Area artist balances science and art

Abbeville resident spends weekdays working with numbers
and logic, weekends with canvases and paintbrushes

March 20, 2006

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

ABBEVILLE — As a scheduler for the Oconee Nuclear Station, Abbeville resident Tom Grantham spends a majority of his day sitting at a computer, eyeing numbers and using logic to make plots and other plans for engineers at the station.
It’s a job that requires him to use his skills in math and science on a daily basis. But when the week ends, Grantham leaves that math and science behind and enters a world that requires his imagination and creativity.
On any given Saturday or Sunday, you can find the 54-year-old tucked away in his cozy art gallery and studio on the Square in Abbeville, perched behind a canvas draped in his next colorful scene.
“I enjoy the creativity, the pure joy of creating something that is pretty,” he said of painting. “It’s a love — maybe a passion. I like to look back on everything I do.”
For Grantham, art has always been a part of his life, and he said he still has sketchbooks filled with drawings from when he was a child.
“I’ve been sketching and drawing ever since I could hold a pencil,” he said. “My older brother was a really good painter and I got a lot of inspiration from him growing up.”
Though art was his minor while a student at Wofford College, after graduation, Grantham found himself in a more technical field.
“When I finished college, I came back (to Abbeville) briefly. A buddy of mine had just finished The Citadel and he was trying to figure out what to do with his life. The Alaska Pipeline was just about to get started, so we decided to go ahead to Piedmont Tech and learn how to weld and then go to Alaska,” Grantham said.
But fate stepped in before they went north, and his friend instead entered the Air Force.
Grantham was hired by Duke Power to be a welder at the Catawba Nuclear Station, where he remained for about eight years before being transferred to Oconee, he said.
“I only painted a little between 1974 and 1999. (My wife) Peggy and I went to Maine on vacation in the summer of ’99, and ever since we got back, I’ve been painting pretty regularly,” he said. “The trip to Maine must have been an inspiration because I started painting and I’ve been painting ever since.”
On the walls of the Rosebud Gallery and Studio, visitors can see Grantham’s wide variety of paintings, from realistic scenes of the Abbeville Square, to impressionistic portraits based on old photographs he found in magazines.
“I’m always working on something ... I always like to know what I’m going to start on next and what it’s going to be. I’ve never had painter’s block,” he said. “Sometimes I find old photos in National Geographics or just any kind of picture that I like and think, ‘That would make a good painting.’”
But with a 52-mile drive to work each day, finding the time to paint can be a task in itself, and Grantham said he has had to move his art away from his house and into his studio.
“I used to keep an easel at home and paint when I got off from work, but it was just too much, so I scaled it back to the weekends now,” he said.
Grantham, a charter member of the Abbeville art guild, works mostly with oils, and he said he calls his style “impressionistic realism.”
Some of his more detailed pieces, such as the Abbeville Square portraits that have been reproduced on postcards, can take anywhere from six to eight months to complete. He said he averages about three to six paintings each year, depending on their size and detail.
“I’ve always wanted to do downtown (Abbeville),” he said, adding that, after entering his first portrait of the Square into a jurored art show in Anderson, he decided to continue the theme. “That kind of sparked me to do another angle. Eventually, I’d like to make it all the way around the Square, but that will take some time.”
The piece he is working on currently, a portrait of Trinity Episcopal Church, is a “continuation” of his Abbeville work, he said.
His favorite portrait, “Gallery Gala,” features friends and family members mingling at a gallery opening.
“Peggy names 80 percent of the paintings,” Grantham said, with a smile, adding that, if at first he disagrees with the name, his wife can usually make him see her point of view.
“I just look at them and the paintings tell me what they should be,” Peggy said. “If you look at them, to me, they just name themselves.”
She said she enjoys watching her husband’s creations come to life as he adds colors and textures to the canvas.
“I really enjoy (Grantham’s) work,” said Jim Beauford, an artist featured this month at the Rosebud.
“He is one fantastic artist. I come down here every Saturday just to touch him and see if some of it will rub off,” Beauford added, laughing.
Grantham said his portraits were “scattered” throughout the town at various restaurants, and he and Peggy eventually decided to consolidate the work in a gallery. With a small apartment in the back and a large space upstairs, Grantham said he enjoys the location.
“I just love sitting here and watching people as they go by the windows. It’s entertaining,” he said. “And people stop by to watch me paint and I don’t mind that one bit. I encourage people to come in and watch. They like that and I do too. I like to show them what I’m doing.”
Though he hopes one day to branch out into abstract art, possibly using his welding skills to create sculptures, Grantham said as long as he’s still creating art, he’ll be satisfied.
“I plan to continue this as long as I can,” he said, smiling. “I’ve always been one who wants to stay busy, so this is relaxing and it’s productive.”

