Pink House

For the last year, after a two-year hiatus, I began once again to go on photo shoots with my husband. We were in search of abandoned homesteads and interesting landscapes mostly in Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties. Not everything was abandoned. Some of the domiciles were still maintained and I photographed them because of their light and color. Others were works of art, like the old store front in Elloree with creatively painted folk art on the exterior.


Despite my experimentation with both abstract and conceptual art, my studies of pastoral scenes in South Carolina have become “signature” pieces. I believe that to a large extent, those, as well as my mosaics, are what I’m known for. I had thought to leave these studies out of my small works exhibition for the sake of consistency, but then I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to include four paintings in oils in a subject that people might expect to see.

The painting above is of a typical structure for South Carolina and environs. The family of a rectangle, a triangle and another triangle. I had photographed the scene late in the afternoon light - in that mysterious hour in which edifices are illuminated against a dark sky and shadows grow long. The pastel colors of the house worked well with the rosy glow of sunset. I recall that there was a storm brewing which made the light house even more dramatic. I liked the fact that there was a rose bush in delicate bloom in front of the house. We often see that on our rides around the state - a modest home with a well tended garden.