Sunset River Gallery to present Coastal Blues

Sunset River Gallery in Calabash, NC will present Coastal Blues, a multi-media group show, from March 22 through April 27. The exhibit will feature oil, pastel, acrylic, and watercolor paintings along with a range of pottery, wood, glass, and other 3D art pieces. Participating artists include Lee Mims (oil), Marcus McClanahan (acrylic), Nancy Hughes Miller (oil), Samantha Spalti (acrylic), Becky Steele (acrylic), William West (watercolor), Judi Moore (acrylic), Yuriy Petrov (acrylic), Connie Winters (oil), Donn McCrary (acrylic), Vicki Neilon (acrylic), Ardie Praeterious (clay), Joy Parks Coats (acrylic), Carol Iglesias (pastel), Ophelia Staton (acrylic), Joyce Parks Coats (acrylic), Roseann Bellinger (acrylic), Cathryn Jirlds (photography), Catherine Porter Brown (oil), Karen Tillman (oil), Diane Flanegan (stained glass), Ginny Lassiter (acrylic), Bob Moffett (wood), Joe DiGiulio (acrylic), Wes Wagner (wood), Betsy Sellers (clay), and Brian Evans (clay).

Artist: Lee Mims, Alone Time, oil, 16”x16″

Gallery director Samantha Spalti said, “This show is a great example of how traditional and contemporary art work together. And I love how these artists have used blue in their work – sometimes a major color block and others a well-placed accent. Blue can bring a sense of calm to the viewer, or it can be bold and energetic. It’s all in the hands of the artist. I’m excited for the community to come and enjoy our Coastal Blues show.”

About Sunset River Gallery

Located in coastal Brunswick County, NC, Sunset River Gallery caters to both area visitors and a growing local community of full-time residents seeking fine art for their homes and businesses. Featuring works by over 100 fine regional artists including Betty Anglin Smith, Marcus McClanahan, Janet Sessoms, and Richard Staat, among others, the gallery is well known in the area for its selection of oil paintings; watermedia; pastels; photography; hand-blown, stained, and fused glass; pottery and clay sculpture; turned and carved wood; unique home décor items; and artisan jewelry.

There are two onsite kilns and five wheels used by the gallery’s pottery students. The gallery also offers ongoing oil/acrylic and watercolor classes as well as workshops by nationally known instructors.

The gallery’s carefully curated selection of investment-grade 20th century fine art is the largest in the Carolinas. Current inventory can be found in the gallery website’s 20th Century Artists section. It includes works by Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), Ed Mell (1942), Raimonds Staprans (1926), Angell Botello (1913-1986), Vladimir Cora (1951), Hunt Slonam (1951), Ginny Crouch Stanford (1950), and two bronze sculptures by Millton Hebald (1930 – 2010).

Moveable Feast Event

Tuesday, April 16, 11 AM-1 PM ~ Heather Frese (The Saddest Girl on the Beach) at 21 Main, NMB

719 North Beach Boulevard, North Myrtle Beach 29582

Grieving after her father’s death, a young woman seeks solace in an Outer Banks beach town of North Carolina where her best friend’s family runs a small inn. The family welcomes Charlotte with chowder dinners and a cozy room, but her friend Evie has a looming life change of her own, and soon Charlotte seeks other attractions to navigate her grief. Will she, like in some television movie, find her way back through a romance, or are there larger forces at play?

Winner of the Lee Smith Novel Prize for her debut novel The Baddest Girl on the Planet, Frese sets Charlotte on a beautifully rendered course through human frailty, unrelenting science, and the awesome forces of the Carolina coast.

In addition to the coveted Lee Smith Novel Prize, Frese was longlisted for The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and was named one of the Women’s National Book Association’s Great Group Reads of 2021.

She attended Ohio University for her M.A. followed by an M.F.A. in fiction from West Virginia University. A freelance writer, Heather worked with Outer Banks publications as well as publishing short fiction, essays, poetry, and interviews in various literary journals, including Michigan Quarterly Review, Los Angeles Review, Front Porch, Barely South Review, Switchback, and elsewhere.

