LEPRINCE FINE ART
LEPRINCE Fine Art, located at 184 and 183 King St., doubles as a studio for owner and artist Kevin LePrince. LePrince paints there six days a week and encourages guests to watch and ask questions about the process.
The walls are filled with bodies of work from a select few nationally recognized, emerging artists from across North America. While the general look of the artists represented could be described as contemporary impressionism, each artist has a unique style defined by brushstrokes, palette choices and composition.
“I’m trying to encourage artists to push their creativity,” LePrince says. “I do this by giving them more wall space. That way, they’re not restricted, and they can get outside of their comfort zones, push the envelope a little.”
Between both galleries, there is 3,600 square feet of open gallery space, high ceilings and hardwood floors. The gallery has been designed to highlight the art—a collector can relax and enjoy a painting from a distance.
LEPRINCE FINE ART
843.442.1664
LEPRINCE.COM
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WENDY L. JACKSON
WHEN her mother passed away in 2001, Wendy L. Jackson turned to her poetry. “Everywhere I traveled, I took photographs and drew the scenery for the poems I wrote,” says Jackson, a South Carolina native who now lives in Georgia. “The writing and photography got me through my grief, and I longed to share my journey back from heartache.”
In 2005 Jackson published Food for the Soul, a collection of inspirational poems and photographs. Around the same time she also began painting abstract backdrops for her poetry. After enrolling in an art workshop in Marietta, Georgia, the now acclaimed artist boldly entered the Atlanta art scene.
Jackson works in acrylic paint and uses brushes, palette knives and other objects to create her art. Above all, she believes color is integral to all of our lives, calling it “the universal language of conversation, as it brings joy, laughter, sadness, love, and most of all, peace.”
Jackson’s vast accomplishments include FASO’s Bold Brush Award for her abstract piece Transition, a 30-by-30-inch acrylic on canvas. She often donates pieces to raise money and awareness for charity, and Jackson will soon showcase her artwork at the Parallax Art Fair in Kensington Town Hall in London from February 14–16, 2020. “I want my art to speak to people,” says Jackson. “But I also want people to find whatever they need and are looking for in my art.”
WENDY L. JACKSON
404.735.2259
WENJARTIST.COM
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DEBRA PAYSINGER
DEBRA Paysinger’s master’s degree in biology has informed her subject matter, as she primarily paints birds, lures, sea life and rabbits—or the raddits, as she endearingly refers to them. She owns the registered trademark for the term “the raddit” and each whimsical creation is uniquely numbered within the painting.
Paysinger assigns a not-to-be-repeated human name to each expressive bird she paints. These names are found on the back of each work. These striking animal portraits stand on their own yet have a grounded familiarity with the others. It’s as if Paysinger knows the personality of every raddit and bird and finds a way to let that personality shine through. Paysinger paints and sells what she loves—and nothing could make her happier.
You can find Paysinger’s art in Studio 151 Fine Arts Gallery on Church Street in Charleston, at Over the Mantel Gallery on Carlisle Street in Columbia and at Abode Home 2 in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
DEBRA PAYSINGER
DEBRAPAYSINGER.COM
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NEEMA FINE ART GALLERY
ONE OF Charleston’s newest art galleries features original art, jewelry and pottery by Southern African American artists. Located at the start of Gallery Row, in a building where Confederate money was once printed, Neema Fine Art Gallery represents 15 artists, including 2019 Yaddo Resident and winner of the 2019 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Artist of the Year Award Tyrone Geter, renowned civil rights-era photographer and 2019 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Lifetime Achievement awardee Cecil Williams, highly collected husband-and-wife potters Winton and Rosa Eugene, and acclaimed collage artist James Denmark.
Says gallery owner Meisha Johnson: “My mission is three-fold: to help increase the number of African American artists that are represented by galleries on the peninsula, to help diversify who shops here and to encourage the emergence of more minority-owned businesses here.”
Weekly events include Sweetgrass Basket Thursdays, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., featuring discussions and demonstrations of this quintessential Lowcountry art form; Book Signing Saturdays, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., with talks by local award-winning authors; and weekly music and art instruction for all ages. The gallery also features monthly art shows. Soon to come are monthly fine dining experiences coupled with live performances through the Sankofa Supper Club and Dinner Theater.
