I recently had the occasion to spend some time in Charleston, South Carolina with my wife MaryLynn. We took this opportunity to spend a little time working on business projects as well as to enjoy a bit of vacation time. I have found that the slower South Carolinian life style agrees with me and almost immediately transforms me into a lazy slug-like creature. The Charleston area is a beautiful area, laced with great history, wonderful eateries and terrific golf courses. One of which we played on Kiawah Island that was both beautiful and very challenging, as we soon discovered while chasing balls in the rough and trying to elude 12 foot alligators. I also have discovered that this environment brings out the artistic side of me, whether I am looking for photo opportunities or visiting the many art galleries that are located in Charleston. One of the reasons for coming to Charleston was to host a gathering of friends, relatives,artists and art lovers at a reception for the artist Charles Williams, (photo at left). Charles Williams is a friend of MaryLynn's and mine, who hails from the Georgetown area of South Carolina. Charles is an extremely talented young artist who has in a short period of time become very famous in the United States for his artwork. My first encounter with Charles was about six years ago, at a charity fund raising event in Richmond, Virginia. Charles at the time was quite young and a relatively unknown artist. I immediately fell in love with his artwork and his paintings of the South Carolina low country, shrimp boats and the South Carolina ocean scenes. Charles work is so very realistic it gives you the sense that you are actually in the painting and experiencing the subject as Charles does. In the past six years Charles has become recognized as one of the top 21 young artists in America under 31 years old. Charles has won numerous awards and was most recently featured in American Art Collector Magazine as a featured artist. Charles opening night at the Robert Lange Gallery was indeed a success as he sold all but one of his paintings that were on exhibit.
The beauty of Charles paintings reminds me of another type of beauty, one which I believe many take for granted. I am talking about the beautiful smooth lines of a modern day airliner, when combined with the artful way the parts and components are produced, make me realize that not all art takes place on a canvas. Similar to Charles paintings a newly produced Boeing airplane sitting on the tarmac is a thing of beauty, although most see the airplane as an object that delivers us from point A to point B. The brightly polished metal skin of the airplane, the curved engine shrouds and the smooth lines of the wings and fuselage make me forget that this is a man made object. Being a titanium guy, I look at the way the metals are forged,cast,rolled,welded and shaped to create this very beautiful piece of flying artwork. When I see a modern day airliner sitting on the tarmac, it reminds me that creating an airplane is very similar to creating a fine painting. The creative minds of the engineers and the designers can visualize in their minds how the wrought titanium materials can be shaped,molded and fabricated. The finely honed skills of these talented people can see how a chunk of titanium forged metal can be created into a precise component that fits precisely into other finely machined components to make this airplane take the shape of a beautiful flying machine. The engineer sees his final version of the completed airplane, just as Charles Williams visualizes his completed painting. Both are artists, one with talents that can transform a piece of canvas into a beautiful painting and the other that can transform titanium metals into a beautiful flying machine.
Boeing Airplanes, located in North Charleston, produces very fine airplanes and in each of these airplanes you can find hundreds of components that are produced from titanium metals. Titanium, of course, is utilized for its strength to weight characteristics and can be found in components for jet engines, landing gears, bulkheads, hydraulic tubing and many other parts that are located on the airplane. The aerodynamic lines of the airplane is an artform, capturing both metals and composites. I recently had the pleasure to observe a number of new airplanes in North Charleston and I must admit they were very pleasing to my eye, just like one of Charles William's paintings.
