Back on the River

The last workshop of our workshop season came, and as we usually do, we like to take the group on the Amelia River Cruise for a good experience and to learn a bit of what our island is all about.  This time, it was a watercolor class taught by Ken Austin.  He must have worked those ladies too hard because only he and I made the cruise.  Workshop groups are each quite different, some wanting to get out and see the sights, and others just wanting to crash after a long, hard day of painting.

We were very lucky to find my favorite crew on board, Ellyn and Captain Pajama Dave.  I love going with them as it is so entertaining and not always predictable.  Sure they say some of the same things but they are flexible as are most artists and Ellyn is an artist herself.  I was taking photos of my favorite marina subject, the reflections, when Ellyn pointed out the Manatee in the water.  Do you see it?  She knew it was there because she put it there.  It was a sculpture she did herself and tossed into the he water.  When the tide is low as it was then you can see it stick its head up.  Very cool because real Manatees come to this area frequently and had been spotted there earlier that day when the tide was higher.  It is starting to cool down so the Manatees are migrating South and up into the rivers to get closer to the springs which feed into the rivers for the warmth that some of those springs provide.  Water coming out of the ground at 74 degrees feels good on a 35 degree morning.

There were many exciting reflections happening in the water as we loaded up for the now familiar trip for some of us, but always something new too, even if it is just the sunset which never exactly duplicates itself.

The water and the light was a good time for reflections from one of the shrimpboats we passed.

A first for me was that there was no big ship docked at the marina, leaving the concrete docks to give me some very unusual reflections.  If you did not know what this was you would never guess, don't you think?

With the blue sky and the railroad cars all lined up, I thought the shapes and the lines of the whole Rock Tenn Plant interesting.  I am still a bit mad at them over the smog I saw coming from their facility on the Cumberland Trip though.

I would really like to do kayak fishing sometime.  I think that would be great fun.  It have wondered if you caught a really big fish wouldn't it propel your kayak a bit?  That might be a little added adventure.

I don't think I realized just how big this shell midden is at the mouth of Eagan's Creek next to Tiger Bay Marina.  The big Egret was using it as a good vantage point to sit and hang out for a while.

A dilemma for this fisherman.  Should he risk his footing to reach for the net nearby to land his catch or just try lifting it out without dropping it in the water.  Those oyster shells are pretty sharp.  Sure wouldn't want to risk dropping that cigarette either.

The cooler weather has brought more of the gulls onto the leeward side of the island to roost for the night.  Part of the answer to the question "where do the gulls go at night when they leave the beach?"  The gull poop makes it look like the old rusty barge is decorated with a fringe all around the top.

A large flock of Brown Pelicans fly overhead looking for a place to spend the night also.  Ellyn was saying that they always fly in a "V", but she asked, "did we know why there were always more on one side than the other?"  No one knew of course.  She said it was "because there were more on one side than the other."  OK, now I spilled her punch line.  Pretend when you go on the cruise that you don't know the answer.

Captain Dave was able to get us in close enough and early enough to see the horses.  We had to bypass the cruise by the fort to have enough time with the shorter days to make it before the horses left to go into the tree line for the night.

A great Blue Heron was hanging out at the flats, and with the tide low, the oyster beds were sticking up out of the water letting you know that wading here would risk unseen hazards for your feet with the water higher.

This is my favorite tree to photograph.  The low sun always gives it an interesting shape and color highlighting its gnarly trunk and branches contrasting with the straight lines of the palm nearby.  With fall, some of the trees have lost their leaves but not the Live Oaks.  They will lose them partially nearer springtime but will not become totally bare.

With the shorter days it becomes a rush to get into the creek and out in time to see the sunset over the islands.  We see that we are running out of time as we see it through the silhouette of the trees along the creek.  The setting sun makes the palm look as if it is a large lamp putting out the light for the night ahead.

It is only minutes before it is gone behind the tree line.  The colors in the clear cloudless sky are ever-so-softly blended with the yellows, oranges finally fading toward purple with the blues from the sky in the mix.

We still have enough light to see if we can find any more horses or birds up the creek a ways.  The calmness of the water gives us nice reflections of the creek bank which seems to move with the hundreds of Fiddler Crabs which are swarming its edge waving their big pinchers in their violin playing imitation to attract the females.

The reflections are almost mirror-like, but not quite as there is enough of a breeze to keep that from happening.  The setting sun on the opposite side gives a pink glow to the Eastern sky as well.

The Spanish Moss and twisted branches of a downed tree give a spooky feeling to the almost Halloween time frame.

The blaze from the setting sun sets the water afire also as it peeps through the tree line.

A dad was trying to get his beautiful daughter's attention as he photographed her but she was more interested in the strange lady who was also photographing her at the same time.

Now the sun is almost gone as we race toward the river to try to catch its final dip below the horizon.

We do not make it completely out into the river channel, but this is a pretty view also, just not the long reflections in the water we like to find.

The other Amelia River Cruise boat passed us with a charter group having a good time on it.  The surprise from what had appeared as a clear sky from the creek found us some colorful clouds as some promised rain clouds are moving in from the Southwest.

It gave the delayed cruise by Fort Clinch a very special view.  I may have to frame this one to go on display at the fort itself.

The light was almost too dim and the motion of the boat too much to get the focus I would have liked; we got our last glimpse of color as we neared our home port on another lovely, perfect evening excursion on the Amelia River Cruise.  Thanks to Ellyn and Dave, our crew, for making it such an enjoyable trip.

