Window on the Beach, Oil Painting, 7x5 Florida Seascape

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My painting group gathered at the beach on a beautiful Florida day last week and did some plein air painting. That is always an invigorating experience, and I was happy with my little picture. In picking my spot I noticed how vivid the water looked when viewed through the sea grape window. When I walked to the crossover and looked at the beach with nothing framing it, it didn't seem nearly as saturated with color. I'm sure my friend Qiang Huang could explain this to me in technical terms because he knows everything about optics and about art.

My cartoon today is one I did for a T-Shirt. It's called "The Pleininator" and features a hat with a brush holder, paper tower holder, citronella candle, cup holder, and viewfinder. My inspiration was when I painted in a cow pasture with weeds, bugs, and extreme thirst.

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Bronze Daylily, 3x5 Oil on Wood Panel Small Daily Painting

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 I enjoy painting these little paintings of flowers from my garden. This one goes nicely with two of my other paintings, "Blanketflower" and "Golden Daylily." This is a 3x5 original oil painting on wood panel, and it comes with its own little easel.

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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.

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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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