This sounds like the title of some 1970′s cold war movie where some international incident almost brings the world to the brink of Armageddon, but it’s not. It’s a comparison to last month’s downloads where by the first 13 days in April we had 100,236 downloads. By the end of the month the April issue had brought in 112,795 downloads – an amazing number that I didn’t think would be beat in some time, but we have a race on our hands.

April 2012 issue

In the first 13 days in May we have had 103,921 downloads – that’s 3,685 more than last month in the same amount of time – a real surprise. By the end of the month will the May issue surpass the April issue? I don’t know. It’s a long wait until the end of the month to find out.

I also speculated that the April 2012 issue just might be the issue that could knock the March 2012 issue, our official cult issue, off its top seat for all time download king, but although it came out of the gate running hard in May – the March 2011 issue has already passed it with 4,312 downloads. May 2012 has received 3,727 downloads.

March 2011 issue

But, I have to say, what really has me wondering what’s going on is the fact that we’re going to have another 100,000 + download month. Don’t get me wrong – that’s a great puzzle to deal with. I’m not losing sleep at night yet, but it does make me wonder – is this the new norm or just a Spring spike? Only time will tell.

You can check out any of these issues at Carolina Arts’ website at (www.carolinaarts.com).

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I did the blog about some of the North Charleston Arts Festival exhibits first as they will end on May 12, 2012. For info about other exhibits being offered visit (www.NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com).

So, Friday I went to see The Plantation (Plan-ta-shun) featuring works by Colin Quashie as it was going to end in a few days. I didn’t want to miss the exhibit that launched over 112,000 downloads of our paper. It was the first time I’ve been to Redux since their major renovation and the place looked great. Seeing Quashie’s works up close was a testament to the mission of our paper. We exist only to show you what you have an opportunity to go see every month. We don’t want to be your outlet to the visual arts in the Carolinas – we want you to go see art. No matter how good things look in the paper, they will never look as good as they do when you’re standing in front of them.

Quashie’s works were even more powerful seeing them in their true scale – something we can’t duplicate in our paper. These works were much larger than I expected. I know we sometimes give the dimensions of works with some images we present, but they’re just numbers until you’re standing in front of the actual works. It works the same way for smaller works too.

I love the works that poke fun at how “Madison Avenue” might market slavery today. They’re clever statements about the past and present, but I loved Quashie’s portraits more. I can’t write in “art speak” but I hope this exhibit finds other venues in the Carolinas and I hope Quashie continues the series. And, I sure wouldn’t mind featuring more works by him on our cover – someday down the road.

While at Redux I discovered they have another gallery space, called the Conolly Studio Gallery which features current works by some of its studio artists every eight weeks. This was news to me and a slip by the folks at Redux by not informing us about it. It was a good thing I checked it out, as while there, I ran into one of my favorite artists, Karin Olah Knowlton, who left Charleston for a Rocky Mountain high to live in Colorado and got to meet her very new daughter Ali. Karin has some of her new floral works (fabric paintings) on exhibit at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston. That was an unexpected pleasant meeting.

Go see her works at RLS soon – I bet they won’t last long before they are sold and off to new homes.

Next stop – Charleston’s French Quarter and my first stop there was Nina Liu & Friends, on State Street, as Liu was back in town for the Spoleto season. She finally moved to her new home in Mexico this winter, but is still looking to sell her “prime location” home in downtown Charleston. And, Spoleto visitors always bring a new crop of future Charlestonians – they come – they fall in love – they move to Charleston.

The gallery is presenting the wonderful black and white photographs of Michael Johnson through June during Spoleto. You would think that since she moved to Mexico the gallery would be a little sparse, but it was full of art. So all of you Nina Liu & Friends fans – the gallery is open and ready for business, but the building is also for sale.

You hear that greater visual art community out there? A gallery/home in the heart of Charleston’s French Quarter art district is available for anyone interested in opening a gallery or expanding their business to Charleston. Of course I’m not looking forward to the day when Liu is gone to Mexico for good – I’ll miss her and our conversations.

I got to Nina Liu & Friends well before the Art Walk officially opened and she was having some new lighting installed, so I slipped out to go over to Robert Lange Studios, just around the corner on Queen Street, to see those works by Karin Olah Knowlton, and then I walked over to Lowcountry Artists LTD on East Bay Street to see the exhibit,  Painting With Fire: Lowcountry Impressions in Clay, featuring works by Marty Biernbaum, on view through May 31, 2012.

That’s the beauty of the French Quarter – you can’t toss a stone in any direction without hitting an art gallery. If you run and just barely stick your head in each door you might be able to visit them all in one art walk, but you really have to narrow your visits to a few if you want to see some work and if you’re like me – there will be some talking going on too. I don’t get to the art walks that often, but I still know a lot of folks there.

Biernbaum’s works looked great in our paper, but also much better in person. And in person you can get that tactile experience too. I’m not saying you can touch all art works, but it’s usually OK with pottery. Just remember – you drop it – you bought it. And you don’t always have to pick things up to get a little feel.

That exhibit was about 20 minutes from officially opening, yet they say they had already sold a third of the works. Better get down to see this exhibit fast. Of course they have lots of other art there too, so you won’t have to leave empty handed if the pottery is all sold out, but I bet Biernbaum has some backup works on hand.

I checked back in at Nina Liu & Friends, but Liu was busy with another art walk matter and it was just after 5pm so I headed across the street to see the exhibit, First Light by Shannon Smith, on view through May 18, 2012 at Smith-Killian Fine Art, on the corner of State and Queen Streets.

