trips.

To make the event easier for artists from outside the state to compete with local artists to compete for the People’s Choice award – start an adopt an artist program. Some folks might enjoy having a talented artist from another state stay with them during the festival or for a weekend. It might make an interesting experience for the artists and the community.

And, finally, don’t outsource the operation of this event to anywhere else. Let Lake City develop this event. I’m sure that community has talented folks who can learn to promote this event as well as anyone else can. It’s a learning experience and you know your community better than anyone else.

I’d be happy to expand on any of these points if anyone is interested in listening. And, I imagine the organizers may have already thought of most of these suggestions for improvement.

I know I’m looking forward to next year already and going back to Lake City when the big show isn’t going on to see what the town is like normally.

Now here’s an unfortunate update!

The ArtField’s People’s Choice Award has been suspended.

The following statement (in part) was taken from the ArtField’s official website (www.artfieldssc.org) under News:

Award of the Popular Choice prize, which represents the most votes cast by the public, has been suspended.  According to Sue-Ann Gerald Shannon, legal counsel for Lake City Partnership Council, the competition’s sponsor, the initial awardee has been sent notification that his entry, “Warsaw Ghetto 1943,” is ineligible for the award because it did not meet the guidelines and rules of the competition.

Ms. Shannon stated: “The eligibility rules, which were clearly set out from the start, required that the submitted entry be wholly owned by the artist and does not infringe upon the rights of others.  After conducting our due diligence investigation, and consulting with art experts, we determined that the ‘Warsaw Ghetto 1943’ entry was merely a re-colorized reproduction of the iconic photograph depicting German soldiers leading away captured Jews for deportation.  Although some displeasure has been expressed for our not disqualifying this piece earlier, in fairness to all and to maintain the competition’s integrity, we first wanted to be absolutely sure we were on solid footing that the piece failed to comply with the rules.  After careful review, we have disqualified the Warsaw Ghetto piece and we will soon announce the winner of the Popular Choice award.”

Back to Me

This is an unfortunate thing, but the rules are rules. I’m glad ArtFields stands up for artists who create their own works without borrowing the talents of others. Any time this much money is involved – things like this can and will happen.

Share this article

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Art Exhibitiions, Arts Festivals, Marketing, NC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

The May 2013 Issue of Carolina Arts is Now Ready to Download

May 1st, 2013

The May 2013 issue of Carolina Arts is up on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 88 pages of it – a record number of pages. We also had another popular cover last month and I think this one is special too.

We ask that you help us bring the news about the Carolina visual art community to others by spreading the link for the download around to your e-mail lists and posting it on your Facebook page or “sharing” this post. Once people see all that is going on in the visual art community they will spread it around to their lists and on their Facebook pages. We started using Twitter so you can find us at (http://twitter.com/carolinaarts/). Follow us and retweet our postings.

The link is: (http://www.carolinaarts.com/513/513carolinaarts.pdf).

If you would like to get direct notice that our latest issue is ready to be downloaded you can send us an e-mail to (info@carolinaarts.com) to be placed on our mailing list.

So download that PDF and dig in – it makes for good reading and shows that you have lots of opportunities to enjoy the visual arts in the Carolinas. And, don’t forget to find a way to thank our advertisers – they make the paper possible.

Thanks – Tom and Linda Starland
Carolina Arts
843/825-3408
info@carolinaarts.com

Share this article

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Art Exhibitiions, Art News, Carolina Arts, NC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

The Fifth Annual Celebration of Spring in Seagrove, NC, Takes Place – Apr. 20 & 21, 2013

April 19th, 2013

This weekend is the big 5th Annual Celebration of Spring in Seagrove, NC – a group kiln opening and tour – taking place Apr. 20 & 21, 2013. It’s the second best way to visit Seagrove and see as many potteries as you can – next to the fall Celebration of Seagrove Potters where they all come together in one place. Plus, I’m told that Spring time in Seagrove is like Spring time in Paris. I can’t remember who told me that, but I did hear it.

I’m going to give you the official PR, but first I want to put in a special plug for one of my favorite potteries – Whynot Pottery.

Mark and Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery will once again host Acacia Tile for their Mud and Suds event on Saturday Apr. 20, from 9-5pm and Sunday Apr. 21, from 11-4pm.

Mark and Meredith have been busy restocking the shelves and will have your favorite “hand crafted, homemade”, kiln cookies on hand for a quick munch.

Let me repeat for the hard of reading – hand crafted, homemade, kiln cookies….

