Shorebirds~

I think one of the main reasons I decided to stay in Florida is the

"flora and fauna".

I especially like the shorebirds!

I was absolutely fascinated with the sanderlings.  I love watching them "skitter" to avoid the incoming waves. And, they are very territorial.

  This is the first painting done after coming to Florida.

Seagulls are amazing.  They can detect a cracker crumb a mile away. 

And if just one tries to grab it, every seagull within a mile will be there

in an instantto try to steal it away.  One of my favorite sights, is watching

a whole flock take off at once.

  This is what I was trying to capture in this painting.

Egrets are the subject of many of my paintings.Their bearing is stately, regal.

During mating season,they have the most beautiful lime green marking

 near their eye and they develop the long, feathery plummage.

This painting is a watercolor batik done on masa paper.  I love the batik look but the process is very messy and the smell of hot wax is not pleasant .  I love the way this turned out.  It was painted from a photo that I took at the Venice Rookery.

More egrets.

 I have made this painting into a note card~it's a popular design.

  The truth is that this is actually a small section of a much larger piece that

was a "muddy" failure...but I did as many instructors suggest and found the

 "good" part and cropped it. I'm glad it didn't go in the trash pile.

Seagulls punctuate the beach. They're the cherry on the sundae.

  You really miss them when they are not around.

I had never seen a sandhill crane before coming to Florida.

  I had friends in Colorado who were birdwatchers; they would always travel down to New Mexico to see the thousands of migrating cranes.

Have you ever heard a sandhill crane?

  They sound like a large piece of machinery that hasn't been oiled and

 is on the verge of breaking down. They can be heard from a very long distance.

Sandhill cranes are absolutely fearless.

  Our area is a designated preserve. The cranes are almost always in pairs,

 feed on the side of busy streets or right in your backyard.They can stop traffic

 for along time as they strut slowly, purposely across the road. 

Seeing them always takes my breath away.

I have to admit this is not my favorite painting.  The colors and composition are all wrong.  But I love the great blue herons.  They are everywhere.  They especially like to hang around the fisherman on the beach, taking every opportunity to steal a dinner from the fisherman's bait bucket.  It is quite a sight, watching a heron swallow a whole fish. 

More egrets.  Again painted from a photo taken at the rookery.

And MORE egrets.  This one painted on YUPO.

And it just wouldn't be Florida without the Brown Pelican.

  It is not the State Bird as some think, though it should be.

 

I've painted a lot of pelicans but this is my favorite.

So ends today's lesson on Florida Shorebirds.

A Tour of My Town~ Venice, "City on the Gulf"

Welcome to Venice, Florida

Venice is a friendly, small town located on the Southwest coast of Florida between Fort Myers and Sarasota. The main street,Venice Avenue, is lined with quaint shops that are primarily in a Mediterranean style (most of the buildings on the island have this kind of architecture).

The Gazebo

Centennial Park is a large green right in the center of the downtown business area. In it you’ll find free parking; a Gazebo, where concerts, arts and craft shows, and various special events are held regularly; and the popular Children’s Fountain.

Kids enjoying the "dancing waters" in the Children's Fountain.

The “avenue” is a lovely boulevard shaded by giant live oaks and extends from downtown to Venice Beach.

The main entrance to Venice Beach

The beach, starting at the northern edge of the city where the Venice jetties open a passage from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Gulf of Mexico, extends for miles.  The "jetty" is popular with fishermen and offers a wonderful vantage point for watching dolphins, a beautiful sunset or the fireworks display on the 4th of July. 

South Jetty on the north end of Venice Beach.

Much of Venice Beach is undeveloped and merges into Sarasota County’s Caspersen Beach Park.

The boardwalk at Caspersen Beach.

Prehistoric sharks' teeth (there is no problem with sharks) are found on the beaches at Venice and Caspersen. Venice has been listed in many publications as being the "Shark's Tooth Capital of The World". It hosts an annual festival, the Shark's Tooth Festival, every year to celebrate the abundance of fossilized shark's teeth that can be found on its shores.
               (My husband has his own collection of teeth and fossils.)

This is one of his "trophy" teeth~one the biggest he's ever found.

  Some people don't find one like this in a lifetime of searching! 

I can't really tell you what the population of Venice is; it swells in winter and shrinks dramatically in summer.  There are alot of winter people.(aka snowbirds~some do not like being labelled as such.)

The city has an interersting history.

In the 1870s, Richard Roberts established a homestead near Roberts Bay. In 1884, he sold a portion of his holdings to Frank Higel. Higel established a citrus operation involving the production of several lines of canned citrus items and for the next 30 years, the Higel family members were boat builders, fishermen, grove caretakers and contractors. Darwin Curry was the first postmaster. The Higel and Curry families chose the name Venice for their community post office.

