Color and unique points of view define Ebb Tide’s artists

Step inside the doors of Ebb Tide Art Gallery and you’ll find yourself awash in a sea of colors.

Across the river from downtown’s art hub, this recently opened gallery is filled with both emerging and established Lowcountry artists, including Steven Jordan, Dee Rhodes, Lynne Hamontree, Joseph Bradley, Austin Ball and owner John Townsend. After 35 years as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Townsend has retired and returned to his true love. “I’m always thinking about art in some way, perhaps to distraction,” he says, laughing.

In his east-of-the-Cooper gallery, Townsend has surrounded himself with inspiring art that reflects both modern and contemporary styles—or as he calls it, “local stuff with a different point of view.” Townsend believes it’s important to offer quality art for local homeowners at affordable prices. The gallery is spacious enough so that each artist has his or her own room, which allows viewers to get a comprehensive sense of their work.

Impressionistic landscapes from local artist Deborah Howard fill the cream-colored walls with color. Howard, an established artist, painted the 2006 Cooper River Bridge Run poster and, in 2007, was voted the “Best Local Visual Artist” by readers of the Charleston City Paper. She is currently the artist-in-residence on Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay and is living on her boat with her husband, painting (she writes) “the drama of the sunrise, the magnitude of a starlit night, the clear crisp calm of a winter evening just as the sun disappears and the wind dies to a whisper.”

Artist Dee Schenck Rhodes lives and works in Charleston and was last year’s Piccolo Spoleto poster artist. Her abstract marsh paintings reflect the openness of the landscape in a distilled way. “I am interested in the interaction between the land and water,” Rhodes says. “They are such a part of the Lowcountry landscape.” Living on the Stono River, this artist experiments with color and creates layers to evoke the openness of the landscape that is found right outside her front door.

The only non-local artist is 2007 college graduate Joseph Bradley who lives in Greenville and paints small images of birds on silver leaf. Using mixed media in his recent series, Birds on Silver, he depicts colorful and imaginative images of goldfinches, hummingbirds and cardinals.

Local physician Austin Ball’s oil paintings reflect a lifetime on the water. Large-scale works such as “Stono Marsh” and “Tide Pools at Kiawah” reflect the calm sensibility of the landscape. Lynn Hamontree, who lives on Sullivan’s island and has been involved in the local art scene for years, paints still lifes that are rich with color and light. Local favorite, Steven Jordan, shows a variety of his art, including several abstract pieces that reflect his unique point of view.

John Townsend is enjoying the freedom of retirement and paints every day in the back of the gallery. “Something will catch my eye or stick in my craw until I paint it,” he says. His acrylic paintings feature flowers and landscapes. Working with acrylic gels, for example, he creates a textural surface in “Calla Lillies #2.”

Of the gallery name he says, “This is the ebb tide of my life. I haven’t got that much longer to enjoy my life.” He jokes and says he’s spending his children’s inheritance, but for this artist, the dream of a life surrounded by great art has come true—and visitors are reaping the benefits.

Ebb Tide Art Gallery
320 W. Coleman Blvd.
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
843-856-0452
www.ebbtideart.com