Road Trip Savannah - Post 2 also where I've been artwise and where I'm going

Savannah is not the city it was when I first visited in the early 70s. So glad! It seems since SCAD opened in Savannah in 1978 the cities treasured buildings have taken on a new life. Every time I go it gets better and better – at least the historic district and the restoration of buildings. To date SCAD (Savannah School of Art and Design) has restored over 65 buildings, many around the famous squares. Which has encouraged others to restore even more buildings.

When I visited in the early 70s the bones were beautiful but it seemed like the city was rotting away.

What a transformation!

What I love – those of you who know my work know this already – is architecture, gardens, and birds. So that is what I’m usually taking photos of, hoping some day to have time to paint some of the things I see, either on clay, canvas, or paper.

If you ever see a photo on my blog and say to yourself, “I’d LOVE a painting of that” just let me know by commenting on this blog post at the bottom of the page.

Leaving Savannah I took a leisurely drive up Hwy 17 which leads directly to my home in New Bern.

Along the way I stopped in Charleston and Beaufort to take a few photos.

In Charleston a couple places I always like to stop are Charleston Cooks, while I don’t like to cook I love a kitchen shop, it’s all the gadgets I guess. Well much to my dismay I saw their building was empty, I thought they had moved, no, they closed last year. Bummer!

So on to my next favorite place. Art by Laura DiNello

She does these interesting “paintings” that look like a mosaic but are really pieces of canvas cut up. I’m thinking when I get ready to do the mosaic in my pottery I’ll first do my image on canvas using her technique to work out the design. I’ll keep you posted on that project. I know I won’t have time to even start on it until after Christmas.

This is one of her pieces. Most are very large, like I said look like mosaic but are canvas so very light weight!

My 3rd favorite place is a little shop called Indigo.

Always has a nice mixture of hand crafted and not, cute, whimsey, well done.

I have been an artist my entire adult life, most of the time I was employed at a “real” job I was involved in the arts, doing my fine art on the side.

I started my career working with senior citizens and teaching art classes to them, then the regional commission on aging where I wrote produced and printed a newsletter going out to over 10,000 people (among other duties), which was my intro into the printing industry, then I moved to the art department of a commercial printer which taught me so much and has served me well as I pursued my life as a fine artist, then to Aspen Colorado Arts Council, the art department of the Aspen Times, and finally starting and working at Carolina Creations in New Bern for 27 years.

I feel like during all this time I’ve never been as creative as I am right now. It’s all because of time. I now have the time to experiment and not always worry about having to make a living. I feel blessed!

If you are interested in reading about what and who have influenced me through the years you could read my old blog and my 31 Days of Thanks posts, here is a link if you are so inclined.

Back to the trip!

This is not a good photo but something I would like to paint. Most of my photography is for that purpose, not as as finished product but something I might paint.

As many times as I’ve been to Charleston I’ve never seen the shell house. It is on the campus of Ashley Hall, and was originally built as an on campus aviary for exotic birds.