Listening to Nature, Quiet in the Shadows painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Quiet in the Shadows, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 20"X24"

Painting the landscape is a connection to nature.  I love sitting quietly in the cool shadow of the palms, looking out onto the warm, sunlit prairie.

Spending a silent moment  with nature means that our ears begin to pick up sounds we might have missed if we were talking, or even painting.  The buzz of a bee makes us aware of a whole level of life we're not privy too.  Where's he going?  What's he saying?  To who? 

The raucous cry of a heron highlights another layer of life.  Is he saying "stay out of my fishing hole"  or perhaps "I've got dinner, honey!"  Or maybe "watch out, here comes a snake!"

We'll never know.  It would take years of watching and listening to understand all that goes on the natural world we're not much a part of anymore. 

Taking the time to listen is a first step.  Perhaps if we take the time to listen, we'll begin to hear.  

Take a Deep Breath, daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Take a Deep Breath

5x7, acrylic on board

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Do you notice the sound of the frogs, a gentle breeze rustling the palm fronds or the eagle soaring overhead? If you live in South Florida, take a moment to enjoy the nature that's all around us. In addition to unique and amazing wild life, like the gopher turtles and the owls, and sea turtles, the very air can give you joy.

The sunsets and sunrises this time of year are almost always glorious shows of natural light. Sometimes the late show is quite dramatic as the storms roll through, like in today's Everglades painting. Other times it's the quiet layering of soft salmon, mint green and a gentle turquoise on the horizon as the sun comes up that might make you sigh with delight.

As you go about doing whatever it is that you have planned for today, at some point step outside, take a deep breath and listen to what our earth might have to tell you. It just might make your day!

Snowbirds, Two,a daily painting by Jo-Ann Sanborn

Here on Marco Island we have about three times more people in residence in the winter months than we do in the summer. The migrating snowbirds are people, not birds, usually gone by June first, and coming back in waves starting around October 1. We have several dear friends returning this week and some family coming in, too. Their return will begin a round of dinners, parties, festivals and other events to be enjoyed until the great migration north begins again.

It will start to feel a little crowded as the traffic increases and the grocery store lines get longer, but in reality Collier County, the largest County in Florida by land area, has approximately 80% of its land designated as some type of park or preserve. Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Rookery Bay, State Parks, a State Forest, the Audubon-owned Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and numerous County, City and private parks and nature preserves remain mostly natural. Although we live rather close together here on Marco Island, we have to travel only a short distance to several remote, natural areas where real birds are plentiful.

I've put these two palms in a wilderness setting in a sky the salmon color it was a few days ago for today's daily painting. Just the two of us sat watching as the light changed from day to evening.

Two
5" x 7"

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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