A Hint of THE Estate

While we were painting at Gulf Harbour one day, everyone was commenting on the very large estate on the point of land that sheltered the yacht basin. It was a rambling house with many add-ons and beautiful grounds. A rustic foot bridge connected to the island where some of us were painting. The chain link fence and sturdy lock discouraged anyone who wanted to explore further. We found out later that this was the estate where George W. Bush comes when he wants to visit Florida. We were so close!! I had taken a photo of the large porch on one end of this estate, because I liked the three palm trees and the foot bridge. At home yesterday, I was looking for a photo to paint and remembered this one. Here is the finished oil painting, of a porch, three Palm trees and a foot bridge where G.W. Bush stays. Oh the excitement of being so close!!!

                          $175

All the paintings on my blog are for sale, and I can be reached at hazelspleinair@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing any.

La Casita Mexicali

On Wednesday we were meeting at a purple restaurant in K Mart plaza. What an enticing description of where we would be for four hours painting! At 9:00, about eight of us brave artists met in the designated spot. Yes it was a wide open parking lot, with a stiff breeze whipping through it. The hardiest sort, got out of their cars, set up their easels and painted there. They had full sun, no shade and their backs to the strengthening breeze. The rest of the reluctant group walked around the purple building looking for the best angle BUT our first priority was shade. There was a cluster of thick trees behind the restaurant with a wonderful view of four large dumpsters, air conditioning equipment on the roof and the Stars and Stripes forever. We moved on. The only other spot was under palms, with a more interesting view of the purple wall, air conditioning equipment on the roof and an interesting patio, on the front and side of the building. We set up. We had started into our masterpieces when the breeze turned into a gale. Millly beside me said that when the flag blew straight out like that, the wind was 35 mph.I believed it. I put a clamp on my board to hold it in place, and pushed the whole easel harder down into the sand. We had been working for about an hour when we both realized how busy the intersection was, where we were standing. Every truck, jacked up on four or more wheels, gunned their engines as soon as they got a green light. They either had very loud Diesel engines or those kinds of mufflers that make you cover your ears. Then the motorbikes. They love to rev up as they got a green. And to top it off, an ambulance with sirens blaring, since he was going through the intersection at full speed went by. He was followed by a fire engine, also with sirens going. I don't know why but every ambulance here is followed by at least one other emergency vehicle. We usually see two or three emergency vehicles travelling together, not sure why. 

Being the hardy artists that we were, we painted on. At 11:30, most of us had completed our work for the morning and were thinking about lunch. AFter a hasty critique, during which we all were surprised by the quality of our endeavors, we headed to the restaurant for a well earned lunch. This purple building, was a Mexican restaurant, and the food was incredible and there was a lot of it. It only took us about 45 min. To get service, about 20 min. To eat and about 45 min. To try to get our bills. We left at 2:00, with a good story to write about.

                          $175

Like all these posts my paintings are for sale and I can be reached at hazelspleinair.blogspot.com

Mangroves on the Calloosihatchi River

On Wednesday we painted at Gulf Harbour gated community on the Calloosihatchi R. When we had been approved by security, we drove to the yacht basin, where there were boats of all shape and sizes. There was no discrimination between huge and luxurious and small. It was interesting to see very big yachts side by side with a small day fishing boat. What a contrast. The homes were the same with estates nearby to apartments and garden homes. We walked along the docking to a pedestrian bridge over to an island which protected the yacht basin from the waves of the river. On the river side of the island the sandy beaches were hemmed in by the mangroves, with their interesting shapes. This is what I decided to paint. I set up quickly, since I travel light, and got started.

I enjoyed painting the mangroves with their interesting shape. You can see from the finished painting that some of the roots of the mangroves come down from the branches and usually reach the sand. They take hold and grow roots to anchor themselves. Also, if you look at the sand near the hanging vines you will see there are also black sticks growing up out of the sand; these are new mangrove bushes. I am certain that the mangroves will survive with these two methods to propagate. As well, the mangroves are protected in Florida because as they grow and spread they create new shoreline and as they thicken and mature, this is where the manatee raise their young. The shrimp also use these mangrove roots to rear their  young. 

                          For sale $175

All the paintings on my blog are for sale. The larger ones that are 16x20 are $250 and the smaller ones, like this one, are $175. If you are interested please contact me at hazelpleinair@gmail.com

Flamingos

A friend of mine in FMB asked me to do a painting of two or three flamingos. It was fun to do a painting where the finished result had to look much like the photo. As the work progressed, I realized that I am becoming less and less of a photo realist artist. I enjoy being creative and changing the photo to what looks best and what I want to express. What a slow gradual journey it has been. Even during Neill Wallings course, he wanted the finished painting to look much like the photo. The exercise made me look more closely at the photo and then  I realized what I had overlooked, the subtle value changes and changes in depth of colours. It's these small changes that are important to the over all effect that I want to create in the painting. The result of this thinking is that in future I am going to look more closely at the scene and use these changes to achieve a better painting, the way I want it to be, not like in the photo. So here is the finished painting, much like the photo, but with my own personal touches.

                                        Sold

Oil painting course

During the last week, I was fortunate enough to attend Neill Walling's three day course at Ft, Myers Beach Art Association. He started the first morning with a two hour demo using a photo reference. The young  mangrove was the focal point for the painting and as you can see the result was spectacular.

             For the rest of the day we painted and he wandered around helping each of us with individual advice and hands on help.

                                     This is my effort for the rest of the day. 

The next morning he again started with a demo.

 This was accomplished in about an hour, and it was very interesting to watch Neill create this with his own unique style. What follows is my painting for the rest of the day.

 On the last day Neill showed us how  he creates an abstract. He always starts with a vision, an idea that he is working towards and which he keeps in mind throughout. This started as a sunset.

  

 The finished abstract. Of course I had to try it too and for a first abstract, I must admit I am pleased with the result. My vision to start with was a city scape.

A Better Patio under a Banyon

After looking at the latest addition to my blog, I was disappointed and realized it was not finished. I spent more time on the painting and I think it looks much better now.