I’ll never admit to having a favorite out of the Smith clan, but Linda claims I’m partial to Shannon’s work. I’ll invoke the 5th in any court, but she had some spectacular works on display, but I also saw a pretty fantastic view of Charleston from Mt. Pleasant by Jennifer that evening and it was just a year ago when Betty’s abstracts knocked my socks off. And, being an old black and white guy myself – Tripp holds his own in that clan of artists. So, how could anyone pick a favorite? That’s what I say and I’m sticking to it.

My next stop was going to be Corrigan Gallery, further down Queen Street, to see the exhibit, Landscape Reconfigured, featuring new works by Linda Fantuzzo on view through May 30, 2012. I don’t know if it was the heat and humidity, the week of work, or the fact that my age was catching up with me, but that walk seemed like a couple of miles instead of a few blocks, and I was feeling it all.

The one disadvantage of the May art walk in Charleston is that at this time of year in Charleston, at 5pm the sun is still bearing down and well after the art walk is over the sun is still up. Because I’m an hour plus away, I can’t show up fashionably late like some when the temps are a little better and I still have to make that hour plus trip back home.

I finally made it there and I’m glad I did. I’ve known Linda Fantuzzo for a long time – way before Linda (my Linda) and I started doing an arts newspaper, and her works just keep getting better and better and they started out good. She was part of the old John Street art colony – back in the day with Manning Williams, Bill Buggle and Bobby Brown. If you know these folks – you’ve been around Charleston for a long time. We (Linda and I) were doing photo processing on John Street, but the City ran us all off when they built the Visitor Center causing high rents to settle in on John Street.

I got in a few words with Fantuzzo and Lese Corrigan, but this gallery was filling up fast and these folks needed to talk to some real customers. While I was checking out some of the other works in the gallery, I was offered some help by a young lady who I guessed was helping Corrigan out, she might have been an intern from the College of Charleston, I’m not sure, but she told me about Mary Walker, Kevin Parent, and John Moore’s work – which I was checking out. I never know what to do is a situation like that. I know these artists’ work well, but she didn’t know that and I didn’t see any reason to say anything – why should I, and what would I say that wouldn’t seem rude? She knew her stuff – much better than some I’ve encountered in a similar situation. I once had a gallery helper try to tell me Corrie McCallum was dead long before she passed and there was nothing I could say to change her mind.

Situations like that make me think of saying – “Look, I know Corrie McCallum, I’m a friend of Corrie McCallum – you don’t know diddily about Corrie McCallum,” and then storm out – but I don’t. What would be the use in that? I’m just an old dude who has forgotten more than some know, but a new generation is in control now. This wasn’t the case – this young lady knew her stuff and she was a real asset to the Corrigan Gallery. And, the next person might not know who these artists are.

I hate to admit it, but after Corrigan Gallery I was finished for the evening. I was going to be lucky to get back to my car and endure that hour plus drive home. Luckily, a good night’s rest made it possible to do the North Charleston Arts Festival’s Main Event the next day.

If people want to sell me on the notion that 60 is the new 40 – I know I felt a lot better when I was 40 and I’m not doing too badly now, but what else do you want to sell me – the Brooklyn Bridge?

You can read more about these exhibits in the May 2012 issue of Carolina Arts. You can download a copy of the paper at this link (http://www.carolinaarts.com/512/512carolinaarts.pdf).

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I started off my trip to the 2012 North Charleston Arts Festival with a trip to the 7th Annual National Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition at the North Charleston River Front Park at the old Navy Base on the Cooper River where I think I gave a pint of blood. No, there wasn’t a Red Cross blood drive going on, but the mosquitoes where taking their fair share of blood from me. I don’t know if it was that I got there so early, about 9am, before the sun made them run for the shadows, but they were out in force, so you might want to take some spray if you go there – just in case. But this show will be up for a year – so no hurry.

I completely missed last year’s event so I wanted to make sure I photographed this year’s event, but I think the exhibit was still being set up so we’ll wait for that posting a little later, but here’s a little tease. I don’t have names and info yet.

I next headed over to the Charleston Area Convention Center for the Festival’s Main Event which is the site of many of the Festival’s exhibitions and competitions. I’ve never arrived at the Main Event when it was opening and I was amazed at the river of people flowing into the Convention Center to get their first look at the Festival’s offerings. This place was wall to wall art offerings – performances of all types and visual arts in every area of the facility, including the exhibits and artists’ booths selling their creations. Music could be heard just outside in the courtyard between the Convention Center and the Coliseum where area graduations were being held. I heard many a folk headed to the graduation say the festival was their next stop.

I started out at the Judged Fine Art & Photography Competitions and Exhibitions to see who the big winners were this year. I was really curious to see if Denise L. Greer was dominating the competition again this year. She’s been all over the place and even has a big solo exhibit at the Sumter County Gallery of Art through July 6, 2012.

The artworks were marked better this year, but for this 60 + guy I wish they would put the ID tags at the top of the works instead of at the bottom. I really had to test my ability to bend over to see who some of the artists were. My apologies to those folks who got a way too close look at my rear during this process. The lighting here is not so good, so in fairness I didn’t take any photos of these works.

Denise L. Greer didn’t do as well this year as she did last year. She won two Honorable Mention ribbons in Mixed Media and Watercolor. But I think she might have been robbed of a higher award in the Oils category due to some bad placement. But, that’s just my opinion. She had a small work in a very dark area of the Center – with almost no light on her work. The work itself was also very dark which didn’t help. From what I could see the work could have been very interesting, but hard to tell and I don’t see how any judge could tell either, but that’s the luck of placement – a factor in any competition. But I have to tell you there is a certain lure to an image you can’t see very well. I spent three hours looking at art that day and I kept going back to see if the lighting got any better, but it was always the same. Pretty soon I was getting the feeling that someone was trying to keep something good from me and that this work might be the best work of art in the world and I was being denied a look at it. That’s kind of crazy, but it’s how I felt.