Everyone knows regular cookies come from cardboard tubes bought at Wal-Mart. You put the precut “cookies” on a pan and put them in your oven – oh the joy. Like great pizza – great cookies are make in a kiln. And cookies sprinkled with potter ash – are the best.

Joining in on the fun on Saturday and sharing her talents is Laurie Abela of Abela Bodycare. Laurie is a long time soap maker and will bring her knowledge of soaps and bodycare to the show on Saturday.

This event coincides with: The Annual Seagrove Potters “Celebration of Spring Kiln Opening & Studio Tour”. I think of it as the Great Celebration of Meredith Heywood’s Kiln Baked Cookies, but that’s me. You can call it what you want, but I’m working on a future slice of pineapple upsidedown cake.

For more information you can call Whynot Pottery at 336/873-9276 or check their Facebook page at (https://www.facebook.com/whynotpotterywhynotnc).

OK – here’s the PR on all my other favorite potteries in Seagrove.

Celebration of Spring Kiln Openings & Studio Tours Takes Place in Seagrove, NC – April 20 & 21, 2013

Seagrove, NC…It’s a beautiful weekend to come out to the freshly blooming spring countryside and leisurely browse, shop and experience a 200-year-old tradition, see the process, develop and renew relationships with the potters of Seagrove.

A large variety of events are scheduled throughout the weekend, held at individual shops, including, but not limited to – loads of beautiful new pots fresh from the kilns. Stop at any participating shop as you come into Seagrove to pick up a map of the tour. You can download a pdf of participating shops, hours, and a map from Discover Seagrove or Celebration of Seagrove Potters and be sure to like us and follow us on Facebook for updates and special offers at Celebration of Seagrove Potters.

Special events include:

Ben Owen Pottery will have pottery demonstrations by Ben Owen III periodically throughout the weekend.


Works by Ben Owen III

Bulldog Pottery – Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke will have new vases and tiles, and serve light refreshments.

Caldwell-Hohl Artworks will feature new work, garden art, studio tours and light refreshments.

Crystal King & King’s Pottery wood-fired kiln unloaded at 10am Saturday at Kings Pottery. Numbered collaborative 3-faced jugs & special animal sculptures by Crystal will be available.

Donna Craven Pottery is celebrating with new spring themed pots, refreshments and door prizes.

Eck McCanless Pottery is offering visitors the opportunity to get their hands dirty with hands-on turning and Agateware carving demonstrations.

From the Ground Up – with guest potter, Melanie Hutchins, will offer new work by Michael, Levi & Chelsea Mahan. Horse hair firing in the afternoons. A.M. organic scones & coffee, leek & potato soup for lunch.


Work by Michael Mahan

Great White Oak Gallery is celebrating spring with demonstrations and refreshments.

Hickory Hill Pottery will feature new glaze combinations as well as door prizes and refreshments. Come join in the fun!

Keith Martindale Pottery will offer demonstrations and refreshments.


Work by Keith Martindale

Lantern Hill Pottery will have refreshments and doorprizes.

Latham’s Pottery will have pottery demonstrations and refreshments.

Michele Hastings and Jeff Brown Pottery present new collaborative work, fresh from the latest firings, and will be demonstrating throughout the weekend.


Works by Michele Hastings and Jeff Brown

Old Gap Pottery will have brushwork decorating and throwing demonstrations along with morning coffee and biscotti.

Studio Touya will feature the latest wood fired pots and offer refreshments.

Tom Gray Pottery – In addition to new pottery pieces, Tom will also have a selection of his handmade kitchen knives.

Whynot Pottery & Acacia Art Tile is Celebrating Spring with “Mud & Suds”, with special guest Laurie Abela of Abela Bodycare. Also, offering refreshments (kiln baked cookies) and tours of their work building and kilns.


Works from Whynot Pottery

The following pottery shops; Southern Spirits @ A. Teague Village, Avery Pottery & Tileworks, Blue Hen, BlueStone, Chris Luther, Chrisco, Daniel Johnston, Dean and Martin, DirtWorks, Fireshadow, Frank Neef, JLK Jewelry/Jugtown, Luck’s Ware, McNeill’s, O’Quinn, Ray, Seagrove Stoneware, Smith and Snowhill Pottery and Tileworks are also participating in the Celebration of Spring. Each shop will have something special for visitors to enjoy.

The Seagrove Area Potters Association (SAPA) is a group of remarkable clay artists united to showcase the traditional and contemporary pottery of the historic Seagrove community. The goal is to maintain the authenticity of Seagrove pottery by working together in community efforts to promote the historical, educational and artistic aspects encountered while visiting Seagrove, and to draw customers to the individual shops to have a firsthand Seagrove experience.

