“Tools of the Trade,” by Veronique Aniel

This month, the city of North Charleston's Cultural Arts Department is showing works by Veronique Aniel and Jim Cheatham at the North Charleston City Gallery.

Aniel was born in France and came to the United States in 1957. She received a bachelor's degree in Studio Art at the College of Charleston, but also received informal training in her early years by tagging along with her father as he painted en plein air in the countryside of Normandy, France.

Aniel cites the French Impressionists and also American painters including Wolff Kahn and Childe Hassam as her greatest influences. She teaches a class on mixing colors at the James Island Recreation Center.

In his photographs, Cheatham attempts to present a "spiritual" dimension of flowers using 35mm film macrophotography. He does not digitally manipulate his images; rather, he exploits the particular characteristics of each camera lens to create what he calls "lens painting." Cheatham lives in Columbia. The North Charleston City Gallery is inside the Charleston Area Convention Center and can be reached by calling 745-1087.

The annual Taste of Charleston Festival takes place at Boone Hall Plantation every Sunday this month. Now in its 28th year, the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association has decided to broaden its scope by adding a visual component to the event called the Taste of the Arts.

The Taste of the Arts will take place on Gallery Row on Broad Street. Each gallery will be paired with a restaurant featuring authentic Lowcountry cuisine, allowing guests to bask in Charleston's exemplary visual and culinary arts as they stroll from one gallery to the next.

Some of the participating galleries include Hamlet Fine Art, Coco Vivo, the Edward Dare Gallery, the Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art, the Mary Martin Gallery, the Martin Gallery and others. Each gallery will feature a new exhibition and many will have the artists present, giving live demonstrations. Some of the partnering restaurants for the Taste of the Arts include Oak, Tristan, 82 Queen, Magnolia's and others.

Tickets for both the Taste of the Arts and the Taste of Charleston are $10 each in advance and can be purchased at www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com.

Tickets for the Taste of the Arts also can be purchased in advance at the Edward Dare Gallery, 31 Broad Street, or the night of at any participating gallery.

For more information and specific times for events, visit www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com.

French Quarter anniversary celebration a success

Last Friday's art walk had the biggest turnout I have ever seen in Charleston. Almost all the galleries had flown in some of their best artists, giving the public the opportunity to meet some well-known artists.

Saturday and Sunday seemed just as successful. Many of the galleries in the French Quarter scheduled demonstrations and lectures throughout the weekend. On Sunday afternoon, there were a few artists painting plein air, namely outside of Coco Vivo and the Edward Dare galleries.

How great would it be if we had more weekends such as these, where the artists and galleries really have a chance to shine and show their best work.

It would certainly help place Charleston even higher on the artist map.