A Break in the Weather

The commission piece I was working on is now finished, picked up, and on its way to its new home in Jacksonville. 

This one I had professionally scanned before putting under glass to make sure I have a good image for making cards.  Almost time for turtle season again.  Now to get to work on my Koi painting.  Will post progress photos as it develops.

Sometimes work in the gallery leads into one day after another and I forget the time of year except having the seasons of heat on, doors open, doors and windows open, and then air conditioning time.  I came to the realization that it was coming upon on Valentine's day this week when a male customer came in with a request for "hearts, -anything with hearts".  My mind went blank as I searched each cobwebby corner of it thinking hearts, hearts, do I have hearts?  I looked around in vain.  My brain just works that way sometimes.  After he left my slow brain said, of course you have hearts.  I knew I had a pair of Sandy Washburn's copper earrings with tiny hearts and I had some pretty blue pendants in glass.  But I also had lots of heart beads in my boxes.  Inspiration is sometimes borne out of need.  I spent a couple of days turning everything heart shaped into wearable art.  I now have glass blown heart pendants, and small yellow glass heart pendant, and lots of porcelin hearts turned into all colors of earrings.  So now my brain is ready to say "Yes, we do have hearts".

Earlier in the week I took a friend with me as I checked on "ye ol' turtle nest" and did a bit of beach exploring with my photographer friend, Lea.  Some of the birds we were having trouble identifing but that is the way with gulls.  Their colors change so much with the seasons and age that since I am not a birder I don't worry about it that much.  The really big ones stand out because of their size and I am thinking that the smaller ones might be young laughing gulls whose black head has not fully changed in color.

I kept trying to catch a good shot of the big guys in flight as they kept leap frogging ahead of us as we headed up the beach.  We would almost reach them and they would fly.  This was repeated over and over until we finally got around them.

The tide was going out making it a very good day to watch the formation of the patterns I love so much in the sand as they were happening.

Lea says she calls them beach trees which I think is a pretty appropriate name.

Since we were sure the tide was heading out we decided to explore the jetty a bit more thoroughly.  Some of the rocks held depressions which always hold water when they are not underneath the surface.  Unlike the West Coast ones, ours do not have that much life in them.  Some sea moss was pretty in this one but no sea urchins or starfish like I have seen in California.

A close view of the tiny barnacles are pretty even though too small in reality to be very eye catching.

I thought the combination of ripples formed by the water in conjunction with bird tracks lightly washed over was pretty nice and not the usual.

The base of the jetty holds lots of broken shells, sometimes pretty enough for retriving sometimes just pretty with their surroundings and best left for others to enjoy or the sea to envelope again next tide.

Mostly the shells are broken pieces attesting to the force of the water as it hits the rocks.

Of course I would spot one more white feather, this one had become a part of the flowing tidal formations adding to the overall design.  Mighty nice, momma nature.

A very close up snails eye view of the beautiful pink (non native invasive species) barnacle with its bits and pieces of pink tentacle or root like appendages along with a tiny bit of bright green seaweed which has become part of this whole minature world of a barnacle which traveled on the bottom of some large ship from far, far away to be dropped on our shore.

Oyster shells also evidence the precarious life that finds itself clinging to any surface available to sustain their survival, deter their demise.

Pools form underneath the massive rocks evidencing life forms there.

The dead and living coexist with one living and building on the other.

More broken pieces of former sealife have crashed upon the rocks either as living or empty shells of a former life.

The mosses mixed with brown and green colors looks like the back of some great hairy beast.

Some spots were almost all brown, some mixed...

...and some bright spots of vivid green among the neutral colors that make up the biggest part of the jetty.  I am told that these great walls against the sea were built from rocks taken from New York when the mass transit system was being built in the early 1900's.  It was an engineering feat to get these great pieces of rock and concrete placed so that they withstand the storms that this great ocean can produce.

The remnants of some great ship's rope has become part of the great sea wall.

More pretty sand patterns wait as we cross on to the river's shore line.  With my hands full of the pretty pink shells I have picked up and the sun getting low I say it is time to leave.  Another day is about to be gone.

The shadows from the almost setting sun just catch the top of the tallest dunes as I drive down the road on my way out of the park.

The light on the West side filtering through the trees convince me that just a few minutes more won't matter that much as I stop to take a look over the marsh and Egan's Creek looking toward the lighthouse.  Sunlight on the Spanish Moss is a nice thing this time of day.

One shaft of light shines through the trees brighter then any other so I stop to see how it has happened and to follow its pathway.  Looking though the sunbeam it is almost like looking into a sun cave with the sun itself peering back at me.  I almost expect to see a Hobbit peer back at me as I look through this magical spot.  Nice to have some warmer days to get outside.  Our visitors from the north say that it is balmy not cold but to us Floridians it has been cold. As the week moved on the weather warmed with days when we can open both the gallery doors.  So for a few days at least the cold that has been so dreary for us has moved away. A bit of news from Charles the Monarch of the Magic Kingdom.  My son, David, was working over at Disney a couple of weeks after I left Charles and he called to say that he saw a Monarch Butterfly there.  I told him of course it had to be Charles because all the others were in Mexico, having left around the first of November.  It was about the time when Charles's mother happened by my flower garden on her way (I actually saw her that day) and with one farewell effort laid the egg that became Charles.  It was the only Monarch I had seen in my yard all year.  I had even tried to photograph her but she was too fast and fleeting for me but I had seen her sitting on the very plant on which I found Charles' caterpillar stage.

By the way did I tell you we have hearts?