Coastal North Carolina is her longtime love and source of inspiration, her writing deeply influenced by the wild magic and history of the Outer Banks. She currently writes, edits, and teaches in Raleigh, North Carolina.

CLASS AND THE MOVEABLE FEAST UPDATE

Summary of Moveable Feasts through December:

We still have nine terrific authors coming to our Moveable Feasts before the end of the year. These weekly literary luncheons ($35 each) offer a three-fer discount (3 for $100, whether for future Moveable Feasts or to treat friends on a given date – makes a GREAT gift!). All of the books – past and present – are available at My Sister’s Books, and once read they can be recycled for credit toward your next choice. Most of the Moveable Feasts are held on Tuesdays, from 11 AM-1 PM, although on occasion another weekday better suits the author’s schedule or the chosen venue. We will call unpaid reservations several days prior to each Moveable Feast for confirmation and approval to run your credit card. But once you’ve paid for three in advance, make sure you’ve noted it on your calendar. If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to CLASS, PO Box 2884, Pawleys Island, SC 29585. We’re always happy to double check your choices by phone (843.235.9600) or email (linda@classatpawleys.com). 

Tues, Nov. 14 – Moveable Feast: William Woodson (Commander Land) at Hot Fish Club

Heartbreak, loss and suffering visit the one-percenters right along with the rest of us. In this continuing saga of Billy Commander and his elite circle of friends, the now-expats from their Southern roots struggle with relationships, deal with life’s impartial distribution of tragedy, and search for purpose in the face of staggering wealth. First introduced in the compelling financial drama of Waccamaw Gold, the sequel follows these characters, now in their mid-thirties, on their personal and deeply connected journeys. No stranger to his subject, Woodson is a native South Carolinian, educated at Davidson College, the University of South Carolina School of Law, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School of Business, and the Emory University Graduate School of Law. He practiced in Atlanta for many years in the area of investments, financial management and taxation, and maintains deep ties with Pawleys Island and the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Tues, Nov. 28 – Moveable Feast: Linda Lovely (A Killer APP) at Pawleys Tap & Pour

Who knew our HOAs were a hotbed of conspiratorial, murderous, vengeful souls? It took an unlikely named writer, Linda Lovely, and her heroine Kylee Kane, a retired Coast Guard investigator who lives on a boat at the Downtown Beaufort Marina, to expose their diabolic behavior in her HOA Mystery series set in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The secretary for the Southeast chapter of Mystery Writers of America and member and former chapter president of Sisters in Crime, Lovely sets out to prove that deepfakes can be murder! Kane, a security consultant for Welch HOA Management, finds the first victim, Andy Fyke, crumpled at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Kylee suspects his fall’s no accident and is tied to Andy’s campaign to prohibit rentals in his Hilton Head Island community. Yet, Andy’s obvious enemies have ironclad alibis. When another Lowcountry HOA retiree dies in a hit-and-run boat tragedy, Kylee begins to think the incidents are linked—even though the victims and their assailants have little in common. The link is the Chameleon, an Artificial Intelligence expert, who can create a deepfake of almost anyone—living or dead. Even more frightening is the Chameleon’s ability to seek out disturbed souls and laser-focus their rage. A talent employed to compel subjects to act as surrogate assassins. When Kylee begins to pursue the Chameleon, the AI expert decides it’s time to groom an assassin to permanently sideline Kylee. 

WED, Dec. 6 – Moveable Feast: Katherine Howe (A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself) at Inlet Affairs

Boston-based historical fiction writer Katherine Howe is the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestsellers The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and The House of Velvet and Glass, and she was also the co-author with Anderson Cooper of the biographies Vanderbilt, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and Astor, coming this September. She served as editor of The Penguin Book of Witches and her fiction has been translated into more than 20 languages. This new release is a mystery adventure set in the Golden Age of Piracy, dually set in Boston and in Key West where a thrilling treasure hunt takes place. Since South Carolina also played a huge role in this time period of piracy, we’re excited to bring her to our pirate cove in Murrells Inlet.

