Packing

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Notes From My Painting Studio

I had a nice rare day in the painting studio to catch up on my packing for the Bird Island Residency, this Friday-next Thursday. This is my second year of the residency, though I have been there a couple of times with groups. Living on an island accessible only by boat is a real adventure and the most peaceful trip I have. It is a time for painting, reading my Travis McGee novels, puttering around, climbing up to the Widow's Walk to watch the boats go by, and walking the Island to explore. A wonderful residency indeed. 

Talbot Island Wrap Up

Renault Club Tree

9x12 inches

Oil on canvas

This morning dawned bright and clear on the marshes before a lovely bacon,sausage and homefries breakfast prepared by my host Bonnie. We enjoyed our coffee on the deck facing the marshes, as they turned from orange to gold and finally to green. We scurried around straightening up the house and parted with fondness for a happy adventure we will remember. I look forward to returning next October.

I headed out and got lost, naturally, heading in the wrong direction for about 20 minutes. I finally got turned around heading west. I made it back to my loft studio I'm happy to write. 

The highlights of my residency were many:

The lovely and comfortable Big Talbot House and grounds, my painting studio on the porch.

My wonderful sponsors, North Florida Land Trust

The beautiful marshes and wetlands

The extraordinary trees

Renault Club Road

Amelia,Little Talbot, and Big Talbot Islands

Simpson Creek

Dead Tree Beach and the park

The kind and helpful park rangers

Nicole's Restaurant

Marche Burrette Restaurant

Sliders Restaurant

 

I had a splendid time! Thanks to all who welcomed me so kindly.

St Augustine Residency Day 6

Dunes 1

2.5x3.5 inches

Dunes 2

2.5x3.5 inches

Dunes 3

2.5x3.5 inches

Beach Sky 1

2.5x3.5 inches

Beach Sky 2

2.5x3.5 inches

Beach Waves

Saint Augustine Beach Pier

Notes From My residency Journal

This morning I ate left over pizza for breakfast and it was good!! Thanks Dominoes. I wanted to get out early to go to my favorite place here in St Augustine, the city pier. What a fun place to hang around. I got lots of super photos of waves and the wide beach. What a great beach, huge!! It is so pretty there. The fee is only a dollar and there are swell benches along the pier for sitting and enjoying the birds and waves. It is a great way to spend a morning. I love fishing and I like to watch the fishermen at the end of the pier. Once my daughter Jackie and I saw a shark at the end of the Jacksonville Beach pier. Beach piers are just fun!!

Yesterday I did 16 miniature paintings of the sky and dunes here at the condo. Great practice.

Now I'm doing laundry and cleaning up the condo a bit, and packing up to head home. It has been a glorious week, one of the best residencies I've had. Full of fun, adventure, painting and enjoying the lovely view. This is a cozy relaxed place, just wonderful!! Thanks a million Nan and Bob for a wonderful memory and terrific week.

St Augustine Residency Day 4

Flagship Harbor Park

Flagler Beach, FL

St Augustine Beach Dunes

20x24 inches

acrylic on canvas

Notes From My Residency Project

I got an early start today, skipping breakfast and heading south on A1A, first to Bings Landing, south of Washington Oaks State Park. I will have some photos later to share. My smart phone has terrible reception over on the coast so the images don't come through very easily.

Bings Landing is a small park on the intercoastal waterway. It has a large parking lot for boats and such and some covered picnic tables. There are several barrier islands viewable from the sea wall. There are a few benches scattered around the seawall for sitting.

From there I continued south to Flagler Beach and turned off on US 1. Just before the bridge, I turned right and then left to go along the edge of the bridge and then under it to the Flagship Harbor Park. This is a wonderful park. It has a high wooden boardwalk which winds through the woods and the Mangrove hammocks. There is a large dock out into the water with lovely views. I met two fishermen who hadn't caught anything yet. I saw two cute as pie turtles along the side of the boardwalk. At a low point in the boardwalk there are nature trails that go through the woods. They have tall palms, old Red Cedar trees and are wide and smooth for easy walking. There are benches along the paths. This is a really nice nature park and I recommend it for those who want to enjoy nature without intimidation from wild creatures. In the parking lot is a nice covered pavilion with restrooms and picnic facilities.