Historic Train Depot.

The first railroad to Venice was built in 1911, paving the way for new development and expansion. Development in Venice occurred slowly and it remained a small fishing town and farming community through the first part of the 1920s.

In 1925, Dr. Fred H. Albee, a well-known orthopedic surgeon, purchased 2,916 acres of land from the Venice-Sarasota Company.  The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) purchased his land in October, 1925.  World-renowned city planner, John Nolen, was retained by BLE to design a city.  On June 10, 1926, the first street in Venice opened to traffic.  The Hotel Venice (it is now a "retirement" facility) opened on June 21, 1926 and residential construction in the town started in July 1926.  The state legislature changed the designation of Venice from a "town" to "city" on May 9, 1927.

The Venice Army Air Base was established in May 1942. The 27th Service Group was relocated from McDill Field in Tampa to provide training for support services to combat air units and later, the 13th Fighter Squadron, 53rd Fighter Group, was transferred to Venice from Fort Myers. They were operational training units for combat fighter pilots and ground crewmen. After World War II, the city of Venice acquired the air base from the United States government, with the stipulation that it always be used for aviation or revert to federal ownership.  It is still a small municipal airport.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus's Clown College originally was located in Venice.  The circus winter headquarters were located in Venice until the 1960s.

Venice Theatre.

Venice has a wonderful small community theatre.  Productions range from Annie, to Beauty and the Beast to Menopause.  This past June, Venice Theatre hosted the International Theatre Festival. Many Venice residents are actors or involved with the theatre productions.

All year you find something going on in Venice.  The Venice Orchid Society Show takes place each February; ArtFest, a fabulous artisan fair, occurs the first weekend in November; Third Thursdays during the winter months offer a very pleasurable evening downtown. There are antique car shows, jazz concerts in the park, the Sun Fiesta and Shark's Tooth Festival.

Venice hasn't changed much in the past 20 years~only in good ways.  It is still quaint, with beautiful beaches.  

But, please, keep that a secret.

"May the Earth always Speak to your Spirit"~

I've always had a love affair with nature and I hope that love is reflected

  in the subjects

 of my artwork and photography.

Waterlilies 

 I've spent alot of time at the Denver Botanic Gardens and it's beautiful water garden.

Deserts

The stately saguaro of the Sonoran desert in Arizona are breathtaking.
Most people think of deserts as barren; in fact, they are full of life.

Coastline

I loved the rocky Maine coastline.  This is Camden Hills State Park.
Walking the rocky slabs is just as much fun as a sandy beach and treasures abound!

Beaches and Ocean

Brohard beach in Venice.

The Gulf beaches have been particularly inspiring.
  I love the days when the Gulf is that beautiful shade of Cobalt Teal.

The beautiful sunset on the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Trees

Aspen grove along the Colorado Trail. Walking here was like walking
down the aisle of a grand cathedral.

More Aspen in late September when the aspen turn a brilliant gold.
 (This is a manipulated polaroid.)

Clouds

How would you describe this?

Plants

Sea Grapes in late summer.

Sand Dunes

Unusual coral colored sand dunes; Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah.
It was serendipity that led me here.

Swamps

Audubon Swamp Garden near Charleston, South Carolina.
I fell in love with cypress "knees".

Geological  Wonders

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park~simply magnificent.
I don't think I'll ever get enough of Yellowstone.

A favorite quote by Frank Lloyd Wright describes my feelings about nature perfectly~

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”

WORDS of WISDOM~Quotes about Art

 I suspect that all artists collect quotes.
  Some quotes I don't quite understand but these speak "to me".



The artist's soul thrives on adventure.
(how many of us can identify with this!)

There are many things that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart.....pursue those.

                                                       ~attributed to Ben Crenshaw by some

 "A new canvas has the fixed gaze of an idiot."

                                                                  ~~ Vincent Van Gogh

( I was given this quote by the friend I met at Ghost Ranch.  I had lamented about how hard it was to put that first stroke of paint down.  She gave me this.  It was liberating!
Now each time I start a new painting, I think of this and smile.)

 “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”

                                                                          ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

 The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars.

( and that's the truth!)

Listen to your painting. When it starts to go bad and your attempt to fix it can’t make it better, move on.

 Remember the first Law of Everything: AT LEAST DO NO HARM.

"All human error is impatience."
~ Franz Kafka
(yes, when in doubt, stop!)

It is not the form that dictates the color,

 but the color that brings out the form!
                                                            ~ Hans Hofmann (1880-1966)

 Color in a picture is like enthusiasm in life.

