Bright Side Daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Bright Side, 2017, Jo-Ann Sanborn

Acrylic on board, 5" x 7"

The Everglades grasses welcome the passing summer storms that soak them to their roots. The bright green of new growth can be seen at the base of each clump and will soon overtake last year's dry remains.

Palms, daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Palms, 2015, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 5"x7"

Small paintings are a great way to start collecting an artist that you love.  Choosing a small work gives you a chance to live with a painting, see how you like it, and whether or not you might like a larger painting by that artist.  

A small painting can be hung on those sliver of walls where nothing else fits.  If you like, you can hang two, one over another or side by side to liven up a narrow space.  Many small paintings look terrific sitting on an easel on your dresser or coffee table.  

The small paintings that I post on this blog are just $150.  When you see one you love, just click on the link to "Daily Paintworks" to see if it's available.  If it is, you can purchase right from the site and I'll ship it to you within a week.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to You!

Wishing you magical moments and unexpected pleasures during the holiday season and a healthy and happy New Year! With much love and joy, Jo-Ann

Arts on Marco, and Palms by the Water daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Palms by the Water, 2014, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 7"x5"

 

 

Things are finally calming down after a few very unsettling weeks.  I'm delighted to know that I will be in the studio/gallery at the Esplanade for another three years.  I just couldn't image having to start all over elsewhere! So now there's time to focus on other things.  

 

The new director of the Marco Center for the Arts has hit the ground running, and the center is now experiencing a renaissance.  There are a number of new activities for both artists and art lovers.  The upcoming Miami trip on May 31 should appeal to both groups, and will be a blast!  Guests will visit the new and special Perez Art Museum, (called PAMM by those in the know) and the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art.  A nice day trip by luxury motor coach  including lunch.  Space is filling up, so check it out and make your reservations now.  If you are a member of the Marco Center, you will get a discount until April 30, so don't delay!  Nice to have something happening in "off season."

 

If you can't make the trip, check out their redesigned website.  There are some wonderful choices for summer classes, including classes for children, in conjunction with Marco Parks and Rec. department.  You can sign up to get their emails so you'll know what's going on if you are interested in the arts on the island.  There are also new member opportunities, so if you are an artist who hasn't been a member for a while you may want to re-join. 

 

There's also a new arts alliance in the works called the Marco Island and Goodland Alliance for the Arts.   The organization of Marco's cultural groups, will including the Center for the Arts, MIHS the Goodland Alliance, MIFA, and the Marco Players and the Island Players.  Terrific to see them working together for the benefit of the arts!

Open Praire, daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Open Prairie, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

oil on board, 5x7

 

The soil of the open prairies of the Everglades contain very few nutrients, and the grasses are either up to their knees in water in the wet season supporting an abundance of thriving life, or parched and thirsty, struggling to survive during dry season. 

 

Extremes.  That seems to be the way the Everglades landscape was designed.   

If you'd like to learn more about the Everglades landscape, you might enjoy my book, Embracing the Everglades, with photos of my paintings, and words about the workings some of the the Everglades systems. 

 

Thoughts on painting, and Palms by a Wave, daily paintiing by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Palms by a wave, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 5"x7"

 



Some thoughts on painting:

 

Every painting needs a reason for being.  This reason must go beyond a basic representation, no matter how good the representation.

Every painting should be a unique and individual translation of what the artist sees, feels, believes. 
Every painting should communicate something greater than the thing represented to the viewer.  

Every painting should contain some "secret sauce", or, in other words, some "wow"? 

A good idea will transcend the skill of the artist. 

I believe these things, and try to put them into every painting.  That said, the reality of making something unique and personal every day is not easy.  For sure, every painting is not a winner.  I just hope that I am able to tell the difference between a keeper and one that needs additional attention.

May all of you who are painting today, or doing some other creative endeavor, have much good success.  

Palms, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 16x20

 

 

Abstract art may require using different brain cells than the ones we use for something more representational.  To abstract means "to take away"  Here, I've taken away the essence of some palms blowing in the wind.  I've abstracted them to be less defined, and more colorful than they are in real life. 

 

Abstract art lets me as an artist break away from reality, from the need to have something look exactly as it does in real life.  For you, it allows you to enjoy the color and the shapes, to let your eye move around the piece in any way that suits you, and to add or subtract in your own imagination exactly what a piece is about. 

 

You can look for form, color, line, texture, pattern, composition and process.  These are the accepted principals of art, and you should be able to find evidence of them in a piece of abstract art as well. 

I try to keep a piece of abstract art in the studio at all times.  I believe that creating them makes me a better artist, and that you as the viewer will find something to admire and enjoy. 