Tuesday Tastings at The Reserve with Holly Poteet and Cindy Hedrick

Dec. 5, 11 AM-1 PM

If you have been wanting to change your eating habits, substituting plant-based alternatives for animal products, but are overwhelmed by the options and the expense of trial-and-error, let lifelong professional foodie Holly Poteet and 20-year vegan Cindy Hedrick guide you on the journey to a “kinder” diet – kinder to your health, kinder to the animals, and kinder to our planet. Springboarding from Cindy’s book (No Voice … Our Choice), the duo offer once a month “tastings” in a professional home kitchen, including the options, preparation, and comparative taste/texture. November presents how to prepare several alternative side dishes for Plantsgiving (different from last year’s)December offers new holiday hors d’oeuvres and sweets! Each session limited to 8 hungry participants. $35 each, 843.235.9600, www.ClassAtPawleys.comlinda@classatpawleys.com.

Paint-Ins with Danny McLaughlin at the Litchfield Exchange

Alternate Saturdays, 10 AM-4 PM, $50 each

Join this day-long opportunity at the Litchfield Exchange (14361 Ocean Hwy, Pawleys Island) to paint with one of the region’s finest. Bring finished/unfinished works in any medium, any subject matter, any skill level for review, suggestions and instruction in color theory and composition by one of the area’s local art treasures. Tables and chairs provided and spaced for safety; bring art supplies, face mask, and easel, if needed. Fall dates: Nov. 4 & 18, Dec. 2 & 16. $50 each, 843.235.9600 or www.ClassAtPawleys.com.

Thursday, Dec. 7 – Artifact Roadshow at Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center, 2:30-4:30 PM. Bring your man-made historic artifact to be identified by professionals from the SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. Do you want to know the age of an arrow head, a spearpoint, or a knife point? Did you find an unusual stone tool? Did your garden yield an old hinge, a hook, a bottle, or ceramic sherds? Bring them to be identified by archaeologists Will Nassif and Heathley Johnson. Presented by the Archaeological Research Trust of SCIAA. Open to the public. All ages (children’s activities planned). Although the program is free, please register to ensure we can serve everyone interested – call 843.235.9600, email linda@classatpawleys.com or online at www.classatpawleys.com.

Thursday, Dec. 7 – Archaeology Lecture & BBQ at Kimbel Lodge, Hobcaw Barony, 5-7 PM. Emcee Lee Brockington will introduce Dr. James Spirek, the State Underwater Archaeologist since 2012, who has worked at the SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia since 1996. Jim is currently leading two maritime archaeological prospecting ventures searching for shipwrecks off Port Royal Sound and the Santee River Inlets.  He will speak on “Investigating the Underwater Archaeological Legacy Around Georgetown.” For 60 years the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology has managed and researched the archaeological legacy on land and underwater in South Carolina. Over those years, the Institute has undertaken several underwater archaeological projects related to colonial endeavors, shipping, naval warfare, and other activities focused on Georgetown and the surrounding region. Foremost among these projects have been the recovery of the Brown’s Ferry Shipwreck, an early Colonial sailing vessel, now on display at the Rice Museum, and the continued search for the wrecked flagship of the Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón expedition, an early Spanish endeavor to colonize North America.  These two projects along with other remnants of the maritime archaeological legacy in this area of the state form the topic of this illustrated presentation which will be held inside the Lodge, followed by a Hog Heaven supper in the Pond Pavilion near the fire pit. BYOB. Tickets $50 pp. Limited to 90. For tickets, please call Linda at 843.235.9600, email linda@classatpawleys.com or online at www.classatpawleys.com.

