Bay Point Island 48 X 60

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas; copied from an aerial photograph created by a local interested photographer and displayed recently on the Coastal Conservation League Brochure.

This remarkable SC sea island is down the coast from Charleston and lies just north of Hilton Head Island. Like many sea islands along our coast, this island is undergoing an intense war and siege with the Atlantic Ocean. Its outermost eastern edge has undergone considerable erosion and its numerous pines are constantly falling victim to the massive energy of continuous wave action. additionally, this island has been under siege by the omnipresent developers who are constantly scanning our beautiful lowcountry landscape for new projects . As developer's numerous lawyers and conservationists continually clash, many such lowcounty sanctuaries have fallen into aggressive local and remote investor's pockets since their massive war chests are difficult to battle. Over the years, many of our most beautiful properties have been cleared for gated communities with Bradford Pear trees which were placed after the local unwanted indigenous trees and shrubs were bulldozed and carried off to a landfill somewhere. Huge profits from these communities allows these groups to steamroll over conservationists which depend on donations from interested local citizens and groups. Clever lawyers find loopholes and intimidate our regulatory boards locally and state wide.

Thankfully, an aggressive investment group has recently failed to crush local conservation minded groups here at Bay Point Island. An Eco-Resort was planned and nearly was approved in spite of considerable "push back" from our local citizens until our governor stepped in to shut the plan down. Unfortunately, these investment groups are unlikely to go away as huge profits can be made if attention is lost and the defense becomes less vigilant.

Bay Point Island is home to numerous shorebirds and other threatened local animals which have called this island home for millenniums. Mammals, reptiles, fish, birds, and local sea island trees and shrubs do not stand a chance battling these developers. Most of these animals are considered a nuisance, especially when they may threaten the safety of these new residents and frequently animals such as alligators and snakes fall victim to these safety minded varmint containers. 

Thanks to many who stood strong against an overwhelming opponent, this island shall remain wild and further generations will be able to witness what a wild and beautiful sea island looks like without asphalt, golf courses, swimming pools, lawn mowers, golf carts and numerous docks.

Hopefully, this large painting will end up in a place of significance to remind all of us what might be lost forever should our guard be let down all along our coast.