Bob Graham, another dominating force at this show from year to year had won 1st Place in Drawing and 2nd Place in Watercolor. But Best of Show this year went to Shelia Thompson, an artist I do not know of, but the work was very good – so I’ll keep an eye out for that name in the future.

There were a number of new people with works in the show this year and a lot of the same people. I was glad to see Peter Scala had work in the Oils category. He won 2nd Place in Oils. His style does stand out from a lot of artists and I was glad to see that the judge agreed with my taste in art.

After a couple of turns around this exhibit to make sure I saw everything, I went to look at the Youth Art Competition and Exhibition next, which got a better placement than the Adult works did – lighting wise. This was a massive display of student art in three groupings, 1-5 grades, 6-8 grades, and 9-12 grades, from various schools in North Charleston, which includes the Charleston County School of the Arts.

A lot of people who come to see the art exhibits seem to dismiss the Youth Art, especially if they don’t have a child of their own whose work is on display, but I like looking at it to get a glimpse into the future of our art community and I saw some strong signs that things are doing well there despite cutbacks in school art funding.

My favorite work in the 1-5 group was by Jose DeLa Cruz, a student of Peggy Bennett at Howe Hall AIMS. This photo stood out from all the works I saw – there was nothing else like it.

Work by Jose DeLa Cruz

Another favorite was in the 9-12 group by Allic Alcerno, a student of B. Moore at the School of the Arts for a haunting portrait. (Not sure about the spelling of names here as tags were hand written.)

Work by Allic Alcerno

But I have to say the most impressive thing I saw in the Youth Art show was a group of works by students of J. Carol Gardner at Hanahan High School in the 9-12 group. Works by Eliza Westbrook, Tristen Mincey, Anthony Gabrish, Cody Dawson, Katie Hancock, Alyssa Black, Kaytlin Clack, Frances Fisher, and Ashley Seiderman were outstanding. Other students from that school had good works too. And the types and styles of the works were all over the spectrum of media. It showed that students don’t have to go to a school especially set up for the arts to get good training and guidance. This was the sign of a good art teacher. But that name seemed familiar.

I went back to the Adult competition and found that this teacher practiced what she preached. J. Carol Gardner had won an Honorable Mention in Oils and Mixed Media and a 3rd Place in Mixed Media. And, it was also good to see that the teacher wasn’t turning out clones of the teacher. The student work was very different from what the teacher was presenting. That’s not always the case in the student/teacher relationship.

I hate to say it but some of the works in the Youth Art display were better than some of the works in the Adult Art exhibit. But, again – all this is just my opinion. Others would see things totally different and neither of us would have the final right opinion. After all it’s just an opinion or how you feel at the moment – educated opinion or not – that’s how juried shows are.

I next went into the room the SC Palmetto Hands Fine Craft Competition and Exhibition was in and the first thing I noticed was that it seemed to be much brighter and it was a lot easier taking photos. This may just be another opinion, but I think my photos were better.

This show is always interesting, showing some of the best craft work being done in SC, but I know there are many others out there that don’t enter, but the works presented show viewers a good sample of the quality being done in our state. And, selected works from this show will travel throughout the state for a year.

The good thing here is that I can let photos do most of my talking.

Pearl Fryar’s Glorious Garden, clay by Patz Fowle

High Chair Driver, mixed media by Dennis Vernon

Cleo Car, mixed media by Dennis Vernon

Spool Cradle, mixed media by Susan Lenz

Close up of spools in Spool Cradle, mixed media by Susan Lenz

Mark Leaving Series #2, mixed media by Fran Gardner

Some of My Very Best Friends, clay by Pamela L. Steele

Brown Jug, clay by Pamela L. Steele

Time Signature, mixed media by Susan Lenz – back

Time Signature, mixed media by Susan Lenz – front

Tone: 31, mixed media by Doni Jordan

Container, clay by Tuula Ihamaki-Widdifield

Lidded Jar, clay by John Johnson

Handed Down, mixed media by Susan Lenz – Best of Show

My last art viewing of this day was the Photography Competition and Exhibition which included works by professional and amateur photographers. This year’s offerings included another outstanding group of images. I’m an old photographer myself (in a time – far, far away) and for some reason I feel funny about taking photos of photographs – so I didn’t.

There was a time when I would recognize many of the names of the photographers in this display, but I don’t think I recognized one. But, that’s not unusual in that I’ve been out of the local photography scene for several decades and many of the people I know no longer submit their images to be displayed in a way that anyone could reach out and handle their images – including children with sticky fingers. So, I admire those who had excellent images, yet still participated in this competition. What they get back after a couple of weeks may be very different than the prints they submitted.

About this time that massive art viewing headache was coming on strong. It’s one of the side effects of viewing too much art in a short period of time.

What was my lasting impressions of these shows?

First off, my favorite work might have been that work by Denise L. Greer hidden in the shadows, but today Fran Gardner took the prize. It might be because it’s been so long since I’ve seen her work, but it was such a surprise and joy to see what she was up to these days. And, I liked it. I’d like to see an exhibit of her works in a gallery setting and I think a lot of other folks would enjoy it too.

Mark Leaving Series #3 by Fran Gardner

Second, the works by Hanahan High School students and their teacher left me with a positive impression that an individual art teacher can still make a big impact on children to express themselves through art – despite funding cuts. And, it makes you think what could they do with proper funding?

