When I moved to Beaufort SC I realized immediately that my artwork didn't really fit in. The art in Beaufort was dominated lowcountry scenes with salt water marshes, intercoastal waterways and ocean vistas. Usually I discarded the trite art for the important. It's not that I don't love nature scenes, I do. It's just pandering to people's interests to make money that makes me sick.
I needed some money to survive. So what did I do? I started a series of drawing/paintings that people seemed to want. This is how the duck print series started. When I sold one of the original inks of the shrimp boat for over $100 I thought I had I had arrived. I drew seven total pen and ink studies, made prints and then hand painted them for those that wanted color. I sold them on the waterfront and in the little shops that tourists frequented along Bay St.
Much to my surprise I actually sold a good number of the prints, nothing remarkable but enough to warrant the effort. I was still struggling, unnoticed and unappreciated. Certainly I was not doing much so the fault can only be on my own shoulders. As the poet Hendrix once said, "That's alright I still have my guitar."
So I played and I sang and I taught- I even wrote my second novel. Soon my grandmother was unable to take care of herself and I couldn't really live and watch her 24 hours a day. When her conversations with her companions that lived inside the TV screen became real to her I knew it was time for me to leave. So I packed my bags and headed for Winston-Salem.