I have found that small local county parks are often excellent facilities with upgrades one would not expect from a local park.

I am often asked how I find these out of the way places? I spend a lot of time researching the area I'm going to travel to for my residencies. I use key words in search engine queries like,Florida nature,wild places, eco-tourism, etc. to find the parks.  The State Park web site has lots of information on the more obscure state parks. The Chamber of Commerce for an area can be helpful. One of the main goals of this project for me is to give quality reviews and information about the best of natural Florida.

When I arrived back in St Augustine I was ready to eat, so I tried a new restaurant for me called the Groove Cafe it is a very nice, sleek atmosphere with large abstract paintings on the walls. Having art on the walls is always a + for me. Of course I would love it if my paintings were hanging in the restaurant but we can't have everything ;-> The menu was interesting and unique. The waiter, named Brian was an outstanding and attentive server. They had a large flat screened TV featuring a silent film about surfing, very appropriate for a beach town. They played Reggae music but it wasn't loud. They have very charming outdoor seating which I'm sure is very popular in the cool weather months.  I opted for the Cuban sandwich, one of my favorites. It was delicious and huge. It had pulled pork in it with the other more traditional ingredients. It was of course pressed, the only way to eat one properly. It came with French fries which were plentiful and very crisp and hot. Brian told me that their specialty is  shrimp which is brought in fresh each day from Mayport. I may have to go back and try that if time permits. My large sandwich,fries and iced tea were about 12.00. The Groove Cafe is located at 134 Seagrove Town Center in St Augustine Beach.

I will be painting from the patio of my condo again today. The scenery is grand. More to come....

St Augustine Residency Day 3- The biggest Adventure yet!!

St Augustine Dunes-09/12/12

5x7 inches

acrylic on linen

River To Sea Nature Preserve

Flowers Along the Trail

 View From the Dock

Palm Along the Trail

Notes From My Residency Journal

Well, today was my biggest adventure of all for the residency project. I started the day out early, stopping at the Oasis to fuel up on eggs, corned beef hash and home fries with good strong coffee.

I headed down the coast to look for River to Sea Preserve, which is about two miles south of Marineland on the intercoastal side. It is easy to miss, I passed it and had to go back. There is a small white sign and a rutted narrow lane into the preserve. It has a small grass parking lot with a sign ( see above) to the trail. There is a concrete sidewalk that leads to a beautiful scenic dock and covered pavilion with several picnic tables and a walk out small dock. It is well maintained. I am thinking this would be an excellent painting location in cooler weather. I'll come back to do that. From the pavilion area, there is a long nature trail. I set off for a nice morning walk. Along my journey I saw multiple trails branching off the main one. It was a nice wide,clean trail with good visibility and signs along the way. I could hear the birds singing and now and then rustling in the underbrush of small animals. There were several signs warning of gators, and of course there are lots of snakes in that kind of environment, but I saw neither.

 I have no idea how long the trail is but it began to get warm so I decided to turn back. There were a few bugs but not bad at all. Somehow I ended up lost in the trails. The way back became confusing and I did not recognize any markers that I had seen before. I began to realize that I was thoroughly lost. I decided to keep forging ahead, What other choice did I have? Suddenly I heard noise around the bend and there face to face came a Black Bear!! I squealed like an little girl!! He did an about face and ran off into the woods.Oh how exciting and equally terrifying!!

After my heart slowed down, I trudged on. At this point I started to see signs of humanity, thinking I had found my way back to the parking lot. I was quite tired and sweaty. With dismay, I realized I had come out in some kind of industrial area. Lots of dumpsters, pipes, and marine salvage equipment. I walked on and came to a building and walked in. I called to see if anyone was there. A very nice man named Chip appeared. I asked him if he knew where the River to Sea Preserve was located? He laughed and said, "You must be lost from the nature trail". Yes, indeed I was. He was so nice. He led me back out to the parking lot to his golf cart and told me to hop in. He delivered me to my car.It turned out to be about 4 miles away. It is so lovely to know that there are kind people in our society who will gladly lend a hand. He saved me a long hot walk down A1A. Needless to say, I'm tired but I sure enjoyed the big adventure.

More to come......

