Light in the Landscape Class, and December Dusk painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

December Dusk, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

Acrylic on canvas, 24x48

 

 

 

A new year begins with such promise.  Most of us love the idea of starting fresh.  it's a blank canvas.  What will you paint for the new year? 

 

Thinking about Light in the Landscape is a great way to start. I'll be teaching at the Marco Island Center for the Arts for a four week class on Monday afternoons in January.  We'll talk about how the light moves around forms, how it's different for different times of day, and about certain atmospheric conditions. 

 

Classes start with a short introduction to the subject, and we spend the rest of the time painting.  You can work from your photos or mine. 

 

So come along if you'd like to learn more about painting light.  We have a good time and learn a lot, too.  

Art League's New Directions, painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Radiant in Spring, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on archival board, 5"x7"

The Art League of Marco hired a new director recently, after nearly a year of search for just the right person.  D (yep, that's the name, just the letter!) Michaels, hailing from Colorado, seems like a great fit.  She's a tiny dynamo with an upbeat attitude and a warm smile, and community partnerships in mind.

She's slowly getting her feet under her--remember the Art League was in a bit of a pickle with both funding and image problems, on a bit of a slippery slope.  There's a sound financial plan in place now, a new enthusiasm among the members, and things are looking up. 

D's a connector, and looking for ways for the Art League to partner and build relationships with friends and community organizations.  One of her first ventures was to partner with the Naples Children's Museum, soon to open, but already beginning to offering  some exciting and FREE classes for children at the Art League right here on the island. 

The Art League will be very involved in Arts Afire! next week.  First, March 11 and 12th, Art in Bloom, will be presented at that Art League, a partnership with the Calusa Garden Club.  In addition to having their annual awards show at the Art League, Garden Club members will interpret the work of local artists in flowers for the gallery show.  They'll have some outdoor vendors of garden related items as well. Should be fun. 

The second weekend, March 19 and 20, will be the Art League's Celebrate the Arts.  They were kind enough to reschedule this weekend at the City's request to coordinate with the last weekend of Arts Afire!  The Marco National arts and crafts show will be held on the grounds, as well as two full days of arts and entertainment on the big stage, and a car show besides!  I'll be there with my only tent show of the season.  Come out and support Marco's Art League.  You'll have a great time!

Check out the class lists, too.  There are several good ones!  Landscape class starts tomorrow with an optional day April 1st painting out in the Everglades.  Don't miss!

Marco Island Wet Paint, Haze in the Distance daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Haze in the distance, Jo-Ann Sanborn

5"x7", acrylic on board

It's a busy week for the Arts.  Today, Wednesay, Jan 26th, is the monthy Last Wednesday Art Walk at the Artist Colony on the Esplanade.  You are welcome to come and share a glass of wine or other beverage, view new work, talk with the artists, hear live music, and generally enjoy a good  time. 

We will not have the People's Choice this month--after a year we've tired of having to do a theme painting each month, so are trying something new.  YOU will be able to participate in making a painting, and we'll raffle it off to one of the participants.  Visit each studio and MAKE YOUR MARK!

Tomorrow, Thursday January 27th is Marco Island Wet Paint Live.  This is a collaborative venture lead by Marco Island's Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Marco, Marco Island Art League, Marco Island Foundation for the Arts, and some of the islands artists, and other artists with ties to the island. 

Artists will have their canvases stamped between 8-9 am, and be on their chosen site to paint by 9 am.  They'll paint until 3 pm, frame and bring their completed canvases to the Art League on Winterberry Avenue at 4 pm. 

In addition to the artists that you've come to know and love, this year we'll have some wonderful first-time artists and some off-island artists participating, including Don Moser and Robert Gruppe of New England.  Both men have painted in the area on and off for years, and should be exciting additions for collectors.

The finished paintings will be hung for viewing pleasure until 6 pm, when they will be auctioned off. Tickets to view the paintings and to attend the auction can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce.  That's also a good place to pick up maps showing the painting location of the artists.   

I'll be painting at the Esplanade since it's my usual day to work and my partners are all participating or working elsewhere.  I've been looking around for just the right scene.  We'll see what light the day will bring and what will capture my imagination.

I really hope to see you at the auction.  Tickets are only $35, and will be well worth the viewing even if you are not in the market for a painting.  There will be some terrific paintings and some may go for bargain prices.  In any case you are supporting scholarships for Marco students, and should have a lot of fun besides!