Opinion

Tom Hutto was an artist with many special talents

March 20, 2006

Thomas Lauder Hutto, 81, of Greenwood, died Thursday. This transplanted Georgian was born in Asheville, N. C., but grew up in Augusta. He always spoke fondly of his younger days in Augusta and at the University of Georgia in Athens. Still, Greenwood was his home and he loved it. It showed in everything he did.
Lander University held a special place in his heart, too. He served the then Lander College faithfully as a vice president and its spokesman for many years until he retired. After retiring from Lander, Tom Hutto opened his own photography studio on the Uptown Square and his photographs of weddings, landscapes and a whole variety of things that caught his professional eye left no doubt that his artistry with a camera was second to none.

TOM WAS WHAT YOU might call the quintessential friend. Once a friend, always a friend. That defined the character of this principled man. He stood up for what and who he believed in, and, no matter the odds, always spoke his mind ..... and his heart.
In this regard, he was a rarity in a world where intimidation can be a daunting factor. If he thought someone or something was wrong, he said so. Conversely, if he thought someone or something was right, he was never afraid to state his case ..... and the reasoning behind it.
Moral character and individual integrity also seem to be rarities these days. Not for Tom Hutto, though.

WE SEE TOO FEW WITH those qualities. Tom Hutto’s friends, and perhaps everyone who knew him, recognized that his life was a matter of high standards and unimpeachable ethics.
Family was important to Tom Hutto, So were the lessons he learned when he went off to defend his country in World War II. He was indeed a product of his times and the values that shaped him.
There was another characteristic of this man that should never be forgotten. He had a sense of humor that said loudly and clearly that Tom Hutto was a man who enjoyed life. He had a unique talent for making others smile by adding a little sunshine to the lives of those he touched, and had a gift for making people feel better. He didn’t have an egotistic bone in his body, a quality that let him see the world around him in terms of beauty, love and laughter. That, alone, is a legacy each of us would do well to emulate.

Obituaries

Sybil Alverson

WARE SHOALS – Sybil Beggs Alverson, 82, of 16 Walnut St., the wife of Hayward M. Alverson died Saturday, March 18, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Abbeville County, she was a daughter of the late Amos and Della Calvert Beggs. She was a member of the Ware Shoals Pentecostal Holiness church and was retired from Riegel Textile Corp.
Survivors include the husband of the home, a daughter; Shirley Faye Trupia, Ware Shoals, a sister; Agnes Irby, Williamston, four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.
Services are 3 p.m. Tuesday at Ware Shoals Pentecostal Holiness Church, conducted by the Revs. Mac Jones, Don McKeller, and Lee Boggs. The body will be placed in the church at 2 p.m. Burial is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Visitation is 7-9 p.m. tonight at Parker-White Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of a granddaughter, Carolyn Digby, 7 Dairy St., Ware Shoals.
Parker-White Funeral Home is in charge.

