America trip… going south

artist roy munday at Baltimore harbour, america
The harbour, Baltimore, just a short stay overnight.

Apparently, Baltimore is the 'murder capital' of America, with a high murder rate! Yes, encountered beggars in the above area. Yelena and Andrew were in a restaurant in the harbour area and witnessed a fight between a client who attacked the poor waitress! Police called. And we were only staying overnight.

roy munday, artist, on the steps of the national art gallery, washington
Temperature low 30c, and it felt it! On the steps of the National Art Gallery, Washington
A glimpse of Capital Hill, though I didn't make it to the building itself, preferring to spend the time in the gallery. Also the heat was very oppressive.

 

artist, roy munday, in front of edward willis redhead's painting in washington, usa
Painting by artist Edward Willis Redhead

 

Roy munay, artist, trip to washington's national art gallery
George Bellows is one of my favourite artists, especially his early paintings, as shown here. He died quite young and was a friend to Edward Hopper.

 

artist roy munday in Jim Gray's gallery, gatlinburg, tennessee
In Jim Gray's art gallery, Gatlinburg, Tennessee USA

Gatlinburg, Smokey Mountan national park

artist roy munday, smokey mountains, tennessee, usa
Smokey mountains national park, Tennessee. An interesting landscape, rolling clouds. Unfortunately we didn't see it at its best.

Another long drive... to Charleston, South Carolina

 

 

Yes, a long drive from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina. Once again the heat, particularly the humidity, is quite strength sapping! How the English colonist dealt with  it for years on end, some their entire lives, I don't know. This is the Magnolia estate. Owned by an English family and goes back 11 generations. It has an interesting history and played a part in the American Civil war. The Battery promenade and Waterfront Park both overlook Charleston Harbour, while Fort Sumter, a federal stronghold where the first shots of the Civil War rang out, lies across the water. This house played an important role in the Civil War.

 

art classes, by roy munday, liverpool, on a visit to south carolina
A typical colonial house, lived in by an English family who ran a slave plantation.

 

The Magnolia plantation offers interesting gardens, though we were plagued by mosquitos! The family who owned this plantation

didn't make their money from cotton, but rice!

artist roy munday, magnolia plantation, south carolina
An interesting plantation garden to walk around, but the mosquitos and humidity are difficult to deal with.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting art galleries

 

artist roy munday, art tutor, visiting chareston, south carolina, united states of america
As a tourist hot spot, Charleston offers many art galleries on the high streets.

 

 

 

 

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This painting caught my eye. Especially the thick impasto application of paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A painting by one of my favourite artists, George Bellows. New York, probably painted in the early 1900's, showing the bustle of the city, which has not got any better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another painting by George Bellows, titled: Both are Members of This Club. Again a painting, painted in 1909 when boxing was illegal. It just went underground and, as this painting shows, took place in private clubs. What the image is intended to depict is two boxers slugging it out for prize money. These boxers were very much exploited but it was a way of making a kind of living wage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the early 1970's, Carl Sagan, the world famous astronomer, was put in charge of NASA's project of recording the sights and sound of Earth. Two gold-coated recording disks were affixed to the sides of the space probes, Voyager I and II, and launched. Each disk contains 118 photographs of our planet, our civilization and ourselves. One of the photographs featured in the National Geographic article, which showed Jim painting in his home/studio, was selected to be included on these records of Earth. Although Jim considers the selection of the photograph to be "sheer luck," the fact is that the photograph was included because it contains a lot of information about man and his creative drive. These two space probes are now in deep space far beyond our solar system and will continue to fly, perhaps forever.In Jim Gray's gallery, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

If ever you visit this part of America, do visit this gallery.

Gatlinburg is renowned for a thriving arts and craft community. I wasn't allowed enough time to see more than couple of galleries. Jim Gray's gallery is well-worth a visit. Jim is a self-taught artist, but highly acclaimed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saw this alligator swimming lazily along. I was convinced it was a model, attached to a rail and propelled by a motor - until I stuck my hand in the water!