Art For Maui show at Sunset River Gallery to give 100% of proceeds to Hawaii nonprofit

Oceanscapa#8, acrylic by Samantha Spalti

Sunset River Gallery in Calabash, NC will host Art For Maui, a two-week fundraiser to benefit residents of Maui who are suffering losses from the devastating fires early in August. Art For Maui opens Monday, Sept. 4 and runs through Saturday, Sept. 16. Many local North and South Carolina artists have donated original artwork for the event. According to gallery director Samantha Spalti, 100% of sales from the show will go to Hawai’I Community Foundation’s Maui Strong initiative.

At press time, more than 45 donated pieces included oil paintings, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, pastel, photography, pottery, jewelry, glass, cards, and fiber art. Several local authors have also donated books for the event.

Island Life, artist Ruth Cox, acrylic 24×24

Hearts for Hawaii, acrylic by Vicki Neilon

So far, participating artists include Linda Thomas, RL Thomas, Linda Myers, Teri M. Brown, Nancy McClure, Wil Goff, Cynthia Blake, Lorraine Selway, Gary Baird, Freeman Beard, Mona Bendin, Kristen Rahn, Samantha Spalti, Linda Young, Holly Clark-Dull, Elena Wright, Featherwood Earrings, Barbara Bryant, Roseann Bellinger, Karen Casciani, Barbara McCumber, Vicki Neilon, Rachel Sunnell, and Barbara Karkut.

Hope by Roseann Bellinger, acrylic

Spalti said, “We invite our community to step up and help the people of Maui. This is a desperate situation, and we are happy to be part of the solution. The outpouring of offers and interest in Art For Maui have been heart-warming for all of us here at the gallery.”

Frank Campion exhibit at Sunset River Gallery

Opening Friday, Sept. 15 and running through Saturday, Oct. 21 is Frank Campion – Dichotomies. When gallery director Samantha Spalti saw Frank Campion’s work for the first time, her reaction was nothing less than visceral. “It was that powerful,” she says. “In front of me was this stunning abstract painting that had so much movement, such emotion that it took my breath away.”

The show includes works on both canvas and paper.  About this show, the artist says, “The dictionary defines ‘dichotomy’ as ‘a division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups – a dichotomy between thought and action.’It occurs to me that we tend to be naturally judgmental, making the world a binary proposition: good/bad, yes/no, on/off, right/wrong, hot/cold, rough/smooth, etc. So, this new work is about dichotomies.

One dichotomy involves the collision between the rational and the random. The rational is the simple geometric, intentional composition. The random is the occurrence of accidental painterly incidents. The other dichotomy has to do with the meeting of dominant colors that exist independently, but live adjacent to each other. This creates an emotional atmosphere or mood. as the work progresses.

Campion, who works out of his studio near Winston-Salem, was featured in Liza Roberts’ 2022 book The Art of the State, celebrating artists who are contributing to the North Carolina’s growing reputation in visual arts. He says, “As abstract as it may initially appear, my work is essentially derived from the tradition of landscape painting. the issues of space and atmosphere seem always to be with me as are the more formal issues about what constitutes an authentic painting – proportion, form, color, composition, and surface.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Harvard, Campion taught design and drawing before showing his work in group shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Danforth Museum, and the Boston Museum of Fine Art, which has one of his pieces in its permanent collection. He also enjoyed a number of critically successful solo shows during that time. A 30-year career in advertising brought him to North Carolina. When the time came to retire, he was ready to pick up where he left off.

Campion says, “In the fall of 2014, I saw the Matisse cut-outs exhibit at MoMA in NYC. I rediscovered a passion for color. This led me into the graph paper maquette/collages and got me thinking about color and larger scale.”

He built his own dream studio off the back of the house and that is where he is today. Frank Campion calls himself a “re-emerging artist.”

The opening reception is set for Friday, Sept. 15 from 5 – 7 p.m. This is an ideal opportunity for artists, students, and collectors to meet and speak with a forceful voice in North Carolina arts.