For further information visit Discover Seagrove (http://www.discoverseagrove.com/) or Celebration of Seagrove Potters (http://www.celebrationofseagrovepotters.com/).

P.S. I’d be neglect in my duties if I didn’t suggest that while you’re in Seagrove – stop by the NC Pottery Center and see their Tea Pot exhibit. It’s located in downtown Seagrove – you can’t miss it.

Share this article

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in About Seagrove Pottery, NC Pottery, NC Pottery Center, NC Visual Arts, Seagrove Pottery | Comments Off

The April 2013 Issue of Carolina Arts is Now Ready to Download

April 1st, 2013

The April 2013 issue of Carolina Arts is up on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 84 pages of it. We had a very popular cover last month and I think this one is special too, plus we have a big announcement in our commentary.

We ask that you help us bring the news about the Carolina visual art community to others by spreading the link for the download around to your e-mail lists and posting it on your Facebook page. Once people see all that is going on in the visual art community they will spread it around to their lists and on their Facebook pages. We started using Twitter so you can find us at (http://twitter.com/carolinaarts/). Follow us and retweet our postings.

The link is: (http://www.carolinaarts.com/413/413carolinaarts.pdf).

If you would like to get direct notice that our latest issue is ready to be downloaded you can send us an e-mail to (info@carolinaarts.com) to be placed on our mailing list.

So download that PDF and dig in – it makes for good reading and shows that you have lots of opportunities to enjoy the visual arts in the Carolinas. And, don’t forget to find a way to thank our advertisers – they make the paper possible.

Thanks – Tom and Linda Starland
Carolina Arts
843/825-3408
info@carolinaarts.com

Share this article

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Carolina Arts, NC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

A Trip to the Charleston Center for Photography in Charleston, SC, for Kevin Parent’s Lecture on Pinhole Photography

March 12th, 2013

On Monday, March 11, 2013, Linda and I went down the road to Charleston, SC, to attend a lecture on pinhole photography by Kevin Parent at the Charleston Center for Photography at 654 King Street for their 2nd Monday Lecture Series. It’s free and open to the public and unknown to us they hand out tickets and hold a raffle for photography swag after the lecture, but no one was there for the swag.

Wikipedia describes a pinhole camera as: A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens and with a single small aperture (a pin hole in the box) – effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box (w/film or photo paper inside). The human eye in bright light acts similarly, as do cameras using small apertures.

They had a pretty big crowd there, bigger than I expected, bigger than most lectures I’ve attended at some bigger institutions. Photography by nature is a loner sport, but photographers are also very social when it comes to talking about photography.

Why were we there? Good question. Did Linda or I have interest in taking up pinhole photography? Was it because of our standing in the Charleston photography community? We came for support of the speaker.

I’ve known Parent since the days when I delivered our printed paper to Carolina Fine Paintings & Prints on King Street, where he had a job as a framer – back in the day. Our connection was that we were old schoolers – as far as photography goes. But at that time Linda and I were well out of photography. Not many people in Charleston today know our photography background – we have no standing. I’ve run into Parent at photography exhibits and shared photography related info on Facebook. He’s active – we’re not. We now have an arts newspaper or it has us.

I’m reminded of how removed we are from photography as I reach down to the bottom drawer of my desk and pull out a roll of Ilford FP4 120 film with an expiration date of June 1990 and I no longer have a camera that uses 120 film – haven’t for almost 30 years. In that drawer is also the last “real” camera I own – a Nikon Nikkormat EL – which has a good layer of dust on it. There is also a roll of Kodachrome 64 with a date of 1999 that I’m holding for singer Paul Simon. I also have a drawer of about a half dozen digital cameras – one that stores the images on a floppy disk.

But, way back in the day – before our lives as publishers of an arts newspaper, Linda and I ran a custom black and white photo processing lab – IF Labs – the best in Charleston at the time, if I say so myself. Linda was a master printer and I was a wiz with film developing. But today, there are no signs of chemical stains on our fingers.

So we went to this lecture to support a fellow old schooler who is still doing it – the real old fashioned way. And, I don’t just give credit to anyone who boast that they are “special” because they are using film and photo paper processed in a darkroom. I’ve got no problem with digital photography, but I still judge all photography by the final product. I really don’t care how the photographer gets there – the image is still the thing. And there are still a lot of bad photographer out there, along with a lot of skilled technicians who are making ho hum images. Parent isn’t one of them. I don’t like all his images, but after last night’s lecture I respect all those – so much more – that speak to me, after learning how much he’s flying by the seat of his pants in capturing his images. Hey, here’s a news flash – this isn’t just a problem for photography. The art world is full of artists who are not yet at the top of their game. Some might get there some day – some never will.


