Sol Legare no. 1, 30x22, soft pastel and graphite on Rives BFK gray cotton rag
For several years, my palette of colors was dominated by blues and blacks. I created a lot of high contrast printmaking art, sometimes black ink only, on white paper. When I discovered soft pastels as a medium, I was struck by the vibrancy of the pigments, but I continued in black and blues as my preferred colors.
Somehow, orange and red pastels became the counterpoint. And I began a new series of abstract art that was inspired by the planet Jupiter and its red atmosphere. I loved the interplay of the rich red and orange with the texture of the cotton paper, especially at the edges. And I’ve been exploring this as a subject for a couple of years now.
I take frequent walks on Folly Beach in South Carolina. The scene depicted in Sol Legare no. 1 is inspired by the seascape, the layers of sky, clouds, water, sand, and dunes.
There is an old fishing road that I pass by on my way to the beach called Sol Legare. I called my French friend Celine to ask her about the meaning of the words, and she explained that it’s just a name, no specific meaning. But in South Carolina, this is a historic road, several miles long, to access the rivers leading to the bay around Charleston, South Carolina. Its residents are typically working-class fishermen or poor black families. In the fall, long skiffs full of oysters and crabs arrive on the landing. The air is full of the scent of salt and pluff mud. The muddy shoreline is littered with oyster shells and dead spartina grass. My son and I love to visit the landing for the long drive and the muddy shore.
This relationship that I have with the South Carolina lowcountry extends without interruption to my love of the planets, a continuous shoreline between Earth and other celestial bodies. And now I am envisioning Sol Legare no. 1 as an inspiration to create closeups of the swirling clouds of Jupiter in soft pastel.
