paint out, artists, plein air, Heart of Florida, North
Florida
The Land is Alive; and Artists and Chocolate
02/02/08 17:57
Count
down till PaintOut
68 days
2 February 2008
February 2nd dawns clear and sweet with long shadows stretching out ahead of the day!
Last weekend a childhood friend of mine materialized out of the past and landed here for a short visit...less than 24 hours.
I put him in the car and drove out to Micanopy for lunch. As we pulled off 441 and onto Cholokka I slowed the car to a crawl and watched his eyes try to take in the whole picture of where he was, so foreign to a Connecticut Yankee. There was a small Farmer's Market set up in front of Mosswood Store and just enough traffic to feel energized. He reacted to the Herlong Mansion and was filled with typical questions about Live Oaks and Spanish Moss. We parked and as we walked across the street, I caught sight of Helen Suits and her Chocolate Stand!
Helen had set up her version of a "lemonade" Chocolate Stand by Gallery Under the Oaks/Micanopy Chamber of Commerce. She was handing our samples of truffles and turtles! We tried everything she'd give us and
bought more. I suddenly realized we could have our own Chocolatier at the PaintOut and visions of how happy the artists would be just made me dance around on the spot!! Helen seemed overwhelmed with the invitation
and the prospect of being with the artists for a week of painting and chocolates...a match made in heaven.
Lunch was yummy although almost everyone else was licking on immense homemade ice cream cones. We walked around town some more and admired the antiques, old Florida books and architecture. I showed him some great examples of cracker houses, some simple and others grander in scale. He kept exclaiming about how he had no idea it was like this here.
We took 'the Trail' through Evinston, making note of what was growing in Freddy's garden and on to McIntosh where the roads grew around the Live Oaks. We drove up and down every street...he just couldn't get
enough. I showed him where the painters would be; in the park and down in between the Depot and the Carriage House....imagining how the wintery look of the gardens (wintery for Florida!) will soon give way to lush greens and flowers.
From there we went to the top of the OLO, the Orange Lake Overlook.
The OLO is my current favorite place.
We're going to be partnering with Sean Dowie to begin booking classes and workshops into the package house/soon to be classroom.
I plan to be out there as much as possible. The view is pretty amazing. Its got to be the highest spot around with the longest vista.
I'm thrilled that it is one of the designated paintout sites this year...just imagine the paintings this year!
We watched 1/2 the sunset and jumped in the car to continue watching it from the Prairie. Suddenly I was determined to find an Alligator and there they were, not one but two hefty gators hanging out in the
fading pools of warmth. They looked like truck tires.
I really do love not being the top of the food chain. Our land has wildness and mystery. Its Alive. A few years ago I met a woman at a downtown function. When I asked her
where she was from, she said Naples, Florida. Then she said this and I've quoted her many times,
"Your land is still alive, ours is dead. People in Naples no longer know their land is dead; its not even part of the conversation. But it has made us different. Your land its still alive. You still have wildness and mystery. You must tell everyone how they have to keep the land alive...its so important."
She grabbed onto my arm; her eyes full of desperation to have me hear her. "Promise me," she commanded, "You have no idea what a difference it makes and how lucky you are. Once its gone, its gone."
This guidebook is a proactive way of commanding our region's future well being.
Annie Pais
Paintings Below:
Top: "Orange Lake Palms" by Chuck Manning
Below: "Orange Lake in Orange" by Charles Dickinson
68 days
2 February 2008
February 2nd dawns clear and sweet with long shadows stretching out ahead of the day!
Last weekend a childhood friend of mine materialized out of the past and landed here for a short visit...less than 24 hours.
I put him in the car and drove out to Micanopy for lunch. As we pulled off 441 and onto Cholokka I slowed the car to a crawl and watched his eyes try to take in the whole picture of where he was, so foreign to a Connecticut Yankee. There was a small Farmer's Market set up in front of Mosswood Store and just enough traffic to feel energized. He reacted to the Herlong Mansion and was filled with typical questions about Live Oaks and Spanish Moss. We parked and as we walked across the street, I caught sight of Helen Suits and her Chocolate Stand!
Helen had set up her version of a "lemonade" Chocolate Stand by Gallery Under the Oaks/Micanopy Chamber of Commerce. She was handing our samples of truffles and turtles! We tried everything she'd give us and
bought more. I suddenly realized we could have our own Chocolatier at the PaintOut and visions of how happy the artists would be just made me dance around on the spot!! Helen seemed overwhelmed with the invitation
and the prospect of being with the artists for a week of painting and chocolates...a match made in heaven.
Lunch was yummy although almost everyone else was licking on immense homemade ice cream cones. We walked around town some more and admired the antiques, old Florida books and architecture. I showed him some great examples of cracker houses, some simple and others grander in scale. He kept exclaiming about how he had no idea it was like this here.
