The almighty Southern biscuit

Pitt oil base pencil and watercolor on CP watercolor sketchbook Laloran 5 in x 5 in

 From all the seafood and shellfish and the Gullah Cuisine we tasted and that Charleston is known for, the humble biscuit is one the stars of my stay in Charleston. It’s ingredients are so simple yet it’s so hard to make it perfect. It is the best biscuit I have ever tried. Savory, buttery, fluffy and it crumbles in your mouth. Here, this little bread that goes with everything, every kind of sandwich and buns are substitute by the almighty biscuit. My favorite was the soft butter and home made raspberry jam, this combo is perfection. I cannot take biscuits with me back to home, but before I leave Charleston in a couple of days, I made this sketch which will remind me of how much I enjoyed this bread in low country region.

Charleston’s secret gardens.

Pen&ink and watercolor on HP watercolor sketchbook 6 in x 7 in

The Charleston single house usually leads to a back garden. Some you can have a sneak peak at what might be there but others are totally private. I chose this passageway because it’s shared between two houses, usually is one passageway per house. The two doors couldn’t be more different, I bet gardens are also very different, but that I can only imagine.

Artist at work, the Gibbes Museum of Art.

Pen&ink and watercolor on CP watercolor Laloran sketchbook 5 in x 5 in.

I’m excited about this post. 

I visited the Gibbes Museum of Art in historic downtown Charleston yesterday. It’s a beautiful museum with interesting permanent collections like the painted mini portraits made with watercolor in ivory, all of this before the invention of photography, the display of furniture, both proudly made in Charleston, and the whimsical sculpture made of red maple and sweet gum woven and twisted saplings. The building itself is not as old as the rest of Charleston, it was finished at the beginning on 1900’s. But that is not my focus.

On my way out, on the ground floor, there’s an education center, an area designated for artists who are invited to come and display their work under a project called A New Deal: Artist at work. As I walked the hallway I saw a sign showing the artist was on location. So I did come in. There, looking at the computer screen was Katy Mixon, next to her, there were books about quilting. At the beginning I thought she was a quilting artist but during our conversation I was pleasantly surprised that her quilts are a product of a recycling project. She cleans her painting brushes with hand/baby wipes. So I learn she was actually a painting artist. The fact that she had so many of wipes pushed her to creat something with it, there the quilts. Clever creation.  I told her she has put together two things I love to do, painting and sewing. I asked her if I could sketch her and she agreed and went to continue with her work of the floor trying to figure out a pattern for the unfinished quilt. I did a very quick sketch with ink which I finished later. How can you make any justice to that rainbow of color? 

I said I would share the sketch with her as soon as I finish, so I did. Nice to meet you Katy.

Charleston SC, Churches and Palmetto

 

Pen&ink and watercolor on HP watercolor sketchbook 10 in x 7 in

St. Michael Church has one the most beautiful church towers in Charleston. It is located in the corner of Meeting St and Broad St. The church is very beautiful inside also, it has box pews, not for claustrophobics! An altar server handed me a mass program, he invited me to stay since mass was about to start. I didn’t stay, I was visiting only, so I went out to the busy streets and the cemetery in the back of the church. 

There’s lots of palms in the French Quarter, that’s why it is called the Palmetto City, it’s also called the Holy City, because it has many worshiping places, either way I have them both in this sketch.

Bricks, bricks and more bricks. George Washington Park.

Pen&in, watercolor and color pencil on HP watercolor sketchbook 10 in x 7 in

 This is the East side wall inside the Washington Park in Historic Downtown Charleston.  The background is a house next to the park viewed from the park. A statue of Washington is there as well. The old old live oak shades this area and bricks, wood and concrete structures are covered in moss. Ferns always happy here. If you walk on a hot day under the sun of Charleston, this is a very well shaded area, a welcome break from the heat. 

The city of Charleston, like the city of Savannah has many buildings and walls made of brick and streets paved with brick which can be seen still today. This is a great example of the different kinds of brick produced in the lowcontry area, either from Charleston and Savannah. Some trees are still dormant but azaleas are in full bloom.