Kevin Parent with some of his pinhole cameras

Throw in the fact that Parent makes his own cameras and you really wonder why someone still puts themselves through this old school process, but Parent explained all that in his presentation. It’s an emotional thing for him. And, you can’t beat the cost of the camera – which he makes out of just about anything.

He did say one thing that I had to differ with. It’s not that I disagree with what he said, I just see it differently. At one point he said that pinhole photography is the only way to stop nature and capture it in an image. You can’t do it with a shutter speed of 1/500th of a second, but I think he was referring to the fact that pinhole photography slows the photographer down, due to the nature that you have only a few shots and without a viewfinder to actually see what you are trying to capture – you really have to slow down and think about what you’re doing or trying to do. Where with today’s digital cameras you can just shoot away hoping you get something from volume – as you’re not burning up expensive film anymore. And, you can just delete what you don’t want – on the spot and shoot again and again or slip another memory disk into the camera. That might work in sports photography.

I think the technology of stop-action and high speed photography has really stopped nature – giving us a chance to see the unseeable with our human eyes. Think tiny tree frog in the Amazon jumping from one leaf to another and the camera catching it in mid-jump. Now that’s stopping nature. I prefer to think that what he meant was that pinhole photography stops nature – in motion – due to the long exposures (time the pinhole is uncovered). And, it’s a good thing that it slows the photographer down and makes them think about what they are doing. Slowing our lives down gives us a better view of nature or something like that. Let’s all break into small groups and discuss that.

Of course I had the advantage of a hour and a half ride home to come up with that and I wasn’t standing in front of an audience. It’s a point the two of us could talk about for hours and I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time I missed the point – as Linda tells me often enough.

But, that’s the value of going to an artist’s lecture. You get to hear what they are trying to do, what’s in their head and how they feel about the work they produce. It’s a lot better than standing in front of an image and just trying to figure things out or reading a page or two about what the artist meant to do in presenting their image. Or, the artist who says it’s all up to the individual viewer – it’s what it means to the viewer – that’s all they care about. That’s true, but that’s just as bad as the people trying to figure out what the Beatles meant by every word they wrote – even playing songs backwards to find the “true” meaning of their songs. I prefer William Halsey’s (one of Charleston’s best artists) answer when asked by viewers what he meant by his paintings – “What does it mean?” – “it means I finished!” But, it’s not that simple either. A lecture gets you a little closer to your understanding if the artists was successful in their goals – if they had any to begin with. It’s one more step in the process of understanding. Or you could just go with the process of deciding if you just like something or not. Oh my head is beginning to hurt. Art speak will get you every time.

The Charleston Center for Photography will have a small exhibit of Parent’s works up on view through the end of the month. You can also see his work at the Corrigan Gallery on Queen Street in downtown Charleston and on his website at (www.kevinbruceparent.com).

Parent will also conduct a workshop on pinhole photography later this month. For info call the Charleston Center for Photography at 843/720-3105.

The next 2nd Monday Lecture Series will take place at 7pm on April 8, 2013, and be presented by Stephanie Coakley. Check the Center for details.

Share this article

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art Exhibitiions, Art Lectures, Charleston SC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

A Trip to Visit Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC, and See Some Art Too

March 5th, 2013

Our grandchild turned three at the end of February and after we finished the launch of the March 2013 issue of Carolina Arts, which can be downloaded at (http://www.carolinaarts.com/313/313carolinaarts.pdf), the family “packed” themselves into our car and headed to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. I was also hoping to see a few exhibits there – if we finished the zoo in time to see anything. I was hopeful.

The zoo experience finished around 4pm and once we got “packed” back into the car, Linda checked her copy of Carolina Arts on her iPhone and we headed to 701 Center for Contemporary Art which was open on Saturdays until 5pm.

It’s not too far from the zoo over to Whaley Street so we arrived about 4:20pm, but when we got there the gallery was closed. The current exhibit, Stephen Hayes: Cash Crop, has been extended to Mar. 31, 2013, so there is still a chance we might see it. The good thing was that a good part of the entrance to the gallery is glass – so those in our party got to see a good bit of the exhibit and it might have been a good thing since we had a 3 year old with us that we couldn’t get closer. There’s a lot of stuff to touch in this exhibit and that could have been a disaster.


detail of one of the works in Cash Crop

At the core of the exhibit are 15 life-size sculptures of shackled people placed in boat- or coffin-like structures, with diagrams of captive, warehoused humans in Trans-Atlantic slave ships carved in wood on the back. The sculptures represent, Hayes says, “the 15 million human beings kidnapped and transported by sea during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.”