Lone Palm daily painting by Everglades painter Jo-Ann Sanborn

Lone Palm, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 7"x5"

Today's funky and somewhat stylized little palm is all alone looking out into a vast Fakahatchee prairie.  The sky is subdued and the next hammock so distant as to lack identifying character.  Will this little guy find the strength to survive and even flourish, or wither and die from lack of companionship and sheltering arms?

He's small and scrawny, but tough.  If he survives his youth, he'll provide homes and food to the prairie birds and animals, and shelter from the relentless sun.  I'm betting on him!

If you'd like to see more of the Fakahatchee, there's a new "ghost rider" tram tour given by Friends of the Fakahatchee.  Say hello to my little friend when you pass him by! 

"GHOST RIDER" TRAM TOURS - 2013

 

Tuesday, February 19 , Tuesday, February 26, Thursday, February 28, Tuesday, March 5

Cost $25/person, Reservations Required!

Phone (239) 695-1023 or email FOF_90@hotmail.com

Download a Reservation Form or Book Online.

Among Friends, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 40"x30"

Among Friends is the first painting I completed in 2013.  It marks 20 years since I left New England for the south.  When I first arrived on Marco Island and crossed over the bridge into a new life, it felt like I was in an alien land.  

I didn't know anything about palm trees or palm rats.  The profusion of flowers were different from what I was used to. There were no familiar landforms of hills and rocks to help me find my way.  And then there were the Everglades, rich with bold shapes and uncommon colors, and I fell in love.  

A lot of the population is transient, and another group comes and goes seasonally.  Several people I met early on have left to go back to somewhere else they call home.  Some stay in touch and others are lost to time and distance.  It took took a while to form friendships that will last. 

Now, however, I feel as though I'm among friends on Marco Island. It's a crazy group, some artists, some not.  Each one from somewhere else, with all the baggage of a lifetime but still up for a laugh.  You have a special place in my heart, and I treasure you all.   

Merry Christmas!

Palms in Autumn, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 20"x24" Sold

 

Merry Christmas!

 

May the beauty of the season fill your hearts with joy

and bring you wonderful memories.

 

Thank you for your friendship and your business. 

 

 

 

 



Exchanging a Painting, and On Their Way to a Dance, by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

On their Way to a Dance, 2004, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 24x30

On their Way to a Dance is an older painting that has recently been returned to me.   I'm delighted that most people are happy for years with the painting they have chosen, but if it no longer works for you I'd much rather have it back than auctioned off on Ebay! The only catch is that you need to exchange it for another painting of mine.    

Some artists don't date their work, but I started dating my paintings years ago, and believe that the dates are fun to know and also will inform my periods of development as an artist over time.  This one was painted back in 2004.  

The collector enjoyed it for years, but found recently that the painting's warm colors no longer worked in her room.  Remembering my policy, she contacted me about return, and came in to the studio to choose another painting.  She choose one about the same size but in cooler tones, and paid the difference between what she had originally paid and the new painting's current price.

While only used twice in all my years of business, returning a painting for full credit towards a new one is a service I offer my collectors. It works because I have had a consistent price policy, keep good records, and my paintings have gradually climbed in value.  

I get to see and enjoy older paintings like I would an old friend.  If it happens to be one I might groan over today, I can take it off the market.  My client has a new painting with a nice discount of the cost she paid for the old one.  I'm happy there's still a Sanborn painting on her wall.  The painting will re-sell at today's prices.  Win-win! 

On Their Way to a Dance is newly available, and if you can use a painting in the pinkie, orangie warm tones, it just might work for you!

Happy birthday, Jess!  Hope it's a lovely one, dear.

ArtWalk Tonight! Day is Ending Daily Painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Day is Ending, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 5"x7"

Do you mark the day's end in some way? 

Do you say goodnight to the sun as it sinks slowly into the western horizon, or good evening to the glowing moon that lights our evenings?

Each sunrise and sunset here on Marco Island is different and almost always glorious.  They deserves to be noticed and marked, for each one is special gift of nature, a unique and beautiful show that will never come again in quite the same way. 

In our busy way we often forget to enjoy the nature that is all around us.  Notice the sunsets, and quiet your heart enough to enjoy them.

Will I see you at ArtWalk tonight?  5 pm-8pm at the Esplanade! 

Radiance, 2012, Jo-AnnSanborn

acrylic on archival board, 5"x7"

Hot Stuff, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on archival board, 5"x7"

Taking liberties, Spring Celebration by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Spring Celebration, 2012, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on canvas, 20"x24"

When a landscape artist sets up on location, there's the whole big view to consider.   Everything within sight is fair game for adding to a painting.  To make it all fit on a canvas is no easy task. 