Limited Palette, Winter Prairie painting by Everglades Artist JoAnn Sanborn

Winter Prairie, Jo-Ann Sanborn
acrylic on canvas, 11x14

Colors all have value, and it's important to know where the colors you use fall on a value scale.  Every now and then I'll use a limited palette, and find that it helps sharpen my value observation. 

Winter Prairie, today's Everglades painting, was done with a limited palette of Liquitex acrylic colors Indanthrene Blue, Quinacridone Crimson, Naples Yellow, and Transparent Burnt Sienna and Titanimum White.  And to tell all, in the end I used a there's a touch of Pyrole Orange in the trunks of the palms. The blues needed that little punch of orange for contrast, and the Naples Yellow was too grey to do it. 

With only a few color choices, it's less easy to get distracted or seduced by the color, and easier to make the right value choices.   It's always a surprise that the paintings end up as colorful as ever but the values seem to fall into place more easily. 

I'll be teaching a class in Color Confidence at the Art League of Marco Island and you can sign up online now.  We'll have a good time! 

Art League back! Prairie daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Prairie, Jo-Ann Sanborn
acrylic on board, 5"x7"

You may have heard about the Art League of Marco's financial difficulties in the past year.  Somehow the organization was caught short by the financial downturn, but the community, businessman David Rice, and a terrific board worked very hard to ensure that this forty-year-old Marco Island institution was able to survive.

While the Art League is in the black, it will still take a lot of work to get the organization back on solid ground.  D, yes, "D" Michael, brought in from Colorado, is the new director, and by all accounts is a breath of fresh air for our community.  She's tiny, but very effective.  She's proving to be both smart and street smart, and is slowing pulling the Art League out of deep water while proving herself a real asset to the arts community here on the island.  We've got a friend!

There are a number of things that you can do to help.  You can rejoin if you've let your membership lapse.  Do that right away!  You can sign up for a class.  This helps both the teacher and the League! There's some terrific gift ideas for you to choose from in the Gift Shop, so you can stop in and make a choice.  Best of all, you can make a donation and see your name as one of the leaves on the new tree in the lobby.

Let's give a helping hand.  You'll feel good and ensure that the Art League remains an island asset.  Visit the newly revised and user friendly website at http://marcoislandart.org/ today!

Arts Afire on Marco Island!

I'm doing too much other than painting right now. This happens to me now and again, and with a big show coming up in February and family responsibilities increasing over the holidays, I have to make some decisions to pull back.

So, I've bowed out of a joint venture to produce labyrinth floor cloths, and will leave the Palette Parties to others in my studio. I'm most likely going to have to pass on being on the committee of the Chamber of Commerce's "Wet Paint Live." Still, I believe that the arts build community, was brought up to be service oriented, and have to put some time in making the arts grow.

The Arts Advisory Committee of the City of Marco, which for two years has been a very manageable commitment, is doing something that I just can't refuse. We're working on a new Celebration of the Arts to include fine arts, music, dance, and theater. It will a wonderful opportunity for our community to view and enjoy the arts, and will end with a celebratory dinner dance and presentation of Flame Arts Awards on March 20, 2011.

Arts Afire website will be up soon, but in the meantime you can do your part by nominating someone for one of the awards. I'll have applications in the studio, and so will the Art League of Marco and the Marco Foundation for the Arts.

You also download a copy from front page of the City of Marco's website, or here. Look for the flames, and look to your fellow citizens and see who might deserve a little recognition in the literary, visual or performing arts.

Deadline is December 31, so don't delay. Nominate someone today!

Art League Sale, Just One daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Just One

acrylic on board, 6"x6"

My paintings seemed to be quiet and subdued for a while and now things are heating up with the warmer colors on my palette getting a work out. Is it the heat?

I respond to each Everglades landscape individually, and can't always be sure where even a small painting will take me, but I am enjoying the slower summer pace and the warmer colors. Today? Who knows. We'll see what my muse brings to the table.

One thing I'm planning this week is to stop by the Art League of Marco for their special sale. They've cleaned out the closets and are having a Rediscovered Treasure Trove of goods for sale. In addition to a wide range of 2 and 3-D work for sale, they'll be demonstrations centered around restoring and rejuvenating your older treasures. Should be fun, and I know they can use the money. If you're around I hope you'll help support this effort or stop in and enjoy one or more of the demonstrations. More information here.

