14 minute read
Art is in the Details
ARTIST DEBBY BLOOM CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF PETS AND WILDLIFE
BY VICKIE MCINTYRE | PHOTOS BY MADISON ELROD
Advertisement
Artist Debby Bloom is a woman who has learned to say “yes” when challenged.
Whether it’s painting new subjects or moving across the country during a pandemic to open her first studio/ gallery in Palmetto Dunes Resort, she relies on creativity and optimism to guide her.
It’s a process she’s been fine-tuning since childhood.
Her love affair with color and art began early. Raised in Santa Cruz, Calif., Bloom is grateful she had supportive parents. At 12 years old, when she asked if she could paint the family’s 12-foot balsa surfboard into a totem pole, her father promptly took her for supplies.
At 16, she took her only painting class at the local college.
“The big takeaway from painting cliffs and ocean in watercolors was to stop when it’s done,” she says, “otherwise it ends up looking like mud from overwork.”
Another important lesson was learning to have a light touch, which also helped decades later when she began working with acrylics.
Despite her love of art, Bloom pursued a degree in cultural anthropology. Interested in Native cultures, she eagerly accepted several invitations to visit Juneau, Alaska during college.
“It always rained,” she laughs. “I wondered why anyone would live there.”
With degree in hand, she made another trip to Juneau, but this time she experienced what Alaskans call “a Sucker hole” — days of sunshine that lure people to stay. Buoyed by the weather, she inquired about volunteering at the Alaska State Museum. Instead, they offered her a job.
“I’m a beach girl that went wrong a long time ago,” she quips, noting she never knew wool socks existed before moving.
Always politically active, Bloom eventually wandered over to the Capitol building, landing a position as a Legislative aide. Still, she kept painting.
“My time in Alaska made me capable in ways that I never would have imagined had I stayed in the Lower 48,” she says. “It gave me the freedom to paint big because the vistas there are just that — big, bold, and extreme.”
Life was a kaleidoscope that kept turning. She spent 10 years in Juneau, then 30 more in Anchorage. There was marriage, two sons, and divorce as well as political cycles that meant unemployment and new jobs with elected officials and some nonprofits. Throughout, she kept giving her artwork away as gifts.
As another layoff loomed, a friend suggested she should have an art show and consider painting as her full-time job.
“That was eight years ago,” she says. “I sold nine paintings in three hours.”
Soon she had requests for private showings and commissions across the country.
An upcoming show in Washington, D.C., brought a strange request.
“When I arrived, a friend told me I needed to paint a big bear since I was from Alaska,” she recalls. “I told them I only painted trees, landscapes, and nudes.”
Eventually she consented, buying a canvas so large (4-by-5 feet) that she had to paint it in the host’s backyard. A magnificent polar bear emerged — her first animal painting and done in acrylics. Deborah Bonito, wife of then-U.S. Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, fell in love with the painting and purchased it for their Capitol Hill brownstone. “We put him front and center in the living room,” Bonito says. “Now he occupies the basement apartment where it’s cooler and keeps watch in between our visits.” More requests poured in. A ranch in Southern California wanted a painting of their Texas Longhorn. A couple from Idaho wanted a black bear with a fish in its mouth. Calls came for alpacas, chickens, and horses. Saying “yes” stretched Bloom as an artist. Dog portraits opened the floodgates. “They take a couple of weeks,” she admits, “and it’s a little nerve-racking.” Working from numerous photographs, she tries to find the details that make each pet distinct. That first portrait was especially intimidating. When the owner burst into tears, Bloom assumed she had missed the mark, only to discover the woman was overcome with gratitude.
She’s painted every breed imaginable since. One couple even commissioned Bloom to paint their beloved “Sir Charles,” an English Bulldog, so they could carry his portrait to their outof-state wedding.
Now settled in South Carolina, with a studio on Trent Jones Lane, thanks to the urging of a childhood friend, Bloom is expanding every facet of her business from landscapes and wildlife paintings to classes and pet portraits, as well as other commissioned paintings.
