Pincher's Crab Shack

If I seem obsessed with crabs it's only a coincidence. Watch for paintings of pelicans next! Speaking of which, the beach was glorious today. Still in the low eighties with a cool breeze 

that some would call a gale ;)   Incredible weather for here.

Don and some visitors leaving because we have no more food ;)

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.

Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe

I have lots of photos of this little Roadhouse out in the Everglades. Thirty miles out to be exact. On my joyride out there last Friday I made a note of the mileage. It was the first time I ever saw this place open complete with live music and a buncha Massachusetts license plates out front. Sweet. Tomorrow I am meeting a couple of artists and we're going out there to paint. Every time I drive by this place I think of my friend Joanie.

View of Naples Pier

This is a 6x6 watercolor of the Naples Pier from 16th Ave South which is one of my favorite beach hangouts. Naples creates beach access at the end of each street along Gulf Shore Blvd with parking meters and unmetered spaces for beach sticker parking. There are no arguments here about 'owning' the beach to the low tide mark. The beach front estates share their fabulous beaches with the likes of me :D

The weather is amazingly sunny in the low 80's BUT breezy with little humidity. Normally at this time of year we're hitting the low 90's regularly with humid air. This is really COOL!! Like 'perfect summer' would be at home in Marshfield.

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.

Yellow Teapot

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 Last week I went up to Bonita to get my hair cut and came across another item I couldn't resist in a shop called the Mother Load and believe me, it IS!  In a tiny building of 5 rooms crammed with memorabelia and anything you can name, I spent an hour and a half looking at everything. In the end I came away with this fabulous teapot in a color I can't resist and two other treasures!   I used to work with a woman who went out and bought clothes on her lunch break and hid them in the trunk of her car so the hubby wouldn't know. I won't go that far but Don did ask, "don't you have enough props?" Never ;)

 

Party Shoes

Don'tcha  just love these fabulous shoes? I got them at 'the Mart'. Not Wal-Mart, not SteinMart, but K Mart! Of course, they are not meant for walking or wearing for extended periods of time or my feet hurt, but they look sweet and I can always just sit down :D  

Be sure to attend the Spring Open House being held by my Homies from 4th Floor Artists. See the website for details.

Hide & Peep

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This is my Painting for the Girls Just Wanna Paint Challenge. There's more subtlety in the color than is visible in this photo, and that's almost always the case. I like to say that if you see a painting in a book and you think it's great, you'll be doubly delighted when you see the real thing. I got the Peeps at the half price Easter sell off in the market. I also got some gold plastic eggs :D  Stay tuned.

Keys Cottage 6x6 W/C

Don and I spent some time down at the docks yesterday checking out the replicas of the Nina and the Pinta. I couldn't get good photos because the sun was overhead. So, I got up way early today and got down there while the early light was on the ships but, as soon as I powered up my camera the flashing battery greeted me :(  Oops.

NOT to be hindered I did a small sketch of one of the ships which took about an hour and then headed home to plug in the camera. Since I was on a mission to paint I decided to head down to a very quiet site on the Gordon River where there are a bunch of old cottages that will soon be torn down so the Marina next door can expand. I parked my lawn chair under a shady palm tree and did a pencil sketch and then a little study for color. While I was painting I was visited by a delightful gentleman with his little Dachshund, 'Schnitzle'. He was most interesting having had duel careers as a  farrier (horse shoer) and an electrician. We talked about horses and our pets past and present. When I mentioned that today is my Wendell's 14th birthday and he told me about a cat he had who lived to be 22!! Wendell is quite healthy and I hope he'll be with me for a long time.

The Birthday Boy-14 years old

Copper Caddy

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One day I wandered into TJ Maxx and found 3 copper pitchers which I knew I didn't need but had to have. Props, of course. This one's been sitting here for weeks holding watercolor brushes and a palette knife and I thought it was time to paint it. 

This afternoon I went to the beach with the intention of painting which didn't happen. It was again,  windy and brisk but, hey, it's still Florida and I enjoyed reading and taking photos of the kite surfers.

Lady In Red

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Having flowers around the house is an indulgence worth the cost. Especially since they insure that there's always a prop to paint. I'm in love with the red/green color scheme, here.

