Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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M v. I Robert Walton/Garnet (kBIack F JMRlB^I k.. ^ \ lH| v^?|p^: "These are projects I'm taking on myself. No one's hiring me to do these," says Sky. Nonetheless, Blue Sky cannot be called a starving artist. His wife, Lynn, owns and runs Blue Sky Gallery in Five Points, where only Sky's paintings are sold. "That's our income," said Sky. "[The art] is providing an income for my family." Sky's family includes his wife and his son, Jesse Jet Sky, who's 12 and in the sixth grade. "So, we're raising a little boy and running this gallery, he said. Sky even incorporates his hobbies, motorcycling and boating, into his paintings. "Even when I take my motorcycle out, I have a little kit that I carry around with me, and I go out in the country and do paintings. I also set up my easel on my boat," said Sky. If you dorit stop your B m volcanic eruption flowing through a wall, and it has lava rnmino nnf and smoke coming out. It'll go in the tunnel over by the railroad station," said Sky. "It's been approved by the Vista people, and they're trying to raise the money now to do it." Sky also has designed a 100-foot arch to span the Congaree River Bridge as well as a pedestrian bridge crossing the Congaree River. The arch will be covered with kudzu and is awaiting aDDroval. m/Ey?en when 1 take my motorcycle out, 1 We a little kit that 1 carry arounb WCth me, anb 140 out w the country anb bo pawtutfis. 1 also set up my easel on my boat - 'b lue Sky "Everything I do, I manage to incorporate painting into it. I think it's a very wise thing for a person to do because you can combine business and pleasure. That's good because even when you're having recreation, you're earning money." Earning money played a part in Sky's decision to become a professional artist. "My first incentive [to become an artist] was when I found out I could make money by entering contests and things," said Sky. "When I was in high school I decided I was going to go to New York when I graduated [from college] and be an artist." p- :mr $ i ' zFWMm fnc>nrl frr*m rlrnnnrrrlm nl' \i;hr? \xnl 11 1\^1 IVU II Will vai 1 v 11 VUl HI ll\, VV I IU VV 11 Sky went to University of South Carolina and majored in art, but his beginnings in art date back to high school and childhood. Skv was hnrn at- Tnli imKio Hospital in Columbia to a family of artists. "My mother was an artist, but she never showed her work. She was a very shy woman; she didn't go out in public much. I learned a lot about mixing colors from her," said Sky. But his cousin, Gene, was the single biggest influence on Sky's art. "When I was a kid, Gene came to live with us, and he could draw pretty good. He taught me how to draw at five or six years old cars and model airplanes." "Airplanes were big back then because it was during the second World War," Sky said. "I learned how to draw the German airplanes." Drawing airplanes is hard because the wings have delicate nuances. Sky says it was good that he learned to draw these first instead of with color. But drawing airplanes was only the beginning. Sky learned more art techniques by attending Dreher High School and taking art classes from Louale Skinner, under whom many students excelled. Dreher High School boasts the location of Sky's first mural. "They let me paint a mural in the cafeteria, but I don't think it's there !!r? - JBIt, ^SM^^II -^j^fiJ: : :' 'WW' JH 5:' 1? Do whatever it takes. U S Department of Transportation