“It’s always a surprise when someone comes through the door,” she exclaims, ever optimistic about the next challenge to come.
CUTEST PET contest
DOG | CAT | OTHER
2021 CUTEST CAT: MAC
Blue-eyed Mac is a 13-year-old Siamese cat from a Savannah-based rescue group. When he was 3 years old, he was rushed to the hospital with congestive heart failure and his lungs were full of fluid. With the help of five medications — and love from his owner April Van Name — he pulled through. Mac is affectionate and works for treats. He finds one of his toys and returns it for a reward; then goes off to find another!
Photo by Lloyd Wainscott
MOCHI GOME
STINKY ATTICUS FINCH
ESTHER RYLEE BELLA
RADAR
VANELLOPE
PRETZEL APRICOT WILEY
MAMIE PICKLES
MURPHY
CUTEST PET contest
DOG | CAT | OTHER
2021 CUTEST DOG: MISS BO PEEP
Miss Bo Peep is an 11-month-old Sheepadoodle. She is loving, goofy, always happy and enjoys herding her dachshund brothers. Her favorite activities include boating, playing with other dogs (especially her bestie, Ringo) and cruising around listening to 70s music with her owner Donna Chapman.
Photo by Lloyd Wainscott
MOLLY
DAKOTA MADDIE
SKYE & LILLIE
RYLEE
PEARL JAM SPYRO
BELLA & BARLEY
MURPHY
CUTEST PET contest
DOG | CAT | OTHER
2021 CUTEST GUINEA PIG: MOCHI
Mochi is a 6-month-old American Guinea Pig. She loves to play hide ‘n’ seek with her owner Toni Stark and her little sister Waffles. On most nights you can catch her having many “snaccidents” that involve Timothy Hay and strawberries. Mochi loves a good cuddle, laying in your lap while being pet or making her way up to your shoulder to get cozy by your neck.
Photo by Lloyd Wainscott
TIDE
HONEY
DOLLY REMI
BURT
SAHARA AND SAMSON
GRACE AND LOLA
CALLIE
MAYA
ZIGGY OLIVER AND STELLA ROCKY
LUKE
JENNAY AND SALLY HARPER
HILTON HEAD & Bluffton MONTHLY
Don’t miss out. Contact your ad rep today!
COMING THIS OCTOBER THE LEADING MEN
OF THE LOWCOUNTRY
PING ANDI BARKER
NOODLE
TOODLES HOPE
MERLIN
LILY FRANKIE FAIRWAY FIVE
Jeff Hunt
For Realtors® working in the majestic Lowcountry, one of the biggest challenges can be standing out from the competition. With hundreds of different professionals working in the industry, there’s no shortage of Realtors® who all claim to be number one.
For Jeff Hunt, standing out has never been a problem.
One example of his capacity for giving comes every Christmas, when Hunt collects donations from his network of extraordinarily generous friends, clients and Dunes co-workers to purchase new bicycles for children in need. Through his donation of both time and money, he was able to donate 200 bikes and helmets last year to Deep Well and the Boys & Girls Club of Bluffton. That is 200 Christmas mornings made that much brighter by Hunt’s kindness.
But what sets Jeff Hunt apart isn’t just his generosity. It’s his unique ability to work alongside other professionals to benefit his clients.
To quote one of many glowing reviews on Zillow, “He has the clients and the connections with other Realtors® in Hilton Head to move property… He really is very good at his job.”
