Charleston, SC

11:10 AM

I’m back in Kevin’s studio. Kyle and I will be leaving today for Wilmington, NC where his sister and my cousin, Morgan, is. Map quest says it’s about 3.5 hours. She has class so we are not in a rush.

The last two nights have been awesome. Tuesday started with the guys at the house watching Maisie while Cathy went to work. She came back and then we headed out to Fig, a very cool place that I’d been to once before after one of Kevin’s art shows. We walked in and Kevin’s partner in crime, John, was there. He is a truly nice guy and I’ve had some fun times with this crew before. John was at the front table with a man with long dreadlocks and a few other people. I was introduced, given a complement about my handshake from a young lady, and sat down to listen to a 3 piece jazz band. The drummer happened to be the guy with the locks. They sat down for a while and then it was time to play. We were front you center for a great, grooving show. It was not too loud up front, so we could talk and listen. There was a girl there shooting pictures for a magazine. She was taking shots from all angles (not of us, the band). Kyle sat next to two girls from up north who had moved here for school. John was in between Kyle and I, and Kevin was next to me. Kevin was doing his usual working of the room. I bet he could run for mayor.

The music played and we tapped our feet or bobbed our heads or whatever you do when you dig the music. We had a beer or two and I heard the short/long version of one of the girl’s story of how she got here. We packed up in-between sets and headed over to John’s studio. Everywhere we go people have studio’s here. Again, the creative scene is strong. John’s place is on the top floor of a huge building that I think used to be a law library. He showed us some of his work, but most of all we were sipping and talking. We went outside on the long narrow patio that ran the length of the building. We looked down from the 3rd floor at people who have had way too much to drink walking down the street. We didn’t yell too much at them. I don’t smoke cigarettes, but I had one with the guys that night. I guess it was a bonding thing for me. For them it may have been a waste of a cigarette since I probably don’t smoke them right.

We also got a chance to check out a studio below John. Kyle and I were impressed by the amount of work and quality of work that was done here. Pieces were everywhere. I didn’t meet the artist, but the quality was there.

Time ran fast up there. It was supposed to be an early night but we were talking about all sorts of things and finally got home at about 1. We weren’t done as K, K, and I made our way up here to the studio and looked at videos and pictures for about an hour.

We all hit the sack and were happy to do so at about 2. We woke up and started in on the metal siding I talked about. It wasn’t as bad as hanging the sheet rock. It was lot of math and cutting, but not too bad with three of us working on it. The saw cutting through metal wasn’t the most welcome sound.

After work Kevin brought a painting to Jacob, a guy who I’d met before. Jacob owns a Greek restaurant in town, Old Town. He had bought a painting that has his place in it. It’s a cool piece. I had met Jacob when I was here in April and I remembered his friendly vibe. He brought all 3 of us in, smiled at his painting, and proceeded to get lunch for us. The girls brought us salad, a great vegetable bean soup, rotisserie chicken, a gyro, and Greek potatoes. I ate just about all of it. Kevin was on the phone so Kyle, Jacob, and I proceeded to go to the back room. Jacob had shown me a painting of his homer village before and I wanted Kyle to see it. The village has maybe 250 homes, sits on top of a hill overlooking the water, and his family’s house is a mansion. Jacob and his wife were just there for 3 months. It was cool to hear about his family and their culture.

After lunch I shut my eyes for a few minutes sitting up and then got ready for an art show. Lunch was at 3:30 and the show was at 6. Kevin and John had participated in a workshop through the Gibbs museum, which is a prominent place in town. The two day workshop culminated with this show. All of the painting had been started and stopped in those 2 days. A lot of great work was done, with each person of the 12 offering something different. Its funny how these people can be in the same place looking at the same stuff but have totally different ideas. Our imaginations are incredible. The show was fun and a chance for Cathy and Maisie to work the crowd. Maisie got a lot of attention and handled it well.

Kyle and I did our best to fit in. We each had a glass of wine in our hand and walked from painting to painting, but after a while we had to duck out. The paintings were very good, but I am not a connoisseur. Most of the people there were not talking to strangers, so we walked around Charleston for a while. Kyle had a smoke and we then sat out on the front walk, people watching.

At Fig, I remember Kyle saying he hadn’t seen live jazz before. I also think this was his first art show. I think he liked them both. After the show they put Maisie to bed and we headed down the street to hear band practice. The band just formed and is lead by Jonathan, a guy with an amazing talent. He even was able to get me to strum a little bit. He explained how and what very simply. Cathy’s brother Matt had just started playing. It’s only been tow weeks, but he was holding his own. Rocky hit it for a while. They were getting ready to go see Galactic. I’d seen a couple of them before in New Orleans and they are very tight. Budget did not allow us to go and I hate when that is the case, but it is what it is. Life is not about money and things, but it helps when you have them. So the band went to Galactic and the 3 of us came back here to the studio. Kevin showed us some more videos and I showed them some of my pictures form the trip. There are a ton of shots. I’m not as gifted as Kevin with the camera, but I don’t do so bad.

This has been good to write. I am a bit bummed about the Ideas Happen thing. I thought that if I could get into the semis I could get it. That would solve all of the what next questions. I guess we wait and see. But this has been good.

And our trip to Charleston ends. It’s been good for Kyle and me to spend time together. He’s 6 years younger than me and we don’t hang out a lot. It’s been good for him to see all of the artists down here. Kyle has the talent and I think this may show him that people can make a living being creative. It’s been good for me to see all of these people and know that it is possible. Words are different than images and paintings, so my work is a bit different and not near as refined as what I’ve seen these past few days. So we say goodbye to Kevin, Cathy, and Maisie and head to Wilmington.