I’ve seen the exhibit before at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, but each presentation of the exhibit is different depending on the venue it is being presented in, plus no matter where it is presented it’s a powerful and moving presentation of a slice of our country’s history that shouldn’t be forgotten.

We did get to see an exhibit of works by Jame Lathren, entitled the space between time, in the Hallway Gallery at 701. The exhibit of wax paintings will be up through Mar. 15. I’m not sure why we don’t get notice of these exhibits in this space from 701, but I hope they start coming to us so we can let people know what they might get to see there too.


Work by Jame Lathren


Work by Jame Lathren

So now what? Our check of Columbia galleries had told us most everywhere else we wanted to go was already closed. Except there might be a chance that someone was still over at Vista Studios keeping the doors open for the exhibit at Gallery 80808, New Work…The Natural Evolution of Six Artists and a Mountain Retreat, on view through Mar. 11, 2013. Exhibits that are presented by renters of the space are often manned longer than posted times.

It’s a good thing Vista Studios is not far from 701 Center for Contemporary Art. We got there just before 5pm. I saw the sandwich board still out front and lights were still on so we got inside and Jan Swanson, who was still on duty, was gracious enough to stay a little longer to give us a quick look at the exhibit.

The exhibit is just one of the results of Eileen Blyth, Brucie Holler, Louanne LaRoche, Laurie McIntosh, Lynn Parrott and Jan Swanson, three artists from the Columbia area and three from the Hilton Head area, spending a week in the mountains of North Carolina creating and sharing their love of art. They’ve done this for eight years and are still talking to each other – just kidding.

Some of the works were created during those trips. I did a quick look around and snapped a few photos with my iPhone and the others in our party ran interference with the 3 year old. We didn’t stay long, I didn’t want to hold anyone up with their plans for a Saturday night, but it doesn’t take me long, after all these years, to see this was a fantastic show offering quite a variety of works in various media from a talented group of artists. I knew the work of some of the artists, but there were many surprises.

Folks in the Columbia area need to get out and see this exhibit – it’s going to be up through Mar. 11, giving you another weekend opportunity and for folks in the Hilton Head area, the exhibit will soon be on view at Camellia Art gallery on Hilton Head Island, from Mar. 22 – Apr. 13, 2013.


A sculpture by Eileen Blyth. I’ve seen her paintings but this was the first time I’ve seen her sculptures.

I can’t go into too much about individual works, but I have one last thing to say about our visit there. I was just about ready to leave as I knew everyone was ready to go home after a long day and still with two hours to go in the “packed” car, I saw my son chasing the wild boy down the entrance hallway to the gallery yelling Grandpa! Grandpa! When they reached me I asked the young man which piece of art he liked best.

After a few moments of registering what I was asking him – he ran around the corner from where we were standing and pointed to works by Jan Swanson. I was amazed and very pleased and thought – have I found my successor to the helm of Carolina Arts? Instead of just pointing to the art in front of him he returned to a place he had stood in front of a good 15 minutes ago and pointed out the work of the artist standing with us. Now that’s a future editor of an arts newspaper. It might of had something to do with the fact that 15 minutes earlier we had to haul him off from touching those same works, but we’ll never know. It was a special moment.


Four works by Jan Swanson on the right – the favorite of a 3 year old on this day.

You can read all about this exhibit and the history of the group on Page 12 & 13 of our February 2013 issue of Carolina Arts, which you can download at this link (http://www.carolinaarts.com/213/213carolinaarts.pdf).

Share this article

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art Exhibitiions, Columbia SC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

The March 2013 Issue of Carolina Arts is Now Ready to Download

March 1st, 2013

The March 2013 issue of Carolina Arts is up on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 80 pages of it. We made it before the armageddon of Sequestration takes place. That’s 8 pages more than last year’s March issue – a good sign of growth.

We ask that you help us bring the news about the Carolina visual art community to others by spreading the link for the download around to your e-mail lists and posting it on your Facebook page. Once people see all that is going on in the visual art community they will spread it around to their lists and on their Facebook pages. We started using Twitter so you can find us at (http://twitter.com/carolinaarts/). Follow us and retweet our postings.

The link is: (http://www.carolinaarts.com/313/313carolinaarts.pdf).

