Barbara A. Lewis - Artist/Naturalist

  After being on hiatus for a few weeks, it is time to break out the brushes and get busy in the studio once more. I have several projects in the works - some commissions - so between my full time job as a graphic designer and my fine art endeavors, I have a lot on my plate… er… palette!

  I am looking forward to taking reference images outside as well, now that Florida has finally decided to get a little cooler. I love the fall… eventhough Florida has a very subtle one. The sweet gum and maple trees are starting to drop some colorful leaves, and the grass is starting to brown a bit. I have enjoyed seeing all the migratory birds coming in too - Canada geese, hawks, crows etc. making their way south for the winter. Lots of subjects to photograph and observe, and hopefully work their way onto one of my canvases this winter.

  When I lived in Virginia and Wyoming, most folks really got excited with spring weather, and rightfully so. After a long, cold winter the first signs of spring are a truly welcome sight! And it is a thrill to see new life springing up everywhere - one of the miracles of nature.

  But living in Florida we are sort of the opposite from the rest of the nation - at least I am. I get very tired of the super hot summer days of August and long for my Virginia mountains - the cool crisp night air and the brilliant splashes of color, fall festivals, pumpkins and fresh apples from the orchards. Florida is wonderful in the winter months: great for camping, nature exploration, enjoying warm beach weather while your northern counterparts are complaining about shoveling snow…

  Still… once a mountain girl… always a mountain girl - and I get excited when fall happens in Florida the same as I did when spring came in the mountains. I can finally get my lungs full of cool, crisp air - see awesome sunsets and see birds that normally do not live here come by in record numbers. I am looking forward to camping and painting out in nature again and seeing the stars at night, hearing coyotes… yes Florida DEFINATELY has coyotes! … and being a child of nature once again.