Summertime, Out in the Glades, daily painting by Everglades Artist JoAnn Sanborn

Out in the Glades

acrylic on board, 5"x7"

Summer time on Marco Island gets pretty quiet without the fresh influx of visitors and guests, so the artists were delighted to have a great turn-out for the Art Walk last Wednesday. Congratulations to Tracy Gudgel who was this month's winner of the People's Choice. Artists Betty Newman and Tara O'Neill were tied close behind, only two votes separated them from the winner.

Although I paint almost every day, summer is a good time for me to really get my head behind my brush for some new work. It's a time when I experiment and learn. It's also a great time to paint large, since without so many people around, or shows to be dragging paintings to, there's a little more space to spread out, and have a nice triptych of Jane's Memorial Scenic Drive in mind.

It's my experience that the business of making fine art is as much in the head as in the brush. Both must work together for an artist. A thinking, learning, experimenting artist has a lot more to offer than someone who does the same thing over and over just because it's easy. Styles and techniques should expand and grow, and once you learn how to solve a particular art problem, it's time to move on.

So I'll be experimenting with new palettes, new colors, and new forms. And between the mosquitoes and the summer storms I'll go out into the Everglades again to see the way the light plays on the prairies and to absorb the essence of the landscape itself. Without connecting with my muse, the painting part just won't work at all.

Snowbirds to Shorebirds, Beach Sunrise painting by Marco Island artist JoAnn Sanborn

Beach Sunrise
16x20, acrylic on Canvas
$500

Now that snowbirds are starting to head home, some beach areas around Marco Island will become roped off, posted, and inaccessible for the hundreds of people who walk the beach each day. Portions of Big Marco Pass, Sand Dollar Island, Caxambas Pass and Keewaydin Island will be marked as off-limits to humans and become sanctuary to nesting and resting shore birds. These areas may move as the birds choose this year's nesting areas.

Four species of shore birds, the least tern, black skimmer, snowy plover and Wilson's plover nest on nearby sandy beaches. These species nest on the open sand and their well-camouflaged eggs are nearly invisible to the untrained human eye, and could be easily stepped by passers-by.

The "fencing" is mostly symbolic, but important for each of us to respect as we learn better ways to live with and sustain our environment. Learn more about Living with Shorebirds from the Florida Fish and Wildlife's Living with Wildlife series.

Reception, ArtQuest, Mangrove painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Mangrove

20x24

acrylic on canvas

Good Morning. Enjoyed a wonderful reception at the Marco Island Center for the Arts last night for artist Diane Eiler. Diane shares my love of the Everglades landscape. She's raised three boys with a lot of Everglades activities and camping, so is quite familiar with the back country. She'll be teaching a three week class this summer, so if you're interested, call the Art League and sign up soon!

It was delightful to see such a nice crowd for this time of year, with a great group of people in "Save the Art League" mode. Giving the board permission to list and sell the extra lot was a tough decision. Questions and suggestions brought out how much this difficult economy has affected the Center, and that the board had reviewed other options, had a plan, and needed to get this done. The vote by members passed with a large majority.

The board of the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts had to make the tough financial decision that ArtQuest 2010 would have to be postponed. There's a nice article about that announcement in today's Marco Island Eagle. It's too bad that in a difficult economy art is one of the first things to take a hit. ArtQuest would have been great family fun at no cost. We'll just look forward to the future!

We had a light dinner with a group of artists after the reception last night, and I was very pleased to hear how I've inspired photographer Jack Megala. He told me that when he first saw my paintings he didn't understand where the color came from, but seeing my work and spending time in the Everglades over several years he now sees the depth of color and season. His photographs are superior, the more so because he uses a film and a large format camera, so he has to catch all his colors on film rather than use an enhancement program. He's waited hours for a small cloud to move just into the right position for the reflection to be perfect!

Marco Art League, Beautiful Morning daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Beautiful Morning

5x7 acrylic on canvas

$125, framed

We've had a number of rainy mornings lately. Today is just a beautiful morning with bright blue skies and puffy white clouds. I'm really enjoying it, although off in the Glades I can see the beginning of some building clouds. It's just what we expect this time of year.

