Not Invited

State St., Charleston, S.C.

Funny how Charleston Fashion week is one festival
I have absolutely no connection with.
Is it my dansko shoes?
The fact that I cut my own hair?
The ex-officio quick dry travel underwear?

Checking out the Tall Ships up close!

Harborfest Charleston, Charleston, SC

Between Philip Simmon's Funeral and Harborfest Charleston, things were pretty chaotic on the peninsula this morning.

I didn't have time to make it worth standing in line for a ticket so I snooped around the outskirts to see what I could see and happened to be there while the air show was going on. The little plane was performing incredible stunts in between the tall ships. It was quite a sight.

Charleston Harborfest

Charleston Harborfest, Charleston, SC

Ahem. Well worth the price of admission.

PS: There are some very cool tall ships here as well.

Lenin Wall - for Julia

Lenin Wall, Photograph

Julia, a lowcountry gal who lives and blogs from Prague, Czechoslovakia, recently posted an entry on the Lenin Wall. I thought I would surprise her with this shot taken right here in Charleston.

I cheated of course.

The Lenin Wall, according to Wikipedia: The Lennon Wall is a wall in Prague, Czech Republic. Once a normal wall, since the 1980s it has been filled it with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles songs.

In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the then communist regime of Gustav Husak. Young Czechs would write grievances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge.

This morning I ended my walk by strolling through the Spoleto Art show in Marion Square and treated myself as I do each year by stopping by the Ron Rocz photography tent. Ron is based in Charleston and has the most beautiful pictures not only of the lowcounty but the Mississippi Delta Blues, Russia and Peru. According to his web site the Lenin Wall has been his top selling photograph.

I got up the nerve to ask if he would mind me taking a photograph of his photograph and he was kind enough to let me do it for this very purpose. Apparently the wall is continuously painted over so each time it looks completely different.

The John Lennon Wall, located near the Certovka Canal in Prague, The Czech Republic, is a colorful, graffiti-filled, active and on-going memorial to this cultural icon. It originated in 1980, at the time of John Lennon's assassination, when an unknown person drew the shape of a tombstone on this side-street wall, inscribing John's name and dates of birth and death. Through the years, with the wall surviving political repression, river floods, and more than one re-stuccoing, visitors have and continue to add their own artwork and heart-felt messages to John.

I noticed that Ron had a book called Seeing Charleston that might be of interest if you photograph Charleston. It is a handy pocket guide with sections on locations in historic Charleston and the Lowcountry. It is filled with location and technical tips as well as inspiring quotes by famous photographers.

Thanks Ron! I've been snooping at your work for years. It was an honor to meet you.

Spoleto Craft Show Fun

Isn't this amazing? I enlarged just the inside feature. The artist was Nicario Jimenez, Artist of the Andes.




Shao Lin Xia CanDoPlanes. These tickled me to no end. The artist was an aerospace engineer who was laid off and started making airplanes out of soda cans. I bought a little coca cola plane to hang in my kitchen window. They looked delightful spinning in the breeze.


Meghan Runkle of Rare Earth Studio had these fun handbag teapots for sale and I had to take a picture for our local Tea Blogger.




Alan Daigre Handcrafted Chairs is the official featured artist of Charleston Daily Photo. It's only fair since he is renting my upstairs room. I had the apartment empty after my tenant skipped and happened to notice a "Spoleto Artist needs room..." ad on Craiglist. I slapped some paint up last weekend and dusted it down in time for him to have a handy place to stay within walking distance of the show.

Wow. His handcrafted rocking chairs are amazing. Since the individual pieces of wood are roped together they gently give when you settle in. Every person who sat in them "oooohed" and "aaaaahed". Go ahead. If you get to the show at Wragg Square tomorrow, sit and rock a spell and say "hey" to Alan from Tennessee.

Oh Hell!

Hell Hole Festival Headquarters, Jamestown, SC

Okay, I'll admit I drift off the Charleston peninsula for pictures.

I found this shot while clearing off an old camera card and googled the Hell Hole Swamp Festival to bring you the most latest and most accurate nonsense.

This is the very weekend! Spitting contests, Ugly Dog Contests, Elvis Impersonators....it's all there and waiting. None of it matters to me though since the Miss Hell Hole Swamp pageant was held last weekend and that is the only thing that counted. I do so want to be rejected as a Miss Hell Hole contestant. My age alone would have done it for me but I wasn't there. Sadness.

In other news, I happened to check to see if there were any other Joan Perrys on Facebook and discovered close to four pages of us. I sent out Friend requests left and right and my people have been gradually checking in. It's a tad confusing...Joan Perry said to Joan Perry, Joan Perry is now friends with Joan Perry. Watch out! We are breeding. Today Facebook. Tomorrow the world.

In yet other news, Kenyan Women have announced a Sex Strike to resolve ongoing political turmoil. Am I going to have to deal with a bunch of cranky and irritable men while I am there? I think I'll make a button saying "I'm with the local girls."

Valentine Kisses

Parrot Kisses, Marion Square, Charleston, SC

I interrupted my walk this morning with a stop in Ooops and picked up a steal on a teeny, tiny size two black dress for my daughter when a bewildered lady walked in wondering, "what exactly is SEWE?"

It's a gray and drippy day but town is bustling with people here for SEWE - South Eastern Wildlife Festival. SEWE can attract up to 38,000 people and is one of those odd festivals where an artist in one booth might sell beautiful paintings of tigers in the wild and the next one is staffed by a hunter boasting about blowing one up. I always walk through the outside displays and often buy a Sunday ticket to wander through the art, photography and wood carving before the regular attendees wake up. I've dabbled just enough in art, photography and song bird carving to appreciate what incredible talent this festival attracts.

This fellow was entertaining early morning listeners with stories of Amazon parrots.

Southeaster Wildlife Exposition
Now in its 27th year, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) is the largest wildlife art and nature event in the nation, one that you have to experience first hand to understand and truly appreciate. Held each year in the weekend preceding President’s Day, SEWE attracts 35,000+ attendees to beautiful Charleston, SC, to enjoy world-class original art, diverse exhibits, interesting presentations and lectures, not to mention Southern hospitality and lots of fun!