Mrs. Phoebe Maxwell

IVA, SC — Mrs. Phoebe Etta Dutton Maxwell, age 80, wife of Clyde Maxwell of 504 East Green Street, Iva, SC died on Saturday, March 18, 2006 at AnMed Health Medical Center, Anderson, SC.
Born on July 7, 1925 in Elbert County, GA, Mrs. Maxwell was a daughter of the late Garrison Dutton and the late Gussie McCall Dutton. Mrs. Maxwell retired from Iva Manufacturing Company and was a member of Iva Church of God.
Mrs. Maxwell is survived by her husband, Clyde Maxwell of the home; three sons, Larry T. Bowen and David M. Bowen of Anderson, SC and Steve Maxwell of Abbeville, SC; a daughter, Judy Mauldin of Iva, SC; two brothers, Maxie Dutton of Anderson, SC and Herbert Dutton of Atlanta, GA; three sisters, Garrisie Gault of Anderson, SC, Dorothy King of Lavonia, GA, and Myrtice Driver of Greenville; twelve grandchildren; and fourteen great grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Maxwell was preceded in death by her first husband, Clint Thomas Bowen, three brothers, Paul, Frank, and Bossie Dutton; and two sisters, Wilma Aldrich and Gussie Mae Gaines.
The Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 at 2:00 pm at The McDougald Funeral Home Chapel, Anderson, SC officiated by Rev. Buddy Graham and Rev. James B. Grant. Interment will follow at Iva City Cemetery.
The family will receive friends on Monday, March 20, 2006, from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at The McDougald Funeral Home, Anderson, SC.
The family is at the residence.
Flowers are optional. Memorials may be sent to Iva Church of God Building Fund, 1013 West Front Street, P. O. Box 427, Iva, SC 29655.
A message of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting www.mcdougaldfuneralhome.com
THE MCDOUGALD FUNERAL HOME, Anderson, SC is in charge of arrangements.
PAID OBITUARY

Frances Shaeffer McIlwain, 100

Frances Shaeffer McIlwain, age 100, passed away after a brief illness on March 14, 2006 in Leesburg, FL. She was a long time resident of Greenwood, SC and later of Holmes Beach, FL. She taught school for 25 years in Greenwood County Schools. She was a graduate of Florida State University, Delta Zeta Sorority and was the widow of J.M. McIlwain, Sr. of Hodges and Greenwood, SC.
She is survived by one sister, Grace S. Atkins of Holmes Beach, FL and Chelsea, MI; one son, J.M. McIlwain, Jr. (Jonnie) of Yalaha, FL; two grandchildren, John S. McIlwain of Jessup, GA, Elizabeth M. Hatcher of Winston Salem, NC and four great grandchildren, Parker Hatcher, Leanna Hatcher, Blake McIlwain and Hampton McIlwain.
A Memorial Service will be held at Beyers Funeral Home Chapel, Leesburg on Friday, March 24, 2006 at 2:00 P.M. with Reverend Terry Jackson officiating.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to: Hospice of Lake/Sumter, 12300 Lane Park Rd, Tavares, FL 32778.
Beyers Funeral Home, Leesburg, FL
PAID OBITUARY

Larry Adams Sifford

GREENVILLE — Larry Adams Sifford, 68, beloved husband of Linda Darragh Sifford, passed away March 17 at the Hospice House in Greenwood.
Mr. Sifford was born in Clover, a son of the late John Earl, Sr. and Martha Violet Adams Sifford. He was employed by Fairway Ford for 33 years, was a member of the Hejaz Shriners, and was of the Methodist faith.
Surviving are his wife of 45 years; a daughter, Kimberly Lynne Kilgore of Greenville; a grandson, Thomas Robert Kilgore; and two brothers, John Earl Sifford, Jr. of Columbia, and Thomas Macon Sifford of Plano, Texas.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 21 at Northside United Methodist Church, Summit Drive, Greenville. Visitation will follow in the church parlor.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646.
Cremation Society of South Carolina, Greenville, is serving the Sifford family.
PAID OBITUARY