Weekly Sale Items - Fine Art on Satin Fabric

This week’s sale items are two, unique pieces framed in vintage windows and a large gallery wrapped Triptych. Sale ends Sunday at 11:59 pm! Visit our online store for more details - including free shipping!

Check out the sale items below; Table Rock Vintage Window, Saluda River Float Fishing Vintage Window and our popular large 37” x 60” Angel Oak Triptych. With no shows until 2021 we have a few triptychs to offer through our weekly sale.

Tomotley Plantation Triptych - A Pandemic Highlight

Every small business has their Covid-19 disaster story. Our story is pretty straightforward and insignificant as compared to many other small business owners who have risked their livelihood on their business.

Trotter Arts 2020 business plan was 15 shows and 40 selling days. Early in the year, we applied for a mix of new and favorite shows, paid jury fees, built inventory and waited to hear back from show organizers. Fortunately, we were accepted into each of the Spring shows that we applied for! Then Covid-19 hit. Shows in March thru August cancelled or postponed. In our most optimistic case, three Fall shows have yet to cancel, so we hope to participate in 3 shows and have 8 selling days. Obviously, sales and cash flow are way down but we are blessed to be healthy and financially afloat. If it’s God’s will, we aim to continue to produce art and participate in future Art Shows!

During this pandemic we have experimented with satin photographs framed in old windows and acrylic painting on cedar logs. Just recently we revisited some of our collector’s favorite photographs which did not “fit” into a triptych format. One of these is Tomotley Plantation. So we took a field trip to retake it. The composition is very important when trying to create a triptych and our original shot was a excellent shot but not the correct composition for a triptych.

Because we had some extra time during the pandemic we were able to retake two triptych compositions of the main Tomotley Plantation gate. It is a true South Carolina classic! We are adding these two Triptych’s to our web site store, but they will appear as sold out until we have the initial printing (call us if you want #1 of 100!). In getting these two shots, we consider them a small win and a pandemic highlight! Let us know which one is your favorite, Tomotley Tunnel or Tomotley Plantation. Enjoy and share our blog with someone who loves art! Thanks.

Trotter Arts Field Trip - Port Royal, Hunting Island and St. Phillip's Island

We had to go! Coastal Expeditions Charters first public tours of St Phillip’s Island began last week and we had to go. After all it’s not that often that you can get away to Ted Turner’s private island for a few hours! There’s a certain mystique about a private island and now that St. Phillips is a part of the South Carolina State Parks System it’s an enjoyable field trip. Accessible only by boat, St. Phillips Island is a 4,680-acre barrier island between Hilton Head Island and Edisto Beach at the mouth of Port Royal Sound. Now the island is managed by the Hunting Island State Park team and tours are available through Coastal Expeditions Charters.

Captains Henry and Will of Coastal Expeditions did an awesome job ferrying us to St Phillips Island and back!

There are wagons that shuttle from the Hunting Island State Park Wildlife Center to the Russ Point Boat Ramp and once on the island another wagon to shuttle to the far end of St Phillips Island. There is beach access and a number of hiking trails that spur off of the main road. We enjoyed the Beach Trail and the area leading to the vacation house and definitely plan to return to hike the maritime forest and marsh trails. Interesting foliage and distinct ecosystems on the island includes Saw Palmettos, Magnolia Trees, Live Oaks and Pines.

Low Tide at St Phillips Island

Ted Turner’s family modest vacation home on St Phillip’s Island

Hunting Island Boardwalk just after sunrise

Port Royal Shrimping Boats at dock

Black Crowned Night Heron at the Cypress Swamp in Port Royal

It was great to escape for a brief field trip and we have some good photographs to work on. This is one of our favorite Low Country areas! We hope to develop new triptychs of the Boardwalk at Hunting Island, Tomotley Plantation and the Shrimp Boats at dock. We also may re-release a triptych of the tidal pool at Hunting Island because it is not an accessible location after the North Beach re-nourishment project. Hopefully, we will have these prints on satin fabric ready for Art Shows in September! Our next planned show is Flowertown in Summerville, SC scheduled for Aug 31 - Sept 2.