If you would like to get direct notice that our latest issue is ready to be downloaded you can send us an e-mail to (info@carolinaarts.com) to be placed on our mailing list.

So download that PDF and dig in – it makes for good reading and shows that you have lots of opportunities to enjoy the visual arts in the Carolinas. And, don’t forget to find a way to thank our advertisers – they make the paper possible.

Thanks – Tom and Linda Starland
Carolina Arts
843/825-3408
info@carolinaarts.com

Share this article

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Carolina Arts, NC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

Another Quick Trip to Columbia, SC, for Some Art Viewing During the Crazy Winter of 2013

February 3rd, 2013

I don’t know why the good folks in Columbia, SC, think that Thursday evenings is the day to have art openings and art walks, but it seems that’s their day. Maybe it has to do something with early preparations for Saturday morning tailgating, but once again I was making a trip up I-26 from the Charleston, SC, area to see art in Columbia – something I don’t think a lot of folks in the Charleston area ever consider doing. Believe me – it’s their loss.

Charleston has an excellent visual art community, but so does Columbia and other parts of South Carolina and the Carolinas as a whole. But I’m not sure many folks in Charleston know that.

So on a day when our crazy Winter was turning from an Eskimo’s Summer to a Carolina Winter, I traveled to Columbia to see several exhibitions. When I first arrived in Columbia it was a wonderful 80 degree day. Within hours the temps had dropped 30-40 degrees and rain was blowing horizontally. It kind of reminded me of Michigan.

My first stop was the Goodall Gallery at Columbia College to see the exhibit, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Faculty Exhibition, featuring works by Marty Epp-Carter, Ben Gilliam, Elaine Quave, Joseph Thompson, Carolyn Tucker, and Paul Yanko. The exhibit will be on view through Feb. 16, 2013.

I usually don’t know what’s going on at the Goodall Gallery as we don’t ever seem to receive info about their exhibits, but somehow info reached me this month. So, I was interested in seeing the work created by the folks teaching our lucky high school students in SC who get the opportunity to attend the Governor’s School for the Arts in Greenville, SC.

I’ve been told that we will be better informed about exhibits at Columbia College. As Martha Stewart says, “That’s a good thing.”

As I drove to Columbia College I was experiencing a feeling of auto-pilot – the Goodall Gallery was my first stop when delivering papers to Columbia (years ago now). The only difference now was that it was the middle of the day instead of being at 1 or 2am at night. And, being daytime I had to take some faculty member’s parking space, but I figured at that time of the day they had probably left for home already – otherwise I created a parking domino effect. Sorry about that.


A view of one corner of the gallery.

The Goodall Gallery is not a large space, but it isn’t small either. It has two levels, but today’s exhibit only took up the lower level. The only artist whose works I was familiar with were those by Paul Yanko, an abstract artist – go figure. I like his work and if you’ve seen it before you can spot it in a second – as long as he keeps to his current style.


Bridge Frame Wing by Paul Yanko, 2009-10, acrylic on canvas


Bridge Frame Wing by Paul Yanko, 2009-10, acrylic on canvas – detail

After a look at everything on display my first impression was that the visual art students at the Governor’s School for the Arts would do well in following what these instructors had to offer. All of the work I saw could actually sell in the Carolinas – which is not often the case when it comes to college or university professors. I liked all the work I saw, but beyond Yanko’s abstracts I focused in on the earthenware clay works by Elaine Quave and a series of photographs by Carlyn Tucker.


Hercules Beetle, by Elaine Quave, 2012, earthenware clay


Economic Indicator Series, by Carlyn Tucker, 2005-2011, digital color print

Quave’s works were large platters mounted as wall hangings and Tucker’s photographs told a timelapse story on how well our economy has been doing since 2005. One set of photographs showed one small building in transition from openings to closings of five different businesses in a span of time from 2005 to 2011. It was very interesting – something probably only noticed by people who drive by the building on a daily basis or its landlord. Having been someone who has failed at business in the past, I felt the pain and loss in these images.


(left) Vespa, by Ben Gilliam, 2010, alabaster, copper (right) Erosion Vessel, by Ben Gilliam, 2010, bronze, copper

We have an article about this exhibit on Page 14 of our February 2013 issue of Carolina Arts (www.carolinaarts.com). Go see this exhibit.

