Florida

"Fan Palm," wc, 4x8

We arrived here a few days ago for a long-delayed family visit, hindered by the pandemic as so many have been. Unlike the Midwest, Florida stays green all year round, more so the farther south you go. Here around Tampa Bay the plants and foliage are always green. Palm trees grow wild and species we know as house plants grow tall in the gardens outdoors. Even in the depths of winter, like January in the watercolor on the left, people walk their dogs in shirt sleeves and huge palm trees flank the buildings and gardens. 

"Bradenton Green Belt," wc, 8x10

In Iowa, when we talk about green space or green belts the trees we know are cottonwoods, willows, elders, oaks, even elms. But in Florida its palms but also many many other species. In south Florida, green spaces are effectively jungle, choked with undergrowth, middle tier and high tier native trees, and commonly damp, muddy, or actual wetlands. Where there is water, even in residential areas, you see alligators, wading birds like sandhill cranes. Deer and all manner of bird life thrive in the warm, wet, and green environment.

The green belt behind us is a good example of the jungle-like areas you see around here. Although it is only thirty or forty yards deep, this space is in many ways like rainforest or jungle. I spent some time painting the green wall next to a walking trail that's perhaps forty yards away, back in 2016. If anything the green belt has become more dense and darker.

"Bradenton Bird," wc on paper, 4x7

The weather was rainy and humid during the early days of our visit, but here are a couple of subjects from sunny Florida. The first is a bird of paradise that blooms continuously outside the front door. It's an astonishingly healthy clump of plants. The second is the view from the back of the house, showing a distant line of trees and three of the bright red ti plants that so many here employ as garden accents. These plants can grow tall--perhaps six feet or more. 

 

 

"Florida," wc on paper, 5x9