Welcome to my Lantern Page

My wife and I moved to Hilton Head in 2020 after retiring. Shortly after moving here, I learned about a fantastic event called the Hilton Head Lantern Parade, started by Chantelle Rytter from Atlanta. Each year I have created a large lantern for the parade.

The first one, Manny the Manatee, was created in 2021 in collaboration with local artist Janet Scarborough. Due to Covid, the parade was canceled that year so Manny did not get to take his walk down the beach. The following year, in 2021, Janet and I collaborated again on Hermie, a six 6 foot hermit crab in a nautilus shell. It was a lot of work and we were very happy that we got to walk on the beach in the parade for the first time. Both Manny and Hermie were loaned to the Childrens' Museum in the Low Country Celebration Park. In 2022, using a new method of construction, I created Sharkey the shark and, with some help from my Shipyard Mens Club friends, got Manny out of the museum and walked both of them down the beach. After the parade, both Manny and Sharkey were hung in the ceiling of the Tiki Hut on South Forest Beach. In 2023, I created Sammy the Seahorse and, again with some help from my friends, walked Sammy, Manny and Sharkey all down the beach together.  

Below are some pictures of each lantern that show the different processes I used for each along with the finished products. All of them began with a heat-bent pvc pipe frame. For all but the first one Manny, caning was then used to create the body contours. After lights were added to the insides, they were then covered in "skin". Traditional rice paper was used for the Hermit Crab. It was challenging to apply, especially on the six legs. All of the paper was then hand painted by Janet. Precolored Oly-fun fabric was used for Sharkey the Shark and Sammy the Sea Horse. While still challenging to apply, it was a much easier process than the rice paper and gave a brighter, richer glow to the lanterns.