Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a slough in Florida.

Plein air watercolor painting    9.5 inches x 6 inches

This is the last of my watercolor sketches from down south. I painted this plein air watercolor painting near Six Mile Cypress Slough, a wildlife preserve in southwest Florida. Most of these wetland areas have been filled in over the years to create land that can be built upon. But when that happens, all of the plants and wildlife suffer. The animals, reptiles, birds and insects have to move on to another area or die. It was fascinating to walk this protected area and just listen to all of the sounds of wetland life, without people and traffic interfering. There were so many watercolor landscapes there, “waiting to happen” but I only had an hour or so to explore. I did take a lot of reference photos and am thinking of doing a series using the slough as subject.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of marsh land near the Naples Botanical Gardens

Pastel painting 11.5 inches x 8.5 inches

As a Michigan artist I don’t get many chances to do plein air paintings of tropical landscapes. So when we visit Florida, I make it my business to focus on pastel landscapes of the beautiful southern marsh lands. This painting was done in the Naples Botanical gardens.

My pastel painting, Everglades Morning, which won an award of Exceptional Merit from the Pastel Society of North Florida, just received a third place award from the Ann Arbor Women Artists. We are having a wonderful exhibit, filled with exceptional artwork, at the Ann Arbor Public Library through May 1st. Stop by and explore if you have a chance!

Plein air watercolor painting of Tin City in Naples, Florida

Plein air watercolor painting    6 inches x 9.5 inches

Just got back from two interesting “art trips.” My friend Cecily and I dropped off samples of our work to an art consultant who is filling a new hospital complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana with art works. We made the first cut and are awaiting word on whether we have been chosen to create commissioned work for the project. Many thanks to artist Valerie Mann for alerting us to the opportunity!

And I just returned from a gallery tour of Chicago. I walked through the River North area which has an unbelievable array of interesting galleries. I was inspired by the work there and the experience has given me lots of new ideas for my own work. Always good to get out of your own little head and see what others are doing.

While John golfs in Naples, I wander around the city and surrounding areas looking for interesting things to paint. I stumbled upon an interesting area of the city near the docks called Tin City. I’d never been there before. It appears to be part of an old group of fishing shanties that has been converted to small shops and restaurants. I sat under some shade and did a quick plein air watercolor painting of the site.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a pond in a botanical garden

Plein air watercolor painting    10.5 inches x 7 inches

I painted this plein air watercolor painting in the same Naples botanical garden where I found all of the fascinating lilies. There were so many great views, it was difficult to choose one to paint. I will definitely be visiting this site again next year. Its a place to let your “inner color” explode!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of Everglades water in the morning.

Pastel painting 11.5 inches x 8.5 inches  SOLD

I love doing plein air paintings on location when we travel. But as a Michigan artist with galleries in-state, it is difficult to show pastel landscapes which are obviously done in different parts of the country. People tend to like images that relate to their own surroundings. One of my goals for this year is to find good gallery representation in the southern states…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of grasses and water in the Everglades

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11.5 inches

When I’m down south, I always head out to the Everglades to work on plein air paintings. There is nothing like the light shining on the water wandering through the acres of marsh land. Every view has some enticing little nuance that I want to capture in a pastel landscape. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get very deep into the Everglades with painting equipment. I usually set up my easel on the side of the Tamiami Trail and paint out of the back of my SUV as traffic whizzes by. This has its good and bad points. The noise is terribly distracting, but I feel somewhat safe in a quasi-public area, as opposed to deep in the swamps.

However, when I was painting this piece, I ran into something I hadn’t bargained for. I noticed a car with two older couples crawling up behind me. They stopped the car and excitedly asked “Did you see it?” I had no idea what they were talking about. They explained that they had just seen a huge black bear rumbling through the grasses in the field next to me. Oy. But I’m a die hard. I wasn’t finished with my pastel painting and I wasn’t leaving til I was. But you can be sure I kept a close eye out, in case I needed to escape into my car!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of palm trees near a lake.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches

This pastel landscape was painted around 10 in the morning on a bright, sunny day. The patterns and textures of the palms down south are endlessly fascinating to me. Unfortunately, it is easy to get caught up in recording every leaf and shadow. I was pretty happy with this particular pastel painting. because I was able to capture the essence of the scene without getting caught up in minutia.

Plein air watercolor painting of a palm tree against a blue sky.

Plein air watercolor painting    6 inches x 9.5 inches

Hard to believe I was in sunny Florida just days ago. The sky was a bright clear blue that we won’t see here in Michigan for months. All of the colors down there felt so tropical and unfamiliar to me. Very unlike the muted hues of Michigan right now. It always takes me a while to switch gears and feel comfortable with a completely new color palette–especially one that is so bright and vibrant. I painted this watercolor landscape of palm trees sitting in the shade under a canopy to protect myself from the harsh rays and glare. I WISH that was my problem here in the frozen tundra…

Pastel plein air painting of the Everglades in early morning.

Pastel painting 8 inches x 12 inches

I was so pleased to be juried into the Pastel Society of North Florida’s National Exhibition. Last weekend I found out that the pastel landscape above was given an Award of Exceptional Merit by juror Margaret Dyer.  This is my first national award, and is especially important to me because Margaret is one of my favorite pastel artists. I met her years ago at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. She was so kind to spend time discussing art with me. I learned that she too had been a graphic artist and had finally made the jump into full time professional fine artist. I purchased 3 of her figurative paintings and they are some of my most treasured possessions.

The award came with a wonderful gift certificate for Terry Ludwig pastels and a year’s subscription to Pastel Journal, my favorite magazine. Nothing like a little encouragement to keep an artist working on her pastel paintings!

Plein air watercolor cityscape painting of a sunny art gallery in Naples, Florida

Watercolor painting 10 inches x 6.5 inches    $80

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

It was pretty cool and cloudy down south but I managed to get in one watercolor painting on a sunny Sunday morning in Naples. The city is filled with quirky little galleries that carry every type of art imaginable. I love visiting each one when we are in town. Galerie Soleil is bright yellow and reminded me of the warm buildings in Italy. Gotta grab the chance to do some more paintings of architecture…