We took 'the Trail' through Evinston, making note of what was growing in Freddy's garden and on to McIntosh where the roads grew around the Live Oaks. We drove up and down every street...he just couldn't get
enough. I showed him where the painters would be; in the park and down in between the Depot and the Carriage House....imagining how the wintery look of the gardens (wintery for Florida!) will soon give way to lush greens and flowers.
From there we went to the top of the OLO, the Orange Lake Overlook.
The OLO is my current favorite place.
We're going to be partnering with Sean Dowie to begin booking classes and workshops into the package house/soon to be classroom.
I plan to be out there as much as possible. The view is pretty amazing. Its got to be the highest spot around with the longest vista.
I'm thrilled that it is one of the designated paintout sites this year...just imagine the paintings this year!
We watched 1/2 the sunset and jumped in the car to continue watching it from the Prairie. Suddenly I was determined to find an Alligator and there they were, not one but two hefty gators hanging out in the
fading pools of warmth. They looked like truck tires.
I really do love not being the top of the food chain. Our land has wildness and mystery. Its Alive. A few years ago I met a woman at a downtown function. When I asked her
where she was from, she said Naples, Florida. Then she said this and I've quoted her many times,
"Your land is still alive, ours is dead. People in Naples no longer know their land is dead; its not even part of the conversation. But it has made us different. Your land its still alive. You still have wildness and mystery. You must tell everyone how they have to keep the land alive...its so important."
She grabbed onto my arm; her eyes full of desperation to have me hear her. "Promise me," she commanded, "You have no idea what a difference it makes and how lucky you are. Once its gone, its gone."
This guidebook is a proactive way of commanding our region's future well being.
Annie Pais
Paintings Below:
Top: "Orange Lake Palms" by Chuck Manning
Below: "Orange Lake in Orange" by Charles Dickinson
Paint the OLO
26/01/08 17:56
I
have painted at the Orange Lake overlook for about 20
years. The lake changes over time from almost dry to
an abundance of water. It is my favorite place to
study the clouds. There is no better location to do
cloudscapes. Late afternoon brings large billowing
clouds full of color. I hosted the Alabama Plein Air
Artists at the overlook two weeks ago. The day was
bitter and dark but we pushed on to complete a
painting. They were enamored with the view as we all
are. I told them about the old building on site that
was a Citrus Shop and the orange groves of a
generation ago. They are gone but not forgotten. I
feel an urgency to paint these examples of living
history before they become housing developments. I'm
so grateful to be included in this years paint out.
We are recording the land and culture of north
central Florida for the present and future. Artists
are unique historians in a way. Our job is to help
others see the priceless beauty that is right under
their noses. They are too busy to stop and enjoy the
view and that is where we come in. We record it
for them to enjoy in their homes and offices. I
like to think of landscape paintings as a short
vacation from the stress and worries we live with in
a modern society.
Orange Lake in Winter
12x16 inches
oil on panel
Have a great week.
Linda Blondheim
Paint Out Artist
Orange Lake in Winter
12x16 inches
oil on panel
Have a great week.
Linda Blondheim
Paint Out Artist
84 days till Paintout!
12/01/08 15:24
84
days till Paintout!
In all of our craziness; we're thankful to remember why we're doing all of this!
Driving South down SR 441, on the new Heart of Florida Scenic Trail out of Gainesville; I'm crossing the Prairie with its elegant wintery colors and textures. Patterns of russets, violet grays and golds as far as I can see.
This Prairie is our defining body. It changes all the time like a lake edge or seashore. It gives us urban dwellers the luxury of wide open breathing space. A savannah, a primal place where we humans are not necessarily the top of the food chain...seriously.
We love our wild, mysterious Prairie with its alligators, waterbirds, SNAKES, deer, assorted small mammals, wild horses and its mythical herd of Buffalo.
It literally marks the place where the American Hardwoods meet the Southern Tropicals and the low palm studded fields and hillsides to the south look less like the U.S. and more like the Africa... to which 'la Florida' once connected. 'La Florida', land of Flowers.
I roll down the car windows and breathe.
The prairie also marks the beginning of an area where Alachua County has conserved approximately 60,000 total acres of this exotic land.
We are part of the land. We want to keep our wildness and mystery intact. We want land which lives, is alive. So much of the state is now dead. We know we must be proactive to preserve as much as possible.
The tiny hamlets around the lakes in this area are home to many small working farms. They want to stay working farms. They teach us the value of our rich rural heritage. We want to do what we can to help them to prosper and remain stewards of the land. The communities of Micanopy, McIntosh, Cross Creek and Evinston are each so important to our lives. We've gained immeasurably by our time spent getting to know them.
