Swan lake for Mothers Day 5 '08

Last weekend we celebrated Mothers Day by going to see Swan Lake in Sumter SC. It is one of the prettiest city parks I have ever visited. The lake is a flower and bird lover's paradise. The beautiful black waters of Swan Lake form the setting for the spectacular Iris Gardens. The lake is dotted with colorful islands, and wildlife is abundant. It is the only public park in the United States to feature all eight swan species, Swan Lake-Iris Gardens is also home to some of the nation's most intensive plantings of Japanese iris, which bloom yearly in mid to late May and last until the beginning of June. The garden also boasts many other flowers including colorful camellias, azaleas, day lilies, and Japanese magnolias.  

Swan Lake-Iris Gardens began in 1927 when Hamilton Carr Bland, a local businessman was developing the 30 acres of swamp into a private fishing camp. At the same time he was landscaping the grounds of his home with Japanese iris. The iris failed miserably in the home garden, and Bland ordered his gardener to dig up the bulbs and dump them at the swamp. The following spring, they burst into bloom. The accidental garden, referred to by Southern Living magazine a "lovely mistake," has since been developed into one of the finest botanical gardens in the United States

Australian Black Swan

The magnificent swans were brought in from all over the world; representing Australia, North America, South America, Europe and Asia were originally imported by Mr. Bland in the late 1920's.  You might find it interesting that the Australian Black swans have been in residence the longest, and some of the birds living in the garden at present are their descendents.  They were definitely my favorites. Visitors are permitted to feed the swans. The swans are quite tame and friendly and will come right up to you looking for a hand out; so do the Canada geese, mallards, egrets, herons and anhinga which also call the gardens home.

 

Canada Goose
Of all of the photos I took today, I liked this one the best and am sure I will wind up painting "The Goose at Swan Lake"

Tri color Heron

family of Pied

Hogsbill turtle

Impressionist Exhibit at the National Art Gallery 4 ';08

CC in front of a Plein Air  Demonstration

The National Museum of Art was running a major exhibition of  the French Impressionist

BJ posing by / as VanGogh

We spent several hours soaking in the beauty of artworks that we had only seen in  art  history books

CC in front of a Monet

Hawaii: CC 's Painting 3 '08

While my husband was out chasing little white balls over the lava fields today, I  tried my hand at painting tropical fruit that I had purchased from a local farmers market

and flowers on mini canvases

The results were not too bad considering I had never tried to work with Acrylic paints.  It took some time to get used to painting so quickly.  Oil paints can stay wet and their color blend for days.  Acrylics can set up in minutes especially in warm weather. Getting smooth transitions between different parts of the painting is a challenge  .On the other had, the big advantage for using acrylics while traveling is that  one can be certain that the paint is thoroughly dry  when one goes to pack

McClellanville 2 '08

  Today I went to the nearby fishing village of McClellanville to get some shrimp boat photos and some  lunch.  The town has a large fishing fleet and arguably the best seafood in the state. (It certainly has the freshest seafood I have ever had.)  Unfortunately, Hurricane Hugo came ashore right atop of the town, and nearly wiped the once thriving town off the map. There are whole streets no, without a single building on them.   Hurricane or no, there is a certain beauty about the area can’t be found elsewhere.  Many of the survivors decided to stay put as evidenced by all the little local shops.  I plan on coming back to paint the uniquely southern town.

Hawaii: Gallery Hopping 3 '08

One of our favorite things to do in Hawaii is go Art  Gallery hopping. That's easy to do on the Big Island, as there are a lot of fine galleries representing both off island and local artists.

Volcano Art Gallery Volcano NP HI

The Volcano Art gallery in the Volcano National Park represents the best of what the Hawaiian Islands have to offer

We attended a reception there where we met glass artist

Marian Fieldson

and bought several of her beautiful  glass plates

Each is unique and cast in lava molds

I love their organic form

And she doesn't skimp on her color... red glass is becoming very rare..

A Red Glass Plate by Fieldson

On the opposite side of the Island we visited all of the little galleries in Hawi which offer  fine art crafts from the local area.

A gallery in Hawi

One of many studio galleries in Honolua

And of course we had to visit the artist colony of Honolua  which is the home of one of my favorite regional artist: Darrel Hill

Darrel Hill Studio

Exploring the Southern Coastline Jan 26-29 08

Rving at HPSP

Bruce and I took our first RV trip of 2008.  January has been a bit coldish here in Pawley’s Island, so Sat the 26th we decided to drive Southward in search of warmer temperatures.   Our first stop was in Walterboro South Carolina, which hosts the South Carolina Artisan Center.   

South Carolina Artisan Center

 The center has some of the finest examples of arts and crafts that we have seen to date.  We would have lingered longer in the area, but President Bill Clinton was in town to make a campaign speech for Hillary.   Needless to say, that generated an enormous amount of extra traffic.  So we decided to push on.

Beaufort Harbor

Continuing South along the coast we arrived in Beaufort County about 3 pm.  The nearest RV stop was Hunte Island State Park.  As it turns out, it is also one of the best places we have ever camped.  We spent to next day exploring the island and the surrounding natural areas. The Island is a semi-tropical forest which borders the Atlantic Ocean , Everywhere I looked there was a scene begging to be painted.   

Shrimp boats at Lady's Iisland

  There are miles and miles of estuary on the leeward side.

Hunte Isle SP  nature trail through the estuary

 The park itself has miles of white sandy beaches, with the skeletal remains of  a maritime forest that is being swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean called a Boneyard

Boneyard Tree roots

 Which afforded me endless opportunities for reference photos.

and boasts a real lighthouse which you can climb to the top of.      It seems to be a little known jewel as there were very few visitors (at least in January) to either the beach or the lighthouse. 

Views from atop the lighthouse

On Monday we visited the nearby surrounding communities. Beaufort County is composed of sixty-five islands.  Hilton Head is its most famous.  Frankly we were not impressed.  HH Island is now completely developed with most of the property locked in gated communities. Access to their famed beaches was hard to find.  Like most planned communities, at first blush it seemed attractive, but soon began to feel artificial and shallow.  We won’t go there again.

One of many of Beaufort mansion

The town of Beaufort on the other hand, was beautiful.  Beaufort's history spans back to the time of Spanish explorers. From museums to churches to a house used as a headquarters for the Union Army during the Civil War to the first school for freed slaves in South Carolina following that war. The streets are lined with ancient oaks, and elegant ante-bellum mansions.  The main street historic district has at least a dozen good art galleries not to mention good eateries right on the Inter Coast waters.   We plan on returning to see the town in spring when the marshes green up, and the azaleas are in bloom. 

Hobcaw Barony Bird Watching 1 '08

We were up bright an early on Friday, January 11th  for a bird watching event at  the Hobcaw Barony Reserve.   

The Reserve is at the North Inlet – Winyah Bay. 

  It is a vast area of virgin forest and marshland which is open to the public only through docent led tours.   We had signed up for a bird watching tour in the hopes of meeting other conservation minded folks.  As it turns out, the birding was poor that day; we only  saw  one bald eagle, a red meringer, a common loon, a dozen white pelicans (they rare in South Carolina), lesser and greater yellow legs,  red wing black birds,  yellow rumps, and a few other common woodland species. Even the herons and storks were no where to be seen.  The views of the vast  pristine marshland, made up for the lack of birds.  

Hobcaw Fire-watch Tower

Clam Bank Landing Road

Clam bank Landing

Since we were driven in vans to the birding sites, there was no exercise to speak of, so I  can’t quite count this an artists date.  On the other hand, the social contacts were outstanding.  and I got a zillion reference photos of this off limits  paradise.