Bull Frogs and Fire Ants, Sun's Up daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Sun's Up
acrylic on canvas, 6"x6"

Artist Mary Sheehan Winn and I visited the Everglades last week to do a little painting and to take a little tour. In addition to her paint supplies, Mary never goes anywhere without a good supply of food and drink, so she's a great companion on an Everglades adventure.

Mother Nature was very cooperative. We had just started out when we were treated to the spectacular view of a bald eagle hunting. We pulled over and watched as the impressive bird swooped from the sky and scooped up a nice large fish, carried it off to some nearby shallow water and proceed to have his breakfast.

The Marsh Trail was our next stop, where we climbed the observation tower to catch a breeze. We could see several wading birds were fishing, and also heard a little bellowing and were not sure if it was a bull frog or an alligator since this is the time of year they're both quite noisy. Most likely the frog!

Jane's Scenic Drive also provided some wonderful sights and sounds, the most spectacular

being the gorgeous, abstract, complimentary-colored reflections in the gently moving water along the path. The sight was so beautiful and so absorbing that I forgot to look where I was stepping, and in the Everglades you do have to be careful!

Sure enough, a moment's inattention the fire ants were on me! It was ugly, but it's happened so many times that I knew instantly what it was and had them off me in seconds. Still, I'll carry the scars of a couple of bites for months. Ouch!

Maybe we didn't get too much painting done, but still, it was a perfect day in the Glades. Thanks for coming along, Mary.

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

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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!