Charleston Samplers Artists

Jim Booth

Jim Booth, a self taught artist, has become widely known for his life-like realism. Jim reaches into the viewers’ minds and touches their positive and pleasing thoughts. A very prolific artist, he uses a wide range of themes to communicate with as many people as possible. Jim is constantly seeking compositions and mentally working out colors and lighting wherever he might be. He says, "At times objects or scenes seem to jump out and ask to be painted." My greatest problem is trying to decide what not to paint." His art re-creates the history of Charleston’s Lowcountry. With works that span the millennium, Jim paints scenes of the Civil War, antebellum Charleston, the early 1900’s and into the present with the Citadel, Hurricane Hugo, and the Morris Island Lighthouse. Jim’s exquisite details are a time machine that guides guests through Charleston’s heritage.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1945, Jim has been drawing and painting as long as he can remember. From the time of Jim’s youth he gravitated towards the world of art. Inspired by Norman Rockwell’s cover of Boy’s Life. Jim knew that art was his calling but denied himself formal training because he felt that art was not the way to make a living. While majoring in architecture at Clemson University, he decided that art was where his future lay. In order to fulfill his military obligations, he left school and joined the Marine Corps for four years of service, including combat in Vietnam. During the war he drew, making pencil drawings of the scenery. These sketches can be found hanging in his gallery. The war cemented Jim’s dedication to art, and he returned from to the United States determined to begin a career as a painter.

Jim started to master the workmanship of "painting everything he sees", a trait he believes to be very important for all artist. Jim estimates that he has done at least 10,000 paintings thus far in his career, and looking at his work, the viewer appreciates his dedication.

to the craft of painting. Because Jim worked so diligently in his art, he is able to paint a variety of subjects beautifully. His most famous painting is entitled " The Storm". This painting shows the Charleston Battery around 10:00pm September 21, 1989, just before the lights were extinguished by the violent storm Hurricane Hugo. The Category 4 storm devastated the Lowcountry , and Jim felt that he needed to capture its fury. He was sure no one would want to buy the reminder of disaster. Today, over 100,000 copies of the painting have been sold. He reached viewers on an emotional level, and they responded.

In 1977 Jim opened his own gallery. With a client list now in the thousands, it is easy to understand why Jim’s published original sold for five digit figures. He has decided to keep the originals, selling only canvas prints as amazing reproductions of the originals. His collector prints, however, have made his work available to everyone.

Jim now lives at Prospect Hill Plantation in Yonges Island, South Carolina with his wife Virginia and two daughters Diana Lynn, and Tracey Jeanette, who are his greatest boosters.

We hope that you love Jim Booth's art as much as we do. Please let us know if we can locate other prints from the Jim Booth collection that we do not have available on our website.

Virginia Fouché Bolton

Virginia Fouché created paintings with a glow of diffused translucent light that seems in times both awesome and ethereal. She was one of Charleston's finest artists, and her ability to capture the unique pulse of the the city and its citizens won her acclaim from both artists and laymen. Her sensitive and colorful renditions of cityscapes and flower women have long been favorites of people who wish to carry with them some tangible proof of heir visit to Charleston.

The charm of her work lies in finding and capturing the mellow restfulness, the silent steady rhythm of an all encompassing eternal calm in everyday moments, daily scenes and ordinary faces. Watercolor is her preferred medium although she has worked in all media. She was a teacher for many years and wanted her students to be aware of all methods of expression. "I prefer watercolor because of its elusiveness. unlike oil, you cannot make a mistake in watercolor and correct it. Your painting fails when you lose that freshness and sparkle one finds when water, paper and color work with the right side of the brain to create marvelous little miracles"

Charleston lost one of its great treasures when Virginia Fouché Bolton died in 2004. Her work endures, however, for it was always a quest for the deeply rooted meaning of her subjects. We hope that you will enjoy our selection of Virginia Fouché Bolton art. If you would like to see additional artwork by this artist, please contact us.

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