Johnson, who has fostered exciting partnerships in the community, says, “I want everyone who enters the gallery to feel a sense of ownership, to come in and experience the art and feel at home—this is their gallery.”
NEEMA FINE ART GALLERY
843.353.8079
NEEMAGALLERY.COM
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MITCHELL HILL GALLERY
A 12,000-square-foot showroom, housed in an iconic King Street building and filled with artwork, custom furniture, lighting and fine rugs, Mitchell Hill Gallery offers the city a refreshing departure from the formal, traditional spaces so often seen in Charleston.
Original works from more than 35 national artists are currently on display in its mixed-use space. Daily arrivals and departures foster an ever-changing environment, so you will want to stop by often.
This multi-level gallery space offers customers a sneak peek into the design aesthetic of owners and designers Michael Mitchell and Tyler Hill. They, along with their team, offer full-service interior design and art consultations.
A recent move to a larger space has allowed Mitchell Hill to expand its offerings to better showcase a spectrum of design elements. These elements now include a rug gallery, custom hardwood flooring and paint distribution for the high-end brands C2 and Farrow & Ball.
Located at 414 King St., Mitchell Hill Gallery is open seven days a week. Visit the website to shop online and to explore the roster of artists and interior design projects, as well as the Mitchell Hill Collection.
MITCHELL HILL GALLERY
843.577.0400
MITCHELLHILLINC.COM
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ELLA W. RICHARDSON FINE ART
ELLA W. Richardson Fine Art represents more than 30 talented American and European artists whose styles range from realistic to impressionist to abstract. For the month of February, the gallery will feature a solo exhibition by Craig Nelson.
Nelson’s show will feature more than 30 pieces encompassing a variety of subject matter. “Most everything in the show revolves in one way or another around water, whether minimally or implied—wine barrels from Tuscany, a fjord from Norway, landscapes with streams, a street scene with laundry hanging in Venice,” says Nelson, who attributes his attraction to water to the quality of reflections that allow him “to be somewhat abstract in a realistic painting.” The diverse paintings are also united by a timeless quality.
Since 1970 Nelson has been depicting figures, landscapes and various environments in rich, vibrant oils. His passion for the subjects he depicts relates directly to his brushwork, weaving mood and emotion into each work of art and creating uplifting masterpieces.
The widely collected artist has won more than 200 awards of excellence and several gold medals. In 1974 Nelson began teaching at ArtCenter College of Design, and he has served as the executive director of the School of Fine Art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for the past 30 years. Nelson shares his knowledge in his two books, including 60 Minutes to Better Painting, and though multiple highly anticipated workshops each year.
ELLA W. RICHARDSON FINE ART
843.722.3660
ELLARICHARDSON.COM
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REINERT FINE ART & SCULPTURE GARDEN GALLERY
OWNED by contemporary impressionist painter Rick Reinert and his wife, Ann, Reinert Fine Art showcases more than 50 regional and nationally acclaimed classical painters, as well as figurative and abstract sculptors. Each gallery location is thoughtfully curated to appeal to both the connoisseur and casual collector.
The owners are pleased to present a collection of diverse paintings and sculpture that range in style from traditional to impressionistic to abstract. Reinert Fine Art has two locations in Charleston: 179 King St. and 181 King St., located right next door. With over 4,000 square feet of gallery space as well as an outdoor courtyard and sculpture garden gallery, it is a wonderful experience for the senses. Original oil paintings, bronze sculpture, handblown glass and artisan jewelry created by a talented group of diverse artists, both local and international, can be enjoyed seven days a week.
Reinert’s summer studio on Ocean Point Road in the beautiful town of East Boothbay, Maine, will be open June through September. Enjoy watching Reinert paint the many diverse and interesting landscapes the region offers. Friends and collectors are invited to stop by.
REINERT FINE ART & SCULPTURE GARDEN GALLERY
843.694.2445
REINERTFINEART.COM
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ALLISON CHAMBERS
ORIGINALLY from Wilmington, North Carolina, Allison Chambers is an impressionist painter who refers to herself as a Carolina artist. She calls both Charlotte and Charleston home and receives her inspiration from the region’s landscapes; the Lowcountry’s marshlands particularly capture her eye. This is easy to see in her paintings, which exhibit elegant brushstrokes that play amongst the meeting of water and land. Through a blend of “reality with imagination,” Chambers combines color and texture in an impasto style to create an abstracted interpretation of life.
