En Plain Air

Outside the Van Gogh exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Art was another exhibit titled En Plain Air.

Local artists' artwork was displayed showcasing the landscape of South Carolina.

These paintings by Mickey Williams are of Ghost Island off the coast. October Bonfire is on top and Twilight Below. Ghost Island (aka Cemetery Island) used to bury the dead and is now haunted (so they say).

One of my favorite things in the region are the great big, old oaks. This piece titled Majestic Oak by Noelle Breault is a favorite. The oaks take on so many marvelous shapes. In this one I see a confident woman strutting her stuff.

Bruce Nellsmith is one of my favorite local painters after seeing some of his larger pieces of work at City Art Gallery in Columbia. He painted this piece below titled Artist's Wife on her Deck in Edisto.

Glen Miller painted the charmers below titled Ice Cream in Traveler's Rest and From Richardson Street Parking Garage in Greenville. These bring back memories of Jim and I house hunting in South Carolina since we started our search in these upstate towns.

I particularly loved this quote from Miller in regards to painting en plain air "Things move. Light bounces. The heat and wind dry the palette, the shadows shorten and the work evolves, sometimes in unplanned ways. Unlike a camera, the eyes move and are distracted, the mind selects and omits, the hand exaggerates, and the brush records."


Scotty Peak painted Small White House. It does remind me of many landscape scenes I have observed when out for a drive.

Congaree, Twilight, Cypress was painted by Stephen Chesley. This brings back memories of our walks through Congaree National Park.

May Minson painted Afternoon on Da Creek. Its subject is St. Pierre Creek on Edisto Island.

Morning in Winnsboro was painted by Noelle Brault.

These 2 works are by Mary Gilkerson titled Late Summer and Summer Rice Fields. 

Gilkserson's quote about Edisto Island does entice me to visit as she said "Edisto is the captivating odor of salty air, hot sun on warm cedars and pines, and the fecund rich tang of pluff mud...a land full of water, creeks, and rivers that mark the time by the rise and fall of the tides."

When Googling "pluff mud" I learned this is indigenous to the South Carolina low country. The mixture of dirt and water has an odor that is enjoyed by locals, but not so much by outsiders. Now I am extra curious to discover this scent!

I hope you enjoyed these local works.

Thank you for stopping by! ~Val