My next stop was Tapp’s Art Center on Main Street. It’s been awhile since I’ve been there – way before they got city funding, but by the time I got from Columbia College to where Tapp’s is on Main Street – the skies had opened up and rain was coming down in buckets – horizontally. After driving around the area a few times and finding only one parking space that would have meant I would spend the rest of my time in Columbia soaked to the bone – I went to plan B, which is mostly plan A every time I’m in Columbia. I drove over to One Eared Cow Glass to see what the cowboys were up to. Besides I had orders from Linda, my better half, to get one of those glass snowflakes from the display of the Four Seasons (in glass) that One Eared Cow Glass did at the recent SC State Fair.

I found a space at OECG right next to the front door, but judging by how wet I got just getting out of the car and through that door – not going to Tapp’s was a good decision. Hopefully I’ll get to visit on my next trip to Columbia.

The cowboys on this day were working on a commission piece for the town of Blythewood, SC. They were making leaves to create a chandelier for the new Doko Manor community center in Blythewood. When I asked what that was going to look like they said picture the Dale Chihuly chandelier over at the Columbia Museum of Art, but made of colorful leaves. That’s some kind of picture. I’m sure we’ll be bringing you more about this project in the future.


Dale Chihuly chandelier at Columbia Museum of Art

I watched about a dozen leaves get made while looking to see if the rain was letting up, which it wasn’t, and kept checking at my phone for the time. That’s right, I don’t wear a watch anymore. It’s just another thing a smart phone has replaced. I was keeping track of the time as the main reason I had come to Columbia was for the opening of an exhibit at City Art Gallery, Selected Work from the 30 Year Retrospective: Made in America -1983- 2013, featuring works by artist Marge Loudon Moody, an art professor at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, on view through Mar. 2, 2013. (We have an article about this exhibit on Page 16 of our Jan. 2013 issue of Carolina Arts).


Tom Lockart making the stem for a leaf.


Mark Woodham rolling out a leaf from a big glob of molten glass.


Lockart merging the leaf and the stem.


Lockart shaping the leaf.

So while the rain continued, I took some photos (with my phone) and picked out a snow flake, talked with the cowboys and looked at all the wonderful works in the gallery, until it was time to venture back into the car to head over to City Art. I always want to get there early to get a good parking space – especially on that day, due to the downpour.

I got a fairly good spot considering, but the rain was still relentless. I had come ready to be dressed for a reception, at least dressed up for me (dress pants, shirt and sport jacket), but ended up deciding that at my age, it was better to wear my old reliable rain coat and Carolina Panther’s hat to stay as dry as I could. My normal dress is shorts and T-shirt or in Winter – T-shirt and lounge pants or jeans – 24/7 (Panther hat when going outside).

The 100 yard dash to the door was an event. As I reached the door and got inside I can remember letting out a whew! and realizing I was the first person there. The only folks in the gallery were staff members and they were all staring at me. Once I walked up the stairs to the gallery Wendy Wells , the gallery director, walked over to me and asked, “What are you doing here?”. Taking that as a sort of comment based on the weather and distance from Bonneau to Columbia, I replied. “I came for the opening.” She still looked a little surprised, I usually only show up in Columbia for maximum effect – Artista Vista, Vista Lights or even a First Thursday on Main, but I think she understood why I had come for the opening. She also said the artist was still “swimming” upstream on I-77 coming through the rain from Rock Hill.

You need a little background at this point. You see, we have to go back to an exhibit the SC State Museum presented a year or so ago, Abstract Art in South Carolina 1949-2012, which is where I first saw works by Marge Moody. This was my favorite exhibition in some time in SC and I was familiar with the name Marge Moody, but had never seen any of her work before that exhibit. I was more familiar with her husband’s photography – Phil Moody, who also teaches at Winthrop University. Marge Moody’s works in that show made a big impression with me – as did many of the works in that show. It was a spectacular exhibition. You can read about this exhibit and see some images in a blog I did about another trip to Columbia at this Link.

Wendy Wells had also liked that exhibit and in a discussion about the exhibit Moody’s works came up and she said she was going to have a solo exhibit of her works at City Art Gallery. My response was – when you do we’ll feature her work on the cover of Carolina Arts, and we did in our Jan. 2013 issue.

So, you see, I couldn’t wait to see a whole exhibit of Moody’s works and I said so on Facebook, but I guess some people just think comments on Facebook are just superficial comments. Not with me. So, Wells shouldn’t have been too surprised to see me there – slightly wet. But, due to the weather, I think she was surprised anyone would show up that evening. Linda wanted to come too, but just couldn’t get off work to come, so we’ll probably see it again before Mar. 2.

The SC State Museum in Columbia has just received the 2012 Certificate of Excellence for the exhibit, Abstract Art in South Carolina 1949-2012, from the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC). So, I guess I stand in good company in liking that exhibition.

