Fragrant Blossoms daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Fragrant Blossoms, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on gessoboard, 7"x5"

It's the time of year when gardenias are blooming by my front door, sending a heavenly scent throughout every open doorway and window. 

There's Confederate Jasmine by the garage, it's sweet scent most apparent in the early evening. 

A gentle morning breeze sends the scent of The scent of blooming key lime over the lanai.

When I think of a Florida spring, it's all about the smell. 

Artists decisions, Safety in Numbers painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Safety in Numbers

20x20 Acrylic on Canvas

It's time for the artists in Southwest Florida who do outdoor shows to begin applying. Deadlines are approaching and decisions must be made. Many shows have become quite expensive, some $400 or more, with no guarantee that the public will show up and purchase. But most self-representing artists want to put themselves out there to meet with valued collectors and to get to know new customers.

Gallery artists are also having a difficult time. Many galleries are struggling during the current economy, and some have closed. Galleries are also not able to do as much as they did in the past for their artists, looking more often now to sharing reception costs and advertising.

Now there is a whole new generation of Internet artists. They gather followers and make sales without even leaving their studio. Thousands of images can be quickly a prospective collector, purchased easily, and have their choice delivered right to their home.

Now that so many schools are choosing to cut art and music programs from school budgets, will the next generation even care about original art like humans have throughout history? Will our instant gratification young people go for low priced, mass produced images over a beautiful and timeless original?

Yet many artists are doing just fine. They've built up a good reputation, taken good care of their valued collectors, and continued to build their art business even in a down economy. People still want to live with beautiful things around them and are willing to pay for quality.

October Sun, Daily Painting by Everglade Artist JoAnn Sanborn

Sold

I worked on two small daily paintings yesterday and am not satisfied with either of them well enough to post! Either I'll paint over them completely, or work through and resolve their problems. In any case, let's have a look at October Sun today. It's a painting started some time ago, and every now and then taken off the wall and worked on again. The contrast is stronger this time and I really like the reflections in the water. Perhaps it's finished! If so, I'll bring it to the Marco Center for the Arts Members Art show this Saturday.

The typical Everglades landscape is almost always composed of water, palms, and prairie and clouds. Oh, there are a few variations, some cypress stands and the pond apple swamps, but for the most part close to Marco Island it's water, palms, prairie, and clouds. I use these words to describe my paintings, and paint these subjects over and over. The repetition might bore some artists, but I love the familiarity. Even though the parts have become familiar, each time they reveal themselves in a way that's totally new and exciting to me. Sometimes the prairie is vast and wide. Sometimes the clouds are racing over the landscape. Sometimes a particular palm will demand to have it's portrait painted. Other times the grasses wave and sway demanding attention. Each day it's own joys and challenges.

The weatherman said last night that we've had 18 days without measurable rain. After all that rain this summer, the dry season is creeping up on us. It's a great time to visit the Everglades. There's wildlife in abundance, and the dirt roads are dry enough to traverse easily without the over-road water flows and the mud of the rainy season. The growth is lush and lovely in full fall finery, refreshed by summer rains. Take a drive or a hike, and see what the landscape reveals to you! For more information you can click on any of the Everglades places on the right hand side of this blog.

Brent Batten, Familar Paths Daily Painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Here I am speaking with Brent Batten following the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts quarterly luncheon. Brent is a columnist for the Naples Daily News and writes humorous, sometime irreverent articles about life in Southwest Florida. Everyone is always asking him what he thinks about something so he keeps a long list of "what I thinks" for talks like the one he gave MIFA. His book, Batten 100, is available from NDN or Borders Bookstore.

Centerpieces for the luncheon were original works of art by MIFA artists, set on small pedestals in a circle. They made a nice display, and the small paintings were the subject of much lively discussion about techniques and composition.

There's also a darling picture of a budding artist--at least that's what the adoring grandparents who sent me the photo are sure that she'll be!

Bob and I will be at the Von Liebig Center for the Arts in Naples today, doing some volunteer hours returning paintings to artists for the Show of Shows. Tomorrow is intake for the Founders exhibition, so if you've entered don't forget to take your paintings in tomorrow or Wednesday.

Today's Everglades painting, Familiar Paths is a common, but welcome scene. I love it when the palms are in sight of the water. We've had some remarkably good weather, with crisp days and low humidity, and it seems to have cooled my palette a bit. Or, that could be replacing the ultramarine blue with phalo for a while!

Familiar Paths
7" x 5" SOLD

Florida Home and Design, Daily Painting by Jo-Ann Sanborn

My good friend Kira Krumm, an international design maven of great renown, recently surprised me with a copy of Florida International Home and Design Magazine. Inside was an article about one of her designs including a photo of one of my paintings in the entrance foyer to the home. She wanted the owners to get the feel for their elegantly designed Florida home as soon as they got off the elevator. Unfortunately the magazine doesn't let you read the issues, so you'll have to look at the photo here or pick up the magazine. Kira's taste is exquisite and her website a work of art, visit it and see another of my paintings in the article, under Home Tours, "Urban Chic meets Marco Beach"! It's one of the last photos in that set.