The Marco Island Center for the Arts is getting ready to celebrate their fortieth birthday this fall. The land was granted for an artist organization by the Deltona Corporation when modern Marco Island was designed back in the late 60's, the Art League of Marco Island was founded, and the building has grown from a small gallery into a lovely arts facility.

Most everyone on the island has benefited from having an arts organization on the island. They've given classes to adults and children and introduced the community to a wide variety of artists and exhibitions. They support the artists who live on the island and provide a forum for those who visit. They're also responsible for two great outdoor art shows each year.

Now, along with other arts organizations around the country, they're in big trouble. Big financial trouble, mostly due to this desperately difficult economy. The arts are immensely important to us as humans for many reasons, and it's vital for a community with any soul to support the arts.

Everyone can't do a lot, but if everyone does a little we can keep this valuable and contributing arts organization alive. I'm sending a check today. If you care at all about the arts, I hope that you'll do the same. Thank you!

Goodland's Spammy Jammy, Spectators daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Spectators

5x7

$125

Today's daily Everglades painting is of six palms soaking in the rain. The colors are muted and there's not much definition. The landscape flattens out and softens, and that's reflected here. I find the soft colors restful, though and the final result pleasing.

Here's a second pass on the demo from the Ladies Luncheon at the Yacht Club last week. It's starting to take shape now, but still has quite a bit of work before I'll call it finished. My great friend Kathy Caruso did a wonderful job of publicity for this event, and if you missed the demonstration you can read about it in the Marco Island Eagle or the Marco Island Sun Times. There's a photo of door prize winner Kathleen Rinaldo with her painting, too! Thanks, Kathy!

If you haven't got plans for the weekend yet, consider attending the 2009 Spammy-Jammy at Goodland's Little Bar this Saturday. It's a tradition meant to appease the Hurricane Gods, and we all want to do that! Spam sales are doing very well in this economy, and the party will certainly boost local purchases! Wear your best PJ's, and be ready to party. You can bring along either a spammy recipe creation, or a spammy art work if you'd like. You'll see such creations as Sockeye Spamon, Spamzilla, Spam-a-Claus and Spamoni. It's quirky, yes, funky, yes, and some of the best creativity ever!

Marco Island Arts, Daily Painting by Everglades Artist JoAnn Sanborn

Sometimes, things just don't work out, and today's daily painting is just such an example. I'm far from my original idea, finally removed the background in desperation, and now the palms are elevated almost like a group of flowers. I've been gardening quite a bit, maybe that's what's affected my view! In any case this painting still isn't ready to go to a new home, so I'll take some time to see what can be done!

We were out in the Everglades yesterday scouting where to take the upcoming workshop class for some outdoor painting. It's as dry as I've seen it, and it's only March, so I expect we'll have a pretty active fire season, from now until the June rains wash the landscape and refill the pools.

My favorite class location had burned soon after our visit last spring, and when I checked previously the palm fronds were gray with ash, drab and drooping and the trunks were blacked beyond hope. I expected to be searching for another spot for the students to get off the road and with several options for painting.

Surprisingly, the area had almost completely recovered, with new green crowns on the palms and the distant views as lovely as ever. It's a natural cycle for the Everglades systems to dry out, burn, rainfall, renewal, but it's always a delight to see it working. An extra bonus is that the area had been cleaned of dumped debris as well. It will make a perfect class spot!

The workshop will be hosted by the Marco Island Center for the Arts where you can sign up. It will be four full days starting March 30 and there's still some room. We'll concentrate on composition, color, the Florida landscape and putting it all together with your own artistic signature. Half of each day will be spent painting outside. Come along, we'll have a lot of fun!

I was excited to learn that the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts will be giving three scholarships again this year. These will go to three Marco Island High School seniors who intend further studies in the literary, performing, or visual arts. If you know a qualified student, please ask them to apply.

The Marco Center for the Arts and the Marco Chamber of Commerce Leadership Marco will also be givng scholarships, thanks in part to Marco Island Wet Paint Live. Many thanks to the artists who painted and the community who purchased to make this benefit to our island youths possible!

Don't forget Marco Island's Community Conservation Celebration at Mackle Park on Saturday. There'll be something for adults and children alike, and lots of learning for all. See you there!