Shortly after the reception started the rain stopped and a little sunlight came through the skies so I was able to dash back to my car and change back into my better looking duds – which meant ditch the hat and rain coat and put on the sport coat.

Moody and her husband soon arrived and I got a chance to talk with her about how she had managed to stay off my “abstract” radar, but the good news is that there are other exhibits in the works coming in the future. Hopefully we’ll have more about that in the future.

First off, this exhibit was not really a retrospective – most of the works were recent. I guess it was my mistake in thinking I was going to be seeing a wide range of works over a period of time – by not reading the exhibit title – literally (“Selected Work” from the 30 Year Retrospective: Made in America -1983- 2013). These works were on the more recent end of those 30 years. Perhaps one of those future exhibits will offer a wider view of those 30 years.

The only way I can describe Moody’s work is to show some of my favorites with photos provided by City Art Gallery. My phone’s camera doesn’t do such a good job in that space for some reason or it’s the fact that at a reception I do more talking than taking photos.


Blue Chicago Series: Blue Chicago, by Marge Loudon Moody, 60″ x 70″


Field Lines Series: Terrain, by Marge Loudon Moody, 60″ x 70″


Moon, by Marge Loudon Moody, 12″ x 12″


Studio Series: Sunset and Stilllife, by Marge Loudon Moody, 18″ x 18″


Thin Places Series: Field I, by Marge Loudon Moody, 54″ x 54″

You have lots of time to go see this show, but don’t put it off and then miss it. And, it will be some time – too long for me – before the SC State Museum mounts another view of abstract art in SC. So for people who love and understand abstract works – you have to get out and see these shows when they happen as they don’t happen that often – especially at commercial galleries.

Why is that? Well, those who like abstract art and would consider buying it are in a minority in SC. Commercial galleries are in business to sell art, so my hat goes off to someone like Wendy Wells and City Art Gallery for presenting a show like this one. In this case the public could prove me wrong. I hope so. Yes, City Art Gallery is a supporter of Carolina Arts, but that doesn’t change the facts and supporter or not, they deserve credit for their efforts.

I do want to mention another exhibit that opened that same evening in Columbia over at 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Stephen Hayes: Cash Crop, on view through Mar. 3, 2013. This is another “must see” exhibit that probably won’t be coming to Charleston any time soon – although it should have originated there.


A detail of one of Hayes’ pieces in the exhibit.

At the core of the exhibit are 15 life-size sculptures of shackled people placed in boat- or coffin-like structures, with diagrams of captive, warehoused humans in Trans-Atlantic slave ships carved in wood on the back. Hayes says the sculptures represent, “the 15 million human beings kidnapped and transported by sea during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.”

Most of those slaves probably arrived in Charleston first in coming to America.

This exhibition has been shown several times in North Carolina and I got to see it at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. If I get another chance I’ll see it at 701, but with a two hour drive back home, my visits to Columbia are always limited. One of these days I’m going to stay overnight and enjoy Columbia’s art scene like a local.

Hayes is doing a residency at 701 CCA, so he may be adding new pieces to this exhibit.

So, if you travel to Columbia before Feb. 16, you can see all these exhibits and maybe get a peek at the chandelier that One Eared Cow Glass is creating.

Share this article

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art Exhibitiions, Columbia SC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

The February 2013 Issue of Carolina Arts is Now Ready to Download

February 1st, 2013

The February 2013 issue of Carolina Arts is up on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 70 pages of it. It’s a bigger issue due to people finally recovering from the holidays.

We ask that you help us bring the news about the Carolina visual art community to others by spreading the link for the download around to your e-mail lists and posting it on your Facebook page. Once people see all that is going on in the visual art community they will spread it around to their lists and on their Facebook pages. We started using Twitter so you can find us at (http://twitter.com/carolinaarts/). Follow us and retweet our postings.

The link is: (http://www.carolinaarts.com/213/213carolinaarts.pdf).

If you would like to get direct notice that our latest issue is ready to be downloaded you can send us an e-mail to (info@carolinaarts.com) to be placed on our mailing list.

So download that PDF and dig in – it makes for good reading and shows that you have lots of opportunities to enjoy the visual arts in the Carolinas. And, don’t forget to find a way to thank our advertisers – they make the paper possible.

Thanks – Tom and Linda Starland
Carolina Arts
843/825-3408
info@carolinaarts.com

Share this article

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Carolina Arts, NC Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts | Comments Off

« Older Entries