I returned from my two-week painting vacation on Marco Island with 14 paintings, and the next two days was back to painting and drawing nudes.  Too much for one blogpost anyway, so I am deferring for a few days the pleasure of showing my art in favor of first displaying the artworks created by my Marco Island hostess, Mary Crawford Reining.

On most occasions, we were looking in the roughly  same direction to paint if not the same scene, neighboring scenes.  You will be able to identify a few exceptions (most prominently the boat featured in my previous posting).   You might find it interesting to compare our different treatments of the same subjects.  But it would be like comparing apples to oranges, which I understand is not a good thing to do.  Mary is a watercolorist (she claims to switch from medium to medium, but I have only seen her painting with watercolors in the five  years that I have been plein air painting with her) and her style is looser than mine.  I have noticed that the more experienced an artist is, the more successfully they attain looseness.  Mary is very experienced, having studied art and having taught art, and, most importantly, having never in all those years ceased to think and behave like an artist.

You will enjoy her paintings:

Within a shelter created by natural canopy.  Destined to be a study for a much larger version of the same scene.

Bank of newspaper dispensers in Goodland, in front of “Island Woman”.  My version contains only three of the kiosks.

Blue Dolphin sculpture in front of Mangoes.  Celebrating kitsch.

Musicians and crowds at the Farmers Market.  That very blue man in the center is the main actor in my version.

Octagonal lemon-green house in Goodland.  Why not?

View found in leeward side of the Jolley Bridge, Day 1 of my visit, very windy!

Another watery residence.  Outboard motor included.

Home in Goodland, from gazebo at MarGood park.  (Isn’t that orange reflection just brilliant?)

Yellow Sailboat with Black Sail.  I actually didn’t get to this scene, but we had it on our agenda.

Study of palm trees in stiff wind, at Residents’ Beach.

Plein air still life, French style picnic  (Bread  looks awfully good–you’d never know it was hard as a rock)

I wish I could send you to a wider online presence of Mary’s, but she keeps a low profile, electronically speaking.  In fact, NO profile at all online.  I know. . . shocking.  But if you were of a mind to purchase any of her artworks, I would be glad to act as intermediary.