Angel Oak - More Trees to Be Cut ???

Angel Oak has been a source of artistic inspiration for many artists in various forms: music, dance, poetry, folk stories, novels, painting, fine art photography...

It's age, beauty, and size all make a lasting impression that's rare in our modern world.

Sometimes it's important to become involved in the preservation of the natural beauty that inspires and enriches our lives.
A writer to this blog has sent the following comment that I want to pass on.

Emily writes: "Please Come Out on Oct.1, 2008 To Help Save The Angel Oak"
"A meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals - Site Design Will be held on Wed, Oct. 1, 2008 at 5 pm in the Main Conference Room, 3ed Floor, Charleston County School District Building, 75 Calhoun St. Chas, SC. The following applications will be considered:
A. Application advertised for previous Board of Zoning Appeals - Site Design agendas but not heard due to meeting cancellation or deferral. For information on this application, call 724-3790.
1. Maybank Highway and Bohicket Rd. (Johns Is.) (TMS#279-00-00-142, 248 and 309).
Request a variance from Sec. 54-327 to allow the removal of 11 grand trees ( Ordinance prohibits the removal of trees having a 24-inch or greater diameter at breast height (D.B.H.).

Request a special exemption from Sec. 54-327 to allow the removal of 14 grand trees.

Request a variance from Sec. 54-330 to allow a reduced impervious construction setback near the bases of five (5) grand trees.

Zoned PUD.
Owner: AOV-AOD, LLC and AOD Develop.,LLC
Applicant: HLA, Inc

"Plan on being at this meeting Wed, Oct 1 2008 at 5:00 PM at 75 Calhoun St. 3rd floor, Main Conference Rm. We have to show up at this meeting and tell the Board of Zoning Appeals we say NO to the destruction of these trees.

"Paint Charleston Daily" is about painting in the beauty of Charleston and the SC Lowcountry. While I don't oppose well planned development, I agree with Emily and many other concerned Charleston residents that this developer's request to remove 25 more "Grand Trees" and to increase the encroachment allowance around 5 other "Grand Trees" on the land to be developed around Angel Oak is not in the best interest of Angel Oak or the Charleston community.

Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting: Oct 1 2008
5:00 PM
75 Calhoun St. Chas, SC
3ed floor-Main Conference Rm.
Chas County School District Building

A New Drawing of Angel Oak by Charleston Artist Katherine M. Schneider

The light is softer and the air is sweeter under the sheltering branches of the Angel Oak.
What a wonderful way to spend a fall morning in the Lowcountry.
Today's charcoal and conte drawing of Angel Oak is a welcome change from my plein air painting in oils.
Drawing on location with charcoal and other dry media is a looser, more direct artistic treatment of a subject which helps keep my oil paintings fresh and expressive.
I also enjoy the unique beauty and expressiveness of the artist's "mark making" evident in a Fine Art Drawing.

"The Angel Oak"
Charcoal and Conte on paper
Drawing size: 10.5" x 14"

Here's a link to more of my Live Oak drawings and paintings.


The woods along Angel Oak Rd. are full of red survey markers signaling the soon to be cleared woodlands surrounding Angel Oak Park to make way for high density housing and commercial development.

Hurricane Art - "Waterspout " An Etching from the Hurricane Hugo Storm Series

September is the peak season for hurricanes in Charleston. Tornado damage in SC from Tropical Storm Fay last week and the strengthening of new storm systems in both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean have alerted locals to the danger of these storms. Many new residents of the Lowcountry have never weathered a hurricane.
I'm posting photos of storm damage from Hurricane Hugo and the etching "Waterspout" from the Hurricane Hugo Storm Series as visual reminders of the powerful destructive forces in all hurricanes.

"Waterspout"
Variable wiped zinc plate etching on rives BFK paper
Image size: 27.5" x 25.5"
Framed size: 39" x 32"
Price: $450.00

"Waterspout" is one of 12 etchings in a series created from storm damaged zinc printing plates of my impressions from Hurricane Hugo. The etchings have been exhibited as a group show "The Storm Series" in Charleston, SC and individually at the University of South Carolina Aiken's Etherredge Fine Arts Center and The Piccolo Spoleto Juried Print Exhibition at the Old Charleston Jail.

Although my family evacuated our home on the Isle of Palms for Hurricane Hugo, we underestimated the storms strength by staying in Mt. Pleasant,SC. We were lucky. Only our property was damaged. Next time we won't wait to evacuate much farther inland!

Hurricane Art - "Wind Over Water" An Etching from The Hurricane Storm Series

As the September 21 anniversary of Hurricane Hugo's 1987 arrival in the Lowcountry approaches, I'm posting another of the etchings from "The Storm Series".

7 storm damaged zinc etching plates I discovered in a Charleston, SC art store after Hurricane Hugo became the inspiration for a series of large etchings of impressions from that "Storm of the Century".
The etching"Wind Over Water" is an artistic expression of the powerful winds and storm surge I experienced during Hurricane Hugo in Charleston.

