Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dean

Dean___from my sketchbook
I have been in South Carolina at the Wildlife show and busier than I thought I would be! I hope you enjoyed the break from hearing from me every day...As I have done the past 4 years, after the show I joined artists Joe Garcia, Adele Earnshaw and Melanie Fain at ACE Basin Wildlife Area south of Charleston. The place is wild and remote in the heart of the low country and at the edge of where sea meets the low country. It abounds with ALL KINDS of waterfowl, alligators, bald eagles, and armadillos, otters, and more. We spend our time there unwinding from the four-day show, painting, and photographing this amazing area. But the main thing we get to do is teach a full day workshop to South Carolina's Junior Duck Stamp winners. We had a group of over 20 people this year (including a few teachers and parents), who watched demos, and listened to us share our thoughts on art. A great group this year, they asked many questions and seemed VERY interested in what we had to say...Dean (above) is the Game Warden and property manager at this wildlife area. He is a biologist and a REAL EXPERT in ALL THINGS "wildlife" in this part of South Carolina. When Joe and Adele went to visit Adele's new gallery in Charleston one day, I tagged along with Dean on a drive all around the islands and wetlands. Poor guy had his brain picked for almost 3 hours, answering my questions about everything from anhinga birds to hurricanes to the ancient rice field trunks on the property....while he visited with us I sketched him on the couch...


3 comments:

Linda said...

Beautiful sketch! I love your story of your experiences in South Carolina. Sounds like a lot of fun and you certainly gained some good information.

And, I for one, missed your posts!

Elizabeth Seaver said...

Wonderful sketch, V. It sounds like a magical time teaching and learning out in the wild. I'm so glad you got to experience all of it. No, we were NOT glad to have a break from your blogging, but perhaps you were glad to get away from routines! We are glad you're back and look forward to paintings from some of those photos you took.

V....Vaughan said...

THANK YOU, Linda and Elizabeth...your comments were so nice!