Sawgrass to Cypress: Painting the Everglades

These works by 2005 A.I.R.I.E. artist Susan J. Klein were on display at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center in Everglades National Park at Homestead, FL, from March 4 until March 31, 2006.

     I began painting Florida -- the real Florida -- at Myakka River State Park near Sarasota.  Included in this exhibit of twenty paintings, ten are from Myakka and ten are from Everglades National Park.  The Myakka River area shares some characteristics of the Everglades -- oak and palm hammocks, marshes, pinelands, patches of cypress, many of the same species of wading birds and, of course, alligators.  I developed a strong visual vocabulary with my Myakka paintings.  It is evident in the group of ten Everglades paintings that this vocabulary has been enriched, enhanced and expanded by my experience as an artist-in-residence in the Everglades.  The experience has pushed me beyond comfortable limits and given me confidence to attack new challenges.

The 10 images from Myakka River State Park

The 10 images from the Everglades

 

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