Bright and Hot, Original 10x8 oil on Canvas

$175

 This day the beach was just bright and hot, and I couldn't think of anything else to call it. The composition is essentially stripes with figures, and you can just feel how hot it is out there.

Carmen

A Gift from the Sea, 8x10 Original Oil Painting Still Life Coastal Decor

Click to Purchase

When I lived in Bermuda I collected antique bottles. In the old days Bermudians used to dispose of bottles by tossing them into the sea or burying them in shallow holes. It's great sport there to dive for bottles, and I lucked out finding this one, a Cobalt Blue Castor Oil bottle, pre-1900s.

This is oil paint on a metallic gold background.

Carmen

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

Sold

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 monitor.

Carmen

Postcard Original Oil on Canvas Panel 4x6 Mailable Art

 

Click to Purchase 

This oil painting is an actual postcard and can be mailed. The back, pictured in the second image, is a bit touched with paint, but it adds to the authenticity, don't you think? This is the perfect gift for the person who has everything. It is 4x6 inches, painted on a canvas panel. I have mailed these before and had them arrive safe and sound. It is a signed original.

The postcard is not actual purple on the left side, it was just hard taking a picture of the back of a wet painting.

Carmen

Oil Painting, Beach at Oro Pesos, Featured on Artsy Shark

 I'm happy to report that my painting has been featured in the Artsy Shark Summer 2019 Showcase. 
This is beautiful North Captiva Island on the West Coast of Florida.

 ******

 I've been reading Fay Picardi's book, Without Warning, the Marrakech Poems, and I have been transported to Morocco by her lyrical writing. She has captured the sights, sounds, smells, and spirit of Marrakech. One of my favorite lines:
  

    Faith can come

in many senses,

floating down to touch

that part of us

we least understand.

Click to view on Amazon

Paradise, Oil on Canvas 7x5 Florida Painting

Purchase

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.....

Carmen

Storm's Coming, Original Oil Painting 30x40 Seascape with Birds

Click to Buy

One thing about living by the ocean: you can see weather from a long way off. This time of year storms swoop in, blow wildly, drench everything and move on. Since I'm a gardener, I call this perfect weather. Rain has magic that no amount of sprinklers can equal.

Carmen

Royal Terns, 7x5 Original Oil Daily Painting on Canvas Panel Beach Art

Buy on Etsy

I love these birds with their cute little hairdos. I have jumped right from the mountains to the seashore in this blog, having returned home after almost three weeks in North Carolina. The contrast is drastic, but I love both places. Each is beautiful in its own way.

Carmen

Shore Scene, Original Oil Painting 10x8 Seascape on Canvas Panel Beach Scene

 

Buy on Etsy 

Spring is here and that means it's time to go plant-crazy. I get carried away with buying new plants and it's in my genes, so I can't help it. It's also time to walk on the beach and look at the beauty of the ocean. Even when I can't see the surf, I can hear it from my house. What a nice sound.

Carmen

Reflections on Breakfast, Oil Painting on Gold, Daily Painting Print

Buy on Etsy

I see so many sights when I walk on the beach, including closeups like this one. Prints are available in various sizes and prices, on paper or canvas. 

 

I bought myself a Bluetooth Hat, which is so clever, especially for people who don't like earbuds. You can listen to a book or your music library on your phone, but in your hat while doing your morning walk! 

The only drawback is that I live in Florida, and if the weather isn't cool, I roast. I'm glad that it does occasionally get cool; one day it's 80, another day it's 50...that's my cue to don my Bluetooth Hat and hit the road (or the beach)

Beach Birds, 14x11 Seascape on Canvas Panel

Click to Purchase

I enjoyed painting this bright and airy beach scene. The birds were very busy that day. This is an original oil painting on canvas panel, 11x14 inches, signed and ready to frame. 

Carmen

Tahiti Beach, Elbow Cay, Abacos Islands, 6x8 Oil on Canvas Panel

Click to Purchase

This is one of the most beautiful places I've been. When you're there it feels like a dream. The water is so clear and the sand is so white. This is an original oil painting, 8x6 inches, signed and ready to frame.

Carmen

Sunrise on the Beach, 8x6 Original Oil on Canvas Seascape

 

Watching the sunrise on our beach is such an awesome experience. In a turbulent world, there is so much peace on the other side of the beach crossover. It's nice to change the noise of traffic to the soothing sounds of the waves.

Carmen

Happiness II, Original Oil Painting, 5x7 Oil on Canvas Panel, Girl on Beach

Purchase Here

 This is my input to the monthly challenge on the Pieces of 8 Blog. We are copying the Fifth Avenue Gallery's idea to paint a favorite part of a previous painting. The painting I chose a portion of is below.

Carmen

Beach Paradise, Oil Painting on Canvas Panel, 9x6 Seascape Daily Painting

Buy

I'm running out of titles for these beach scenes. How many ways can you describe such a beautiful place? I worked on this while getting windows installed and pavers put down in the driveway. My easel was really the only place I could be out of the way, so the drills were drilling and the saws were sawing, and I pretended I was back on North Captiva Island listening to the sound of the Laughing Gulls.

Carmen

North Captiva Sunset, 9x12 Oil Painting on Canvas Panel, Seascape

Buy

At the end of each road on the Gulf side of North Captiva Island in Florida there is a beach, and most every night there is a sunset show. People gather on beach chairs and watch the sun go down, and there is sometimes applause. It's perhaps a form of worship, applauding God for His magnificent display. No paintbrush can truly capture it.

Carmen

Oil Painting, "Anna Maria Reverie," 5x7 Oil on Canvas Daily Painting

Buy

Even though I just came from North Captiva Island, this painting of Anna Maria Island was started before my vacation. I finished it today and I'm looking forward to painting more of N. Captiva next. Both places are beautiful and the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico are very different from our surf here on the Atlantic. 

Carmen

Original Oil Painting on Canvas, Ocean Clouds, 8x10 Seascape

Click to Purchase

There was a heavy cloud in the foreground as I stood on the beach, and bright stripes of sunlight farther out to sea. Colors in the ocean are all about what the sky is doing, and I love when it takes a dramatic turn.

Carmen

Ghost Ship, 20x20 Oil Painting on Canvas

Purchase

After Florida was hit with Hurricane Irma, this sailboat was found washed up on Melbourne Beach. Authorities eventually discovered that the boat came all the way from Key West, hundreds of miles away. Aboard, oddly enough, were two mannequins, a large velvet rose, and a sign that declared, "beatings will continue until morale improves." 

Carmen

Storm Watch, 6x8 Original Oil Painting on Canvas Panel, Seascape

Buy on Etsy

One of my favorite dramatic lighting conditions is what we have been having the past few weeks: a dark and threatening sky as a backdrop, with a bright, sunny foreground. In this case, the sailboat might want to get to port as quickly as possible. After our big Florida drought, we should be thankful for all the rainstorms.

Carmen