March's Photo of The Month - Palmetto Bella Magazine

ShellyMarshall Schmidt

March 1, 2020

The healing power of horses.

“This photo is from the Silent Witness Exhibition, which is on display in the Brooks Gallery of the Aiken Center for the Arts, opening March 26. It represents the remarkable healing “connections” possible between off-the-track Thoroughbreds and military veterans suffering from the unseen wounds of post-traumatic stress. It is one of my personally favorite examples of this phenomenal relationship between horse and human – relationships that I have been privileged to witness through a number of programs and organizations to which I have been devoted for years.”

Shelly Marshall Schmidt

ShellyMarshall Schmidt

Shelly Marshall Schmidt is a commercial and fine art photographer known for her sensitive and insightful work – from portraits to action photography, both breathtaking in their composition and execution – and her innovative printing on a vast array of materials and fabrics. Shelly is particularly well known for lending her remarkable talent to a variety of rewarding and life-impacting programs. While her early career was fueled by “mechanical horsepower,” focusing on thoroughbred cars like Ferrari and Porsche, and championship racing at LeMans, LaGuna Seca, and other world-renowned motorsport circuits, this theme gradually shifted to “equine horsepower,” when she became a valuable collaborator with such groundbreaking and notable programs and organizations as Aiken’s Horseplay, Women Beyond Cancer, Aiken Equine Rescue, Saratoga WarHorse, the Silent Witness Exhibition, and New Bridge Polo Magazine; most recently, her work is featured in the upcoming national conference in Aiken, “HeART of the Horse.”

ShellyMarshall Schmidt

In the know

A New Year – A New Beginning

There is a new day dawning Not just a new day — a whole new year! Masks an accessory of the coronavirus, Symbolic of the 2020 annus horribilis This new year 2021 stands before us like a storybook waiting to be rewritten. Let us plan to approach this new year with 20-21 vision. Ready to see clearly, to meet this creative challenge. Let us not only plan to do things differently but “to make a difference.” This experiment has no expiration date. If you falter in your dedication, You have the option of endless renewal. One is easily defeated when you give up trying. Strive to be more observant of

PHOTO of the MONTH: MARGARET WARREN

And why, you may ask, is this man consigned to drinking his coffee under the breakfast table? He is a college professor, faithful husband, Navy officer, survivor of the sinking of the Block Island during World War II, family man, father of 3, and gentleman farmer. And the latter is how he ended up in the Warren substitute for a doghouse. You see, the Warrens at that time had a barn and a pony but no fenced paddock. Early every morning, my father would lead the pony out of the barn, up the driveway, past the house, and out to the front lawn. There he would tether the pony for

Celebrating the Beauty of the Natural World through Artwork | “Outside and Around Us”

Artwork provided by Aiken Center for the Arts, used with permission Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. An upcoming exhibition at Aiken Center for the Arts, “Outside and Around Us,” features plein air artwork by local artists Al Beyer, Bill Daniel, Sally Donovan, and Andrew Murphy from December 3, 2020 through January 29, 2021. For these artists, there is something about being in the environment as they paint that is important to them. It is more than simply painting outside; there is value from being in the open air. They are offered the opportunity to

Lights of St. Mary’s

On the frosty eve of Bethlehem, hazy nimbus of lamplight on cobblestones leads to the open doors of St. Mary’s. Within, eternal flame of brooding majesty burns above the ornate cupola. Towering pillars, angled arches, patterned concentric circles lofting above the altar — silent hints of the complexity of church history. Lambent stained windows and shadowed mosaic encircle the faithful with biblical messages. Ruby poinsettias amid pine-scented greenery flank altars ablaze with candles shedding their muted pools of empathy and bright sparks of hope this Christmastide. A tree-wrapped manger filled with new straw portends the good works of a parish to welcome the Christ Child! Lusty chorus of ancient carols