In addition to painting, she also gets joy from teaching art. “Teaching is very important to me, and it helps me learn and grow as an artist while giving back to people who want to discover this gift,” Chambers says. She conducts classes in her own studio as well as courses in Provence, France, every fall.
Chambers hopes her art will provide her viewers relaxation. “Because I love to express myself through art,” she explains, “the landscapes I paint are the places that cause me to take a deep breath … that take me away, that make me happy.”
Chambers is represented by fine art galleries throughout the South.
ALLISON CHAMBERS ART
704.516.9505
ALLISONCHAMBERSART.COM
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LOWCOUNTRY ARTISTS GALLERY
FOUNDED in 1982, Lowcountry Artists Gallery is the oldest artist-owned and -operated gallery in Charleston. Located at 148 East Bay St., the expansive four-room gallery recently underwent renovations.
Lowcountry Artists Gallery represents 32 artists, both owners and guest artists. Their work caters to national and international collectors and spans a multitude of styles, a variety of subject matter and many media. Lowcountry Artists Gallery also offers stunning jewelry, sweetgrass baskets, pottery, blown glass, bronze and copper sculptures. The gallery’s famous copper frogs are suitable for indoor or outdoor display.
“We’re really proud of the diversity our gallery offers,” says co-owner Sandra Roper. “Not only the artists themselves, but also their styles and the mediums in which they work.”
Roper shares ownership with local artists Norma Morris Cable, Fer Caggiano, Stephanie S. Hamlet, Lynne Hardwick, Kellie Jacobs, Rana Jordahl and Ivo Kerssemakers.
Lowcountry Artists Gallery is open seven days a week. When you visit, don’t forget to take a selfie with the gallery’s life-size, whimsical copper frog. For hours and a full list of artists visit the website or facebook.com/lowcountryartists.
LOWCOUNTRY ARTISTS GALLERY
843.577.9295
LOWCOUNTRYARTISTS.COM
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MARGARET DE CARLI BARRY
AWARD-winning artist Margaret De Carli Barry has been painting for nearly 20 years. Studying under artists such as John Massimino and Kyle Stuckey, she has learned a variety of techniques and styles, which she enjoys teaching to her own art students. Says the artist: “I think it’s important to keep progressing. I continually challenge myself to grow.”
Oil painting is her passion. “Oils take longer to dry, which means I have more time to play with the painting,” says Barry. “I do a lot of knife work; a lot of my paintings are heavy with paint.” As for subject matter, she says, “I like being versatile. I find painting produce so much fun, but I also like experimenting with different subjects. My art very much expresses who I am.”
Barry loves making others’ wishes come true through commissioned pieces. “I intend to lift people up and make them smile,” she says. “I want the viewer to have an instant connection and emotional bond with the painting.” Barry describes her process thus: “I take some photos, stare at a scene, write notes. I enjoy every minute of it. I want to take my time with my painting. … It’s the joy of life.”
Barry is represented by Perspective Gallery in Mount Pleasant and the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery. Follow her on Instagram @margbarryart.
MARGARET DE CARLI BARRY
843.822.3355
MPAGPERSPECTIVEGALLERY.COM
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BEN HAM IMAGES
BEN Ham is a world-renowned fine art nature photographer. His stunning black-and-white landscapes, captured on film, hang in private, corporate and government collections from Australia to Africa and all points in between.
Ham is a self-taught photo-grapher, inspired as a teenager by the work of Ansel Adams. He works with an 8-by-10 folding wooden camera, dark cloth over his head, using sheet film in that same methodology.
Ham is predominately known for his arresting and peaceful images of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Through his travels, he has built extensive collections of the Rockies, the Southwest, the Pacific Coast and Italy, which have become highly collected.
He opened his first gallery in 2011 on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, followed by his second gallery at 416 King St. in Charleston in 2013. In 2017 he opened his third gallery in Old Town Bluffton, South Carolina.
A visit to one of his galleries will transport you into the magic of a Ben Ham landscape, as you step into a world created through his unique eye. Bring his art into your home to experience that magic for yourself.
