I absolutely fell in love with Sapelo Island during the two weeks of my residency and I painted 13 paintings of the island during my stay. One of them is on display at the office of the Department of Natural Resources there on Sapelo and was presented to them at the end of my Residency for their collection. Unfortunately, I don't have a good photo of it. I just laid in on the ground and shot it on the island, but you can see what I have.
Since the island is only accessible by boat, I was given a truck to get around on the island during my residency. That's me in the truck I affectionately named "the Gray Turtle". You can see the cabin I stayed in during my stay with the "turtle" parked outside. Most of the paintings I created were on the south end of the island due to high water on the north end. Next time, I hope to be able to capture Chocolate Plantation on the north end. I did manage a 4 wheel drive down there to take pictures one day and did manage to get a painting of Cabretta Island.
There is just so much to see and do that I think I need another residency or two to capture it all!!
The restored lighthouse and Beacon are on the South end of the Island and guards the entrance to Doboy Sound. The lighthouse was painted with its unique red and white striped pattern in 1869 to distinguish it from other area lighthouses. You can read all about it's history as well as the history of Darien and Sapelo Island in a book entitled "Sapelo: A History" written by Buddy Sullivan. ISBN: 0-9620815-0-7. I know that, because he signed one and gave it to me at the end of the residency. I treasure it for it's insiders look into the people and places of Sapelo Island and all the wonderful old photographs.
For more information on Sapelo go to: http://www.gastateparks.org/info/sapelo/
The Experience:
The Paintings: (Click for larger images and info)