Except for the Youth Art show, the other shows will be on view through May 12, 2012. Viewing times include May 7-11, 9am-5pm and May 12, 9am-noon, with free admission and parking.

The 2012 North Charleston Arts Festival offers a lot more exhibits throughout North Charleston during the festival. You can find out about them in our May 2012 issue of Carolina Arts. You can download a copy at (http://www.carolinaarts.com/512/512carolinaarts.pdf) or you can check out the info by visiting the festival’s website at (http://northcharlestonartsfest.com/).

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One of the reasons for this big jump was the fact that we featured works by Colin Quashie, an artist from Charleston, which were from an exhibit showing at Redux Contemporary Arts Center in Charleston, SC, dealing with slavery and how it might be marketed today. Those images caught a lot of people’s attention and they spread the word around.

From the minute we launched the April issue the downloads came in fast and by Friday the 13th the numbers had passed the 100,000 mark  – a figure Linda and I only dreamed of reaching – sometime in the future. But instead of falling off after the first ten days – which is the norm with us – the downloads kept coming until the 24th of May when they took the traditional dive.

Those numbers represented a lot of new viewers for Carolina Arts and when those new viewers discovered our paper, some discovered that we didn’t just start publishing this paper last month. So, we also saw in April, 18,751 downloads of previous issues of Carolina Arts – giving us a total of 131,546 downloads of copies of Carolina Arts in April.

And, the April 2012 issue is now a contender to knocking our cult issue (March 2011) off its perch as the all time download king for attracting downloads long after the issue was first published. The April 2012 issue has already seen 3,658 downloads in May (3 days) – compared to 2,133 for the March 2011 issue. Competition is good.

The March 2011 issue didn’t do too bad in April either with 7,581 downloads. It will be a hard climb for April 2012 to overtake March 2011 – as from launch date in March 2011 that issue has seen 166,378 downloads. It’s very popular, but if any issue can knock it out of first place – I’m betting April 2012 can do it. We’ll see.

May 2012 is off to a good start but we won’t know anything about how good until the end of the month.

I had hoped to get away from counting beans, but people just keep pulling me back into it. But, you know what – I don’t mind as long as it’s good news. And I think it’s great news.

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The May 2012 issue of Carolina Arts is up on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 82 pages of it. Our largest issue ever. We had an amazing month during April with over 112,000 downloads. That’s more than 30,000 more from March. I think Colin Quashie’s images on the cover attracted a lot of new viewers.

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.

The link is: (http://www.carolinaarts.com/512/512carolinaarts.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’s going to take a while to get through this issue. 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

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The largest crowd in history pressed auction prices to a new high for collectors of Western American art in the Scottsdale Art Auction sales room during two sessions on Saturday, March 31, 2012, in Scottsdale, AZ. When the hammer fell on the last of 392 lots offered, sales totaled over $16,250,000.00.

Top lot for the auction was a world record setting Howard Terpning oil, Captured Ponies (estimated at $400,000 to $600,000) that was fiercely contested by several bidders before it fetched $1,934,000 to a buyer on the telephone.  A Terpning oil earlier in the sale, Mystic Power of the War Shield, (estimated at $600,000 to $900,000) had broken the previous record when it sold for $1,710,000. By the end of the sale, six Howard Terpning oils and one drawing had achieved a total of $5,018,250.

Howard Terpning oil, Captured Ponies

The morning session was highlighted by Ron Riddick’s oil, The Blessing Dance, (estimated at $30,000 to $40,000) that brought a new record of $109,250 and a small oil, True Love, by Ray Swanson, (estimated at $3,500 to $5,000) that sold for $17,250. With 93% of the first session lots selling to an enthusiastic crowd the stage was set for an afternoon featuring works by the Taos Founders, Cowboy Artists of America and legendary paintings and sculpture by Russell, Remington and Frank Tenney Johnson.

Notable achievements included Frank Tenney Johnson’s oil, When all is Quiet, (estimated at $400,000 to $600,000) that sold for $575,000, Packin’ In, (estimated at $200,000 – $300,000) that brought $316,250 and an exceptional oil by W. Herbert Dunton, Roping a Wolf, (estimated at $250,000 – $350,000) that fetched $402,500.

Other lots of special interest featured Charles M. Russell’s oil, Indian Scout on Horseback, (estimated at $400,000 to $600,000) that reached $690,000, a Russell bronze, A Bronc Twister, (estimated at $125,000 – $175,000) that hammered for $258,750, the iconic Frederic Remington bronze, Bronco Buster, (estimated at $75,000 to $125,000) that brought $87,250 and a dramatic Herman Herzog, oil landscape, In the Yosemite Valley, (estimated at $40,000 to $60,000) that sold for $207,000.

Among contemporary Western masters, Tom Lovell stunned the crowd with Marking the Crossing, an oil (estimated at $125,000 – $200,000) that sold for $402,500, two wildlife oils by Bob Kuhn, Game Watchers, (estimated at $200,000 to $300,000) that brought $230,000 and Renewal, (estimated at $100,000 to $200,000) that sold for $115,000.  An important early oil by Tom Ryan done on the 6666 Ranch, Two More for Chow, (estimated at $40,000 to $60,000) fetched $69,000 and an impressive Western landscape by Clyde Aspevig set a new record for the artist when it hammered down at $99,250.

Tom Lovell’s Marking the Crossing, an oil

With 90% of the 392 lots sold, one hundred twenty-seven lots (32%) exceeded the high estimate and the total sale exceeded the total low estimates by 20%. Over 500 potential bidders in the room and a telephone bank of 10 operators kept auctioneer Troy Black on his toes for over six hours. Scottsdale Art Auction has clearly established  leadership among auction houses for American Western, sporting and wildlife art.

