Lily of the Nile, 3x5 Oil on Wood Panel, Daily painting with easel

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This is another painting in my series of flowers from my garden. It comes with a little easel, and goes nicely with the zinnia painting below, which is also in my Etsy shop at this link.

Carmen

Blanketflower, 3x5 Oil Painting on Wood Panel, Daily Painting

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I've been painting flowers from my garden lately, and this one is in my "Xeriscape" section. People mistakenly pronounce it "Zeroscape." I had a section of my yard that didn't get enough water, so I went to the native plant nursery (which I call the Weed Farm) and bought plants that are native to Florida. This one has done quite well. There is a house around the corner with a yard planted in nothing but native plants, and I must say, it looks like a deserted property. It is in a neighborhood with landscaped yards and the contrast is startling. It is a lesson to me not to plant things haphazardly and make it look like a weedy mess. We have our very own snake in the yard, and one is enough. It doesn't bother us, we don't bother it; however, I feel that excessive, unplanned Xeriscaping could harbor many snakes and rodents. No thank you!

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Florida Vista, 8x6 Original Oil Painting Landscape

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I always enjoy seeing a bright strip of sunlight streaking dramatically across a scene. This was on the lonely Highway 60 across Florida. Most of Florida is flat as a flitter, whatever a flitter is. The exception is where I grew up, in Polk County. I used to get out of the lake after swimming all day and pedal my bike up a very long hill. Just my luck to have a hill there! 

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Natchez Trace, 6x6 Oil on Canvas Panel, Landscape Painting

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The Natchez Trace is a beautiful highway that once was a trail tracing back through 10,000 years of American history. We discovered Meriweather Lewis's grave on the Trace, at the site of the inn where he died. There is little traffic and no big trucks on this road that stretches from Nashville to Natchez. It is an American gem.

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A Walk on the Beach, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Panel Seascape, Daily Painting

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I had to go all the way to Maine to see a sufficient number of rocks on the beach. The beach I live by here in Florida has few visible rocks--they are all hiding underwater to trip you up when you wade in. Ouch! 

Beaches are so different; on the Olympic Peninsula the rocks are big (everything is big out there), and the driftwood is even huge, from big trees washing down the mountains. In Bermuda there are fairly large rock formations, pink sand, and gorgeous turquoise water. No matter where you are, sometimes the water kisses the shore gently and sometimes it just gives it a big old smack.

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Northwest Road, 8x6 Oil on Canvas Panel, Landscape Painting

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This is a happy memory, from when our nephew, who is quite the outdoorsman and photographer, took us to remote places in the Cascades that tourists don't know about. What an exhilarating place to be! Washington is an absolutely fabulous state to visit and I can't wait to go back.

Carmen

We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.

- John Muir

Sunrise on Surf, 8x6 Oil Seascape on Canvas Panel, Daily Painting

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This is the time of year when people are flocking to the beach in joyous celebration of Spring, which right now in Florida is more like Summer. I never tire of painting seascapes. The variations in the sea and the sky can keep an artist busy for a lifetime.

Carmen

In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the Earth.

Rachel Carson

Storm's Coming, 30x40 Oil on Canvas, Seascape

This painting is currently on display with the Pieces of Eight art exhibit at the Melbourne International Airport. We are exhibiting oil paintings, wall hangings, digital art, hand-colored photos and watercolors. The artists exhibiting are Kathy Garvey, Denette Schweikert, Carol Schiff, Donna Vines, Mary Warnick and me.

If you happen to be traveling through the Melbourne Airport, pause to enjoy our exhibit. It is inside the Security Area. 

Carmen