John Meckley’s show entitled “Low Country Egrets in Flight”
Staff reports
As the Beaufort Art Association’s featured artist for July and August, John’s Meckley’s show opens June 26 and runs until August 28 at the Beaufort Art Association Gallery at 913 Bay Street.
Art lovers can come meet the artist on Friday, July 1, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Beaufort Art Association Galler.
Meckley’s love for art began at the age of 13. Self-taught, his inspiration came from works by Rembrandt and the Wyeth family artists. He likes to incorporate their styles with soft, smooth, warm brush strokes of his own. He limits his palette to warm, earthy tones. He believes his subjects portray a sense of serenity and peacefulness.
Meckley won his first Juried art show at the age of 17 in Pennsylvania. Since then, he has won numerous Juried show awards in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, and South Carolina. He even had a painting hanging in the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C.
Up until two years ago, his works were mostly snapshots of life with people struggling with real life situations and conditions, such as a tear falling from an old man on a park bench waiting for the end to come.
In 2019, Meckley moved to Bluffton and remembers taking in the impressive scenery, driving across a bridge with a light rain falling and the sun still shining. He saw a rainbow appear outside of the moving truck and he felt as if he could touch it.
Meckley noticed a flock of egrets in flight across the marsh and thought God was giving him a sign. Since then, egrets in flight have been his focus.