For a complete list of all sales results visit (www.scottsdaleartauction.com). Sale date for 2013 has been set for Saturday, April 6th.

For further info contact Jack A. Morris, Jr. by calling 480/945-0225.

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The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail is always expanding and we’ll always try to keep you up on these developments as best we can. Sometimes we just receive a photo and a little info while other times we receive a photo or two and some details about the quilt, its sponsor and the location where it can be found. For the latest and most updated info about the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail, visit (http://www.upstateheritagequilttrail.org/).

Here’s what we’ve heard lately.

A new quilt square or quilt block, (#71) Box Square, can be found at Comfort Keepers, 402 E. Greenville Street in Anderson, SC (GPS N34° 30.7061′, W082° 38.8874′). The block is sponsored by Melisa Morris Gleen and features the design by quilter Cassie Colfelter Morris.

The late Cassie Colfelter-Morris made the original cloth quilt, Box Square. Mrs. Morris was the grandmother of Melisa Morris Glenn and the quilt was made in 1981 to honor her graduation from high school. Cassie learned to quilt from her mother and grandmother.

Lucky Acre Farms has joined the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail with the addition of a quilt called (#74) Grandmother’s Quilt mounted on the barn of Gloria and Joe Williams, owners of the farm. Located at 1024 Milford Road in Townville, SC, the Williams’ raise alpacas primarily, but the farm is also home to pygmy goats, a peacock couple, dogs, cats, donkeys, a horse and two hives of honey bees.

According to Mrs. Williams, “This is a quilt that I made for my mother. After she died, it came back to me. My grandmother had taught me to quilt, crochet and sew. My grandparents raised me on a small farm in Upstate New York. We had very little money, grew most of our food and used everything we could from the farm. At that time, animal feed came in calico feed sacks which we used for making clothing and quilts.”

Grandmother’s Quilt is a pleasant two-block star design and is listed in Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns as one found in book #116 of the Old Chelsea Station Needlework Series, a syndicated service available since the 1930s to the present. It may well have been a pattern printed elsewhere featuring the two-block combination. It works because they both have the same drafting category (a four patch).

The Williams’ bought 28 acres in 1994 on what was described as an “old homestead” in the local paper.  They went to the Townville post office for directions and before they knew it, they were the proud owners of Lucky Acres Farm. They lived in their camper for two years, as Joe demolished the old house on the property and built a log cabin. In 2001, they joined the AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association), began to create pastures suitable for alpacas, built a small barn, and installed fencing. In 2003, they purchased their first alpacas, 3 pregnant girls, 1 herd sire and 1 gelding.

Today, Lucky Acre Farms is open to the public four weekends – the first weekends in May and December as part of the Heritage Corridor Farmer’s Association tour; the first weekend in June as part of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and the last weekend in September as part of the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association Open Farm Days. The gift shop at Lucky Acres offers a wide selection of articles made from alpaca fiber – scarves, sweaters and blankets knitted or crocheted by Gloria, as well as bears, dolls and other toys. Check their website for more information at (www.luckyacresfarm.com).

“We have to carry on the tradition of small family farming. It is our belief that anything we can teach our young people about the traditional ways is of highest importance.  In hard times we can rely on the farmer to sustain us, growing our own food and making our clothing.  If the knowledge of how to be self-reliant were lost, it would be a great disrespect of our ancestry.”

The City of Easley has two new quilts as part of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. The home of Robert and Betty Chrismer, located at 1034 Anderson Highway, is the site of a replica of a Tulip quilt originally made by his grandmother, Mary Rider Spalding in 1885. The daughter of William and Mary Ann Rider, she was born in 1858 in Littlestown, PA. She married James D. Spalding, a farmer and businessman in 1885. Mrs. Spalding died in 1894 at the age of 36, leaving behind her husband of 9 years and four young children.

Mrs. Chrismer’s father, Roy Reeves of Reeves’ Builders, built the Chrismer home in 1962. Mrs. Chrismer’s grandfather, Charles Jefferson Hendricks, originally acquired the land in 1906. Mr. Hendricks was a cotton farmer and lived on this land until his death in 1956. Three Chrismer children were reared here. The Tulip quilt is mounted on a woodworking shop built by Mr. Chrismer and his sons in 1981. He is a retired engineer and furniture maker in his spare time.

This particular quilt block may be referred to as a (#78) “tulip quilt”. In the mid-19th century, quiltmakers created countless variations of appliquéd floral designs, typically favoring a color scheme of red and green. The inspiration quilt combines two popular elements – a modified fleur de lis in the center with four outstretched tulips – in a familiar format. The majority of these early quilt patterns did not have distinct names; the maker of this quilt probably called it her “Tulip quilt.”

The Chrismer’s daughter, Elizabeth Hitchcock, lives with her husband, Ken, across the road in the original family home built by Mr. Hendricks. The farm was recently named a ‘South Carolina Century Farm’ and was home to four consecutive generations of the Hendricks family.

Their quilt block is an (#77) Oak Leaf pattern mounted on an old smokehouse built by Charles Hendricks that was used throughout the 20th century to cure meat. The smokehouse is now a garden shed used by Ken and Elizabeth to store garden tools and equipment. Elizabeth is a Master Gardener and enjoys landscaping as a hobby.

The quilt runner was designed and crafted in 2011 by Virginia (Jennie) Grobusky of Walhalla, SC, and is used on a desk handmade by Elizabeth’s father, Robert Chrismer. The oak leaf pattern was chosen to symbolize family heritage.

