Seems Like Old Times, 5x7 Collage

My friend Cindy gave our painting group a challenge: collage. This was so much fun to make. It's just a little nostalgia.

And to bring us into the 21st Century, my husband and I watched, with the naked eye--or should I say four naked eyes-- the Space Station pass over this morning. Just amazing.

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Spoonbill Resting, 5x7

Yet another Spoonbill in the Everglades. This was a study for a large painting. He looks a bit depressed, but who wouldn't, with a big spoon for a mouth?

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Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, 5x7

I painted this little guy when my wrist was broken and I had to paint lefthanded. It was very exhausting, making my brain work a bit differently. I called it my Sinistra series ("lefthanded" in Latin), and it kept me going last winter while my wrist healed.

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Bok Tower, 5x7

When I was a kid, every drugstore had a rack of Bok Tower and Cypress Gardens brochures and post cards. They were the sum total of tourism in Central Florida. When Disney came it all changed, and now Cypress Gardens is becoming Legoland. Bok Tower remains, serene and beautiful. It sits atop Iron Mountain (in Tennessee it would be a mere bump). We actually have hills in Central Florida, so comparatively, Bok Tower is on a pretty high one. This would be a nice spot for my painting group to do some plein air painting.

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The Scurrier, 5x7

 

This afternoon my husband and I were driving on the causeway over the Banana River and before us was a beautiful rainbow, a complete arc, and from the bridge we could see both ends glowing where it touched the water. What a sight! Of course, I had no camera with me. It would never work to paint something like that because it would look very hokey and unreal, like something to go on a commemorative plate. That's the way it is around here. Sometimes you just can't believe your eyes.
 

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Quiet Creek, 5x7

This little creek is outside historic Middleburg, Virginia. You don't have to venture far around the area to find a beautiful scene to paint. All those winding little roads just lead to lovely, intriguing places.

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Rain Lilies, 8x10 Collage

I really like sheet music in a collage, and I had these rain lilies blooming in my yard, so it was a natural progression to blend them into a collage. Or maybe I should call it Mixed Media? Anyway, the song is "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows."

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Lonely Coconut, 5x7

I couldn't resist painting more beach treasures on metallic gold. I wish you could see the gold in person, it makes such a beautiful background. I've had this photo a long time, and I didn't take it on our beach. I was in Antigua and came across this perfect half of a coconut just lying on the beach. Even the beach was perfect; it was curved, had coconut palms lining it, a few goats under the palms, and not another soul on the beach but my friend Joan and me. We went swimming, and the water was, of course, perfect.

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Cranes on Lake Toho, 5x7

This is East Lake Tohopekeliga in Central Florida. It is a huge lake, full of bass fishermen. These cranes were ambling along, unbothered by all the humans around. When I was growing up in Central Florida, we had no pools, just lakes, and swimming was our main activity. The lakes were clean, alligators were less in number and afraid of humans...those were the good old days.

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Golden Horizon, 5x7

Now I'm really experimenting. I painted this sunrise over gold gesso, leaving some of the gesso showing.

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Smoky Mountain Memory, 5x7

Even though I am a native Floridian, the Smoky Mountains have been a big part of my life. Every year my painting group, Pieces of 8, has an artists' retreat, usually in the Smokies. I used to live in Knoxville in the summertime when I was a teenager, and I spent a lot of time in the Smokies, and more recently my husband and I spent three months in Knoxville and enjoyed weekend trips to the mountains. It's a magical place.

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Rome Sunset, 5x7

This is a good memory, a view of Rome at night from the Hassler Hotel above the Spanish Steps. My sister and I had a fabulous vacation there. There is old, and then there is seriously old. Rome is seriously old. When our taxi pulled up to the Roman Forum we each gave an audible gasp when confronted with such antiquity, such history, and the visible remnants of the Glory that was Rome.

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Sunset Surf, 5x7

We have beautiful sunrises here on the East Coast, but we also have nice sunsets. We do get some color from the setting sun. This was the big surf from Hurricane Earl as it passed by.

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River Fishing, 5x7

Fishing seems like such a peaceful activity. I can't be still that long unless I'm reading, but I understand the serene nature of fishing. I guess I could have called it "Aphrodite Fishing," because she was such a beautiful young woman.
I'm excited to be included in two Treasuries on Etsy:
Hurricane Season
Treasure Hunt

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Hurricane! 5x7

In honor of the season, I painted a hurricane. I hope we don't see a scene like this in the next few weeks, but this is for the people who enjoy the drama of a hurricane (you know who you are).

Thanks to Hurricane Earl, I got some nice photos of crashing waves this week. Looking forward to painting those. We got the big waves without the winds, every surfer's dream.

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Baby Sea Turtle, 5x7

I was trying to get good photos of crashing waves yesterday and I saw this little guy flopping his way to sea. He had just hatched and managed to survive the many predatory birds looking for a tidbit like him. Can you imagine something like this little Loggerhead, just a few inches long, growing to over 300 pounds? He is an endangered species, and still has many hazards to overcome in the ocean. I was so lucky to get to see him, and paint him! Yes, I'm one of those blankety-blank environmentalists; call me a treehugger and see if I care.


FYI, if you are local, my painting group Pieces of Eight will be at the grand opening of the Sweetie Pie Baking Co. this Friday night ("First Friday Event") on Highland Avenue in Eau Gallie. Sweetie Pie is between the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery and Eau Gallie Florist. The Pieces of Eight will be exhibiting small paintings of sweets, so please stop by.

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