If you don’t recognize the wonderfully talented Mimi Wood, you most assuredly recognize her masterpieces scattered about the island and throughout the Lowcountry. Mimi explained how her local works of art began. “My first piece, depicting a paddle boarding family of cats, is on Ben Sawyer, which led to a series of three paintings of family life, illustrated through cats. MUSC has them at Shawn Jenkins (Children’s Hospital) and hangs copies in reception at their satellite facility in North Charleston. They are comical, and hopefully provide a moment of distraction and relief for a family who might be struggling.”
Mimi continued, “At the marina, there’s a map of fun facts, and a collage reminiscent of earlier island days. Additionally, the IOP Garden Club commissioned the traffic signal box at the foot of the Connector. I did the flower boxes at Café’ Paname as well. I am genuinely honored, privileged and humbled to have my work around town.”
Mimi and husband Tom came to Charleston for a long weekend in 2011 to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Having never heard of the IOP, they came to the island merely to drive around. They left that Monday with a contract in hand to purchase a home. Mimi recalled, “We told our youngest child, a high school freshman at the time, to pick a college in South Carolina because we were moving as soon as she graduated. Jamesy was dragged here kicking and screaming, but six weeks later, while having lunch on the marina deck, she remarked, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t want to move here!’ Our daughter Glenn and her husband Dan moved here during the pandemic and now they (we) have Christian, 3, and Cecelia, 6 months; our favorite son, Greg, lives in Orlando.”
The Woods have happily embraced island living. Tom can be found at The Refuge nearly every morning except Saturday, when he’s working games at the rec center. He walks the beach most mornings with rescue dogs Rosita and Josefina. The Woods’ cat, Three, came to them via open adoption from Danica at The Refuge.
Mimi started as a cashier at the IOP Marina soon after moving to the island. Mimi stated, “I absolutely loved it! My strategy was two-fold: avoid a ‘real’ job while putting some structure into my week and meeting the locals.”
Mimi radiates pure joy when describing her family’s experience as islanders. “The best part about living here is living here. We apologize to the real locals,” she said. “Rest assured, we came to assimilate, not to change. We are in awe of all y’all’s Southernness.” Thanks for that, Mimi. Welcome home.
By Laura Fogarty
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