Lowcountry & Charleston, South Carolina

I was inspired to create a collection of pottery following a trip to Lowcountry and Charleston, South Carolina in the late spring of 2026. I was very much aware of slavery and current day politics; The underlying issues made me feel uncomfortable. I chose to focus my collection on the things that brought me joy: the quietness of the Ashley River; the grandeur of Live Oaks; the rookeries full of native birds; the local cuisine of rice, shrimp and oysters; the bustling city of cobblestone streets, horse and buggies, croaking tree frogs, rainbow colored row houses, and southern charm. 

Middleton Place, a plantation manor on the Ashley River was magical with its gardens filled with live oaks, history and  charm. Here we saw a silk copy of the signed declaration on independence (with a Middleton signature). I created two platters using sgraffito to illustrate the Ashley River; a wheel thrown, hand carved 12" platter of hydrangea and magnolia; and two blates for shrimp & grits decorated with imagery from Middleton china,

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In Lowcountry, we stayed in the historical artsy town of Beaufort, and visited nearby places on the water: Edisto Island, Crown Royal, and the Boneyard. We ate oysters, visited a rookery, learned about the Gullah culture, stepped into longshore boots on the art trail, and walked among the dead live oaks on Boneyard beach. I created an oyster platter with a carved decoration from servingware used for a dinner with President Washington; mugs with rookery water birds on one side and a nesting tree on the other. A crown stamp under the handle references "Crown" Royal Rookery. I created longshore boot match strikers with strike anywhere matches and a little sand to put out the flame.

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In Charleston we enjoyed the southern charm, history museum, art galleries and learned about Charleston's military historical importance. We got caught in a rainstorm twice! We toured the Harbor and poked in and out of all the shops in town. I created hand painted ornaments of the tree frogs that croak after a rain storm.  I also created Rainbow Row bowls for eating Carolina Rice.