The Sand Hill Cranes are here for the winter season. Thousands of them arrived just before the holiday vacation and for a week, the skies were filled with their beloved heralding calls. Now we see them regularly in the cow pastures. Many species of birds are here for the winter...and the bird watchers too. The Great Florida Birding Trail winds its way through this region and into the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.
How lucky am I!
Annie
Sandhill Crane Photo by Sean Dowie
In all of our craziness; we're thankful to remember why we're doing all of this!
Driving South down SR 441, on the new Heart of Florida Scenic Trail out of Gainesville; I'm crossing the Prairie with its elegant wintery colors and textures. Patterns of russets, violet grays and golds as far as I can see.
This Prairie is our defining body. It changes all the time like a lake edge or seashore. It gives us urban dwellers the luxury of wide open breathing space. A savannah, a primal place where we humans are not necessarily the top of the food chain...seriously.
We love our wild, mysterious Prairie with its alligators, waterbirds, SNAKES, deer, assorted small mammals, wild horses and its mythical herd of Buffalo.
It literally marks the place where the American Hardwoods meet the Southern Tropicals and the low palm studded fields and hillsides to the south look less like the U.S. and more like the Africa... to which 'la Florida' once connected. 'La Florida', land of Flowers.
I roll down the car windows and breathe.
The prairie also marks the beginning of an area where Alachua County has conserved approximately 60,000 total acres of this exotic land.
We are part of the land. We want to keep our wildness and mystery intact. We want land which lives, is alive. So much of the state is now dead. We know we must be proactive to preserve as much as possible.
The tiny hamlets around the lakes in this area are home to many small working farms. They want to stay working farms. They teach us the value of our rich rural heritage. We want to do what we can to help them to prosper and remain stewards of the land. The communities of Micanopy, McIntosh, Cross Creek and Evinston are each so important to our lives. We've gained immeasurably by our time spent getting to know them.
The Sand Hill Cranes are here for the winter season. Thousands of them arrived just before the holiday vacation and for a week, the skies were filled with their beloved heralding calls. Now we see them regularly in the cow pastures. Many species of birds are here for the winter...and the bird watchers too. The Great Florida Birding Trail winds its way through this region and into the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.
How lucky am I!
Annie
Sandhill Crane Photo by Sean Dowie
94 days to the Heart of Florida Paint Out
09/01/08 10:41
We
are on the fast track to gather sponsors, small towns
and trail sites for the Heart of Florida Scenic
Trail. This year's Paintout is the kick off
celebration for the rollout of the inaugural trail!
You could say, we've really done it to ourselves this time.
Its truly mind blowing that we'll be able to pull this off...but somehow it will all come together.
The Heart of Florida Scenic Trail Guide and CD is our way of creating a portrait of this treasured place we all love so well. It will be a full color book with maps and things to see and do along the way...between Gainesville and Ocala. Getting travelers off the interstates, onto our scenic back roads and into the small towns to enjoy the local haunts, stay in locally run places, eat the regional cuisine, shop the local stores...you get the idea.
Its like, when we go somewhere new; what do we want? That's exactly what we're creating for visitors.
Just to be even cooler, we're also making an accompanying CD with area stories and music. You'll just pop the CD into the car's player and hit the trail.
We'll be giving the trail guide away at the PaintOut...where the artists will be painting in actual trail sites.
Its going to be amazing!
Evinston's palm studded pastures, the old frontier era buildings and century farmhouses, the hay rides to Orange Lake where the palm forest slides right into the lake and wildlife is so abundant. The Victorian village of McIntosh with its Live Oak framed roads, spanish moss, sweet old houses...straight out of the 1800's, and then the Orange Lake Overlook-OLO...with its breathtaking views a top the hill from the vintage Huff Citrus Co., now the WindMill Gallery. Its Painters' Heaven.
Sponsorships and sites have to be gathered by the end of the month!
Yikes, wish us luck!
You could say, we've really done it to ourselves this time.
Its truly mind blowing that we'll be able to pull this off...but somehow it will all come together.
The Heart of Florida Scenic Trail Guide and CD is our way of creating a portrait of this treasured place we all love so well. It will be a full color book with maps and things to see and do along the way...between Gainesville and Ocala. Getting travelers off the interstates, onto our scenic back roads and into the small towns to enjoy the local haunts, stay in locally run places, eat the regional cuisine, shop the local stores...you get the idea.
Its like, when we go somewhere new; what do we want? That's exactly what we're creating for visitors.
Just to be even cooler, we're also making an accompanying CD with area stories and music. You'll just pop the CD into the car's player and hit the trail.
We'll be giving the trail guide away at the PaintOut...where the artists will be painting in actual trail sites.
Its going to be amazing!
