Lowry Coe arrived in the Charleston, SC area in 2000, having spent over 40 years as a writer/producer of motion pictures and videos in the Washington, DC area. Through his company, Coe Communications, Lowry traveled the USA, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and the Caribbean writing and producing films for such clients as General Motors, Frigidaire, the US Government, the National Chamber of Commerce, and Exxon. After suffering a stroke, Lowry moved to Mt. Pleasant, lived with one of his daughters and her husband, and reinvented himself as an artist.
He had no formal training in the arts, but he knew that he had enjoyed drawing and cartooning while in college as Navy officer candidate at Duke, and later as an officer in the Navy. He did his first painting when he was in his forties. He used acrylics, painted young people on a beach, and won First Place and the People's Choice Award at the Rehoboth Beach Art Festival in Delaware.
When he moved to Mt. Pleasant, he started painting once again. His artwork won several awards, was selected twice in the “Blessing of the Fleet” poster contest and was selected as designs for several T-shirts. In 2005, he was commissioned by the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina to paint a 24” x 30” painting for the unveiling of the new Ravenel Bridge. He also created several paintings of Shem Creek, Dunleavy's Pub, the USS Yorktown, and Fort Sumter.
Lowry was best known for his pen and ink sketches of more than 150 Charleston area scenes, including historic downtown and islands churches, trawlers on Shem Creek, Lowcountry plantations, and area lighthouses. Lowry passed away in 2011.