Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

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Long before Lowcountry artist John Chitwood
finished high school and enrolled in the art
program at the University of Georgia, he’d been
honing his skills with pencil and paper. And
though drawing and illustration came easily during his
childhood years, he was not prepared for the “artistic
lifestyle” that was pushed on him in college. And he didn’t
quite like it.
“I really didn’t ‘get’ fine art,” he confessed to me over
iced coffee. “The examples were weird. I wasn’t pleased
with the gallery crowd, and the feeling was mutual.”
So Chitwood dropped out of the program at UGA
and headed south to Daytona Beach, Florida. He wanted
to make money, he said, and needed to find that elusive
connection between creative work and financial gain. He
soon discovered it in the Sunshine State, enrolling in the
Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, where he
used his knowledge of color and composition to pursue
illustration and graphics. Thus, his career as a commercial
artist got started and brought him back to Charleston in
1988, where he found success creating advertisements
for television, radio and print. His creative headquarters,
Renaissart Graphic Design, was located at 538 King St. for
many years after opening in 2000.
Now the Charleston native has moved his
studio to East Cooper, settling in the Clay Cottage
at 1123 Chuck Dawley Blvd., right down the
street from the offices of Mount Pleasant Magazine.
A resident of Oakhaven in Mount Pleasant,
Chitwood loves his new, convenient space, which
he shares with a few other local creatives.
“There’s pottery downstairs, guitar upstairs ...
I love the creative environment and the escape,”
he commented.
Chitwood’s reputation for creating charming
and engaging designs recently preceded him when
he was approached with an offer he couldn’t refuse
BY DENISE K. JAMES
All photos courtesy of John Chitwood.
Linking
Creativity
and
Success
Meet Local Artist
John Chitwood