The Residency Continues in the Painting Studio

Light on the Marshes

Crystal River Marshes 2

Crystal River Marshes

Study on Canvas Paper

Artist in Residence Paintings

Notes From my Residency Journal

As I often note, the real residency begins long after the journey ends, when I am settled back into the painting studio. It is a process of going through many image files, saving them and choosing likely candidates for paintings. Once those are filed and considered, I choose one at a time to paint. Most of the studio pieces I do are in the 12x16 to 24x36 inch size range, though some are larger.

The painting process starts with canvas paper studies like the one above. Sometimes those move up to 5x7 or 8x10 paintings and then finally to larger format paintings. I am a slow learner and so I feel the need to study a subject first, getting to know it and feel comfortable in that space. I have my memories of the adventure and the plein air paintings I do on site to guide the process later in the studio.

I will often take a particular part of a painting to study for awhile. See the example of Cypress trees:



Doing a number of studies of a particular part of the painting or subject will really help me to get an understanding of the characteristics of my subject. I take these residencies seriously. They teach me so much about the character of the regions I visit and allow me to be an ambassador for conservation and Eco-tourism for Florida. If we can make natural Florida the place to love we will be able to limit development. That's my dream anyway. Thanks to all of my sponsors who provide housing and materials for this project. Bless you all!!

Day 3 Crystal River Residency 07/25/12

Archeological Site

Crystal River State Park

Crystal River State Park

Daly Marshes Revised

9x12 inches

Marsh Palms

8x10 inches

Marsh Afternoon

5x7 inches

palette knife

Notes From My Residency

Wednesday, after a breakfast of biscuit and gravy at Grannys, I was fueled up for a day of exploration. I drove up to the Crystal River Archeological site first. It was a lovely surprise. There are paved paths that wind through the site and signs for each area of interest. These are very old burial mounds. The path winds out to the river edge. The view of large palm and cedar hammocks lining the shore is a lovely sight. There are large live oaks scattered around the grounds. There are lots of benches along the path to enjoy as well. I spotted a red headed woodpecker, two bluebirds and a Cardinal along the walk. There is a museum there but it was not open. I imagine they close in the summer. The bugs were fierce as there is a lot of standing water, but in winter it would be sublime.

In the same area, is the Crystal River State Park. The view from the road is the best part of the park for a nature lover like me; miles of lovely swamps. At the end is a large boat ramp and rest rooms. I took a lot of photos from my car, as there was little traffic so I could stop along the way. I did find a nice little dirt road in the park which led to a canoe ramp and nature path, deep in the woods. I knew better than to try it with the current bug issues, but I will go back in the cool time of the year one day.

The road to these parks is on the road between the Ford dealership and the Days Inn/Dennys on the west side of US 19 in north Crystal River.

I arrived home to finish the painting I started the day before, and ended up improving a painting I worked on the first day. In the evening, I did a small palette knife painting and enjoyed watching the sun go down. More to come…..