Saturday, March 26, 2011

CATTLE RANCH ON FLORIDA TURNPIKE By Cecelia Lyden

oil on stretched canvas

16x20





I remember my mother saying that she did not like Florida--it was too hot, too flat-she would say-and not that interesting. I guess I grew up with that image of the state of Florida--hot, flat and boring. It took my getting old, getting sick of winter, and retirement to finally experience the state of Florida for more than a week or two.

For the past 2 winters, my husband and I have spent January and February on the ocean in Fort Pierce, Florida. I have discovered that Florida is warm, not hot, flat, and not boring. In traveling across the State, I have seen beautiful scenery, interesting tree formations, gorgeous colors of sunrises, sunsets and the ocean.

I have joined a group of Florida plein air painters and have been to many interesting locations to paint. Next year we hope to go to one of the many cattle ranches in the area. I'm looking forward to that.

This painting was not done plein air, but from one of several photos I took on the way to the University of Florida in Gainesville. Our granddaughter was playing in a lacrosse game that afternoon, 3 hours away from Fort Pierce, where we were staying. So we did not stop. I just kept clicking away, at 70 miles per hour, at all the potential paintings I saw in front of me. Happily, most of them came out unblurred. I will paint one or two more.

No comments:

Post a Comment