The Inspiration for the Scenes from my Low Country Collection
Huspah Creek sunset view through the live oaks.
My childhood home sat on the banks of Huspah Creek in a tiny farm community called Lobeco, about 20 minutes from Beaufort, SC. Named for the train stop just up the the way that would pick up produce from Long and Bellamy Company. Which, when the crates were stacked read LO BE CO. There was an old general store there where my dad would stop every day. We’d load up on yoo-hoos, candied cigarettes, wax lips, and whatever else we could convince him to buy for us. I can still see the place (long since torn down) and hear the clang of the double screen doors.
This collection of original Low Country paintings comes from a place that is near and dear. It’s where I grew up, the sights, the sounds, that very recognizable smell. The marshes of the low country are what made me. I’ve lived elsewhere longer than I’ve lived here, but this is who I am. It feels so natural for me to paint these scenes. So much of my childhood and young adult life was spent in these waters. I can smell it, hear it and feel the water on my skin.
Low Tide in the Creek, I
I think Pat Conroy describes it best…
“To describe our growing up in the low country of South Carolina, I would have to take you to the marsh on a spring day, flush the great blue heron from its silent occupation, scatter marsh hens as we sink to our knees in mud, open you an oyster with a pocketknife and feed it to you from the shell and say, ‘There. That taste. That’s the taste of my childhood.’ ”
An original Low Country Oil painting, Sunset on Huspah Creek I, 40”x30”x1.5”, oil on canvas
