HOLY GROUND: THE GEORGIA BARRIER ISLANDS—In particular, Ossabaw, as shown by The Ossabaw Artists Collective

OSSABAW HEAT, JUNE BALL. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

Hallelujah for islands that are impermanent, shifting and changing over time—barrier islands—especially the ones along my state’s coast, the Georgia barrier islands! Anyone who has been fortunate enough to venture onto Ossabaw, Cumberland, Sapelo, Little St. Simons, St. Catherine’s, and the other undeveloped coastal islands has seen Georgia at its most exotic!

HOLY GROUND--GEORGIA'S BARRIER ISLANDS! (source)

Spanish moss drapes languidly over live oaks, alligators float in ponds and lounge along unpaved roads, snowy egrets flap overhead to roost in tree tops, deer scurry at dusk and dawn, while fiddler crabs wave their large claws in an infinite mating dance whilst ensconced in endless expanses of marsh!

ALLIGATOR IN THE GRASS, JANE SPRINGFIELD. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

I have been one of those fortunate people to spend endless hours in these most eastern parts of Georgia as the wife of a scientist doing research about neoichnology in the islands’ various terrains (see the Acknowledgment at the bottom of this entry). As for artists like me, the natural beauty is so palpably profound, the experience of being in these environments verges on the spiritual. 

MAIN ROAD LIVE OAKS, LARRY STREET. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

THE MIDDLE PLACE LIVE OAKS, LARRY STREET. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

This awe for Georgia’s spectacular barrier islands has been captured by The Ossabaw Artists Collective, a group of painters, photographers, and collagists, who are currently exhibiting a body of work about Ossabaw Island at the Lyndon House Arts Center in Athens, Georgia, entitled HOLY GROUND from May 19th to July 27th, 2013.

This blog entry is a celebration of their images! Pray, meditate, and just plain old enjoy these CREATIVES’ perception and sublime expression of Ossabaw Island. Better yet, get to Athens and this exhibit.

NOBODY'S MOON, PAUL HILL. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

BONE YARD, ANGELA WILLIE. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

FLOCK OF LEAVES, ANGELA WILLIE. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

ANGELA'S GOLDEN HOUR, STANT WILLIE. Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

SANDY'S HOUSE, BETTY OLIVER. This painting "documents" the mansion of Ossabaw's most important human inhabitant, Sandy West. She is the island's former owner and cultivator of numerous intellectuals, writers, and artists as visitors on Ossabaw. In 2013, Sandy celebrated her 100th birthday. (see article commemorating this event). For a juicy, informative article on this incredible woman's life, see this article by Ann Hardie. This image was taken at Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: As always thanks to my Chiboogamoo, aka Tony Martin. Tony, a geologist and paleontologist, has expressed his ichnological knowledge and appreciation of these islands’ value through his book, Life Traces of the Georgia Coast: Revealing the Unseen Lives of Plants and Animals and on his blog. Taken at the exhibit, Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

HOLY GROUND IS NATURE AND THE ART THAT HONORS IT! Hallelujah for art that celebrates and elevates our glorious beautiful EARTH. How exciting to see such a rich, luscious exhibit of art capturing the extraordinary Georgia coast! Thank you artists of The Ossabaw Artists Collective! Here, I, Hallelujah Truth, stand admiring the beautiful work on exhibit until July 27, 2013. This image was taken at the exhibit Ossabaw Island: Holy Ground, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, Georgia (photo by Tony Martin)

FINAL NOTE: WHAT ABOUT MY ART RELATING TO THE GEORGIA BARRIER ISLANDS?

Although I have taken numerous photographs during the times I have served as my Chiboogamoo’s field assistant, I spend most of my time absorbing the vibe of these barrier islands. I have yet to draw or paint much of the natural beauty there except for my American oyster catchers (see this blog),  moonsnail life cycle (see this blog) and whelks(and this blog).

Then there are other Hallelujah Truth related blog entries related to the Georgia Barrier Islands:

Paleontologist Barbie Does Bike Ichnology on Jekyll Island

Teaching Coastal Science Using Art (on Jekyll Island)

Lemurs on St. Catherines

Sea Turtle Nest Ecology on St. Catherines

Art and Carol Ruckdeschel on Cumberland

Paleontologist Barbie Explores Alligator Dens on St. Catherines

THE OSSABAW ARTISTS COLLECTIVE 2013