Isle of Palms
South Carolina
17 August 1997
Watercolor on hot press Lana paper
6 x 4", archival mat + backing to 10 x 8"
US $195 (includes USPS Priority Shipping)
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From about 1985 through 1990, I painted architectural portraits on commission, mostly of homes. I take a lot of pleasure in drawing and painting houses.
In 1985, beginning with a study made for a mother's day card, I painted the small Mediterranean Revival house where I lived in Sarasota, Florida. That became the prototype for a larger project over the following year. I selected twelve examples of different historic residential architectural styles from the city's master site file, hunted them down, made a watercolor of each, did research on the buildings, architects and early residents, then wrote up my findings. All this just happened to coincide with Sarasota's centennial celebrations so I was able to conclude the project with a show of the paintings and research blurbs at City Hall and later, at Northern Trust Bank. Within a year of my project, three of the buildings were demolished.
During my limbo period in Mount Pleasant, as I explored the stretch from my temporary quarters to the nearest beach, I scouted good painting subjects and spotted this brand new, pretty little house on the beach at Isle of Palm. This was the first house built on a particular stretch of beach that had been decimated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Soon, it was hemmed in on both sides by other new houses.
Isle of Palms
