It is with heavy hearts that we write this memoir in honor and remembrance of our dear friend and fellow artist, Jim Nelson. Jim was a creative his entire life whether on a canvas, building a home or even earlier playing in a jazz band!  Since retiring from the construction business in 2003,  Jim pursued art by opening a gallery in the Litchfield Exchange called "Drawing the Line". Later he moved the business to Pawleys Island and was one of the original artists and owners of The Island Art Gallery.   When asked the question one day--"How do you come up with such incredible compositions?" --Jim's answer was "I don't know really---the composition just comes to me ---I pour the inks on my board and wait-- through color and texture along with a little imagination the subject comes to be."    It's no wonder his favorite quote was "Color is a pigment of your imagination"! He will be so missed for his gentle nature and gift of imagination---rest colorfully  Jim until we meet again! 

A big thank you to artist and educator Maura Kenny for judging our Annual Spring Show this year!  We love that she spent so much time narrowing down the final winners which she said was quite a difficult task!  What was most interesting was the diversity of work submitted based on the artist's interpretation of "Earth Day".  In the end, she did pick the final winners and reminded us how important the artist's statement is to the painting as well. Congratulations to Debanjana Bhattacharjee for "First of Spring", oil in canvas taking first place; Meredith Boos for "Too Precious a Future to Drop", mixed media taking second place; Carol Russell for "View of the World", Acrylic taking third place.  Also an Honorable Mention to Sharon Lampke for "Peace III", oil on canvas. Do stop in and see the show in it's entirety--a wonderful celebration of Earth Day! The show will run through May 30th--artist pick-up is May 31st.

Happy Earth Day weekend!!  Sharing images of the show and hope you will stop by for our Gallery Opening this evening from 5pm-7pm.  We are so excited about the incredible work submitted and as our Juror Maura Kenny said--"They were all so good --picking just a few is difficult.  There are so many truly worthy of recognition!"