BEN HAM IMAGES
843.410.1495
BENHAMIMAGES.COM
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IVO KERSSEMAKERS
AWARD-winning photographer Ivo Kerssemakers took an unexpected path. He was born in the Netherlands and raised in Amsterdam, where he started his own software business. In 1997 he moved to the United States and continued to work as a software developer throughout the country before settling in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
In 2015 he began pursuing his passion for photography professionally. His signature work consists of long-exposure photography, with an emphasis on clean, surrealistic, minimalist-type imagery. The long-exposure technique means he uses neutral density filters up to 16 stops to achieve exposure times of more than four minutes in bright daylight. Kerssemakers pays careful attention to the way landscapes change in different lighting and weather conditions and will revisit locations to see how they change. He is currently focusing on the Charleston area, in particular Botany Bay, as well as working on an architectural series in London and Amsterdam.
He prioritizes using the highest quality sustainable materials for printing and framing, and he specializes in large-scale works. Venues in South Carolina where his work can be seen include Lowcountry Artists Gallery in Charleston, MISC-Everything Murrells Inlet Gallery and Waccamaw Boulevard Gallery in Myrtle Beach.
IVO KERSSEMAKERS
843.424.6225
IVOKERSSEMAKERS.COM
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BETSY JONES MCDONALD
CHARLESTON artist Betsy Jones McDonald began her artistic training as a teen with watercolorist Geri Davis of Columbus, Georgia. She went on to study fine art at Columbus State University, and her eye for design was later put to work as a design manager during her years working in visual merchandising.
After moving to Columbia, South Carolina, McDonald began doing murals, which is when she realized her true love lay in large-format painting. She’s pursued oil on canvas ever since and paints using her own custom-mixed hues. McDonald also co-owned Island Art Gallery in Pawleys Island for four years, where she continues to regularly teach color theory workshops.
These days, McDonald’s art is inspired by the marsh surrounding her Daniel Island studio. “I love the colors of the marsh and the way they change with the seasons and the tides,” she says. “Every time you look at the marsh, you see something different, and I’m fascinated by that.”
You can find her paintings exhibited at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, Island Art Gallery in Pawleys Island and Perspective Gallery in Mount Pleasant.
BETSY JONES MCDONALD
207.320.5884
BETSYJONESMCDONALD.COM
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MEREDITH POSTON
MEREDITH Poston was born in Louisville, Kentucky, into a family that appreciated the fine and performing arts. From an early age Poston wanted to be an artist and was strongly encouraged by her family. She focused on human and animal subjects, and she copied the work of her father, who was a medical illustrator.
Throughout her adolescence Poston’s passion for art grew. She participated in art classes and camps throughout high school. She attended Western Carolina University, majoring in fine art and communications, where she developed her abstract style. After graduation Poston left the North Carolina mountains for the Charleston coastline, settling on James Island in 2009.
Poston paints abstract expressionist remembrances and reflections. She finds solace in loose, sporadic brushstrokes, with a combination of soft elements juxtaposed to stark separations of contrasting color. Her work is an expression of nature as she sees it—colorful, sometimes gentle, but often startlingly real. Poston paints in her waterfront home studio when not working as a writer and researcher; she also contributes to the James Island govern-ment, as secretary for the James Island Public Service District.
MEREDITH POSTON
843.593.5215
MPOSTON.COM
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SWEETGRASS FINE ART GALLERY
LOCATED on Broad Street’s historic Gallery Row, Sweetgrass Fine Art Gallery showcases the incredible talent of local and internationally recognized artists. The 1852 colonial home turned art gallery features six separate salons, four fireplaces and a bricked courtyard. This quaint atmosphere provides the perfect Charleston way of viewing art. The gallery’s impressive roster includes sculptor Alexa King and renowned painters Alice Ann Dobbin, Cat Tesla and Anne E. London.
Alexa King, a former artist-in-residence at Churchill Downs, is internationally recognized as one of the leading sporting sculptors in the world. Chosen from a field of 100 sculptors to create a full-size replica of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, her sculpture is the culmination of a lifetime of studying movement in animals. Says the artist, “When I hold clay in my hand, I sense the movement of a horse.” Her sculptures are in the collections of America’s most prominent families and have been successfully auctioned at Sotheby’s as well as Christie’s in London. Recently, King broadened her scope to include birds and other wildlife.
