Morning Sketches

Crystal River Morning, watercolor study, 6" x 10."

While vacationing at Crystal River I got into a routine of getting up in the morning just as the sun was rising. After opening the curtains of the row of windows giving out onto the lagoon and fixing a cup of my favorite chai tea, I would get out my watercolors to work on a sketch. The windows had a convenient small ledge on which to set my kit, and sitting on a kitchen stool, I worked until Herb was up and ready for breakfast.

Crystal River Morning, watercolor, 10" x 14."

I never tired of seeing the play of the light on the mossy branches of the trees across the lagoon--such incredible colors! From orangey at first light to golden yellow as the sun climbed higher, lilacs in the shade, they were all so harmonious, and so difficult to render! It could take a lifetime to get this Florida landscape just right. I hope I get enough time after I retire there to learn to paint Florida with a small fraction of its natural beauty.