Yesterday I worked as a volunteer 'booth sitter' for the Downtown Naples Festival of The Arts Show. The day was sunny and clear with high temperature of about 80 and NO HUMIDITY. My favorite weather. I had a great time meeting the artists and shopping for a few pieces of original art. Check out this deluxe golf cart with a Wisconsin license plate on it. 

This is Naples, after all.

Palmettos

SOLD

 The plan today was to go out to the Everglades and paint with another artist/blogger but, it's raining so we bagged it and will try for another day. Last night, in anticipation, I decided to paint some palm trees just for practice.  I kept my  brushwork really loose combining lessons I've learned from Carol Marine and Colin Page. Two of the BEST whose edges and brushwork make their paintings exciting no matter what the subject.

"Cup Shadows"

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 Three beautiful cups and a saucer from my extensive collection of white objects found mostly at Goodwill. Naples is loaded with second hand shops, filled with any and all kinds of treasure. Don and I went into a place called Sensible Chic which is in a strip mall sort of building. Come to find out the entire building was filled with second hand 'vendors', each renting space. What we initially thought was a 3 store section, turned into a maze of conjoined shops all filled to the brim with YOU NAME IT! We were in there for an hour before Don had to go sit in the car and read his book. I finally exhausted my sensory receptors and quit without buying a single 'Prop'....but I saw some tempting stuff ;) so I'll be returning.   

Dream On 6x6 acrylic on paper

Lately I've been realizing how much I like beautiful abstract and illustrative art and this little painting is a complete departure from my usual medium and style. The concept here was 'dream' which is a subject I'm intimate with. I have vivid dreams and often wake up feeling like I've had complete experiences involving people (some I've not seen in years and some I don't even know) and places I might or might not know of. I sometimes feel like I've been on a trip. Anyway, for this subject I wanted to break out of the box and create something dream like. I had great fun drawing it and I ordered a bunch of metallic acrylic paint to use with it. This was for the Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge blog where you can see the other paintings. 

Virtual Martini

In my usual fashion, I was late for the "virtual" cocktail party that my friend Kelley held over at her blog. No matter, I'm publishing my drink here. Last night I cooked a corned beef dinner for my hubby's cousin and her artist husband. Despite my misgivings about my circa 1987 electric stove, I managed to regulate the burner so as not to boil the thing to death. It was excellent and we had a great time. He is a watercolor artist so he and I just yammer on about art while his wife and my husband yammer on about their family history. It works quite well.

We Three

My love affair with white continues between my incredibly (for me) busy social life. My brother and his girlfriend bought an RV and rolled into Naples last weekend, surprising us and kicking off another round of family shindigs, visits, dinners and social time. In addition, Don's cousin and her husband are in town and we are going over to their pool tomorrow and I'm cooking a corned beef dinner on Wednesday evening for them. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I rarely leave the studio or the paints. I tell you. I have been getting in some studio time but I'm way behind in some of my intended paintings.

Cozy Up

The hardest part of this painting was the rim of the clear glass plate. In reality it is a bright and very distinct hard line. I had to balance it with value and break it up so it didn't dominate the painting.  Today was a beautiful rainy day. Monsoon like. I spent the day in the studio and later this evening I picked up my Sister and my Mama on the way to a family party at my niece's house, where we turned on the festival lighting aka Christmas Lights :D and had a great time!

Fourth Cliff

The towns comprising the South Shore of Boston are a treasure trove of ocean, river and marsh views, harbors dotted with working lobster fleets, lighthouses and fresh salt air. To me, it's home. This little seascape is a view from the North River out toward Fourth Cliff in Humarock, Massachusetts.

Irish Soda Bread

This perfect loaf of Irish Bread studded with currants was baked by a friend of mine who sent me a photo of it to paint. Baking Irish Soda Bread is an art much like painting. It's not easy to get it right. This one looks awesomely mouthwatering and would be great toasted with butter. If I have the assistance of Betty Crocker or the Pillbury Doughboy, I too, can bake ;)

Famous Artists on YouTube

 

My Studio Awaits

While I'm washing sheets and towels in anticipation of going back into the studio and locking the door (in the figurative sense) I'm posting some entertainment for those of you who stop by looking for a new painting. Soon, soon ;)

Not only are there famous artists on YouTube but I'm there too, along with my friend Kelley MacDonald and her famous pug, Paco.  Enjoy these cool videos made by the talented and hilariously funny, Myra Anderson!