Charleston artist Alice Ann Dobbin earned her latest recognition with “Best Painting” at the 2019 Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition. Like the previous artists, her passion is nature. For the past 20 years, she has focused on the landscapes and wildlife of the Lowcountry. Her work transcends conventional realism to evoke a tranquility that is almost spiritual.
Painter Cat Tesla creates both ethereal landscapes and abstract designs. She says: “The subjects I choose to paint are organic, either originating from Mother Nature or inspired by her. I love building layers using painting and drawing, scraping back, then adding more, pooling juicy paint, and pouring glossy, translucent glazes over the surface.”
Another nature-loving artist, Anne E. London has developed a remarkable career as an internationally acclaimed artist and champion of the conservation of endangered species. Her dedication to wildlife has taken her to Africa, Asia and all over the Americas. “I want future generations to be able to experience the magnificence of seeing these beautiful animals living in their native habitat,” she says.
From her earlier intaglios to her latest work with impressionistic charcoal and watercolor, London brings to life breathtaking portraits of wildlife in their natural habitats. “When I look at a lion, I see its uniqueness as an intelligent being,” she says. “All animals have a rich interior life full of emotions; to ignore that fact is to miss something significant we share.”
Through Arts for Animals, London’s nonprofit in Zimbabwe, thousands of children connect creativity with conservation to make a difference in their future. She is active in several animal conservation organizations and serves on the board of directors for the Project Hope Foundation. Both the International Rhino Foundation and The Cheetah Conservation Foundation have named her as a signature artist.
SWEETGRASS FINE ART GALLERY
843.608.0759
SWEETGRASSFINEARTGALLERY.COM
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WILLIAM TURNER
OIL painter and Charleston native William Turner began showing an interest in art by drawing at the age of 5. A graduate of The Citadel, he counts among his many accomplishments walking onto the military college’s football team and once winning a fight by decision over the future Golden Gloves State Champion. Turner is now nurturing his early love of art by pursuing a career as a professional artist. When La Carreta commissioned him to paint a large mural of Frida Kahlo on the front of its James Island restaurant, it solidified his decision to pursue art as a business. Turner experimented with watercolor as a child and transitioned to oil by the time he was 10. He continues to favor the medium and looks to the beauty of Charleston for inspiration. The Charleston Battery remains his most popular piece.
A member of the Charleston Artist Guild, Turner accepts commissions and includes among his offerings personalized gifts, prints and framed originals.
WILLIAM TURNER
843.345.6325
THEWILLIAMTURNER.GALLERY
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SHEILA PRINGLE
SHEILA Pringle started painting before most children learn to read. Says the Charleston-based artist: “I started at 3. When I was 5, my mother took me to the Corcoran School of Arts and lied about my age. I studied there until I was 15.”
Decades later, Pringle continues to practice her craft, though her path has not been without obstacles. After studying and working as a landscape architect, Pringle started a family. A few years later doctors discovered a brain tumor in her frontal lobe.
During her recovery, Pringle returned to her passion. “The first day they gave me medicine I started painting,” she says. Pringle soon joined Perspective Gallery in Mount Pleasant, where she shows her mainly figurative artwork. “I enjoy painting people. I paint them as I find them. … It’s life in South Carolina,” she says.
SHEILA PRINGLE
843.696.8537
TALKINGTREESGALLERY.COM
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HILARIE LAMBERT
OIL PAINTER Hilarie Lambert may enjoy painting the familiar, but nothing about her work is “ordinary.” Through the filter of light in an egret’s wings or the way a newspaper crumbles under blue crabs, Lambert reveals the beauty in what many overlook: the magic of everyday.
Traveling internationally and nationwide, she sets up her easel in places such as Monet’s gardens, Venice, the Italian hillsides, the barns in Upstate New York and the bison ranges out West. She is off to France to paint with other artists in March, painting from Paris to Provence.
Lambert has shown her work in national and international exhibits, including the Women Painting Women exhibitions, and has won numerous awards, such as Southwest Art magazine’s “Top Emerging Artists.” She maintains a studio and gallery space, where visitors are welcome by appointment.
HILARIE LAMBERT
843.822.1707
HLAMBERT.COM