Evinston's palm studded pastures, the old frontier era buildings and century farmhouses, the hay rides to Orange Lake where the palm forest slides right into the lake and wildlife is so abundant. The Victorian village of McIntosh with its Live Oak framed roads, spanish moss, sweet old houses...straight out of the 1800's, and then the Orange Lake Overlook-OLO...with its breathtaking views a top the hill from the vintage Huff Citrus Co., now the WindMill Gallery. Its Painters' Heaven.
Sponsorships and sites have to be gathered by the end of the month!
Yikes, wish us luck!
Count Down to the Heart of Florida Paint Out
27/12/07 21:02
102
days till PaintOut!
Its a fast 100+ days until we kick off this marathon of all Southeastern American art events, the Heart of Florida PaintOut: April 11-18th, 2008.
45 top professional artists will travel to participate in this grueling adventure where they'll be painting for six straight days, dawn till dusk, outside, on location.
Where? Where else? In the very Heart of Florida!
This year we're inviting you to come behind the scenes with us as we prepare to put on this unique nine day event. By tuning into this interactive site, you'll experience first hand how one of these huge paintouts comes together. You'll join us for the inside track...a reality show complete with personal stories about the artists, the places, and the people
we'll meet. You'll be treated to first hand descriptions by the artists as they explore the sites and you'll see their first pre-event paintings wet off their easels.
Its emotional, its fun, its frustrating and its amazing how it all struggles to come together by opening day! Join in too. If you have memories of our past paintouts, we'd love to
hear from you. Along the way we'll include some of your stories,
email them to me at awpais@aol.com
SAVE THE DATE AND PLAN YOUR TRIP NOW!
We'll be posting much more information as we move along, so you can explore planning your trip to join us in April.
We'll give you suggestions about where to stay according to your different interests and provide you with all the various travel information websites we have through our partnering
local agencies.
This year's paintout is The Kick Off Celebration for the Inaugural Edition of the Heart of Florida Scenic Trail Guide and CD. The first 10,000 copies of this Commemorative Edition will be given out free to you beginning in April and at this year's paintout. The guidebook will include the paintout catalogue information and is designed especially to be a keepsake you'll treasure as a memory of your experience with us.
For many years we've been planning and creating a self guided tour book which invites you to experience this extraordinary part of Florida as we do, by traveling our scenic back roads and discovering all of the natural wonders, the breathtakingly beautiful vistas, the startling small hamlets and culturally rich urban towns we call home.
We're excited to finally make our dreams reality and take you with us as we pull it all together by April.
Please do help us spread the word by passing this on to friends. Media and Press may contact us directly.
We welcome you.
Annie Pais
Stewart Thomas
CoDirectors of Florida's Eden
Its a fast 100+ days until we kick off this marathon of all Southeastern American art events, the Heart of Florida PaintOut: April 11-18th, 2008.
45 top professional artists will travel to participate in this grueling adventure where they'll be painting for six straight days, dawn till dusk, outside, on location.
Where? Where else? In the very Heart of Florida!
This year we're inviting you to come behind the scenes with us as we prepare to put on this unique nine day event. By tuning into this interactive site, you'll experience first hand how one of these huge paintouts comes together. You'll join us for the inside track...a reality show complete with personal stories about the artists, the places, and the people
we'll meet. You'll be treated to first hand descriptions by the artists as they explore the sites and you'll see their first pre-event paintings wet off their easels.
Its emotional, its fun, its frustrating and its amazing how it all struggles to come together by opening day! Join in too. If you have memories of our past paintouts, we'd love to
hear from you. Along the way we'll include some of your stories,
email them to me at awpais@aol.com
SAVE THE DATE AND PLAN YOUR TRIP NOW!
We'll be posting much more information as we move along, so you can explore planning your trip to join us in April.
We'll give you suggestions about where to stay according to your different interests and provide you with all the various travel information websites we have through our partnering
local agencies.
This year's paintout is The Kick Off Celebration for the Inaugural Edition of the Heart of Florida Scenic Trail Guide and CD. The first 10,000 copies of this Commemorative Edition will be given out free to you beginning in April and at this year's paintout. The guidebook will include the paintout catalogue information and is designed especially to be a keepsake you'll treasure as a memory of your experience with us.
For many years we've been planning and creating a self guided tour book which invites you to experience this extraordinary part of Florida as we do, by traveling our scenic back roads and discovering all of the natural wonders, the breathtakingly beautiful vistas, the startling small hamlets and culturally rich urban towns we call home.
We're excited to finally make our dreams reality and take you with us as we pull it all together by April.
Please do help us spread the word by passing this on to friends. Media and Press may contact us directly.
We welcome you.
Annie Pais
Stewart Thomas
CoDirectors of Florida's Eden