painting Archives - Charleston FYI

Charleston is known for its delicious southern meals, vast scenery, and blissful beaches, but there’s one thing often overlooked. As a city filled with creatives who are inspired by their surroundings, Charleston facilitates a spot for up and coming artists. The pastel buildings and sunkissed waterways are inspiration a-plenty when it comes to artistry. Today, we’ve gathered a roundup of local artists we love that we think you’ll love too.

Gaston Locklear

Locklear draws his inspiration from graphics found on billboards, urban walls, and other public spaces. His art acts as what he explains to be “a parallel to the human experience.” The Garden City Beach, SC natives’ intricate designs are purposely open for interpretation.

Kellie Jacobs

Think pastels and waterways when you think Jacobs. The College of Charleston grad designs landscape paintings through her own form of expression. Her use of dreamy pastels paired with detailed textures is a match made in heaven. You can find her work hanging at Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Southeastern Publishing Company, Inc.

Emily Allyson a.k.a. Southern Blonde Salt

The Bluffton native behind Southern Blonde Salt is inspired by the animals and sights around her hometown. Featuring oysters, redfish, and ocean landscapes, her style is imminent of life in the Carolinas.

Lynne Hardwick

Hardwick’s art hangs in the Lowcountry Artists Gallery located on East Bay St. Her love for meeting people and connecting with spirituality act as a spark for such abstract pieces. With many layers and strategic color blocking choices, her paintings are a reflection of life in Charleston through an entirely new lens.

Sam Malpass a.k.a. Badway Creative

If you’ve been to places like Saltwater Cowboys, The Vendue Hotel, or Ro Sham Beaux, you’ve seen artwork by Sam Malpass. Malpass is a travel-inspired artist who enjoys richly saturated hues and liquid impressionist brush strokes. Her murals and paintings are a staple to the Charleston area because of her knack for capturing the soul of each subject.

Image Credit: Adam Chandler via Charleston City Paper

The scenic drive to Folly Beach has its fair share of sailboats, white osprey, and an occasional dolphin – but there’s something else that turns driver’s heads: “The Folly Boat.”

The abandoned vessel has become a Lowcountry landmark that has brought in hundreds of local artists and thousands of onlookers over the past three decades. It washed up about twenty-eight years ago during Hurricane Hugo, the worst hurricane to ever hit South Carolina back in September of 1989. The boat was never claimed following the aftermath of the storm and now sits on the edge of the highway next to a salt marsh.

Over the years people have painted all sorts of things on the hull of the boat. The best part? There are no rules and anybody can participate. From memorials to wedding announcements to advertisements for local festivals, it has become a source of bringing the community together. Folly Boat has become so popular that it has undergone multiple clean-up jobs after the paint has become so thick that the layers began to fall off the sides of the vessel. The boat is a perfect symbol for the funky, feel good vibes of the Folly Beach community that we all know and love.

Image Credit: Fits News

However, our little boat has found itself in danger of being taken away. This year, the Folly Boat has become a primary target of the S.C. Secessionist Party. This group wants to draw attention to the ongoing failure of the S.C. General Assembly to properly display the Confederate flag that was removed from the State House two years ago. They have been conducting a “flagging” campaign across the state, painting the Folly Boat on numerous occasions.

The Folly Boat has become an identity to Folly Beach and has brought in an influx of artists that makes this community so special. It would be a shame to see the boat taken away due to one group’s actions.