Naples Pier Series

Yesterday Don and I drove the coastal route from Vanderbilt Beach and Bonita up through Estero Island to Fort Myers Beach. I love the honky tonk feel of the place and the crowds of tourists and party people from everywhere. Unlike in Bonita there are still little cottages and funky buildings to delight the artist's soul and beach access and parking is readily available. We walked out on the Municipal Pier which is built on the same design as the Naples Pier but with a cluster of restaurants and bars along a cobblestone pedestrian way at the beginning of the Pier. It was a beautiful day with a brisk sea breeze and we had a wonderful time being tourists. Actually, it felt like Mexico to me. Live music and the smells of fried food.

Naples Pier

JoAnn Sanborn of Marco Island,  a fellow blogger and a former North Shore girl from Gloucester, MA, invited me to a luncheon she organized today at the Marco Island Yacht Club. There were eight other women artists, one of whom was celebrating her 80th birthday. These women hadn't met in some time and the custom at this luncheon is to go around the table and talk about your art and share any 'good' news.  It was wonderful to meet these 'girls' and talk art, plus it was in a sweet little private dining room overlooking the Inland Waterway and the Jolley Bridge, and the food was great. We were there for two and a half hours before we even realized it! I made some new friends for next season and will perhaps join the Art League of Marco Island so I can participate in their events. Afterward I took a ride out into the Everglades to do some painting and take some photos. It was a GREAT DAY! 

I'm preparing some watercolors of  local scenery and Florida subjects for The Art Boutique at Tin City, where I show some of my work. We'll be leaving here in about three weeks and I want to leave them with a full inventory of original matted paintings in cellophane all sized to fit standard frames and a bargain at $75 each.