Paradise, Oil on Canvas 7x5 Florida Painting

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This is my second painting of this spot. This is a small 7" by 5" painting of North Captiva Island, a place that is as good as being in the Bahamas. No cars, just golf carts, and gorgeous scenery. No bridge to the island, either. Life there runs on Island Time. Ahhhh.....

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Man O' War, 5x7 Oil on Canvas, Beach Series

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This is a Portuguese Man O' War, and it is quite beautiful in a weird way. It has tentacles with a painful sting, and even when it's lying on the beach those tentacles need to be avoided. Now here's the weird part: this is actually four organisms living in cooperation (wish Congress could do that). The sail is a gas-filled bladder (now that sounds like Congress); the tentacles are the killers that deliver prey; then there are two other organisms that do digestion and reproduction. I feel that such a remarkable example of God's handiwork deserves to be painted on gold. I wish you could see the metallic gold background on the computer.

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Antigua Women, 20x16 Oil on Canvas

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I haven't posted in a while. I don't know if it's Christmas or what, but I seem to have lost my groove. I am not used to this. I painted a successful painting that sold right away, then I did two scrapers. What the heck?

Maybe it's bad Karma from criticizing George Zimmerman's art...nah, it couldn't be that. He sold that thing for over $100,000. I think I will coin a new term for bad art that is done by notorious celebrities: "Zimmermanist." If I paint something so bad I want to shoot someone, I am Zimmering. This week I have Zimmered twice. 

Speaking of bad art, there is a Museum of Bad Art at http://www.museumofbadart.org/ and it is a hoot. Nothing can cost over $5, and if you found it in the trash, even better. Descriptions by guest "interpretators" are hilarious.

The above painting is one I did after visiting Antigua. I loved the ladies on the beach carrying their shops around with them. When I get my groove back I will post something new.

Ocean Dawn, 8x8 Oil on Canvas

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While ice storms are predicted today for much of the country, I get to see scenes like this while walking on the beach. I am very fortunate. I was interviewed after winning a competition and was asked, "Where in the whole world would you most like to live?" After thinking for a moment I responded, "Right here." I like to think I have always known when I was well off. 

Early Birds, 8x6 Oil on Canvas

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I love early morning at the beach; it's very active yet peaceful. Birds are fishing, people are fishing, there are joggers, walkers, even Tai Chi. It's the best time of day.

At risk of being repetitive, don't forget the big Pieces of 8 Sale on Dec 7 from 9-4. It's at 3532 Samuel Place, Melbourne. Click here for a map and details.

Rites of Spring, 18 x 24 Oil Painting

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I went to the beach on a fine Spring day, and after a hard Florida winter (ha ha), everyone had the same idea. The water was this incredible turquoise color and the whole atmosphere was just exhilarating. I am so lucky to live here.

Ruby Beach, 20x20 Oil on Canvas

I am not used to painting misty places like Ruby Beach on the Olympic Peninsula. It was so beautiful there, but very gray. Out of view in this painting were piles of bleached driftwood that had washed down from the mountains during floods. Everything was just overwhelmingly BIG. It's another world out there.

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Shoreline, 6x6 Oil on Canvas

The Olympic Peninsula has everything to offer: seashores, mountains and rain forests. Take a jacket, though, because one minute you are in a cold mist and the next the sun is shining brightly and everything changes from gray to color. In the distance in my painting you can see Vancouver Island in Canada--until the mists roll in.

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Near the Shore, 6x6 Oil Painting

The light, color, and movement of the ocean is different every day, and I never tire of walking on the beach and studying it. I used to live in the Azores, where people would sit by a wall and just stare out at the sea. I thought they were dreaming of escaping their small island and going somewhere else, but maybe they were just doing what I do--watching the ocean.

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Here Comes the Sun, 6x6 Oil on Canvas

This was a very misty morning. All my photos were so mysterious and peaceful-looking, and some are really asking to be painted large. I will do that one of these days.

I'm not posting as frequently as usual, just because I am frequently off to find new things to paint. Coming soon: the Olympic Peninsula.