"Wind Over Water"
Variable wiped zinc plate etching on rives BFK paper
Image size: 27.5" x 25.5"
Framed size: 39" x 32"
Price: $450.00

12 "variably wiped" etchings and 3 of the original 7 storm damaged zinc printing plates have been exhibited in a show entitled "Storm Series-Hurricane Hugo Etchings"at the Saul Alexander Gallery of the Charleston County Library. Etchings from the series have also been selected for inclusion in shows throughout SC including The University of SC Aiken and The Piccolo Spoleto Juried Print Exhibition at the Old Charleston Jail.

Hurricane Art - "Flashing Water" An Etching from the Hurricane Hugo Storm Series

As Tropical Storm Fay dumps up to 30 inches of rain in areas of Florida, Charleston and the SC Lowcountry are also getting lots of rain from the outer bands of the storm.

This stormy weather reminds me of a series of etchings I made after Hurricane Hugo struck Charleston, SC on September 21, 1989.
After Hugo hit Charleston, I found zinc printing plates that had been etched from the storm surge, rainfall, and high winds which had also heavily damaged my home and much of coastal SC.

These storm etched printing plates became the inspiration for a group of etchings I created of my impressions from Hurricane Hugo.
Driving wind, rain, high seas, tornadoes all found expression in a collection of large etchings I call "The Storm Series".

The Storm Series - Hurricane Hugo Etchings
"Flashing Water"
Variable wiped zinc plate etching on rives BFK paper
Image size: 27.5" x 25.5"
Framed size: 39" x 32"
Price: $450.00

The zinc plate etching "Flashing Water" has been exhibited in shows at The Etherredge Center for the Fine and Performing Arts -University of South Carolina Aiken, The Saul Alexander Foundation Gallery of the Charleston County Library, Print Studio South and the Piccolo Spoleto Juried Print Exhibition.

Land Surrounding "Angel Oak "To Be Residential/Retail Development

The land surrounding one of Charleston's most beautiful and inspiring natural treasures "The Angel Oak" will be cleared for a development plan endorsed by Mayor Joe Riley and the Charleston City Council. Recently released plans call for the land immediately surrounding the small Angel Oak Park to be developed into "low end" housing and commercial/retail space.

A reader sent the following comment about The Angel Oak which I would like to pass on:

"... I am currently working to save The Angel Oak from being developed around. The City of Charleston and Mayor Riley have approved development on 3 sides of her to include "low end" housing and commercial/retail space. The construction, destruction of surrounding forest and high density population will be devastating for her. Can she survive it?
Please sign our petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-angel-oak-
on-johns-island-sc or click this link>
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-angel-oak-on-johns-island-sc
Thank you everyone!"

Although I realize the development plans for the land surrounding Angel Oak have already been approved by Charleston City Council, I have signed this petition in the hope of saving a few more "Grand Old Trees" at the location from being destroyed. I hope you will consider doing the same.

For a recent (June 23,09) update about the Angel Oak Village Development and a new painting, click here.

Studio Palette Color Choices for Landscape and Still Life Painting

Recently, I've been experimenting with different color choices on my studio palette for landscape and still life painting. Here's a photo of my studio palette "tube" colors (upper left corner) and mixtures. I especially like the bright, transparent red that results from mixing permanent rose and cadmium orange. French ultramarine blue and perm. rose make beautiful variations of purple and mauve.

The tube colors shown on the palette are: permanent sap green, cerulean blue, French ultramarine blue, permanent alizarin crimson, permanent rose, burnt sienna, cadmium orange, cadmium yellow pale, a mixture of cad. orange+cad. yellow, and titanium white. I also use warm and cool tinting whites mixed from these colors.

With so many rich colors, it's tempting to "use every crayon in the box", but using complements and well mixed grays will always make a stronger painting.

"Marsh Sky" A Monoprint Painting by Katherine M Schneider

The monoprint painting process provides a degree of spontaneity that often produces work with a loose, free flowing feel. The summer clouds in the sepia painting "Marsh Sky" are a good example of the loose handling of paint on the monoprint surface.
In this painting, the subject and artistic process combine to create an evocative impression of a traditional Lowcountry scene.
For more oil, plein air and woodcut marsh scenes click here.

"Marsh Sky"
Sepia Monoprint on Reeves BFK Paper
Image size: 17.5" x 24"
Matted size: 24" x 30"
Price: $250.00

American Flags on the Fourth of July

American flags flying in the summer breeze are a familiar sight on the Fourth of July in the Lowcountry.

Our family's back porch is a favorite place to celebrate the USA's birthday 232 years ago.

As we enjoy hot dogs, watermelon, and corn on the cob, we'll be thinking of the men and women who are serving in our country's armed forces to preserve the Founding Fathers ideals in the Declaration of Independence ."...We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness..."
Happy 4th of July.