Kira and I will be working together to encourage and support the arts as members of the City of Marco's Arts Advisory Committee. Together with several other appointed members, we will advise the City on matters of the Arts. Should be fun.

Water View
7" x 5"

acrylic on board
$150 with FREE shipping and handling in the US

Quiet Morning

There's a ghost orchid that can be seen from the boardwalk in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary off Immokalee Road. The ones I know of in the Fakahatchee can only be seen after traveling into the swamp, so this is a great way to see one without getting wet. Unless it rains again, of course! The ghost orchid is hard to find if you don't know where to look because there's only a small bit of almost invisible root if it's not blooming. In addition, they're quite rare, and only found in the Everglades. If you want to see it, go right away since I'm not sure how long it will be blooming.

Nice quiet weekend! My husband and I assembled and found space for a drawing table for the studio. Phew, too many parts! We followed the directions, though, and managed to get it all together after backstepping only a few times and without a major fuss. It's going to be a big asset since I've been working on some drawings for a children's story. I warmed up yesterday with this small painting of --what else--the Everglades! The palette knife gave it a nice underlying texture and a pleasing final result.

Quiet Morning

8" x 6" (20.4cm x 15.3cm)

Sold

Verticals & Red

One of my daughters tells me that my Everglades work is all about a balance of verticals and horizontals. It's very possible that she's right! The upright palms against almost any vertical background continue to interest me. When I come across them, whether a group, a clump, or a line, I am compelled to explore the scene further in a painting. Sometimes it's about trying to get the most distance possible out of the scene. Sometimes it's about a balance of color or light. In this painting it's about getting past the confrontational aspects of the landscape and into it's heart.
Several of my paintings have been selected by curator Jack O'Brien into a show called Florida Naturally at Physician's Regional Medical Center on Pine Ridge Road. My work is the soft counterpoint to a number of landscape photographs. If you love the Florida landscape you'll enjoy the show. Stop by before August 20. They have a wonderful cafeteria if you're out for lunch!

Verticals & Red
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
acrylic on canvas
$150 plus $12 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Salon De Garage

Salon de Garage was a lot of fun on Saturday. Clients who wanted a special piece or a bargain came early. Thanks to you all, with special thanks to the Tribilcocks who picked up four pieces for home-building children. Lucky kids! Each artist got about 10" of space floor to ceiling, and you can see Joan Dunkle's gorgeous work off to the right in the first picture. At the end of the day I traded paintings with Joann Lizio O'Brien for an early piece of hers that will fit nicely into the plans I have for our bedroom, and picked up a great little beaded, mosaic "Joy" from emerging artist Angela Brown. Angela's work centers on nature and the fairy realm, and she's also a healer. You can see more of her work and learn more about her art here. Many of the paintings you see in today's pictures have found homes, but I still have a few pieces available for adoption. I'll keep the sale opened until Wednesday.

Two Palms

Best Friends? Lovers? I moved the background way back and subdued it to let these two palms take the lead and highlighted them with strong color. It's a small painting, but powerful and pleasing.
We'll be at the last Art in the Park all day tomorrow. Art in the Park is put on by the Naples Art Association on the first of each month from November to April for their juried in members. Its a quality show, but smaller and more laid back than some, without the frantic "sell" mentality of the larger shows. It's nice to visit with the other artists and see what's going on with their lives and work and to greet customores new and returning.
I won't get much painting done today, because I'm still getting ready for the Florida Landscape in Acrylics workshop I'll be teaching next week. In addition, the outside door of my studio will be replaced today with hurricane resistant glass. We've already replaced the glass in the rest of the house as part of a plan to make our home safer in the inevitable Florida storms! Then tomorrow, two of my dear grandkids will come for a spring break visit. So, it may be a while before I post again! SOLD!

Quiet Evening

Quiet evening is a time for relaxation and contemplation. I love to sit on the dock as the sun goes down and just enjoy the moment. I've been too busy lately to enjoy quiet moments and have to be satisfied with getting things done and crossed off my list! This painting will go as one of a pair to a National Association of Women Artist's show along with another of the same spot painted in the early morning.
Last week was ArtQuest 2008 unveiling week. I'm chairman of this event, sponsored by the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts. Visit to see more of the ArtQuest sculptures. There are links to the sculptors, too. It was a great week, and we knew we had done it right when sculptor Fred Caravetta, unveiled his "Dancing Terns at the the Marco Island Civic Association's Residence Beach. He loved the placement so much that he said "This sculpture has found a permanent home!" What a great gift to our community! What an inspiring week! Thanks, Fred!

Sold

Dog Days

I've added a link to the Daily Painters Guild website. I don't know any of them, but have been admiring their work for some time. Most of them paint every day, as I do. Their paintings are usually quite small. I paint small paintings sometimes, but use the summer when I'm not so busy and have a little more space in the studio to do larger works. Today's painting is sold, and is living in Hawaii now.

Colors of Summer

Open your heart to the beauty of this wild land. It is unique in all the world and important to our ultimate survival on this planet. Once you are open to it, you will learn to cherish it. Enjoy the beautiful blues of summer and it will bring peace to your heart.