Gallery
Welcome to my art gallery. There is no admission fee. It is free!
See what I saw. See what I see. The gallery presents a nostalgic
glimpse of people and places in the Carolinas captured in watercolor
over the past decades since 1972. Churches, fireworks stands,
people, shrimp boats, docks, landscapes, country stores, grist mills,
and all manner of subjects are covered. Each piece has a story to
tell and explanation. As new works are added or as old works are
retrieved from their current owners and photographed, the gallery
will grow. Many of the places you see no longer exist. And if you
are of age, you will be able to tell from your own recollections!
This site opened in the Fall of 2009. In the future, I hope to use
to website to provide links to other artist's sites in order to
promote local and regional artists.
Visit an internet art gallery which features paintings of the two
Carolinas which I began in the late 1960s. Initially I began using
pen and ink during law school because there was not room for a
studio in a dormitory. In 1972 I started painting in watercolor
because the medium was quick to dry and fitted a busier lifestyle.
Over the years I would take pictures of scenes which meant something
to me…usually during the Summer. In the Winter when there was no
yard work, I would pick out a few pictures to finish before Spring
duties returned.
My subject matter consistently featured the changing face of the
Carolinas. It is where I grew up, partied during college, held
circuit court, vacationed, and raised a family. Over 40 years the
Carolinas have changed beyond recognition. From a landscape
punctuated by small and modestly larger towns, the Carolinas are now
undergoing full urbanization with raging metropolitan regions and
crowded vacation venues. Consequently, a lot of these paintings are
of places which no longer exist. To everything there is a time…..
Each painting is colored using a brush about the size of the
notorious No. 2 pencil of test fame! Each work can be classified as
a realistic miniature in that attention to detail is of paramount
importance. I explain my style as being from the "Calvin Coolidge"
school. President Coolidge was called "Silent Cal" because he only
said enough to answer the question. My paintings give a glimpse of
what one sees and not a full "look"…a glance as opposed to a stare.
As you can imagine, detailed painting can take a long time. Some of
these works took upwards of 300 hours. Accordingly, when I decide to
paint a picture there must be a reason because the commitment will
be significant. Each picture tells a story of a place and time.
The red hound dog wandered into my pictures at least 17 years ago.
Dogs were just part of the scenes I observed. When I saw one, I knew
a picture was waiting conception. And I preferred the dog to the
"birds on wing" used to fill up empty space. A dog has more
character. A dog is wedded to the ground and gets to know all of it
by smell and by taste. I now put a red dog into any scene which
captures my interest.
The medium of watercolor is time-honored. Before the days of
cameras, water colors were used to record distant locations or serve
as the pre-study, rough of a final painting which would be rendered
in oils. Learning how to sketch and watercolor was a part of the
classical education much as the use of digital camera and the
website it today! Watercolor papers are acid free and if properly
mounted and kept out of direct sunlight can last for hundreds of
years. The next time you go to a major city, visit its art museum
and look for the watercolors. They are truly remarkable works for
they capture light and air like no other medium!
I created this website when it dawned on me that I had turned 60 and
that I could share my journey in art using all of the neat,
state-of-technology digital tools to build a gallery without sticks
or bricks! In addition, I wanted to create a museum of local art and
let people buy prints of something other than gentlemen on horses
chasing foxes. For this land was not settled by fancy folk. It was
settled by an industrious and pragmatic people fleeing domination by
that sort!
If you have an interest in any of the pictures, please email your
comments. I wish to give visitors the opportunity to sign a "print
subscription list" which would permit me to run limited print
editions of those works for which there was enough interest.
Please Note: Whereas
these original paintings are subject to reproduction based upon
interest, the originals are not for sale.
Begin your tour of this work in progress and thank you for your
visit!!
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Current
Print:
Lunchtime at
Price's Chicken Coop
from the UPTOWN FROM
series
Excerpt from the Current
Offer page:
The culinary anchor of Southend, Price's Chicken
Coop has been serving southern fried chicken,
biscuits, fries, and slaw since 1962...
This watercolor painting was composed from a
collection of photos taken by the artist over a
period of several years... It has at least 300
hours of brush time with a point the size of a sharp No. 2 pencil.
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GALLERY:
The thumbnails below are clickable for easy viewing. Each one contains
comments from the artist as well as the ability to view the next or
previous work in the series. This can be done by hovering on
the left (previous) or right (next) side of the
painting until the buttons display.
Please Note: Whereas
these original paintings are subject to reproduction based upon
interest, the originals are not for sale.

Institute of Government |

Wilkinson Blvd Dairy Queen |

Newell Post Office |

Spoons |

Laura Rozelle's House |

William T. Alexander |

Flea Market Man |

Distant Relatives in the Snow |

Laura Rozelle's House |

Rosedale |

County Market Ladies |

Thompson Orphanage Chapel |

Terrell Country Store |

Picking a Fighting Cock |

The Appleman Has Gone |

Beaufort Docks |

Cabin in a Cove |

Carteret Seafood |

Cold Day at the Seaboard Station |

Cornucopia |

Fishermen's Graveyard |

Harkers Island Boat Builder |

Harkers Island Work Boat |

Hezekiah Alexander House |

Huntersville Station |

I.G. Wallace's Store |

Linney's Mill |

Madison County Courthouse |

Madison County Jury Pool |

Mast Store |

Facing Jerusalem |

Facing Judgment |

Phillips Seafood |

Fishing on Taylors Creek |

Terrell Bait Shop |

Shuffletown |

SouthPort Lightship |

Still Life No. 1 |

Sounder Man |

Swannsboro |

Swannsboro Post Office |

Apple Stand at Grandfather |

There Was a Crooked House |

Waiting for a Ride |

Willie Simpson's Pumpkin Patch |

Willie Simpson's Pumpkin Patch |

Wilkes County Mill |

St Mary's Chapel |

Red Leading the Workboat |

Latta House |

Jesse Campbell's Nursery |

Beaufort Docks |

Colony Road Creek |
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Colonel Franks |

Watermelon Stand |

Georgetown Salt |

Grits Grinder |

Mucked Up |

Murrells Inlet Creek |

Prodigal Son |

Waccawatchee Marina in Winter |

Waccawatchee Marina in Summer |

Waccamaw Red Neck |

Wentworth Market |

Up A River |

Georgetown Docks |
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Old Pen & Inks |
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These works were inked in the late 1960s and early
1970s...before I discovered watercolor. I consider them
primitives. They do reflect the subject matter and feel of
the people and places of the Carolinas. |

Apple Men |

Clinchfield Special |

Colonial Inn |

Fiddler's Grove |

Industrial South |

Kirby Allen |

Little River |

Ocracoke Gulls |

The Pug Mill |

Swannsboro Docks |

Antiques |
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