Beach Club by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Beach Club, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 36x48

 

 

November was a busy month, and with several commissions to do, I neglected a few things. I'm playing catch-up in what is already a busy season. 

 

 

Today's painting, Beach Club, was painted at the request of my daughter who loves the tall palms I sometimes paint. 

 

Glorious, a commission, has been installed in a beautiful dining room in Cape Marco. 

 

 Glorious, 2012, jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 36x48

 



Everglades Breeze, another commission, was supposed to go into a hallway, but the owners were so pleased with it they hung it where they could pass by it more often.

 

 

Everglades Breeze, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 16x20

 

Dawning won an honorable mention in the NAWA-FL show Image Makers. Dawning is part of the Channel series that has deep and personal meaning for me.  To have one of them recognized is especially rewarding.  Happy Birthday, dear.   

 

Dawning, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 11x14

 

It's been almost two weeks since I've been out to the Everglades.  If you don't show up then you miss the magic that unfolds when you least expect it.  I need to get out there and see what's new and what's happening.  Sometimes something passed a million times goes unnoticed until it is ready to take center stage. If you're not there, you miss it.   

 

Truth, not flair, is what my painting is all about, and I'll make a  point of going out this weekend to see what's going on. Then I will take great pleasure in sharing it with you in a painting!  

The Channel Paintings, and Morning Lessons, daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Morning Lessons, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 7"x5"

 

Today's small Everglades painting is a result of a little bit of a foggy morning last week.  The sky had touches of pink in it, and everything else was subdued.  The larger palm looks like it might be teaching something to the smaller one. 

 

I paint the palms so often that they often take on human personalities in my mind.  I guess we're both living things, doing the best we can to get by.  Living on the edge of a waterway that often floods and has few nutrients could be quite a challenge, but unless we can talk to the palms we'll never know. 

 

 

 

Dawning is being shown in the lobby of the City Hall  in Palm Beach Gardens this month as part of a National Association of Women Artists show, Image Makers.  I was delighted to get a call last week letting me know that it had won an honorable mention. It's part of a series of "channel" paintings that I've done over the last eight months.  Someone asked me what they mean.  They're a little hard for me to explain, but here goes.

 

The Channel Series

 

A channel, a passage, a transition.  

The edges of day.

  The overwhelming beauty of nature,

 The fear of being overwhelmed. 

Making your way into the light. 

 A little bit of all these things, and something else,

 something beyond our understanding.