An invitation! Higher Ground daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Higher Ground, 2019, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 5"x7"

keep reading for some exciting news! 

Wet Paint Live

I'll be using this blog for something different in the coming months.  I've been asked to have an exhibition of my paintings at the Marco Island Historical Society in Marco of 2019.  I'd like to take you along as I prepare for the show.  Your invitation is right here!  

You'll be able to follow along right here!  

Wet Paint,Catching the Light daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Catching the Light

5x7, acrylic on board

$150

My class on Acrylic Basics is going well, with twelve talented and delightful students. When the Education Committee asked me to try four two-hour classes to be held within a month, rather than my usual four day intensive workshop the Florida landscape. The goal was to offer classes to monthly visitors as well as residents.

I wasn't at all sure it would work. I worried. How would there be time for our "talking time?" How could the students possibly learn something and paint it in such a short time

Well, it's working out just fine. We start the class with the day's subject--yesterday was composition, and between some discussion and a handout, students were at their easel in no time working away. Fortunately, they are not adverse to a little homework, and will be bringing their own homemade value scale in complete next week for our session on value. All the while we're learning to work with the acrylic paint, and I'm learning too as we talk and share.

On the subject of Wet Paint, my husband and I hosted a cocktail party for the artists and sponsors of the Marco Island Wet Paint Live event last night. It was a fun event with a great turn-out, and everyone is looking forward to paint-out day.

Wet Paint Live, now in it's third year, will be held the last Thursday in January. There's fewer artists this year and more sponsors, which translates into a stronger event. Paintings of participating artists will be displayed at the Marco Island Center for the Arts the week before the event, and participating artists have the opportunity to include two paintings in a silent auction.

The event provides scholarships for Marco Island students, and is presented by the Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Marco, the Marco Island Center for the Arts and the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts. Tickets can be purchased at the Chamber for $35. Don't miss it!

Marco Island Wet Paint, Empty Easel

I chose this view for my Marco Island Wet Paint site yesterday. The Marco Island Yacht Club Chickee Hut was a perfect location, with shade and nearby facilities, and the cast shadows on the small beach were intriguing. There was a gentle breeze, no one around, and the sun slowly warmed the scene. The beautiful palms that grace the bridge entrance swayed in the gentle breeze and demanded attention, too. Many people stopped by to chat, showing that this event is growing in interest. Many of them were artists, but just as many were unaffiliated residents or visitors.

Early in the morning a manatee swam by, and when there was no one around a flock of sandpipers flew in to sit in the sunshine for a few minutes. The light changed throughout the day, and I'll do another painting or two from photos taken. It was a delightful day painting out.

The Viewing and Auction Event, held at sunset at the Hideaway Beach Club was lovely. The "masterpiece" hors d'oerves were delicious, there were more people than last year, and the lighting on the paintings was much better. There were 27 paintings in addition to a silent auction, and every one of them got a bid or two. Since the committee shares half the profits with the artist, most did OK for a single day's work, some did terrific, and others were disappointed.

To the Committee: You have presented a credible, successful event, but you must get more, many more people to attend in the future to make this a true community event. The price of $50 covers your cost, but also eliminates many residents who would love to attend at a lower price. 120 people is not enough to auction 27 paintings. Do the math. There are other issues that may best be discussed in an after-action debriefing. Will there be one?

To the Public: Many of you were from the business community. Thanks for coming out for this event and for your purchases. Island art and Island business makes a good partnership. There are many fine artists living and working hear, and they all need your support. Many of us have excellent credentials and have worked hard for years to get where we are. Next year let's encourage your relatives, friends and neighbors to come out and enjoy this event, too! Your collection of work by Marco Island Artists can bring you much pleasure. Mine does!

To the Artists: Great body of work for a one day event! Face it, our very best paintings are rarely done in one day. We spend much of the day talking with the people who come by, and this is time well spent for both our own art and the event. The light changes quickly and sometime unpredictably, and some of you are not used to painting outside. Some of you started ahead, didn't do the painting in one day, and probably got a higher price for your work. Is that fair? What is fair? What will people on Marco pay for? Why did some work go for such a high price, while some other works with better color or composition go for so little? Did you get your collectors to come out and bid? All questions we'll hash over at art events in the next month. If you didn't do well, think of this. The Marco Community is getting to know you and your work. That's good.

Many thanks to the wonderful young couple who bought my painting. I loved painting it and hope it will bring you joy.

Today is a really big day for me. I'm excited and honored because Empty Easel is publishing an article I submitted. If you're not familiar with Empty Easel, take a look. The site is filled with information for and about the work of being an artist. I read Empty Easel daily, thoroughly enjoy it, and am still investigating the archives. My article today is about critique, based on a handout I've developed over the years from a variety of sources to help in my workshops. There's always more we can do to make our art better, and looking at it with a critical eye can help!

