I hope you enjoy this segment of this ongoing acrylic painting demo. I talked in this segment some about why I chose this subject to paint. For those who might miss it in the video, it has to do with my emotional response to the actual environmental condition that this line of cedars, palmettos, oaks, and other assorted shrubs and trees, have endured over time, and the history they’ve seen.
It goes deeper than that though. I mentioned before that I have painted this spot several times, both in the studio and on location, but have never really captured what their presence means to me, accurately. We used to paint this location a lot, like nearly every time we went out to paint. Sadly, it’s a piece of private property, an abandoned real estate development in one of Tybee’s last remaining, coastal ecosystems, still in somewhat of a natural state of being. Most of the other natural areas on the island have been developed. It is where the Union batteries of guns fired from when Fort Pulaski was taken during the war between the States. Part of the land is called Battery Point, complete with an information plaque, and a state plaque explaining it’s history. It is also a very spiritual place for African Americans… “When the prohibition against slavery in Georgia was repealed in 1749, the construction of a lazaretto on Tybee was mandated. In 1768 it was finally built. That May, 250 African slaves brought for sale in Savannah aboard the ship Constantine took their first steps on dry land at that lazaretto. Healthy ones were processed and cleared. Slaves who had died while chained below decks on the month-long trip were buried in unmarked graves.”
The property was left alone by the developer, after plots were located and services run to them, and a road through the “neighborhood” was built. The project fell through, nothing was actually built except for one gazebo. It’s changed hands again (we think), but had been left open for people like us, for people who wanted to fish, run a dog, or just be reverent.
About a year or so ago, whoever owns it now, closed it off to All access, even the State portion with the plaques that talk about it’s history to the region and nation! Access now lost to the citizens, to history, except for whatever the person or persons who now own it, plan to do with it. It’s a tragic loss for the people of this small island with it’s approximately 22 sq mi of land of which the city has a total area of 5.2 sq mi. Of this, 3.7 sq mi is land and 1.4 sq mi, or 27.2%, is water.
So, what is it that this stand of trees means to me to paint it? All of the above. The color palette chosen, the cropping in of the composition, and what I want to express through how it’s painted, are related to what I’ve written here. More than anything, it makes me think of all of that history. I see the trees as aging sentinels, guardians of all that has happened to the land, still standing, albeit with a thin promise for their future. My emotional response to all of the above is why I want to paint this.
The brush I mention using in the video is the Silver Brush ‘Bristlon’ Stiff White Synthetic Brush. Link to them is here.
Stay safe, and keep your brushes wet!
Cheers,
Marc
24x20 Acrylic Demo #2