In addition, the sun moves through the sky.  Light changes, clouds come and go as the day progresses, and if we're not careful, we'll end up chasing shadows with our paint.

So we're forced from the start to make choices. What to install in a painting, and what to leave out can be the artist's choice alone.  

Unlike the portrait painter who must please their subject, a landscape artist is unlikely to hear from the subjects that "it's  not a good likeness." 

As long as we retain a "sense of place", we can choose to highlight certain features, push the color, or leave out a less desirable tree.  If we decide to take liberties with the colors or the placement, or leave something out completely, who's to complain?

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.  

Center Stage, daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Center Stage, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 7"x5"

Sometimes out in the Everglades, a ray of light will come from between the clouds and highlight a scene or a piece of a scene.  It shines on something that has been there all along but blended in and went unnoticed until that ray of light highlighted it's existence.   

This little palm blended in with all the others.  It wasn't until a ray of light highlighted it's personality that it stood out from the rest.  Then it was transformed into a unique and glorious palm and just had to be painted. 

According to Andy Warhol, we're all due a little time in the limelight, and will get in our 15 minutes of fame in due time.   Guess this is true in the Everglades, too!

Lubbers! Palm painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Today's painting is one that I've been working on over the weekend. This palm has personality plus, and caught my attention just begging to be painted.  It's a 36x24" size, nice for a palm portrait.  

The painting is about 3/4 complete, but since I work from a dark background to the light, it's not quite where it needs to be yet.  You can see that the dark, shadow values are in place, as are the mid-tones, but there's  no spark of sunlight.  I'll work on that today!

This little guy caught my attention, too, out on an Everglades trip last week.  It's an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, and being from the north I didn't see my first one until a trip to the Everglades soon after arriving in Florida many years ago.  It was just one of the things that enchanted me, and still delights. 

The lubbers don't fly, can hop short distances, and mostly crawl.  If they are chewing on your best landscaping you might think them a pest  They're unappealing to birds because the emit a toxic substance and will also foam unpleasantly at the mouth when disturbed. 

But when you come upon a single fellow out in the Everglades with gorgeous coloring and spectaular size, they are a delight to enjoy. 

Dressed for Success, daily painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Dressed for Success
Acrylic on canvas, 5x7
Sold

Today's Everglades palms are all dressed in their summer finery. They remind me of a group of office workers going to lunch. They're all wearing the same uniform from the same stores, with only minor variations. It's expected of teenagers, who all want to fit in, they make me smile when I see a group of them looking so similar, all the while struggling to get out of the mold fate and family put them in and chose their own path. It's when adults act like sheep that we have to worry.


I've finished the commission I've been working on, and delivered it over the weekend. The painting will go into a niche in a wall. The client had ordered the painting frameless, not sure whether the painting would need one or not. They decided some sort of a frame was necessary, so I've ordered a "floater" frame which I think will be perfect. It will finish off the edge making the painting just a little more formal, but will not be so strong as to overwhelm the niche.

My next commission will be quite different. Its to be a songbird forest and meadow painting to be used inside the lid of an antique music box. Not my usual, but after all, what's life without a challenge!

Agony of Art, Not a Breeze painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Not a Breeze

24x30, acrylic on canvas

This Everglades painting is my entry for the exhibition "Show of Shows" at the Naples Art Association. This is a member show, no jurying, so you get to see a nice variety of art and exactly when the artists choose to enter. The reception will be Friday, September 25th, from 5:30-7:30, and cost $10 if you're not a member, but you'll get wine, and some nice refreshments.

When I sent in the entry for this show the painting was only a small seed in my brain. No problem, I though. I'll just send in a title and paint the painting in time to be done for the submissions.

Ugh. The painting just wouldn't come. I started several times and struggled over the composition and color choices. The painting accompanied me to the artist luncheon for critique, where I received several excellent suggestions. Unfortunately most of them were forgotten as I struggled on, still unable to bend the painting to my vision.

Occasionally, on rare and joyous occasions, I've gotten into the "zone and had a great painting just flow off the brush with amazing ease. Other times something gets in the way of doing it right! Could it be my worn out brushes? Do I need a new palette? A fresh approach? Some new subject matter? Clearing my mind? Opening my mind? Gaining additional knowledge? Too much knowledge? Ugh, the frustration!

Why is it that sometimes the most difficult things come easy to us, and easiest things so hard? The painting was finally framed at noon on Saturday and delivered by one. I don't like cutting things quite that close!