Painting of the French Huguenot Church

This is a colonial era French Huguenot Church in Downtown Chas. The Huguenots were French speaking Protestants who came to America to escape persecution from the Catholic Church in the 16th and 17 th centuries. The building is a beautiful example of Gothic architecture with the original cast iron decorations on the many spires. Notice the torch used at the top of the church when this was built the colonial period.


I recently painted this 10X8 painting of the French Huguenot Church pictured above.

I like the color contrasts of the red roof with the bright blue sky and green palmetto tree. I wanted to use the strong diagonal element of the roof to offset the vertical elements of the spires. This is a small painting but I think the use ofcomplementary colors and design elements make a big statement.

I met a family who had traveled 2 hrs to attend an all French language service in the church . Once a year, the church holds its service in French (except for the sermon). The rest of the year the services are in English. This family wanted to attend this special service because they enjoy " all things French".