The Oak Leaf pattern, in many variations, was popular throughout the second half of the 19th century. Some early examples featured four small red and green acorns tucked among the four leaves. Early Oak Leaf quilts typically contrasted red and green; later examples made use of other color combinations.

The offices of Gloria and David Arnold, located at 10612 Clemson Blvd., Seneca, SC, joined the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. As they explained, “We decided that we wanted to be a part of the quilt trail and thought this would be a great opportunity to showcase the quilting skills of our friend and former neighbor Lori Kuba by having one of her quilt blocks mounted on our office building. The pattern we chose is from a wall hanging she gave us after we moved into our home.”

The quilt, titled (#73) Blue Horizon, was originally designed and created by Mrs. Kuba, who took up quilting after she and her husband moved to this area in 1991. She said she’d been reading about quilt groups in the area and decided to give it a try. She attended several meetings finally joining the Lake and Mountain Quilt Guild here in Seneca. One of her favorite things has been helping to establish the Guild’s “Day Bees,” or free classes held on the third Tuesday of each month.

Mrs. Kuba makes all kinds of quilts, but prefers to do hand appliqué and hand quilting to machine work. Blue Horizon came as a result of a class she took on Bargello quilting from Marge Edie, a well-known local quilter and author. Bargello takes its name from the Bargello Palace in Florence, Italy, where there is a collection of tapestries employing this technique. Bargello, or flame point, gives the impression of flames of color moving up or down. It can be done with paint, in needlepoint, or in quilting. The construction technique of bargello quilting is different as well, in that strips of fabric are laid down onto the backing and batting rather than making a top and then attaching it to the backing.

Mrs. Kuba’s advice to beginners is simple. “Find your own way. This area of the Upstate is home to some of the most marvelous quilters – people who enter shows and win awards. It’s good to expose yourself to such talent.”

Gloria, David and Corey Arnold are the owners of The Arnold Corporation (www.thearnoldcorp.com), building custom homes and emphasizing the need for a successful relationship between homeowner and contractor. Their work is accomplished with a Lump Sum Contract and a specific completion time.

Chattooga Belle Farm has joined the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. Two quilts have been mounted at this mountain resort vineyard, owned by Edward and Kitty Land. The first features geometric patchwork patterns that play with our perceptions. The predominant round ‘flowers’ in its design emerge at the intersection of eight triangles, each of which has contrasting petals on the two acute corners.  This pattern is called (#75) Hearts and Gizzards, a 19th century name for a 19th century pattern. The Ladies Art Company published under this name in the 1890s. Coats and Clark published it in a pattern booklet in the 1940s as Hearts and Flowers. Other 20th century companies published it under other names such as Snowball, Windmill, Lover’s Knot, and Pierrot’s Pom Pom.

The second quilt (#76) Hearts and Stars is a modern design that combined simple elements in a novel manner to create an unusual and effective design. Each block features, alternately, a heart or a chubby star. The blocks are set together with “sashing” pieced of squares and triangles. Careful placement of the light, dark, and medium shades of the fabrics creates the image of interlocking stars.

The original quilter is Jean LaFreniere, Mrs. Land’s mother. She quilted these quilts for her granddaughter, Taylor, when she was born in 2000. Mrs. LaFreniere began quilting when she was 45 years old. As the mother of four girls ranging in age from 12 to 27 years old, she picked up quilting as a hobby for the first time in her life. Over the next nine years, she made a full-sized quilt, completely stitched by hand for each of her daughters. With the assistance of a sewing machine, she continued to make quilts for her grandchildren and more for her daughters. She quilted for 25 years, and loved it immensely.

Chattooga Belle Farm is located at 454 Damascus Church Road, in Long Creek, SC. For information on the farm, call 864/647-9768, or go to (www.ChattoogaBelleFarm.com).

When Anderson County built its Main Library in downtown Anderson, SC, at 300 North McDuffie Street, one of the architectural decisions was to place a compass-rose mosaic in the middle of the floor in the main lobby. The compass theme was then used in a variety of forms on signs and shelving throughout the building. It is said to illustrate the library system, with the 8 points representing the branch libraries and reaching out from the center circle, or Main Library. Since its simplicity is a memorable image for people to associate with the library, the compass was eventually chosen as the library system’s logo.

The Main Library has been host to the Anderson Prickly Fingers Quilt Guild’s meetings for many years. To honor that long-standing relationship and to celebrate National Library week, the Guild and one of its members, Diane Schonauer and husband David, decided to co-sponsor a quilt block for the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. Diane fashioned her mini quilt after the (#79) Compass Rose mosaic. Her quilt was made in 2011 as an appliqué that is top-stitched using monofilament thread. The complexity of this pattern appealed to skilled quilt makers of the mid-1800s. The radiating design has appeared in many variations under such names as Compass Rose, Chips and Whetstones, Sunburst and The Sunflower. These patterns require the maker to measure, cut, and sew accurately, so that the points are sharp and all the pieces lie flat without bunching or rippling.

Diane learned to sew from her sister Linda. Their mother had a Singer sewing machine and they used it first to make doll clothes, then eventually clothing. She was exposed to quilting at a young age with her mother’s Cathedral Windows, Yo-yos, and Log Cabin blocks. She had always admired them—as a young adult, she took a quilting class at Katie’s Calico Corner, a local fabric shop. Twenty years later, her local high school offered evening classes on quilting—she signed up for the class and has not stopped since.

The quilt block is mounted on the west side of the Anderson County Main Library that faces McDuffie Street.
For more information about the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail, click on (http://www.upstateheritagequilttrail.org/).