Those connections are ones that Hunt has formed at nearly every
level of local real estate. Fellow agents, home professionals, property management firms, even agents who he’s technically competing with; Hunt’s door is always open. “For someone who is as busy as he is, he’ll always stop to help someone else,” said Moskowitz. “If you were to ask other Realtors® who they would want to work with, that’s Jeff.” Ultimately, it’s all done in service to his HE JUST DOESN’T clients. Each of these connections create
SETTLE, IF A CLIENT a network, and that network creates a WANTS SOMETHING, JEFF Realtor® who is ideally equipped to navigate
RECOGNIZES HIS JOB the island’s real estate market. As interest in
AND HIS DUTY TO THAT relocating to Hilton Head soars and available
CLIENT. AND HE’S GOING inventory drops to record level, Hunt has TO LEVERAGE ALL THOSE shown remarkable skill in rooting out the
RELATIONSHIPS HE’S ideal properties for any client. CULTIVATED OVER TIME TO “He just doesn’t settle,” said FIND EXACTLY WHAT HIS Moskowitz. “If a client wants something, CLIENT WANTS. Jeff recognizes his job and his duty to that client. And he’s going to leverage all those DANIEL MOSKOWITZ relationships he’s cultivated over time to
Broker-in-Charge at Dunes Real Estate. find exactly what his client wants.” Because to truly succeed in local real estate, as Hunt has for more than 35 years, you have to be willing to do a little bit more. In service to a client, that can mean pounding the pavement and networking to find the perfect property. In service to his industry, that can mean helping out a fellow professional. In service to his community, it can mean making Christmas morning a little bit brighter for a child in need. But that’s what sets Jeff Hunt apart.
Dunes Real Estate 6 Queens Folly Rd., Hilton Head Island, SC 29928 843.422.5933 jeff@jeffhuntandassociates.com
Phil Schembra
With Gratitude…Thanks to the trust and confidence from clients, both past and present in Palmetto Dunes, Shelter Cove and Leamington, I have been recognized as the #1 REALTOR® in the State of South Carolina for individual sales volume by the 2021 REALTRENDS America’s Best ranking report (based on 2020 sales).
I am humbled by this recognition and grateful for the referrals and community support that allowed me to attain this distinction. The extraordinary faith that homeowners and prospective new residents place in me allows me to do what I love to do best; helping people achieve their dreams of owning in our community.
For the past 45 years in real estate on Hilton Head Island and in ventures across the country, I have always endeavored to be a positive force for our community. As a boutique company with a diversity of offerings beyond real estate, I’ve always believed that when you can help pursue a better life for others through your deeds, good days have a way of finding you.
It is an honor to put my knowledge and expertise in to work our community and help others discover the unparalleled quality of life we enjoy here on Hilton Head Island.
The Plaza at Shelter Cove, 50P Shelter Cove Lane, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 29928 800.845.9506 | 843.785.2452 phil@schembrarealestate.com | schembrarealestategroup.com
Richard MacDonald & Associates
CHARTER ONE REALTY
Long time realtor Richard MacDonald and Joey Doyle have enjoyed another very successful year together. Richard’s wealth of knowledge and Joey’s natural people skills have helped create the perfect team.
Richard is a dedicated professional with over 41 years of real estate experience here on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton. Richard and his wife Janet are true South Carolina Natives and raised all three sons here. Their family continues to grow with two grandchildren as well. Richard and Janet are members of the Hilton Head Presbyterian Church where Richard serves as an Elder and Janet serves on the Women’s Ministry team.
Joey has just finished five full years in real estate with Charter One Realty and Richard MacDonald & Associates. Joey has proven that she is dedicated to serving clients with the utmost professionalism and personalized customer service and continues her success at Charter One Realty. Joey is originally from Oklahoma but has called the Lowcountry home for over 17 years. Joey and her husband Chad live in Bluffton, which is also where her husband works. Real estate is a family affair for the Doyle’s and her husband Chad has been a real estate agent for 20 years which has helped Joey continue to grow her business year after year. When not in the office you can find her chasing around two very busy kids, Reagan and Tucker and enjoying all things Lowcountry.
If you have any interest in buying or selling, please don’t hesitate to give Richard or Joey a call.
I AM BLESSED TO HAVE SO MANY WONDERFUL PROPERTY OWNERS AND PAST CLIENTS WHICH ENABLE ME TO BEGIN MY 41ST YEAR, LISTING AND SELLING PROPERTY HERE IN THE LOWCOUNTRY. “ “
– RICHARD MACDONALD
