Winter in Florida

• Once again I spent few weeks n Florida for the chance to play golf and paint.   I hooked up with plein  air painter Shawn Del Joyce who works outdoors from October thru March in the Pinellas county (Tampa)  area.  This first effort was tasked to put birds in the picture so I tried to capture some small ducks in this marshy area across from a boat launch in the background.

Weaver Park near Dunedin

The second outing was under the causeway of the Clearwater access.  It serves as a fishing pier.  I captured a service building and some palm trees that reminded me of Winslow Homer's Florida paintings.  I also added some birds, but those atop the building could use more definition.

 

                                                          Clearwater Fishing Pier

I looked for some attractive barns, but was disappointed that most were not appealing ( mostly flat open rectangles, I assume because of the high temps) and paled in comparison to those in the Northeast  where we are rich with such structures.  Nonetheless I found one horse barn that served well enough.

                                                         Horse barn Pasco county

While driving around the area just sight seeing we stopped for some lunch at an outdoor restaurant where we had great grouper sandwiches.

Lastly I found a photo that reminded my host of the scenic area and older vacation homes on the Cotee river.  This was once a retreat for Hollywood stars and famous golfers in the 1920s..  I did a rendering of that photo and left it as a gift.

                                               Reminder of New Port Richey's Cotee river.