About Sunset River Gallery

Located in coastal Brunswick County, NC, Sunset River Gallery caters to both area visitors and a growing local community of full-time residents seeking fine art for their homes and businesses. Featuring works by over 100 fine regional artists including Betty Anglin Smith, Marcus McClanahan, Pat Puckett, and Angie Sinclair, among others, the gallery is well known in the area for its selection of oil paintings; watermedia; pastels; photography; hand-blown, stained, and fused glass; pottery and clay sculpture; turned and carved wood; unique home décor items; and artisan jewelry.

There are two onsite kilns and five wheels used by the gallery’s pottery students. The gallery also offers ongoing oil/acrylic and watercolor classes as well as workshops by nationally known instructors.

The gallery’s carefully curated selection of investment-grade 20th century fine art is the largest in the Carolinas. Current inventory can be found on Artsy and the gallery website’s 20th Century Artists section. It includes works by Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), Ed Mell (1942), Raimonds Staprans (1926), Angell Botello (1913-1986), Emile Gruppe (1896-1998), Rolph Scarlett (1889 – 1984), Vladimir Cora (1951), Hunt Slonam (1951), Ginny Crouch Stanford, a bronze sculpture by Glenna GoodAcre (1939 – 2020), two bronzes by Millton Hebald (1930 – 2010) and a life-size bronze by Edward McCartan (1879-1947).

CLASS AND THE MOVEABLE FEAST SEPTEMBER LUNCHEONS

WED, Sept. 6 – Susie Zurenda (The Girl from the Red Rose Motel) at Pawleys Tap & Pour

WED, Sept. 13 – Patricia Bracewell (Emma of Normandy Trilogy) at DeBordieu Clubhouse

Tues, Sept. 19 – Ronda Rich (St. Simons Island) at 21 Main, North Myrtle Beach

Tues, Sept. 26 – BettyJoyce Nash (Everybody Here is Kin), Pawleys Tap & Pour (venue change)

weekly literary luncheons ($35 each) offer a three-fer discount (3 for $100, whether for future Moveable Feasts or to treat friends on a given date).

The House Beyond the Dunes

Mary Burton is such a good author that I’m always watching for her new books.

I really like a setting that is current or in the near future, also the locations in North Carolina where I recognize the places and those dunes.

Buried and lost memories and fiction are sometimes joined and hard to decipher, but by the end of the book we understand enough of the past and its effect on the present and a possible future.

I did not predict the ending, but it suited me just fine. Grab this book now, and you won’t put it down until finished.

Sunset River Gallery hosts Golitz show of acrylics and pottery; reception July 14

My Peony in a Vase, acrylic by Lynn Golitz, 36×36


Moveable Feast for July

Tues., July 11 ~ Bonnie Kistler (Her, Too) at Inlet Affairs ($35)
(4024 US-17 Business, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576)

efending an accused rapist, a high-powered lawyer learns firsthand the terrible truth about
her client … a discovery that propels her on a quest for revenge in this addictively readable
thriller from the author of The Cage. A former trial lawyer, Bonnie Kistler spent her career
in private practice with major law firms and successfully tried cases in federal and state
courts across the country, as well as teaching writing skills to other lawyers and lecturing
frequently to professional organizations and industry groups.

*Tues., July 18 ~ T.I. Lowe (Indigo Isle) at Hopsewee Plantation ($45)
(494 Hopsewee Rd, Georgetown, SC 29440)

From the author of the breakout Southern fiction bestseller Under the Magnolias comes a story
of hanging on and letting go, of redemption and reconciliation. Sonny Bates left South
Carolina fifteen years ago and never looked back. Now she’s a successful Hollywood location
scout who travels the world, finding perfect places for movie shoots. Home is wherever she
lands, and between her busy schedule and dealing with her boss’s demands, she has little time
to think about the past . . . until her latest gig lands her a stone’s throw from everything she left
behind. Searching off the coast of Charleston for a secluded site to film a key scene, Sonny
wanders onto a private barrier island and encounters its reclusive owner, known by locals as
the Monster of Indigo Isle. What she finds is a man much more complex than the myth, an
exile who spends his days alone, tending his fields of indigo, then making indigo dye―and he
has no interest in serving the intrusive needs of a film company or yielding to Sonny’s determined curiosity. Until a hurricane makes landfall, stranding them together. After a Southern sampler lunch, you will be treated to a demonstration of indigo dye-making, with additional tour options.