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Spring Wave, 6x6 Oil on Canvas

Back to a tiny painting. This is painted for the Oklahoma Tornado Fundraiser, at auction on DailyPaintworks.com. This is a brief dip in the ocean, before I return to Sedona with one of those sunsets that don't look real. Check out the fundraiser, you might see something you'd like and contribute to the tornado victims at the same  time.

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On the Upside, 6x6 Oil on Canvas Panel

"Ocean"

Upside down, "Whitewater"

This is two paintings in one. Rightside up, it is an ocean scene. Turn it upside down, it is whitewater in a river. I am feeling very original today. This can be set on a little easel, or if framed, put two hooks on the back of the frame, and you have an absolutely unique work of art. What fun!

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The Gossips, 5x7 Oil on Canvas

Doesn't it look like the two birds on the right are gossiping about the other one? Though the birds are white, the side nearest the viewer was in deep shadow on a bright sunny day, so I made liberal use of blues and purples.

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Morning Sunrise, 10x10 Oil on Canvas

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Have any of you artists ever painted something, then been bothered by it every time you look at it? This is the updated version of this painting. In the first version (below) there were just too many things going in conflicting directions, which jarred me every time I saw it. I have a problem of painting what I see, and sometimes you just have to change what you see to make a painting.

I reworked the painting, toned down the vertical reflection, and made the sunrise part warmer. Our flashy sunrises in Florida can look very contrived and unreal, and caution is needed to avoid a "painting on black velvet" look. We can't help it if our sunrises are fabulous here.

Ibis Wading, 6x6 Oil on Canvas

I am definitely losing it. As I was finishing this up, I had a feeling of familiarity. I then realized I have painted this very picture before. Then I meant to post it before leaving for the Everglades, but I didn't. I definitely needed the getaway.

Mating Dance of the Alligator

 My Pieces of 8 friends Cindy, Kathy and I (referred to by Cindy as Thelma, Louise 1 and Louise 2) went camping in a tent in the Everglades. No electricity. And yes, it is cold at night down there, believe it or not. Perfect in the daytime, though, and it is a non-mosquito season. I never saw so many alligators, and it is mating season so the booming and posturing were very impressive, rather like a reptilian singles bar.

Home Sweet Home

Cindy Photographing Kathy Photographing Tree Snail

It's a jungle out there. I will now be doing an Everglades series.

On Da Beach, 6x6 Oil on Canvas Board

I have done this scene before in watercolor, and no matter what I do it doesn't look real; however, this is exactly the way it looks. I can't help it, I am not going to dull it down, though it is unbelievably vivid. This is at a restaurant called "On Da Beach," and oh my goodness, the coconut pie...but I digress.

This place is on Elbow Cay in the Abacos Islands, Bahamas. It is an unbelievably beautiful place, and  all you folks up north in the cold and the snow, .this is for you. Just visualize yourselves there, eating the coconut pie while the sun warms your skin and the island breezes blow...ahhh.

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Sealight Diptych, 20x10 Oil on Canvas

 After painting these separately, I realized they should hang together as a diptych. It just took a few adjustments to match them up, since I had painted each part of the wave from the same picture. It is painted on deep-sided gallery wrapped canvas and painted on all sides, so hung together or separately, it still works. No frame needed.

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And God Set a Bow in the Sky, 20x20 Oil on Canvas

A few weeks ago I posted the photo of this scene. I was so excited when the rainbow made an appearance, although it's risky to paint rainbows. They can look fake; sunrises are the same way. Some sunrises are so spectacular here that no one would find a painting of them believable. I tried to faithfully reproduce the rainbow in an understated way. The photo is below; you can see that I made a few changes in my painting.

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Sea Change, 6x6 Oil on Canvas

The more I paint water, the more I enjoy painting water. Maybe it's because I grew up in a town where there was one form of entertainment only, a nice clear lake for swimming. Sure, it had alligators in it, but the locals were not stupid enough to feed them and they were not overpopulated, so we never had gator attacks. Wonder how it is around Lake Marie nowadays?

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Morning Sunrise, 10x10 Oil on Canvas

I never know what I'll see when I step on the crossover to the beach. There's always that moment of anticipation as I take the steps, and I am seldom disappointed. Weather phenomena combined with sunrise was a real delight.

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