Slaughter of birds, Joy to Spring daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Joy of Spring
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
acrylic on Panel

Sold

My day usually starts with a shower, turn on the coffee and the computer, and while each is getting warming up walk outside, pick up the newspaper, am greeted by a beautiful morning sky and often take a short walk before getting to work in the studio. It's quiet then, and yesterday you could feel spring in the air. The birds were singing, and you could almost see the buds swelling under warmth coming up from the south. Here, where some people can't see a change in the seasons, spring has come.

Even though it was a little colder this morning, today's morning chill didn't come from the weather. It came from the headlines in both of the papers I picked up. The Naples Daily News's it was a slaughter, and the Marco Eagle's 21 birds killed for fun both saddened and disgusted me. Apparently seven people with nothing more important to do went out and killed the birds for the fun of it. Fun??

340 species of birds have been documented in the Everglades. The birds of the Everglades were slaughtered almost to extinction in the 1920's for the purpose of obtaining their feathers for ladies hats. They're making a comeback, but its not quick, and there are still nowhere near the hundreds of thousands that used to blacken the skies.

People with no respect for our natural world have driven our land and our oceans to the brink of destruction. I hope they're prosecuted in Federal court to the fullest extent of the law!

Unexpected Exhibition Opportunity, On the Beach painting by Everglades Artist JoAnn Sanborn

Beach Walkers

20x20

$800

Yesterday's small daily painting didn't get finished, so I'm showing you another in the elongated palm series I've been working on on and off for several years. I'll take it to be framed tomorrow, since it's not a standard size and will have to be custom framed.

I started my "daily" with high hopes in the morning, then put it aside to attend the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts fashion show, thinking I'd get back to it in plenty of time. The event was a fund raiser, where artist friend Joyce Kachapis showed off her beautifully creative handmade jewelry on wonderful Roxy mannequin centerpieces, and Island Woman boutique presented a fashion show full of delightful island wear. The centerpieces were really great and I'm going to order one and paint it myself although the already painted ones were lovely!

Home to a message from the United Arts Council that their scheduled February artist had backed out from a planned exhibition at the Norris Center, and did I want the space? My mind went around this question very quickly.

Did I have enough paintings to cover? I'm doing two important outdoor shows later this month. I would have enough if I used some paintings that were too large to take to outdoor shows. Could I be ready? I'm working on a commission that I promised to be ready by Friday, but my client is a kind, understanding person. I could do it if I got right to it. So with a gulp I said "yes."

Luckily my Art Marketing Salon group was into the eighth week of Alyson Stanfield's free Art Marketing Salon, so all my materials had been updated for the new year and were ready to go. It was just a matter of making a painting list, fresh off Flick, my organizer, and printing enough handouts and cards. Leftovers for dinner, and everything is now ready to be packed into the car for delivery today. Phew.

It would have been easy to say "no", that the notice was too short, that I couldn't possibly be ready in time. But if I worked at it I could do it, and did! It was nice to be able to help the United Arts Council out on such short notice, and a real opportunity to have exposure at the Norris Center in downtown Naples in February. Will sales come of it? Who knows? But I'll be "out there" showing my work and getting some publicity, and very grateful for the opportunity!

Hey, there's even be a reception! I'll let you know the details.

Art Marketing, Warming Up daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Warming Up

7x5 $150

Don't we all wish it was warming up today? It's been a chilling winter in southwest Florida. This morning it's 39 degrees with a wind chill of 23 and an expected high of 53! Those of us who have lived here a while have adapted to warmer temperatures and are quite uncomfortable when the temperature really dips down. Most of us have gotten rid of the northern clothes we came with since they were just taking up room our limited closet space. We're left to make do with layers of our everyday cottons.

I've got three layers on right now and looking for something warm that will fit over it all. At the grocery my fellow islanders are wrapped in layers of clothes and scarfs they bring out for the cold. But there's always a stray northerner in a tee shirt and shorts who thinks the weather is perfect!

At least we know it won't last for two long. Perhaps someone from the cold north will like today's daily Everglades painting as a reminder as a reminder that paradise does exist! I'll be happy to send it up, free shipping.

Many of the artists have been thinking a lot about art marketing in the declining economy. We're looking for new and better ways to promote our art. Some of us have worked so hard that we're beginning to get marketing fatigue! However, there's an article in today's Marco Eagle that I'd like to share. It's an article including 44 ideas for growing profits, but really is a list of good business practices. If you have a good product and people know about it, the edge is to be a good business person. That goes for any type of business, including art.

