SCAD Road Trip Part 3, the Final Chapter

Last installment of the road trip!  We drove all the way back along the coast road,stopping at places that we found or were recommended to us.  It was inevitable that we visit a few touristy places, they're kind of hard to avoid on the east coast. 

We made it to Myrtle Beach, just in time for dinner.  Having a salad when outside dining by the beach is a little dangerous.  I lost a lot of lettuce to the breeze but the pit stop including our walk on the beech and a ride on the Skywheel was much needed.  After a good night sleep we're ready for more adventures!
It was a long drive to Virginia Beach so we went to Brunswick Town/ Fort Anderson first, a short drive from our hotel in Wilmington, NC.  There was a wedding going on and we didn't want to disturb them so we didn't stay long but seeing the ruins of the old town was a nice start to our day.  

We also stopped along Wilmingtons riverwalk for a little shopping and lunch. 

........and it poured on us.  So, off we went to Virginia Beach.  A long drive but we made it just in time to get a photo with Poseidon and drove down the strip a ways before heading north again.


We made it over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel just after sunset and had fun guessing how much farther we had to go.  It's impossible to tell that the bridge is 20 miles long when you start out on it.  Even though it's a longer drive, the coast road is way more interesting because of things like this. 



The next morning we visited Kiptopeke State Park before heading farther north.  There were lots of people fishing off the pier and you can see the WWII era concrete ships creating the break water in the background.  It wasn't at all what we expected but an interesting place that we were glad we stopped.

We decided to take a little detour over to Chincoteague Island because we heard the wildlife was pretty amazing and we might even be able to see wild horses there!  These are the only pictures I took on Chincoteague, from the safety of the car, because we had a little issue when trying to hike the marsh trail.  My travel buddy, Shelley, illustrated a fabulous comic that tells the true story of our experience there.  Definitely check it out on her deviant art page.

From here we drove to Lewes, DE and took the ferry over to Cape May, NJ.  We didn't have much time in Lewes before our ferry left, just enough to drive around a little and get the sense that we need to go back there.  It's ADORABLE!  Since we skipped most of the lighthouses on our way up the coast we decided to stop to see the one in Cape May before the drive home to CT.

 I was fascinated by this fort on the beach, such an odd juxtaposition.  But we didn't have time to go in for closer exploration.  We were losing daylight and still held hope that we'd make it home before midnight.  So, off we went, the last leg of our journey...... 

I'm back home in my studio now and super excited about using all of the photos, inspiration I gathered and new techniques I learned to make some new artwork this summer!  I'll be back soon to share what I'm working on.

SCAD Road Trip Part 2!

In my last post I talked about the road trip down to Savannah Shelley and I took a couple weeks ago and some of the things we did while we were there.  So, our adventures continued when we took a drive out to Tybee Island one afternoon to check out the beach and dip our feet in southern water. (so much warmer than ct!) While we were there, we watched the fishermen at the end of the pier catch a couple stingrays before tossing them back in the water and on our way back we stopped by the lighthouse.  Amazingly enough, our first lighthouse of the trip!

Our last night in Savannah and we found someone willing to use their key to get us into the speakeasy!  And.....as luck would have it, they were doing a burlesque show that night!!! Sorry folks, this is the only photo I've got of the place.  If you can find it and convince someone with a key to take you, it's definitely an experience.  

Not to change the subject but....Did I mention I am absolutely in love with the live oak trees!!!??  Plenty of photo ops with the spanish moss at Wormsloe State Historic Site.  This is the last place we went in Savannah before starting our journey back north!  This may look familiar, a scene from Forest Gump was filmed here.  I didn't have to do any editing to these photos, this place is amazing!

but, it can't all be serious.....

(No moss was actually touched in the taking of these photos for fear of chiggers..... They're real)

How could I not be inspired........ These textures are absolutely going to appear in some of the work I'm planning next!

Next stop, the Old Sheldon Church ruins.  a little off the beaten path but completely worth it.  Peaceful and gorgeous, this was another favorite!  The contrast between man made and natural gets me every time!

Resurrection ferns, the name says it all.

Stopped in Charleston around lunch time, not at all what I expected!  What a beautiful little city!  Loved rainbow row and all of the old houses from the 1700-1800's.  

 So many adorable little side streets and alleyways.  It's worth it to take a slow stroll so you don't miss something amazing in one of the nooks and crannies.  The patina on the brick and the combination of old architecture and nature turned me into an obnoxious tourist with my camera.  Last installment will be in a few more days!  We're headed north and only a few more stops to go!

SCAD Road Trip Part 1

A couple weeks ago I hopped in the car with my friend and fellow artist/ teacher Shelley Osowiecki and we headed to Savannah, GA for an Educator Forum at the Savannah College of Art and Design.  We made a few stops along the way, did lots of sight seeing, learned some new techniques to use in our own artwork and in our teaching and generally had a blast!  I took about 300 photos, don't worry, I won't bore you with all of them but here are a few of the highlights......

Made it to the GW bridge in NY at dusk, beautiful time to see it!  We stopped for a little fun in DC the next morning.  We hit the Natural History Museum and the Hirshorn Museum of contemporary art.  Shelley was dying to have a butterfly land on her and this one was happy to oblige....

A quick stop at south of the border for a photo op with Pedro because Joe was convinced it was a cultural experience not to be missed, and then we were on our way to Savannah!  SCAD welcomed us with open arms and plenty of schwag!  It was like being a college student again, staying in the dorms for the week!

Shelley and I took different workshops and learned lots of new techniques to use in our own artwork and with our students.  I learned a little about 3D printing, how to use Cinema 4D and a Wanhao 3D printer along with some awesome printing techniques to use on ceramics.  I don't know why I didn't figure this out sooner!  Back to my printmaking roots I go!!!!  Very excited to try more of this now that I' home in my own studio! 

Love this old warehouse that SCAD turned into part of their campus.  One of my workshops was in this group of buildings.

And of course, there was plenty of site seeing..... We took a walking tour around savannah and got to see the oldest building there, lots of the squares filled with live oak trees (I'm a little obsessed with live oaks now) and monuments to all of the historical figures that had a hand in making Savannah what it is and learned a little about Savannah's history.  SCAD's welcome center and Poetter Gallery is on Bull Street with lovely views of one of the squares.  This photo with the church steeple is taken from one of the balconies there.

As strange as it sounds we had quite a few people recommend that we check out Bonaventure cemetery while we were there. I took a photography class in grad school and the professor had a rule....Absolutely NO photographs in cemeteries!  I don't know if even he would have been able to resist at Bonaventure. The combo of old, new and live oak trees with drippy spanish moss was too much to resist!  Side note... it was 100 degrees the day we were at Bonaventure with a heat index of 115 because of the humidity.  Thank god we were able to drive around and get out of the car only when we wanted to take pictures!

 Had to stop and visit little Gracie Watson.  We heard quite a few ghost stories while in Savannah and a couple of them were about her.

Might as well see what the nightlife is like, right?!  This is the view from the rooftop bar at the Bohemian, Rocks on the Roof.  Great place to have a drink and take in views of the bridge and the river.  One of many bars we visited during our stay, including a speakeasy. (Shhhh, I might share a photo of that one too.) 

That's all for now!  I'll post more in a couple days!