Limited Edition art maps showcase South Carolina’s beauty, history & diversity.
Coastal Art Maps, a company that captures the beauty of the East Coast shoreline through breathtaking, hand-drawn maps, has just released its “Sea Islands of South Carolina” map series, the latest additions to their stunning collection. These three new maps depict the beaches, towns and historic landmarks that span much of the 130 miles of the South Carolina coastline.
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Joseph S. Tarella, the talented map-maker at Coastal Art Maps, was able to expertly spotlight the iconic historic towns, coastal attractions, islands and waterways along the South Carolina shore.
The first of the exquisite, hand-drawn maps in the new collection, Daufuskie Island to Fripp Island, depicts the areas from the Georgia border, including Hilton Head, Port Royal, St. Helena, Fripp, and Hunting Islands and the town of Beaufort. This lovely map includes Hilton Head, the boot-shaped sea island nestled along the South Carolina coast, with its Atlantic Ocean beaches, pristine golf courses, and quaint Harbour Town Lighthouse. Additionally, this map showcases Port Royal’s harbor and military bases, and the bucolic town of Beaufort, which boasts history, heritage and the natural beauty of the coastal Lowcountry.
The second map, Edisto Island to Isle of Palms, highlights areas including Charleston as well as Kiawah, Johns, James, and Seabrook Islands. Charleston’s historic beauty is featured, with such notable locations as Battery Promenade, Waterfront Park, Charleston Harbor, and Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War rang out. Kiawah, a barrier island, is depicted as an oasis of untouched natural beauty, with miles of pristine beaches, perfectly preserved maritime forests, sand dunes, and marshes.
Finally, the third map, Capers Island to Cat Island, highlights Bulls, Murphy and 
Cape Islands. This map portrays the stunning, tranquil settings steeped in history along the shore: classic plantations, white sandy beaches, rolling dunes, beautiful parks such as Francis Marion National Forest, and gorgeous marinas. It also majestically captures the untamed wilderness of Bulls Island, with its Wildlife Refuge and areas of uninhabited beauty.
“It’s been a true pleasure capturing the beauty of the South Carolina shoreline, rich with history and resplendent against the backdrop of the extensive Lowcountry landscape. My ‘Sea Islands of South Carolina’ collection showcases more than 100 miles of breathtaking South Carolina coastline, from historic cities like Charleston and Beaufort, to the wild, untamed islands of uninhabited beauty,” explained artist Joseph S. Tarella, Owner of Coastal Art Maps. “South Carolina’s shoreline is picturesque and wonderfully diverse, and my new maps celebrate its beautiful beaches, idyllic harbor towns, sparkling marinas, as well as selective and sensitive development throughout these East Coast islands.”
Tarella has captured the beauty of the East Coast shoreline – from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Key West, Florida – through his hand-drawn and painted artwork. Each map represents a moment when an ever-changing world is briefly frozen in time. Tarella uses the time-honored tools of pen-and-ink and watercolor washes, resulting in an extraordinarily tactile quality not easily achieved using more modern, mechanical methods.
“I’ve captured the unique beauty of the South Carolina coast, where people spend peaceful days enjoying beaches, boating, fishing, hiking, traveling by ferry, and spending time in the quaint little towns along the shore,” Tarella continued. “These maps will make treasured keepsakes for beach or boating enthusiasts, nature and nautical lovers, sportsmen, fisherman, art collectors, and anyone who has spent precious time in these beloved locales. The maps – singularly or as a collection – make special, memorable gifts for the holidays, and to commemorate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations and other special occasions. They enhance the décor of any home, office, boat or beach house.”
Tarella started Coastal Art Maps as a hobby. He liked maps and traveling, and when he built a house on Long Beach Island, he couldn’t find any maps of the area that he liked, so he created his own. Friends and family loved his colorful hand-drawn maps and wanted their own versions. Tarella’s labor-of-love company evolved from there.
Artist Joseph Tarella offers a series of limited-edition art maps of selected coastlines, including the New Jersey shoreline that was damaged during Hurricane Sandy. Each map presents an elegant, detailed and accurate rendering of selections of East Coast land areas, highlighting their juxtaposition and relationships between land and water, islands, parks, roadways, and other significant elements. These comprehensive and beautiful ink-and-watercolor compositions, offered on full size giclee canvas or half-size watercolor paper, make truly unique and satisfying acquisitions.
Tarella combines his architectural experience, passion for travel and love of map-making to create stunning maps of East Coast beaches. Coastal Art Maps currently has over three dozen different maps in circulation, depicting areas including the New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida coastlines. Tarella, a trained architect and owner of SawickiTarella Architecture+Design PC, also customizes maps, identifying specific locations, per customer request. For more information, please visit www.coastalartmaps.com.
