About The Artist

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Hello! I am a fine arts painter, with a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My primary painting medium is oil and alkyd, and mostly I work in a representational style. My greatest challenge as a painter is to capture the effect of light; and my greatest joy as a painter is to accomplish that. Many thanks to those readers who have been following this blog since Day 1 (May 19, 2008). To those who are visiting for the first time today...Welcome, and thanks for dropping by!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Plein Air...Florida style


When I have the chance, I usually like to preview the site where the plein air group is meeting—partly, so I know where I'm going, and partly so I can pick out a good view and comfortable site to set up.

This weekend, I'll be painting en plein air at Wekiva Island, a commercial recreational area located on the Wekiva River, The location offers a boat launch, along with canoe and kayak rentals, a sandy volleyball area, lots of shaded spots to enjoy a beer, glass of wine, and socializing, and many lovely, relaxing views of the river.

So, this morning I took off for a leisurely drive to check out Wekiva Island in advance of the painting session. After about a 30 minute drive from the house, I arrived at the site, which is unpretentious, laid back, even quaint. Since it's gotten much warmer this week in Florida, I was looking for a shady spot. And because everything is so full and green, I wanted a river view as a contrast to the all the vegetation. I spied a nice spot across a field, and headed over in my car.

I wasn't the only one who thought this was a good place. When I pulled my car up to the river's edge, there was an alligator sunbathing on the grassy shore. And he wasn't giving up his spot just because I showed up!

Maybe he'll have something else to do this weekend, and I'll get to use that spot for painting.

Hope you have a good, alligator-free weekend, too.
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Text & image ©2010 Carol Adamec. All rights reserved.

1 comment:

Mary J. Gray said...

Hi there, sent this out to members. Very interesting. Didn't see you at Minnehaha. Not great like wekiva, but not bad and close to my home too. I'll send you a photo from there last Sat.
Mary J.