I recently joined the Summerville Artists Guild and I am really enjoying it. The Guild is a group of artists that get together and create and show their work and talk art. I'm still getting familiar with my new artist group. It is fun meeting other artists and finding shared interests and discovering their styles. Last week I went on my first Guild field trip to Edisto Island. I love Edisto beach and everything about the drive there. It is a wonderful place. My intention was to pop up, gather my art supplies and hit the road early for the optimal art experience. Well, surprise, surprise, I didn't leave the house until nearly 11. No worries. I was on my own adventure. I plotted out the shortest route which included a long stretch of dirt road (I wasn't worried because Alishanee and I had already happened upon this road so I knew it was viable) and set off on my adventure. I love driving over the long arching bridge that connects the island to civilization. It's like you are driving up to the sky. As I reached for the clouds, I payed no mind to their darkening edges. Next stop was King's Market. I feel like it is a must. I love their year round giant fields of flowers, but honestly I'm there for the desserts. I decided one of the magnificent pies would be a great hostess gift. It was bustling as usual. They didn't have the chocolate cheesecake I wanted so I got a blackberry cobbler and started back on my excursion through the sprawling, arching trees that form an ancient tunnel over the road. Nearly there, I spotted a new thrift shop, called the Thriftory. Of course I had to stop and meander through the possible treasures. The biggest treasure I found was the mystical old growth tree growing in the center of their back yard. It was tangled with a fat maze of vines. I desperately wanted to touch it. The whole area was full of ancient trees that had such character and charm. I grabbed my camera to capture a few, and discovered my battery was completely dead. My main mission for this trip was gathering photos for some future paintings while sketching and splashing some messy, in the moment studies.
Oh well, back on the road. Now to the store to grab lunch and some whipped cream for the cobbler. The tunnel of trees grew darker and it began to rain. I remembered Victoria said there was a 30 percent chance of rain. As the rain intensified, I gathered my morsels and pondered what the probable percentage was that I would make this journey. The thirty percent downfall developed into a full blown thunderstorm and I started visualizing myself stumbling into the marshy cottage and hunkering down with the other soggy artists. I didn't have any desire to attempt a muddy marsh painting so I drove around and surveyed the beach access side of the island. I resigned myself to park and have a picnic in the car. My grocery store chicken and asiago bread was surprisingly delicious. Not long after my meal was complete, the rain subsided so I gathered all my supplies, minus one useless camera and set off down the beach.
Stay tuned for the rest of the journey in Fielding the Field Trip part 2
(I have been trying to share my adventure for a week and am having technical issues. I decided it might be too long so I have split it into two parts.)