Beaufort from an artist's palette

When Gloria Dalvini and her husband Charles retired to Beaufort from Connecticut 16 years ago, the artist said there wasn't much of an art scene. A stroll down Bay Street will provide evidence that times have changed.

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Beaufort from an artist's palette

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"At the time, there wasn't a lot going on in the arts when we moved here, but it's grown so big," said Dalvini. "When I first came here, I think there were three or four art galleries downtown. Now (I think) there are 12, and Beaufort's become a destination for art where it wasn't before. We've worked really hard to make that happen."

In 1995, Dalvini, a native of Michigan, helped establish semi annual gallery walks for downtown galleries, and the Guild of Beaufort Galleries also was formed under her leadership. After considering Savannah and Charleston, Dalvini said a friend recommended Beaufort to her and her husband. Both of them had lived in big cities, and they wanted to move to a smaller community.

"We were voted one of the 100 best art towns in the United States," Dalvini added. "The advertising that we got has helped the arts."

Dalvini even operated her own studio/

gallery downtown for 11 years but has worked out of her home studio, also downtown, for the last eight years. She decided to sell

her downtown gallery, because it was

taking away from the time she needed to paint.

"It's like a retail business, and it got so I couldn't get much work done there, because I knew a lot of people, and people were familiar with me, and they'd stop in to talk. And I just couldn't get as much painting done as I would have liked," said Dalvini. "And

besides that, I was tired of the retail business and having to be there all the time. I had people working for me, but it was still my

responsibility, so once I closed I could paint pretty much full time."

Even though Beaufort now has an active arts scene, Dalvini said the economy has

affected overall art sales.

"Art is a luxury, and so I think all art suffers when the economy isn't good," she said.

Dalvini took art lessons as a child, and she received graphic design training at the Kendall School of Design, now known as the Kendall College of Art and Design, in Grand Rapids, Mich. After 20 years in the

advertising business, Dalvini dedicated

herself to painting full-time.

When asked how old she is, Dalvini laughed and said, "Just say I'm a senior artist!"

For the majority of her career,

Dalvini had specialized in

watercolor, but at the urging of a friend, she has been creating oil paintings as well for the past five years.

"I had never tried oil, so I got the bug once I started, although it's very difficult to (go) from watercolor to oil," said Dalvini. "It's a different technique. With watercolors you go from light to dark to begin, but oil is just the opposite. You go from dark to light. I'll always love watercolor, but I'm really enjoying oil, and I think it's because whenever you try anything new, it allows for growth, and you get excited. And so now when I go back and paint watercolor, I'm even more excited about that."

In addition to selling her art out of her home studio, her work is available at Indigo

Gallery downtown.

"I just love her work," said Janet Deaton, owner of Indigo. "It's basically Lowcountry scenes, and a lot of her pictures are of houses in Beaufort. She's just a very good artist and a really nice person. We usually keep at least half a dozen of her pieces here, but she switches them out pretty often."

Deaton said even though Dalvini no longer operates her downtown gallery, the artist's impact is evident in the customers who come into her store.

"She used to have a gallery across from Saltus," said Deaton, "and when they started redoing the park, she closed that gallery, but I have people coming in here all the time asking for the lady who used to have the gallery on the park."

For Dalvini, who likes to paint rural and small-town scenes, making Beaufort her home was the perfect choice.

"(Beaufort) plays into my work a great deal," said Dalvini. "Wherever I am, I paint the outdoors, and I paint the things that I see, and I love all of the scenery here. That was one of the reasons we moved here. I knew that I wanted to paint here, because it's beautiful, and I love architecture. That's what I paint: the historic homes and the architecture, plus the marshes."

Dalvini initially thought that the majority of customers at her home studio would be tourists seeking to take scenes of the Lowcountry home with them.

"When we first opened the gallery, because of what I do -- scenes of Beaufort -- we thought that our customers would be tourists, but the local people supported us wonderfully," said Dalvini.

She has painted scenery in several European countries, including England, Greece, Portugal, France and Italy, as well as landscapes in New England, China, the Caribbean and Alaska. She also has taught art at the Creative Retirement Center at USC Beaufort, has conducted private workshops and teaches a six-week watercolor class

every year in Holland, Mich.

"I don't paint in the big towns," said Dalvini. "I usually do one painting trip a year, strictly painting, so I go and I paint every day for however long we're there. Last time I was in Italy for a month and painted all month. The Provence (region) in France is probably my favorite. I think I've been there to paint five times. Every place I go I paint."

If customers don't see what they want at Indigo Gallery, they can set up an appointment to visit Dalvini's home studio to view other pieces, but she suggested people call ahead since she paints almost every day and is usually outside painting. She considers herself fortunate to be doing something she loves so passionately.

"I like looking at something and creating a beautiful painting," said Dalvini. "I don't paint message paintings. I try to paint beautiful things in our world. It's something that's in me that I have to do, and to be able to do that is a real blessing."