The soft pink color was made using my regular transparent watercolor quinacridone rose and Buff Titanium from Daniel Smith. It makes a beautiful opaque pastel color, something I have to do again to paint the rainbow row of houses.

The dining experience in Charleston

Pen&ink and watercolor on CP watercolor sketchbook Laloran 5 in x 5 in

 Wherever we go to eat, the food has been from very good to exceptionally good. Here the waiting area of this place is no different than other places on weekends. So we rather go out during the week for a better experience. 

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site

 

Pitt oil base pencil and watercolor on HP watercolor sketchbook 10 in x 7 in

The Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is managed by the NPS, National Park Service. It was a typical plantation facility located North East of Charleston. Why is this facility managed by the NPS? What’s the significance of it? The ranger on location, Kaley Crawford was pleased to hear the question. She told me this land was preserved by a group of people who saved it from being developed into a golf course back in the 1980’s, then later was offered to NPS. To be honest I won’t get into the details of the former plantation other that my sketch, done from a photo and how the central building was the original, well close to the original, had to be rebuilt after a natural disaster. The two wings were added by the then owner back in the 1930’s. 

NPS Ranger Kaley Crawford

I had a wonderful experience there, I had a deep conversation with the NPS ranger Kaley Crawford. Her ample knowledge in history and culture was impressive. When we talked about the Gullah Geechee culture, she proudly showed me a handout she wrote herself about it, her contribution to the NPS, she said.

From back to front, Charles Pinckey, Kaley and truly yours.

Thank you Kaley, it was very nice talking to you! Kudos to the passion for your job!

The Charleston Museum

 

Pen&ink and watercolor on CP watercolor Laloran sketchbook 5 in x 5 in 

The Charleston Museum was a good start to visiting museums. The museum is clearly set up to learn the history of the city from the beginning, from Native Americans to the civil war. This museum has a collection of exotic items from the 19th century which makes it the oldest museum collection in the US.

From all the items I saw, I picked the ones that made a big impression on me. These municipal slave badges are unique to Charleston. City officials required the owner to register any slaves performing work as the sketch shows, with the city treasurer, pay a tax and adquiere badges. It was a system created to regulate and identify available skilled urban slaves, slaves who lived and worked in proximity to their owners.

There was also a badge for free slaves. Like copper labor badges that were mandated for slaves who were hired out by their masters, badges were also issued to the city’s free persons of color. Although the law did not require these badges to displayed dates or names, it still demanded that they be worn “exposed view”. After six years, Charleston repealed the free badge law in 1789.

The narrowest house in Charleston

Pitt oil base pencil, watercolor and color pencil on CP watercolor sketchbook 10 in x 7 in

On the corner of America and Reid streets, in what it was Hampstead Village now known as Eastside neighborhood, there’s a structure that caught my attention. It looked like a traditional house in Charleston, short front side and long side decks, but it’s not a habitable house, not with one door wide, I thought. So it turns out this is a house/sculpture made by an artist who with the input of the local community wanted to build an attraction. During my sketching time, several people liked my sketch, I noticed how diverse this neighborhood is (there’s a link at the end of this post for more info). One of them stopped by and claimed he built the house. He identified himself as Albert Alston. I didn’t know what to think about it. First, the house/sculpture has several signs warning people not to publish images of this structure without permission of the owner, so when he identified himself as the owner I went into a caution mode and told him I was practicing my drawing, a move it’s always in the back of my mind as a preventive measure to ease potential awkward situations.

 I told him I was visiting Charleston and I showed him also my sketches of Savannah and Jacksonville, immediately after this he seemed more at ease and asked me to send him a copy, he wrote his name and address in my sketchbook, I blurred his address.

 Then he immediately called someone and had a conversation I overheard, about how another person (me) was interested in the sculpture and how he was the creator of the trendy tiny houses, he left without saying good bye.

When I finished my pencil sketch, I crossed the street and read the plaque of information on the house/sculpture, then I understood what just had happened.  

This is the other piece of art mentioned in the plaque located in the counter corner of the house.

Google my name, he told me, so out of curiosity I did and found an image of him with his  family, it was him, the man I just talked to, Albert Alston.

For more information about this Charleston neighborhood’s history, click here. It’s very interesting.