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But now, we reached a new level that I think deserves reporting – mostly because so many people are responsible in helping distribute this paper by forwarding on my monthly notice that the paper is ready to be downloaded to their friends and contacts by e-mail. I’ve described this process compared to me throwing a stone into a body of water and as that wave from that stone reaches others around the Carolina visual art community they throw a stone which reaches others who repeat the process. It’s a process where many waves are heading in all directions. Those waves are most active in the first ten days of the month. Sometimes a few stones are thrown later in the month and a few might get tossed near the end of the month. But, the bulk of the downloads each month come in the first ten days of the month.

I want to thank all those folks who are part of that process and hope they keep it up each month. Because of you I can report that in the first nine days of April there have been 90,126 downloads of the April 2012 issue of Carolina Arts – amazing!!! I couldn’t wait for the results of day ten to tell you this news.

Up to this point our largest number of downloads for an issue came is Jan. 2012 with 84,244 downloads. I was thinking that with that number coming in January we could slowly climb higher and higher by May and June, but February and March saw a slight dip – still over 80,000, but not climbing.

Out of the blue, our April issue became our largest issue to date with 79 pages and we made the decision to go back and rerun an article about an exhibit by Colin Quashie that we included in our March issue, but this time feature his works on our cover and a few pages inside the paper – at a larger size than usual. We can’t tell if it was the bigger issue or Quashie’s images that drew so much more attention to the paper, but we’re very glad to see these numbers. But, it’s my guess that the images had a lot to do with it.

Plantation Monopoly (Entire Game) by Colin Quashie, 20” x 20”, Print on Masonite Board. Photo by Rick Rhoads.

There’s no telling what the end of the month will bring. The downloads could drop like a lead brick or go somewhere we have only dreamed of seeing. But we thought you might like to know this info and frankly I was dying to tell you.

If for some reason you haven’t downloaded this issue the link is (http://www.carolinaarts.com/412/412carolinaarts.pdf). And if you would like to throw some stones of your own in the water – use that same link. You could be part of something historic.

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The April 2012 issue of Carolina Arts is up on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 79 pages of it. Our largest issue ever and we’re offering a special feature related to our cover on Pages 42 & 43. We had over 82,000 downloads of the March 2011 issue.

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.

The link is: (http://www.carolinaarts.com/412/412carolinaarts.pdf).

If you are receiving this because you are on someone’s list, you can send us an e-mail to (info@carolinaarts.com) to be placed on our list, so you will get a notice of every new issue.

So download that PDF and dig in – it’s going to take a while to get through this issue. 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

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Linda and I were lucky that we were not under a deadline, and she was off from the second job of taking 911 calls, to be able to attend the opening of Photofabulous 2012 at the Art Trail Gallery in Florence, SC, Friday, Mar. 16, 2012. The exhibit will be on view through Apr. 27, 2012.

We arrived about 45 minutes before the official opening and we were lucky that they let us in the door to have a first look before the crowd moved in and I would begin talking with folks. Look first – talk later is a good policy if you expect to make comments at some point. And, I usually would have posted these comments before now, but I was suffering from a weekend of yard work – not my favorite task in life.

Editor’s Note: I didn’t try to take any photos of the photos on display. That doesn’t work so good with my camera and the gallery’s lighting.

This is apparently the fourth photography exhibit the Art Trail Gallery has presented, but I’ve only seen the last two. My first impression comparing this show to last year’s show, was I felt there were less commercial photographers participating and less photos by children, but the exhibit was more organized by category. I think last year’s show held an edge on quality, but not by much. There are some knock-out images presented this year, but my impression is that last year was better.

I learned later that one of the reasons for the difference was a loss of some of the display space which was used to present special exhibits within an exhibit last year. The number of entries were also limited and the show organizers didn’t beat the bushes as much as they did last year.

Also, a major factor in Art Trail Gallery exhibits – less photographers from the community stepped forward to help organize the exhibit. But the presentation of the exhibit and reception didn’t suffer with just a few folks doing all the work. Plus, nothing – nothing stops Jane Madden, the Queen of the Art Trail Gallery, from putting on a good show and reception. Great food was arriving from every direction – constantly.

The Art Trail Gallery is an all volunteer operation and each exhibit depends on the committee which comes together to pull it off. It’s one of the great things about this gallery and one of the problem areas.

Also, the Art Trail Gallery gives participants the responsibility to read and follow the instructions of participation or rules – which includes having works ready to hang for the length of the show and having works identified. Some folks had a few images I would have commented about in a very positive manner, but failed to identify themselves on their works. That’s too bad, but that’s what rules are for. That’s never a problem when it comes to a professional or a professionally acting person – they never miss an opportunity to take credit where credit is due and to promote for the future. Making people wonder or do an investigation to find out who made a photograph is never a good practice.

Organizing the photos by categories was a great improvement. You got to see all the ribbon winners and could make your own judgements as to how you thought the official jurors did in their selections. I hardly ever agree with the judging of any exhibit, which I’m sure was the case with many of the photographers, and their relatives and friends. And, after all this is a free country we are all entitled to our own opinions. But, when it comes to judging a show of artworks I take my hat off to any judge for making the effort and I know the Professional Photographers of South Carolina have set rules for judging images. I also acknowledge that when giving awards they only have the images presented to work with. We can all say we’ve seen better or that we could have done better, but we or the others photographers we’re thinking of – didn’t enter. That’s a fact Jack – you can only make judgements from what is in front of you.

And I also know from my vast years of experience in the photography world in South Carolina – many photographers are the worst people at selecting their best images and many times people put images in the wrong categories, which was the case in this show. There were many images that didn’t win ribbons in the category entered, but would have maybe taken 1st or 2nd in another.

