Edgy, painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Edgy, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 20x24

 

 

Back to my precious Everglades.  Today's painting is one I started a while ago and was just begging to be finished.  I especially enjoy the small mangroves, just getting a foothold along the edge of a new location.  They seem so vulnerable when starting out, just little sprouts struggling to survive.

 

Wading birds congregate around the mangroves to feed and to nest during the dry months.  During the wet summer months, mangroves defend the shorelines against the howling winds and storm surge of hurricanes.  

Infinate Grace daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

 Infinite Grace, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 30x40

Four Stake Prairie has proved to be quite an inspiration.  Infinite Grace is the second painting I've completed of the site.  Mother's Love was the first.  Infinite Grace sold before I even had it framed, which makes me pleased that someone else saw its special beauty. 

The light was so perfect the day I was there.  The sky was soft and cloud-filled and the bald cypress was positively magical, glowing a rich grey-white in the background.  The palm hammocks stood out dramatically.  Good stuff! 

The bald cypress are deciduous, but loose their leaves for only a short time. They sometimes glow beautifully, and are ghostly presences, with an ancestral quality.   Leaflessness and the right light can give them an almost spiritual feeling. 

Shortly, especially after we've had a spring rain, their leaves will begin to sprout, and by April their character is hidden and they aren't so remarkable in the landscape.    But when the light is right, they are spectacular. 

Watch for them as you travel to Miami. This time of year they may look dead, but will soon sprout small leaves that will fast grow into a cloak of green.