Exercise in Art, 20 Minute Painting, Wildlife Refuge

Inspired by Mary Gilkerson's 20-minute challenge, I did this 8x10 oil on canvas in 20 minutes. This is a great exercise in "loosening up," though it is very nerve-wracking. What is supposed to loosen me up tenses me up.

I went back and refined the painting, with the following result. 

Next time I will do 20 minutes, then leave it as is. You don't know how hard that is, unless you're an artist.

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Glorious Sunrise, Original Oil Painting Skyscape, 12x9

$180

My husband called me outside early one morning to see this beautiful sky. One good reason to live in Florida.

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Florida River, Oil Painting Scene

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I love Florida's swampy places, with moss hanging from oaks. This painting got quite complicated, with so many things going on, but I think it still manages to look peaceful. 

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Green Anole Florida Oil Painting

 

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Been unable to post lately, so I pulled this one from the archives. I've been yelled at for having the subject in the middle of the painting, yet there he is. Everything is pointing to him, and that's just how it was. So there. This was at Turkey Creek.

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5-Day Challenge, Day 3: Beach Day, 7x5 Oil on Panel

Before I began this, my third 20-minute painting, I couldn't resist drawing a cartoon about the experience of doing a painting in such a short amount of time.

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5-Day Challenge, 20-Minute Painting, Day 2: Old Florida, 5x7 Oil on Panel

This reminds me of my younger days in Central Florida. It was always an adventure to look for wildlife, and snakes or gators gave us bragging rights. We used to pick Rosary Peas, bright red beans with a black spot, and use them for peashooters. I now know they are poisonous and we could have killed ourselves with those things!

I primed my board with red, which I brushed on and wiped off. I like it for landscapes because it gives all that green some spark.

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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.

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Peaceful River, 24x20 Original Oil Painting of Florida River

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This is a completed commission inspired by Florida's Dora River. It's quite a change from small daily paintings.

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Calm Harbor, 5x7 Impressionist Original Oil Painting Florida Seascape Art

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This peaceful scene is Ballard Park in Melbourne, Florida, one of my favorite places. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon, our very endangered waterway that is suffering from years of pollution. It is a hot-button issue around here. In the 70s you could see clammers galore in the river; now you see none. I've been told by people who were here many years ago that the water was once clear. Now it is brown murk. Our new governor promises better water quality in Florida; we'll see. 

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Water House II, Original Oil on Canvas Seascape North Captiva Island Florida

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When we stayed on beautiful North Captiva Island, Florida, we passed this scene every day. I don't know why this house is in the water, but I like it. We kayaked from across the bay to here one day, and I got pictures of the other side and painted it also (below).

Water House (Sold)

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Dora Canal, Oil Painting, 24x18 Florida Landscape

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Our painting group, Pieces of Eight, was in Mt. Dora, Florida, and we went on a cruise across the big lake to the beautiful Dora Canal. The canal is pretty short, and turns into this lovely river. There is something so intriguing about a swampy river with cypresses and live oaks. The more you look, the more you see, like the plants that grow on the oak limbs, or (though not in my painting) the occasional gator eyes and nose peeking from the water.

I've decided to add the occasional cartoon to my blog, as a kind of journal illustration of what's going on in my life. Hope you like it.

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Florida Vista, 6x8 Original Oil Landscape with Clouds, Free Shipping

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I enjoy the contrast in light that Florida weather creates. In this instance the clouds were putting the foreground in shade and the sun was shining brightly on the pasture in the background. This is an original 6x8 inch oil, signed and ready to frame. 

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Oil Painting, "Little Hikers," 8x10 Painting of Children at Silver Springs

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The Pieces of Eight had a wonderful art show and sale Saturday and we met so many nice people. It was a great team effort. I had to say goodbye to my "Little Hikers," above, my painting of children at Silver Springs. I have to say that people interested in art seem to be the nicest people, and it is invigorating to be able to share what we have worked on in our studios all year long.

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Everglades Spoonbills, Prints, Giclee on Stretched Canvas, Roseate Spoonbills

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When winter comes to Florida, I get that urge to go to the Everglades. Sometimes I get really lucky and get a picture like this. I love Spoonbills, with their luscious pink plumage and their comical faces.

This is a high-quality giclee print on archival canvas, from an original oil painting.

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Original Oil Painting, "Horse Country," 18x24 Equine Oil on Canvas

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I was driving with my daughters on a back road near Ocala, Florida when I saw this scene. It was so peaceful, and the hanging moss gave it even more of an air of serenity. Some of the best horses in the world are bred in Florida's horse country.

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O My Papaya, 5x7 Oil on Canvas, Landscape Daily Painting

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If you want something easy to grow, buy the biggest, nicest papaya you can find and plant the seeds. Just throw them down if you want, some will sprout. I ended up with too many trees, and let them get too tall, and I had fruit I couldn't reach. If only I could grow tomatoes that easily! I am a complete failure with tomatoes.

I like the light in this painting; there was a storm approaching and the sun was shining on the trees, making them a very bright light green. 

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Strawberry Mansion, 5x7 Oil on Panel

This is the old Strawberry Mansion, a restaurant in a historic building in Melbourne, Florida. The place was sold, remodeled, and is now a restaurant called The Mansion, and all the strawberry colors are gone. 

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Oil Painting, Indian River Lagoon, 8x10 Daily Painting

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I was taking a stroll on Riverview Drive when I saw this lovely view of the Indian River. What a beautiful place I live in. I hope not too many people find out, because it's getting pretty crowded here already.

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Oil Painting, House of Blue, 5x7 Original Daily Painting

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Apparently I'm in my Blue Period, having painted a blue frog, a blue birdie, and now this. I was in Larry Moore's plein air workshop and we were at Ballard Park, a gorgeous location on the water in Melbourne, Florida. Well, what a day! There was a regatta of little sailboats as well as a pirate ship. Out of the pirate ship came--what else? a pirate, in full regalia. Larry immediately began painting a portrait of him, and it was wonderful. Oh, and the pirate had--what else? a parrot. You never know what you'll see around here.

Larry Paints a Pirate with a Parrot with Painterly Perfection

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.

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

Rachel Carson