Marco Island Wet Paint LIve, Watching the Clouds Build daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Watching the Clouds Build

5x7 $150

Daily Everglades Painting

Are you following or interested in the work of a Marco Island Artist? Tomorrow, Thursday, is Marco Island's Wet Paint Live, a community benefit event by Leadership Marco, in partnership with the Marco Island Center for the Arts and the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts in support of scholarships for Marco Island students. Artists from the area are donating their time and talents for this event, and will do a completed painting in just one day. Those of us who use acrylic won't have any problem, but the oil painters will definitely have "wet paint" on their finished canvas!

This is a community event, and the public is welcome to participate. Maps to the locations of the 25 plus artists are available at the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, or you can download yours here. I'll be painting at the Marco Island Yacht Club, and would love to have you stop by. I'm trying to decide between painting the beach and the palms even though the building is lovely too.

You are also welcome, and encouraged, to see the finished paintings and attend the auction at Hideaway Beach Club at 5:30. For this part of the event there's a $50 charge, tickets available at the Chamber. You'll get enough Masterpiece Hors D'Oeuvres that you won't need dinner, get to meet and chat with all the artists, and have a chance to bid on an original piece of artwork, and maybe get a bargain!

It's a lot of fun and I hope you can participate in some way! If you can't get to the event, you can support scholarships on Marco by making a donation to any of the above organizations.

Marco Island Wet Paint Live, Winter Noon Daily Painting by Everglades Artist JoAnn Sanborn

What a nice party at Orion Bank yesterday for the Marco Island Wet Paint Live artists and sponsors last evening. It was fun to see and visit with the artists, some quite renown and some quite new, but all with strong ties to the island. There was a great group of art supporting sponsors in attendance, too! Wet Paint Live is an event held by the Marco Island Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Marco classes to benefit student scholarships. Marco Island Center for the Arts and the Marco Island Foundation for the Arts will also participate and share in the money raised so they can grant scholarships, too. It's a nice community symbiosis.

This year a business sponsorship is only $50 and there's a long list of merchants and businesses already. It's not too late if you'd like your business listed as a supporter of the arts, scholarship and leadership on Marco! Just contact the Chamber and for $50 they'll be happy to add your name. Another way to support this event is to buy a ticket to the event, to be held at Hideaway Beach on the evening of Jan 29, 2009, and then show up! At this truly community event you'll have some delicious "masterpiece appetizers", see a great selection of "en plein air" paintings done on and around Marco on the day of the event, meet and talk with the artists, and have a fun time watching the paintings being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Tickets are already available at the chamber office. It could be you with a great painting at the right price, so save the date!

Today's Everglades Painting is one of a very common scene. The beauty of the simple components never fails to calm the soul. Now I'm off to prime a canvas for a commission that has to be done by Christmas!

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

Everglades Fall, Building Clouds Daily Florida Everglades Painting by JoAnn Sanborn

The Florida Everglades are lush and green this fall, wet, and with all kinds of living things filling every space. Insects are plentiful. Fish, frogs, turtles and alligators inhabit the waters. Mink and raccoon hunt and thrive on the edges of the canals and streams. Owl, shore and wading birds and meadow birds all find food plentiful. Birds of prey, osprey, hawks, and eagles soar above prairies and shoreline. Thick, lush sawgrass waves in the afternoon breeze, meadow flowers thrive and at the fringe the mangroves spring growth has turned rich green.

The Everglades is truly a magical place, remote, wild, and only in the last decade really habitable. Plant and animal life are only beginning to recover from the assaults of the last decade when the great swamp was almost drained and the bird population was reduced to almost nothing due to the feather fashion of ladies hats. As a regional landscape artist who has taken the Everglades as my subject, I urge you to take a few moments to learn more about this area by clicking on the links on the blog. Maybe you'd even want to get involved in helping to save the Everglades for future generations!

Yesterday was the first meeting of the Wet Paint committee of Leadership Marco sponsored by Marco Island Chamber of Commerce. Wet Paint Live 2009 will be held on Thursday, January 29th. Plans are underway for another great event! I'll have more on this later, but in the meantime save the date.

Building Clouds
7" x 5"

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

Yesterday's Marco Island Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Marco's Wet Paint Live was a hugh success. Quite a mouthful, repeated often to explain the benefit to the many people who came out to view the artists painting. The weather was perfect with beautiful sunshine, warm and balmy temperatures and just enouogh clouds for a painting. After painting out all day, the artists rushed to change their painting clothes and take their finished painting to the gathering spot at the Hideaway Beach Club where anxious buyers were already waiting! The food was fabulous, buyers enjoyed the art show, the artists enjoyed talking about the challenges of their various sites and seeing each other's work, and the auction generated high excitement as each artist was introduced and every painting sold to active bidders. My thanks go to the Caruso's, successful bidders on my painting, pictured here. The scholarship fund is off to a good start and the event is sure to be repeated next year. Apologies to viewers denied entry into some of the members-only sites. That will be resolved in the future.