In Charleston

Day 20 and 21 (Fri and Sat,  Dec 2 and 3): In Charleston waiting for a weather window to make our next leg of the journey. It would be a few days before we could head back out again. At this point, we were wondering if we had waited a bit too late to being this journey. We were seriously worried that the weather would stay bad and stall our journey south. The days were beautiful and sunny but very cool and windy. Cold fronts seemed to come much more frequently so finding a window became our focus for the next few days. Plus, exploring Charleston. We made our way to West Marine for some needed Gaia supplies. The marina shuttle was very good. Dropped us off and picked us up right on time.

Day two waiting for the weather to improve. We headed back out to West Marine for my EPIRB (Electronic Personal Beacon). Just knowing it would be onboard made me feel better. While out, we had dinner, and walked over to Gallery Row. What luck, they were having a Gallery Night. All the galleries were open. The walk was light from one beautiful brick building to another with small white topiaries. The art was very nice. We made our way into several very galleries. We didn’t have time to do all of them or try all the wine and cheese provided. I found one painter in particular that I liked. Very nice style and actually a technique I tried back in college. He added a very nice touch though. He watered down his acrylics much like I had and applied them like water color on to the prepared canvas. But, he kept the open, flowing places where the paint ran at the bottom of each of his works. The rest of the paintings were very detailed and controlled. I loved the contrast. Now for the critique. It was a bit too predictable, always at the bottom. I would like to try this technique since I have worked in this way already but instead of keeping the flowing area at just the bottom of the painting, I will work it into where it makes sense in the composition. Much like Michelangelo would only complete some areas of his sketches, I will look for the areas that need the detail to focus attention. The other areas, I will let the flowing occur. Where is all this going? Personal validation that my painting/skill would fit in – I could compete here. I could do this. “Now, to work on the mental part of getting my creativity back. I am working on it.”

And I almost forgot, we saw the Christmas boat parade. It was very nice. Patrick in his usual manner found a few very nice friends. Forest was across from us. He was the Captain and “Project Manager” on a gorgeous sailboat. He married a Kiwi woman when he was cruising. He was going to be doing some maintenance on the boat this winter and then setting off to Greece next year for the owner’s wedding. Amazing the stories you hear. Then, Toby and his dad, Rick showed up. They have a Whitby too. And, have been everywhere. They home school or should I say home boat Toby. And he is an amazing child. So articulate and you can tell the travels, the world he has seen has left an indelible mark.  We will probably meet up with them at some point this winter. They will be heading south in Jan. Their plan is to do the “Thorny Path” down to the Virgin Islands. And did I mention they have been everywhere…