St Augustine Residency Day 2

Hibiscus Condominium Dunes WIP day 2

18x24 inches

Gamble Rogers Palms

9x12 inches

Entrance to  Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area

Palms at Gamble Rogers

Notes From My Residency

This morning I headed straight to the Oasis Restaurant for breakfast. It's great to be back in St Augustine again. It, and New Smyrna Beach are my two favorite beach towns on the east coast. The Oasis is the place for a good down home breakfast. It has a variety of options, including corned beef hash and home fries, my favorites. I held my tongue and was quiet while I listened to a woman at another table making fun of Southern cuisine. Anyone who knows me will be proud of me for staying quiet. I love Southern food and celebrate being from the South. She said that collards, and grits were trash food for the lower classes. Can you believe how rude she was? Oh My!!

After my breakfast I headed south on A1A to Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area. The park has a similar format to Washington Oaks in that there is an intercoastal park and a beach side across A1A. It is a very small park, great for boating, with a nice dock and boat ramp and canoes for rental. There is a nice nature hiking trail and several covered pavilions at the water's edge. There are also large fields of palm hammocks out in the open. I walked that way rather than on the nature trail The trail is very closed in and narrow. It looked like Rattlesnake heaven, so I decided not to take it. In the winter I will try it again. By the time I got to the beach side, it was getting pretty hot. I took some nice ocean and beach photos for future paintings. 

I went through Flagler Beach on my way there and back. Tomorrow I'm going to explore another park in that area. Flagler is a funky, straggly, poor neighbor to affluent towns near by. It is tacky and old but the one thing I love about it is that no houses are built on the beach front. They are all west of the beach so there is a fabulous ocean view along A1A. I remember when much of Florida's coasts were natural and you could drive for miles and miles watching the waves crash into shore. 

I stopped by Hobby Lobby to buy a few supplies when I returned to St Augustine Beach and then headed home for an afternoon of painting. 

More to come.....

Crystal River Painting

Artist in Residence Paintings

Notes From My Residency Journal

Since I returned from Crystal River, I have been studying the reference photos I took there, doing small and miniature paintings from the adventure. Today I finished the first large format painting from the residency. This painting is from the marshes and one of the estuaries in the Ozello area. It is truly a beautiful wild part of Florida that few know. Most of the people in this area are fishermen and hunters. It is quiet and for the most part natural compared to Crystal River. The painting is 20x24 inches oil on canvas. You will soon be able to see it in my loft studio in Gainesville, FL.

August 12, 2012 Mini Residency at Fair Oaks

Holy Ground Field

8x10 inches

acrylic on panel

Oak By the Pond

Notes From My Residency Journal

Today was one of those perfect Fair Oaks Days.It was sunny and hot but quite pleasant in the shade. My canine friend Shane joined me today. His daddy was out of town so I was a second choice for him. Whenever his daddy is home, no one else matters. We had a good time driving around the farm together. We found some Armadillos deep in the woods, watched them for awhile and then moved on. One of my Fairy Houses was destroyed by the last storm so I took the pieces to the trash. It was a cute house but made of cardboard so it did not last very long. I am glad to see that the ceramic and wood ones I made are holding up well. They should hold up for some time.

I can see the beginnings of the seasonal change more and more now. There is a little cypress tree across the pond that is already beginning to turn. The purple flowers are still pretty but already beginning to fade a little. The grasses are less emerald green with tops beginning to brown a bit and the Fairy Circles are beginning to brown. 

I saw several beautiful birds today including Blue Herons, Egrets and a large Red Tailed Hawk that I flushed out right in front of the cart..It was wonderful to watch him fly so close to me.

I found one of my favorite scenes near Sebastian's Trail in Holy Ground Field to my liking so I settled in for a couple of hours, enjoying the quiet beauty of this place I love so much. Not too hot, a comfortable cart to paint in, a lovely canine companion snoozing on the seat next to me and the sounds of birds and buzzing insects in the distance. What could be more wonderful?

Lunch was delicious pulled pork and baked beans with salad. The  farm manager and I enjoyed lunch all by ourselves today.  After lunch I headed back to my spot to finish up the painting. As I finished up the clouds rolled in with a shower.It was time to go home with memories of lovely Fair Oaks to savor.