Travel Journal: Art, Design and Sketching in Savannah
As much as I love epic art trips to another country, a welcome trip to a familiar place is a wonderful way to relax and enjoy. It’s been about four years since last I visited the home of my adult childhood; Savannah College of Art and Design. Though this trip was entirely a pleasure, I was also working on a personal project which I’ll write about later. The relaxing side of the trip was reuniting with old friends, professors and alumni as well as visiting some of my favorite places and things.
Such as Fish, I like Fish, he’s always greeted me with a smile.
The Tree I lived in on Forsyth Park if you ask me where I lived during my residence.
The actual place I lived on Forsyth Park.
The little door that goes nowhere, illustrated (below) in 2003 by me.
The problem is, when I travel, I have a hard time “relaxing” because I want to see everything, smell the smells and taste the local fare. The only time I can relax and take it all in is when I sketch it. So, the first evening I settled into City Market with a “to-go” cup of local craft brew and started sketching an old friend’s portrait at dusk.
A.T. Hun Gallery has been as much a part of City Market as Vinnie Van Go-Go’s Pizza for as long as I’ve known anything about it. In a near by bar, a cover band’s echo of Steve Winwood set the mood for pedestrians (and sands gnats, forgot about those). *splat*
Craving sea food, I wandered down to River Street for some oysters and the catch of the day at Fiddler’s Crab House.
Next day I had a few appointments but made time for luncheon at the Gryphon Tea Room. A refreshing Lavender and Earl Grey Iced tea with milk impressed the heck out of me (I’ll be adding that to my life at home).
I was also impressed with the bathroom decor which I noted to make use of in my studio when I get the chance (inspiration is everywhere).
Paid a visit to my favorite tea people from the Savannah Tea Room. They were in the process of moving into their new location since leaving Broughton Street where I had tea tended to the likes of Peter O’Toole and Sandra Bullock back in the day.
They were moving into E. Shaver Bookseller, a cute little indie bookshop on Bull Street that’s been there as long as I’ve known about it. I didn’t get a chance to sit and have tea with them because they were still painting walls while I was visiting. So I stopped by at dusk and painted with the warmth and affection I’d have if I was inside sipping tea and reading.
By dark it was time to get to a pop up party at the Jepson Center for the Arts put on in partnership with South Magazine. It was a Studio 54 themed party in honor of artist Anne Ferrer‘s Hot Pink work of art. Also on exhibit was “In Living Color: Andy Warhol and Contemporary Printmaking“.
Next day was a pilgrimage to Bonaventure Cemetery. I hadn’t been there in a VERY long time, I only visited it once the entire time I had lived in Savannah.
It’s just a gorgeously peaceful place full of natural beauty.
Many of the monuments evoke an Alphonse Mucha elegance in the sculpture.
It was such a beautiful day I needed to sketch.
Back downtown, I wanted to visit some shops filled with antiques and oddities to bring home to my creative space. I have a few favorites, but surely there are some new haunts in town. I had stopped at this antique store around 10 AM another day but they were out walking the dog. ( They do that there, not a thing in NYC ). This afternoon however, the regal watch dog allowed to me to peruse.
I love natural science illustrations and lithographs in general. These beautiful eggs could easily sit among my bug collection in the studio, or next to my Klimt canvas print in the Zen room.
These prints of an illustrated cock fight were also a compelling purchase but my walls are limited and it was a 5 frame series.
While considering those, I walked onward to a new (to me) place called Frieze. Exotic home accents you say?
They also had a handsome pooch in the shop, I love that. Oh, look they have BUGS!
My kind of place, and if wonders never cease, the home decor gods heard my prayers in the Gryphon Tea Room water closet. There they were but with openings for plants! If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, my urban garden in the sky craves things like this.
Wrap em up mister, yes, all of them. I also really loved these, what I called “Naval Mines” (candle holders), but I’d plant Succulents in them and add to my Octopus’s Garden because undersea gardens need WWII style explosives.
Next day, I got to visit with some of my favorite professors and tour my old stomping grounds. Morris Hall back when I was in school was the Illustration Building, now it’s the Fashion Marketing building with new decor I just went wild over.
Henry Hall (now called Eckburg Hall) is still the fashion building where I spent many all nighters perfecting my draping and sewing technique. I got a tour of the new facilities and to preview some of the upcoming senior projects. I’m amazed by the crop of talent in these students.
On the last day, I was done with appointments and the time was entirely mine. In recent history the Mercer House had become accessible to the public for tours. If you saw Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, you know the mystery that surrounds this legendary house. I had always wanted to see the inside, so I attended the tour. Unfortunately, they don’t let you take pictures and even I wasn’t able to sneak any.
So I sketched it instead, rather quickly I might add, because there was a huge bumble bee very interested in the bench I was sitting on.
