provided to Santiva Chronicle
Bank of the Islands is displaying new artwork as part of its continuing series of lobby exhibits showcasing local artists. The lobby art program was created in 2015 and is presented in association with Tower Gallery, Lee County’s oldest art collective.
The work of two local artists – Shah Hadjebi and Charlie McCollough – will be on display through Nov. 1 at the bank’s Sanibel office.
Hadjebi is a full-time watercolor artist residing on Sanibel Island. He received his BA from Syracuse University in the late 1980s and comes from a family of fine artists, architects, interior, industrial and furniture designers. His subjects range from animals to still life and realism. Living on Sanibel Island has supplied him with an endless array of subjects including a large variety of local birds with his signature, hand-painted Sanibel Stamp and calligraphy in the background, classic automobiles and popular landmarks and architecture. The artist’s main goal is to bring presence and mindfulness into this hectic world and to live a life where his inner and outer purposes are aligned. Additional information about his work can be found at www.watercolorsbyshah.com.
McCullough started photographing Sanibel history in 1939 when he first picked up a camera at the age of 13. His connection with Sanibel originated with family vacations at his grandfather’s bungalow called the “club house” on Woodring Drive. Over the years, this bungalow served as a haven for family, friends, and associates in the early years of the 20th century. It was there that Charlie photographed neighbors, local fisherman, Esperanza Woodring and her family, and other Sanibel sights and scenery. Charlie also took pictures of his own family, particularly of his wife Ann and daughter MaryAnne in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He eventually retired in Sanibel and lived in the bungalow with Ann from 1980 until his death in 2013. In 1997 Charlie joined a cooperative of artists who formed the Tower Gallery where his work continues to be displayed and sold. Charlie’s family published a book of his photographs, Sanibel Memories: The Photographs of Charlie McCullough in 2014. Charlie’s photos remain as his legacy-an investment in history that continues to accrue with time. To see more of Charlie’s photographs, please visit the Tower Gallery on Sanibel or online at www.charliemcculloughphotography.com.
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