Living Next Door to Alice

I need to talk about Alice.

The above book was gifted to me. I completed it last week. It chronicles the biography of a female watercolorist who lived independently and earned her keep through watercolor during a time when this wasn’t the norm. She elevated watercolor and, using it, shared with others stories of the time and place in which she lived. Her life story reached into others and left its mark through her mentorship and generosity.

“A shadow is not dull gray. It has reflections of the colours all around and it has light within the shade. Open your eyes to the life in a shadow.”
— Alice Ravenel Huger Smith in a letter to Talulah McInvaill
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Following reading the book, I listened to a conversation about it Walter Edgar held with South Carolina artist Jonathon Green. And I want to say, Mr. Green described the creative process and watercolor in a way that I so appreciate. Few know and understand the medium. “It can be unforgiving,” Green states. That is so true and a watercolorist knows the sinking feel when you know you’ve passed the point of no return. Watercolor painting is a delicate timed dance between the paper, the water, and paint. Alice was skilled in this. She painted “what she knew”. A confidence in the artist emerges when they are true to themselves and in my opinion Alice did that.

Her work explores the natural and historical environment in which she grew up. Coincidentally as I was reading this book, I learned more about the Charleston Rice Plantations through Episode 2 of Netflix’s High on the Hog. Smith chronicled the experiences of the enslaved in the Charleston area working these plantations. Some say these paintings are romanticized, others say they hold empathy and dignity. I believe the impression is left to the viewer.

As an artist, she documented her world as she saw and experienced it. In a world of Insta-artists, I am inspired by those who sought to learn mastery in painting as opposed to marketing. While she had her fair share of early work in promoting her paintings. her steadfast commitment to “water-colour” (as she penned it) itself leaves me feeling that there is not enough time to learn all I wish.

An exhibition featuring the work of Alice Smith at the Florence County Museum is on view through December 5, 2021.

An exhibition featuring the work of Alice Smith at the Florence County Museum is on view through December 5, 2021.

I thank Alice for her artistic honesty and generosity.

P.S. Blog Title is a nod to a little song by Smokie that some may recognize from any German fest ever attended. So since I didn’t visit any this summer I though we’d enjoy a little Ohrwurm today. You’re welcome ;-).

Schokolade

Remember that Forest Gump quotation, “...life is like a box of chocolates.”

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In my mind I keep thinking... Working in Education this year is that box of chocolates. Each day one never knows what one is gonna get. It has been an unusual year for all involved.

Teachers, Students, Families, Administrators, Custodians, Guidance Counselors, School Districts and Communities. It has been a year, to say the least.

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The subject matter took me back to my art minor college days when I studied the work of Wayne Thiebaud. The painting assignment then was to recreate a painting mimicking in the style of the artist. I painted three pastel colored mugs. I’m willing to bet he would love this box of chocolate.

“If you stare at an object, as you do when you paint, there is no point at which you stop learning things from it.”
— Wayne Thiebaud
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My mornings begin very early, when it is dark outside. I’ve taken a leaf from my American grandmother’s book and begin with a morning prayer list. The comfort I find here goes a long way if you happen to know her and the source of inspiration she is to our family.

These early morning musings follow me into the studio and often into the paintings and the thoughts behind them.

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The real chocolates behind this painting can be found at chocobella in downtown Florence, South Carolina. (And I can tell you each one of these chocolates is AMAZING!)

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Pandemic Pressings

In March of 2020, I began collecting flower pressings. I thought it would be a short lived pastime. Who knew I’d fill a book?

Now these petals, which chronicle the months, remind me that despite the standstill of time I continue to feel; the seasons will change. Blooms will appear again.

Why Dead Birds?

Five years ago, a yellow shafted northern flicker flew against the reflection of a building. I studied its markings and painted the macabre.

Most people know the check in one’s spirit that occurs upon finding a bird bereft of life. It isn’t quite right to see something which should be inflight asleep.

In a time before cameras, Audubon shot and killed the birds he painted and studied. And now those deaths on paper are coveted collections. Audubon himself took no pleasure in these killings and said, "The moment a bird was dead, no matter how beautiful it had been in life, the pleasure of possession became blunted for me." (Ornithological Biography, Volume 1)

Death is not foreign to me. I have known it as a reality. Life holds sorrows that sometimes come too early. And they shape us. Truly each encounter is significant and holds meaning. These experiences have taught me that death and grief are not an end but rather a tender step forward.

Through these fallen wings, I observe, learn and am able to speak.

P.S. Bird strikes are a very real issue impacting our planet’s bird population.

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