Art Show, Happy Hour Daily Painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

There's a spot off to the left coming into Marco Island that has beautiful sunset reflections if you happen to be passing by just at the right time. We were fortunate enough to enjoy this beautiful sunset recently. It's a good place because you're just going over a bridge so you're a little higher up than usual and can view the distance as well as the gorgeous reflections in the water closer to you. Great spot, so don't miss the magic if you're passing by at sunset.

The art show on Saturday was very enjoyable. There were just 25 artists since this is a revival of a show not held for years and will probably get larger in years to come, but the public came in enough numbers that no one complained and everyone really enjoyed the day. It was hot, hot, hot, so the Art League made lots of money selling their ice cold water. A couple of my daily paintings were adopted into new homes, and I was delighted to meet and greet a number of my collectors. Several of us were trying on new ideas or methods considered at our local Alyson Stanfield's Free Art Marketing Plan seminar, and were pleased with the results. I'm sure it will be the subject of much conversation at our bi-weekly meeting later today!

If the iguana post intrigued you, go back one post and look at the Comments. One of my friends has posted a link to a short movie of an iguana on her dock! You may have to cut and paste the link but he's worth it. His colors are fabulous!

Happy Hour
7" x 5"
acrylic on Panel
$150 with free shipping and handling in the US

Big Cypress Marketplace, Morning Sky Daily Everglades Painting by Jo-Ann Sanborn

The Big Cypress Market Place , US 41 just south of 951, will hold it's grand opening this weekend Today the delightful banjo group Marco Island Strummers will be playing around noon, and a bluegrass group add their music later in the day. The Marketplace includes the Big Cypress Winery, where you can taste and learn the history of Florida wines, a food court, and of course the "fleas," a nice line-up of merchants selling most everything. The owners are working hard to include art and artists, and there will be an artist market section near the winery. Some Marco Island artists will be painting throughout the grand opening weekend. I'll be painting there tomorrow, Saturday, from 9-11. Stop by and say hello!

Were you up early enought to notice yesterday's morning sky was just beautiful, with moving storm clouds and glowing morning light? I came in from my walk and got right to work on today's daily painting, eliminating the homes of my neighbors and focusing on the sky!

Morning Sky
7" x 5"
acrylic on Panel
$150 with free shipping and handling in the US

Art League Opening

Who would have thought that a painting would make such a nice cake? I had no idea! One of our local grocery stores is very good at this sort of thing, and I was surprised and delighted to see it! One of my paintings as a cake! I loved it, and it tasted good, too!

Marco Island Center for the Arts does a great job of putting on a nice reception, and it was wonderful to see such a nice turnout. Thanks to all of you who showed up to support the Art League and me, too! I presented to Art League's president Bill Morris the proceeds of last month's auction. There's also a picture of Dawn with her new painting. Thanks, Dawn!

I'm trying to turn the slide show that I got up on the blog with great difficulty into showing only the new paintings from the show. No such luck, so you'll have to visit the Art League to see the show, or watch for them here in the future.

Local author Tom Williams will be the speaker at the quarterly luncheon for the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts this Friday at Bayview Restaurant. This is sure to be a good program, get more information on the MIFA website. Tom's got a new book coming out later this summer. Should be a very nice event, so come along!

Mid Day Calm Florida Everglades Painting

This painting was started as a demonstration at Orion Bank's Artist Appreciation Series last week. It was fun to do, but there was only a ghost of a painting on the canvas at the completion of the short demo. I wanted to complete the painting while the idea was still fresh in my mind, and also to have it finished for the Center for the Arts Wine and Cheese on August 5th, so I got right to work. I like how it all came together! The shape of the palms and how they fit into the exotic frame of the Everglades continues to inspire me and even if a return to a site each day the light is so different that the same clump of palms can have a whole different interpretation.
By the way, after much serious consideration and debate, and the much moving of paintings, the couple that won the Art League Benefit Auction picked the water scene that you can see in an earlier post. In addition, they purchased two small paintings to accompany the larger won. Thanks from both the Art League and me!

Mid Day Calm
30" x 24" (76.2cm x 61.0cm)
acrylic on canvas
$900 with FREE shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.