Eliza Knight (Starring Adele Astaire) at Pawleys Plantation ($35) WED., July 26
(70 Tanglewood Drive, Pawleys Island, SC, 29585)

Eliza Knight is an award-winning, USA Today and international bestselling author. Eliza is
an avid history buff, and true crime obsessed. Her love of history began as a young girl
when she traipsed the halls of Versailles. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society
and Novelists, Inc., the creator of the popular historical blog, History Undressed, a co-host
on the History, Books and Wine podcast and a co-host for the true crime podcast, Crime
Feast. Eliza’s new story is full of glitz and glam as she delves into the life of Adele Astaire,
a spirited and talented woman who served up smiles and love both on and off the stage—
with and without her also famous brother Fred Astaire—along with a determined young
dancer with rags-to-riches dreams.

Premier Nashville blues guitarist to play Cape Fear, Little River

Nashville blues artist Rickey Godfrey is making a long-awaited return to coastal Carolina. On Thursday, June 29, the accomplished guitarist will be at Duck’s Beach Club, 229 Main St., North Myrtle Beach, SC, performing with Leroy Harper, Jr. & Friends. On Friday, June 30, fans will find him at iconic blues club The Rusty Nail in Wilmington, NC, with two nationally known musicians – Al Payson on bass and David Toma on drums. The show begins at 8 p.m. Cover charge is $10.

Godfrey, who has been blind since birth, is best known for his mastery on the Telecaster, but he is also featured on lead vocals and keyboard. The Greenville, SC native was a founding member of Garfeel Ruff, who released an album on Capital Records and scored the movie soundtrack for “The Hitter.”  In 2013, Godfrey represented Nashville as a crowd-pleasing semi-finalist at the International Blues Competition in Memphis, TN.

He has also had several major radio hits in the Carolina beach and shag market, winning awards for both CD and group of the year. In May of 2021, he received the Chocolate Thunder Music Award in Greenville, SC. In April 2023, he was inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame. He has been a sideman with Clifford Curry, Sam Moore, Rufus Thomas, Donna Fargo, Cash McCall, Billy Preston, Junior Walker, Johnny Neel, and many more.

Godfrey has been featured in numerous festivals, including the Lowcountry Blues Bash, Cape Fear Blues Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival (with Chocolate Thunder), and Macon, Georgia’s GABBA Fest.

About the Cape Fear Blues Festival, which has featured Godfrey twice, the artist says, “I love playing this festival, especially at The Rusty Nail. The fans are real music lovers, and the place has a great sound to it! And these two guys I’m playing with this week are super!”

Bassist Al Payson, from the outskirts of New York City, moved to eastern North Carolina several years ago. He started working with Jose Feliciano in 1997 and played his live shows from 2008 to 2015.He has also toured with the Burr Johnson Band and currently performs with the Rhythm Bones – well known to fans of the Rusty Nail.

Drummer David Toma is a Charleston, SC native and a regular in the west Texas blues scene. He has performed with Anson Funderburgh, Kenny Neal, Coastline Band and Cory Luetjen & the Traveling Blues Band. Also, a former member of the Rhythm Bones, he recently formed the 69 Ramblers, currently touring the southeast.

More information about Rickey Godfrey can be found on his Facebook page (Rickey Gulliver Godfrey). The Rusty Nail is located at 1310 S. 5th Avenue, Wilmington, NC; telephone number is 910-251-1888.  The address for Star Tavern is 4310 McCorsley Avenue, Little River, SC. Telephone: 843-281-0685.