St Augustine, Florida - Last Day 12' 13

Florida Lightening Storm 8" x 10" pastel

 We had wanted to visit  Cape Canaveral and tour the Kennedy Space Center on this visit to Florida, but the mother nature had different plans for us.   All started off well enough in the morning when we headed  south on Florida coastal highway A1A, but the further South we went, the rougher the weather got.  By the time we reached the Palm Coast we were hitting heavy rain, lightening and  were being buffeted about by some very strong wind. gusts.  A police car flagged us down.  He said the storm was predicted to get much worse and advised us to turn around.    It was Good Advice..  We heard later on on the news that a tornado had touched down in the area shortly after we left, and had ripped apart 6 or 7 homes and brought down power lines all over the area.  Needless to say I wasn't going to tempt fate by trying to plein air paint in that weather, but once I got home,  I was able to paint this picture from a composite of  several photos I managed to capture from the car.

St Augustine, Florida - Basilica of St Augustine 12'13

St Augustine Basilica

While windy and cold, the weather  looked like it would remain dry through the evening ,so we decided to do a walking tour of the old city of St Augustine.   I took my plein air equipment along ( just in case) . W e got there well before the golden hour so I had plenty of time to scout out a location.  While I got lots of good reference photos  It was the Bell Tower of the Basilica of St Augustine standing proud against the heavens above that really captured my attention.   

Below is my  rendition of St. Augustine Cathedral  (5" x 7" pastel)

St Augustine, Florida: Gypsy Cab Company 12'13

I have been breakfast and lunches every day, but every evening we are eating eaten out.  We've found some really good local restaurants.  Tonight we had some fabulous seafood  at the Gypsy Cab Company.

Loved the neon lighting on their facade

Actually the Gypsy Cab Company is  on the main drag in Anastasia Island just over the Bridge of Lions.  It features what it calls an Urban Fare menu ,with made-from-scratch items throughout the year.  Whatever it is called the food is fabulous.

The restaurant opened its doors in 1983 and has been winning awards for it's excellent cuisine ever since.    Even tat 4 pm, their parking lot was packed.  We arrived just in time to watch the neon lights come on..  That settled it... I just had to paint this little 5" x 7"  nocturne of  the Gypsy Cab Company.

St Augustine, Fl: Swilcan Bridge 12 '13

 This morning, we woke to temperature that were 25 degrees lower than yesterday.  Factor in wind and rain, and golf and out of door site seeing was clearly out of the question.  We decided to explore the World Golf Hall of Fame which is within walking distance of our condo.

The World Golf 's Hall of Fame provides an extensive look at the game of golf through stories, artifacts, videos, art and photography of its members within 75,000 square foot exhibition space. Included in the  museums exhibits is a replica of the famous Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews.  Of course we had to have our photo taken on the bridge as a souvenir.

Hall of Fame Swilcan Bridge Replica

Needless to say, the Hall of Fame was not going to allow me to set up  inside the museum to paint the bridge, but I did get some photos of the replica to use as the basis for this little study. 

Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews 5"x 7" pastel

 Initially I had painted the background buildings more realistic, but decided that was too much detail for such a small painting.  All I really wanted was  to convey the sense of age and history, so I made the buildings'  shapes more obscure and emphasized the roughness of the bridge.

 

St Augustine, Florida: Salt Water Cowboys 12'13

Salt Water Cowboy 5" x 7" pastel

After a very long 6 hour drive to St Augustine, both of us were ready for something to nourish our stomachs and sooth our weary spirits.  We found both when we picked  Salt Water Cowboys out from the long list of restaurants in the Yellow Pages.  This  hidden gem is a small  seafood shack built out over  the salt marsh at the end of a unpaved residential street.   It's very popular with the locals, and for good reason.  The food is delicious and the views are  breathtaking.  We  got there just before dusk and I was able to grab a couple of photos which I used to paint the 5" x 7"  pastel the next morning.

 

Prepping for painting in St Augustine, Florida 12 '13

As a belated Hanukkah gift to one another, my husband and I are heading to  St Augustine, Florida  tomorrow for a weeks vacation.   Bruce wants to do some golfing at their two famous courses -The Slammer and The Squire, AND The King and the Bear.  I want to find some place warmer than South Carolina and hopefully find something interesting to paint.

Assorted pastels sorted by value and temperature

 I usually bring along  my oil painting equipment on road trips, but often find that it is impossible to fit even a two hour plein air session into our whirl-wind site seeing day schedule,.   So this trip I am taking a cue from the traveling artist guru,  Karen Margulis, on packing light and painting small..

Aceo size, 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" home made pastel paper

After studying  some web cams in the St Augustine area for their current local colors, I chose a small assortment of  pastels that seemed to fit the area.  I snugged the pastels between some foam pads in a cardboard box.  I also took a tiny watercolor kit to use for quick studies or to use as a ground beneath the pastels.  I then cut up some water color paper into 5" x 7" sheets then brushed several coats of clear gesso on the paper  The clear gesso stiffens and waterproofs the paper, while adding some tooth for pastels to grip.  Add a couple of water color brushes, a sheet of foam core and a small role of painters tape ( to attach the  pastel paper to the foam core while painting), a pack of hand wipes, some paper towels and a canvas bag to carry it  all, and I am ready to go.