The Bay B each Access

                            

                            

The other morning I spent an enjoyable couple of hours at this point of access to the beach. It was early morning so the shadows were great and the beach behind the pavilion came shining through. This is the spot, under the sea grapes tree, in the shade, that I set up my easel to paint the beach and hopefully sell some paintings. 

Flowers in the Garden

This is a collage, using tissue paper, magazines, and construction paper. It has pansies, lupine, daisies and impatience. Great fun. It was done on a 12x24 canvas.

    

                                                  

The Pelican

The pelicans in this area offer a great deal of entertainment to tourists. We love to see them flying low over the Gulf, in squadron formation, and then, en masse,dive into the water for fish. If they are skilled enough to surface with a fish in their beak, this is when the fun starts. Seagulls are always close by, and they cluster around the lucky pelican, while he squeezes the water out of his bill. The seagulls are hoping he will squeeze out the fish too of course. Then he has to get the fish in the right position to swallow whole. There are many chances in all this for the  pelican to make a mistake and loose the fish.Of course the seagulls are hoping for that and  they will swoop in for the unlucky fish. Now  you can see the fish going down the pelicans throat while he stretches his head up to help the fish pass down ,  I think. The seagulls, see it too and always try to get the fish to come back up, by irritating the pelican. After this performance, it all starts again.

I couldn't get a pelican to sit still, in one position long enough to paint him SO this oil painting on a 12x24 canvas was done from a photo.

                                              

Thomas Edison's Study at Edison Estate

Yesterday, we spent the morning painting with a very large group of artists, at Edison Estates in Fort Myers. About 15 artists were there because there is so much to paint at the Estate, and they give us special tags with Artist in the Garden on them, which gives us free admission. I have never painted with so many bus loads of tourists and guides, walking by. There were bus loads from all over the world. I recognized the guides speaking German and Italian, but I'm sure there were more. I think the Estate provides the guides since they were so knowledgeable and gave personal anecdotes along the route. 

Last year when we went to the same location, there was a very cold breeze blowing off the Caloosesee Hatchee River and it was cloudy. This year there was no sun all day and it was cool, but just a light breeze. I found this lovely spot right behind Thomas Edison study where his wife created a Midnight Garden with a Reflection Pool. The flowers here were all white so you could see them in the night. The Reflection pool, of course, reflects any light there is. I esp. liked the chimney, made of stones from the nearby river side. I hope I did this quiet, tranquil site justice.

                              

Pansies and Impatience

This is another collage created with magazines and construction paper. A piece like this is an interesting change from oil painting. I finished it with the Experimental Group at the Ft. Myers Beach Art Assoc. on Tuesday morning. About ten very creative and innovative artists get together to create interesting pieces, of which very few are realistic. It is a very interesting morning where I learn a lot and meet and share with other artists.

                                             

The Pond beside the Matanzas Preserve

Another wonderful morning to paint outside. I was with the Fort Myers Beach Art Assoc. Plein air group, at the Matanzas Preserve and Historic Cottage. There was a warm breeze and I found some shade under a Live Oak, which of course had a lot of moss hanging from its branches. This pond was surrounded by oaks, palm trees and other Florida scrub and homes shared the shoreline. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning.

                             

On Oak St.

This was an ideal day to paint outside. Across from the shrimp fleet, I found a secluded roadway with large Live Oak trees along the length of it. The homes are lovingly taken care of and renovated to up date them. The people who live in those homes are interesting individuals who add their personal touches to the interiors and outside. last year I had the pleasure of painting the Mermaid House and even seeing the inside of that unique home. This year I enjoyed painting this turquoise home with a large Norfolk pine in front. I will have to go back again this summer to paint another home. 

                         

The Beach at Bowditch Park

This was painted from a photo reference. What a shame to come all this way to paint outside and end up painting inside with a photo, in air conditioning. It was just too hot, humid and no shade to paint this view. No matter where I painted it, it seems to work for me. I like this one. It's a simple composition and I seemed to capture the feel of the beach,(which is what I wanted to do).