MYSTERY PHOTO: Marine scene

Here’s a scene somewhere on the water.  Send your best guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.

Our most recent mystery, “Pretty gazebo begs question, ‘Where am I?,” is located on Race Street in Charleston in a park adjacent to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Several alert readers identified the gazebo, including Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Richard Gowe and Delia A. Smith, both of Charleston; and Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas.

Peel provided some context: “In the center of the domed structure is a sand-carved glass sculpture of Mother Mary and Baby Jesus that was created by Lowcountry native artist Lex Melfi. In his late 40s, Lex Melfi became interested in sand-blasting glass as an art form after seeing a piece of such work in Opa-locka, Florida over 22 years ago. Born and raised in Summerville, he comes from a large Italian family that immigrated to the Charleston area in 1847.  

“The highly technical and challenging process of sand-carved glass involves the use of high pressure air and sand digging into the glass rather than scratching the surface. The sand blaster uses different nozzles, air pressures, and grits of sand to carve-out varying degrees of depth into the glass, giving it a three dimensional look that is breath-taking to look at, particularly when light is refracted through the glass.   Melfi’s first commissioned piece of work was the 8-foot tall, 8-panel window in the Bell Tower at the Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston. The sand-carved sculpture of Mother Mary and Baby Jesus in today’s mystery photo is 7′ 6″ high and 3′ 4″ wide.  If you would like to learn more about Lex Melfi and his passion for sand-carving glass, click here to view a WCBD News 2 YouTube video clip about the artist and his work.”

• Send us a mystery:  If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)   Send it along to  editor@charlestoncurrents.com.