Harold Edwards No. 2. See The Art Store for more artworks.

This story is reprinted from the March 2, 2008 Sunday Gazette-Mail

By Bob Schwarz

Harold Edwards has hit a rough patch since a one-man show of his sculptural constructs went on exhibit a year ago at the Clay Center.

First, his marriage ended. Then he had some problems with his left hand, forcing him to give up making those complex constructs Charleston art lovers knew him best for.

“I don’t know if it’s from overwork or not,” he said. “I’m losing cartilage in my hand, just bones rubbing on bones. The doctor wanted me to give it some rest.”

Edwards went back to painting on flat surfaces, something he hadn’t done in 29 years. The results will go on exhibit Saturday at The Art Store, 1013 Bridge Road, for an exhibit through March 29. Edwards will speak about his art at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. A reception follows from 6 to 8 p.m.

Edwards came back to Charleston in 2007 and moved in with his mother. He will soon close on a house he recently found near the old Sunrise Museum.

He found a job as art teacher with Kanawha County schools. Three days a week, Edwards, 54, goes to Cedar Grove Middle School and two days a week to Central Elementary in St. Albans.

He had worked 20 years in Lincoln and Kanawha schools, teaching at first art, then English, ending in 1995, the year after he married.

“I’m just sort of maintaining,” he said late one afternoon. “I just got home from educating America’s youth.”

In Richmond, Va., his wife was chairwoman of the interior design and architecture department at Virginia Commonwealth University. He ran the university wood shop three days a week, taught three-dimensional design as an adjunct professor five hours a week, and made his art.

“When I left Richmond, I told the doctor my hand was OK. I realized if I was operated on, I wouldn’t be able to do artwork for six months. I’d rather deal with it and keep working.”

In the current show, 21 of the pieces will be 15- by 15-inch paintings on Masonite. The series uses 13 different colors, of which each painting will have eight.

The show will also have two sculptural constructs, the last ones he did before the doctor told him to give his hand a rest.

He paints with water-based sign paint, making geometric patterns that remind a viewer of his three-dimensional work. “It’s the same paint I’ve used on sculptures. It’s permanent. It’s outdoor sign paint. I’m using the same [visual] vocabulary.”

Edwards said he is sticking to the same work routines he practiced when he worked at VCU. “I do my normal job, and then try to paint 20 hours a week.” During the long summer vacations, he paints full time.

And how is that hand holding up? He has good days and bad days, he said. “When the weather changes, it hurts more. It’s just part of getting old. It’s no big deal.”

To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use email or call 348-1249.

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