Take the Abstract Category, in my opinion there were only a few real abstracts entered and the best photographic abstract image in the building was a work by Ann Klein which wasn’t in Photofabulous 2012, but could be found in the Art Trail Gallery shop. And the best abstracts in the building are paintings by Jack Dowis in sculptor Alex Palkovich’s section of the building. But there were better abstracts in the exhibit – they just were not entered in the abstract category. My favorite out of the works in the category was Builder’s Choice by Amy Beane, who received a 2nd place ribbon.

I stood staring with a group of other folks at the entries in the Abstract category and we were all scratching our heads wondering how some of these images could be considered an abstract image. One participating photographer even said, “I know what category I’m going to enter next year.”

My history in photography might be considered “old school”. Linda and I ran a custom photo processing lab for 16 years and I grew up in Kodak’s heyday – long gone now, but I had to laugh when I came upon Jeff Smith’s photos in the Portrait category – which he claimed to be “un-retouched” images in an age of Photoshop, a useful method of enhancing images. Photoshopping is a dirty word to “old schoolers”.

Smith’s images were first class portraits. It was easy to see he was a professional, but I think his boast of offering images “un-retouched” diminished his images some and I bet the jurors thought so too, as he only received a 3rd place ribbon. Photographers who want to be considered artists need to get off that soapbox – the final result is all that matters. The final images most people saw by Ansel Adams were highly manipulated to get the final results – perhaps in the darkroom, but if Adams lived to use Photoshop, he would have gone to town with that program. Oh wow, did you hear that crack of lightening!

Speaking of black and white photography, my favorite B&W images were by Lee Benoy, who had five images in the Architecture category. He didn’t win a ribbon, but that’s OK – it’s all subjective. They were some pretty fine B&W’s in my opinion and pretty good architectural images too.

And, while we’re talking old school and Photoshop it’s worth mentioning that Susan Muldrow swept 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the Digital category. She really has no competition when it comes to digitally manipulating photographs in the Pee Dee. Last year when I first saw her images I asked – “This is a photograph?” Muldrow takes color images and then uses, I guess Photoshop, to transform those images to look like paintings – loosely abstract paintings. These images can be stunning and last year I commented that they would probably win awards as straight photos, which makes some ask – why do the manipulation? It would take a lot to explain this and I’m not saying this is why Muldrow uses this technique, but painters get more respect than photographers do. And, it really sets your images apart from other photographs.

I think the most images were entered in the Floral category. At least as many as were in the Landscape and Wildlife categories – always the most popular. There were a lot of good floral images here and a few more in the Macro and Still Life categories. My favorite here was an image of a Japanese Magnolia pod by Donna Goodman.

In the Wildlife category the 1st place ribbon winner was a really nice image of a black swan in black water by Jeff McJunkin. It would have been a toss up for 1st for me with an image of a snowy egret by Susanne Sasser. But the surprise was the 2nd place winner, Really Dirty…Martini, by Patz Fowle – the whim of the Pee Dee. Linda and I couldn’t figure it out with out help from Ann Klein, but it was an image of a fish (with the face of a snake), and fish waste at the bottom of a very large Martini glass. You have to keep a close eye on that Patz Fowle – she’ll inject humor in just about every situation. And, we’re all lucky for it.

The Landscape category produced the Best of Show winner by Anne Baldwin, but it also had some of the most questionable images. Usually good images find a way of standing out among not so good images, but in this case the not so good really muddied the waters for me. There was one image by Dubravka Perry which I would have given an award for Place You Might Want To Live (During The Summer) category.  It was titled, Neuschwanstein, which I guess was in Germany or Austria. A scene of snow capped mountains with a lake in the valley with lush green forest all around. You could almost see Heidi’s grandfather’s cabin there. The image wasn’t anything special, but you’d have to try hard to take a bad picture of such a place, but I know that’s not true. I’ve seen plenty of bad pictures of great places so Perry did a good job of capturing the scene.

That’s my impressions of Photofabulous 2012, but you should go see this show and form your own opinions.

Linda and I had a discussion about looking at photo exhibits and how much photography we have seen in our lives wondering if we could really get excited about seeing anything anymore. I have to admit it takes a lot to get me  really excited or to knock my socks off, but it is possible.  I saw some images which I wish I could say – I took that.

I had a short discussion with a few of the exhibit’s organizers and made a pitch that it might be time to have a truly juried exhibit where just getting into the exhibit would be an accomplishment and then give awards. Yes, this would cut some people out, but it also would give them something to shoot for. When everything that shows up is included, it can make for a show that can make lots of folks happy, but leave them with an empty feeling of what did it mean? When it’s juried for entry – that means something right away. It also may be a reason some better photographers from a year ago didn’t enter this year. But that could have just been a space problem.

Changes are coming to the Art Trail Gallery. The building has been sold and I hear improvements to the building are being planned. Maybe it’s also time to change the policy of all who come can hang their works on the wall. Some gallery spaces around the Carolinas have a once a year community show where all who show up can hang on the wall – first come, first served. I know the Art Trail Gallery has been focused on building participation, but perhaps it’s time to step it up a notch and be a bit more selective. We all need goals and accomplishments to shoot for to make us better at things. Maybe that time has come for this space – as long as people are willing to come forward and volunteer to make it happen.

It may also be time for the participants of these shows to pay an entry fee – like most of these kinds of exhibits.  Entry fees can also be a good source for cash awards which will also draw the best.

It’s hard to visit this gallery without viewing the works of Alex Palkovich, here is AHA Moment.

For further information call Jane Madden at 843/673-0729 or visit (www.art-trail-gallery.com).

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