"Afternoon Shadows, Cortez Fishing Village", plein air , 11x14
This was painted back in 2016 at the scenic little Cortez Historic Fishing Village, on Florida's Gulf Coast.
After first asking permission to paint of two men who seemed to be part of the place, I set up my easel right at the edge of the water, behind where you see the figure in my painting. I selected a great composition of two boats and the little fish shack that lies in the distance on the water as my composition, and had begun painting when someone came along and said, "Lady, you'll have to move so we can load the barge."
Well, of course! This is plein air and this is a working fishing village. So I packed up all my gear and moved to the foot of the walkway that goes up to the covered pier.
It turns out that the two men who I'd asked permission of were somewhat (I'm being kind) inebriated and had no work connection to the place at all. They stood nearby as I painted all afternoon and discussed politics, terrorism and how to change the world. It was different from listening to the gulls screech and I found after a while that I was kind of glad they were there. One even offered me a live starfish, which I dropped to the ground after realizing it was alive. You can see one of these friendly characters in my photo below.
I haven't been to Cortez in a very long time. We used to eat lunch at the Starfish Grill, but I'm to even sure if it's still there or not. Check out this scenic little fishing spot if you are ever in Manatee County. It's definitely Old Florida!
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