A dream of mine came true when I was approached by the Flow Gallery to be a part of their Artist in Residence program at Palmetto Bluff. As a kid, my grandparents would bring me on day trips, and my creative mind would run wild. The live oaks, and picturesque architecture, all lead to sweeping views of the May River… I wanted to paint it all! Since living in Charleston, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting and gathering inspiration along the way.
Culling back through photos and sketches, I began creating paintings that would reflect the specific beauty and scenery of Palmetto Bluff. These paintings were hung at the Flow Gallery and celebrated with a Welcome Reception! I loved meeting so many collectors and admirers and discussing our shared love of the marsh.
I was lucky to be able to bring all the studio girls with me for this trip. We worked hard and played hard! Between my workshops and gallery hours, we kayaked, played pickleball, and had a great think tank session!
When curating the workshops, I wanted to take students through my process of creating a painting based on a location.
Friday’s workshop we boarded a boat and headed out to sketch from the water. We worked from two different locations. First, we were immersed in the marsh capturing its natural shapes and curves. Then we headed to Bluffton to sketch the shrimp boats from the water. I walked through ideas of perspective, light + shadow, and noticed the fore, middle, and background. Then we headed back to the gallery to fill in our pencil marks with paint.
Saturday, we worked on panel to create an acrylic painting based on one of my marsh pieces. We talked through layering washes of color and more opaque paint strokes, mixing colors, and how to create perspective with color, not just line.
I created three pieces of Palmetto Bluff scenes and we made prints of each one exclusively available at the Flow Gallery.
I truly loved every minute of my time at
Palmetto Bluff. The people I met could not have been more kind! I am hoping to be back soon, but in the meantime, all their workshops are open to the public, so check them out!