                                                                         ~Vincent Van Gogh

"I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors.

 I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns."
~Winston Churchill

(I found this on the "Stitching my Story" blog)

The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.

                                                 ~ Robert Henri

(The Art Spirit is a book every artist should have in their library.)

 “Light is the life of the subject it touches.”

                                                    ~Joaquin Sorolla

"How to re-light the fire the very ashes of which are scattered?" 

                                                         ~Paul Gauguin

(Where has my Muse gone?)

 Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
'Fool!' said my Muse to me,

'look in thy heart and write.'

                                                                                      ~Philip Sidney

 (Apply this to painting as well!)

 "Arrange shapes in a beautiful way."

                                            ~Georgia O’keeffe

 “The faculty of creating is never given to us all be itself.

It always goes hand in had with the gift of observation.”

                                                                                                  ~ Igor Stravinsky

 When the artist is alive in any person... he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature. He becomes interesting to other people.

 He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and he opens ways for better understanding.

                                         ~Robert Henri                                

Allow your creativity to be seen~it will liberate you.

 When you paint with abandon you are manifesting your creativity.

 This creativity is your passion; this passion is your life.

 "There is no art without contemplation."

 ~Robert Henri

“Plan like a turtle, paint like a rabbit.”

                                             ~John Pike

(I don't think I'll get to the "rabbit" stage.)

“Paint in watercolor can be a joy….or frustrating as the devil.

Think more about what you can leave out than what to put in.”

                                                                     ~Pellew

 "Take nothing for granted as beautiful or ugly."

                                                                   ~Frank Lloyd Wright

“Look thy last on all things lovely, every hour.”

                                                               ~Walter De La Mare

OFF to PARIS~

We leave for Paris tomorrow.
 It is not only the "city of light" but the "city of color, emotion and inspiration"~an artist's paradise.
 
This isn't the first trip and I hope it won't be the last. I want to be saturated with all that is Paris. For this trip, I have created a list of "themes"...a reminder list for photos I want to take....cats, art graffiti, SO French, shop windows, Parisian dogs, pattiseries, gardens, colors, did I say patisseries?

Then when I return, I will write with abandon

 and show-off my favorite place in the world.

 That's like being there again.

~Au revoir, a bientot!

                    

How a Beach Bum makes ART

As long as I can remember I have loved the beach.

Whenever I could, I would get my feet in the ocean~no matter where, no matter how cold.

When I retired, I decided to live on the Gulf coast of Florida.

My goal: to become a beach bum.

As a beach bum, I have accomplished the following:

• learned how the beach changes from day to day
• learned the names of the various types of seaweed that washes onshore
• can spot schools of mullet, dolphins , manatees and manta rays
• can tell how hard the wind is blowing just by the feel of it
• have shell collections....not A collection but "collections"
• The list goes on, but that's another story!

 My shell obsession began before I actually moved to Florida. I used to vacation here, visiting my parents each October. For the week I was down, I would walk the beach and pick up shells. I started finding very tiny, perfect  shells. THAT was my first "collection".  For the week or 10 days I would gather shells, the tiny ones; then I decided to put them together in little groups~ I called them "beach sculptures".

On the last night of my visit, I would make the sculptures. I'd date them and spray them with clear acrylic and take them back to Colorado as souvenirs for friends. There are alot of friends who have one of these.

When I decided to stay in Florida, the real collecting got underway.....

The barnacle collection

The Lion's Paw collection

The Lightning Whelk collection

    The Black Collection                                                 The White Collection

The Yellow Collection

(not so easy to find)

The Key Hole Limpets

Before I put you totally asleep, I'll add one more

The FLAT shell collection

Several beach people look for flat shells(they are actually one-half of a scallop). They're hard to detect; usually covered with sand or hidden under other shells.  There was sort of an on-going competition to see who could find the most on a particular day.

I have even MORE collections but I think you get the idea. I like shells. 

But, they were beginning to take over the house and the lanai, I had to do something with them!

So Shell Projects began.

First was the "flat shell" project.   I had been collecting them for 2 years and figured I had enough to cover a table on the lanai.  It took about 5 days to complete this but it is "one of a kind"!

Next came "Shell Pots"...............

(again, something I learned from the "fairy godmother of crafters)

                                

The pot is at the right side of the shell filled succulent garden.

I made alot of pots, mostly with Rock Oysters, another collection.

Finally there is my "junk shell" art...these are the worn, broken shells ~the ones nobody picks up.  The only requirement for picking one of these up was there had to be a small hole in it.    WHY?

so that I could to string them.

                                                                                               Yes those are seahorses

So there you are, Beach Bum Art~ with shells (aka "beach treasures").