Charleston's Starry Skies, Bulrush, Sweetgrass (mulhbergia filpes), SabalL palmetto, by Lilian Huger. The salty air of Charleston's Low country beckons to glide high above the starry skies of sweltering, humid summer days.

I believe we assimilate to our environment and mine consist of families who prided themselves on creating the centuries old sweetgrass baskets to sustain their livelihood. At six, they thrust me in a laborious art form that I disliked and dubbed, "Slave Baskets". The assimilation of respect came four decades later after I had the opportunity to explore works by Mary Jackson, a MacArthur Foundation award recipient. I was taken aback by her meticulous execution of the art--never seen before. I said, "If Mary Jackson is the Da Vinci, I will strive to be Picasso". I pray, "God, I need your help, I need you to show me what you know. Visions morphed into intricately coiled artwork that merges inexplicable algebraic expressions- titled as the Gullah cultural languages. I know my grandmas are in heavenly awe of how I try to maximize color contrast in the use of regional materials, palm, pine needles & bulrush that rise in rhythmic cadence of the ancestral West African way.