Artworks Eau Gallie, located in the historic district in Melbourne, Florida, was my last show of 2011, and quite unique from the other festivals I exhibited at this fall. I was enthusiastic to receive the Award of Distinction (2nd in 2D Art), with a cash prize of $1,250.

Last year was an incredible year at Lake Mary Heathrow, where I won my first big ribbon, the Tony Senador Award (1st in Show)  of $2500.  This year, I won again, the Award of Excellence (2nd in Show) with a cash prize of $1000! The weather was beautiful all weekend, and my sales were much higher than last year, with a much thicker crowd.  Lake Mary Heathrow Festival had to switch locations several years back, and patrons are figuring out...

For years, I’ve been inspired by the well preserved Old-Florida landscapes of the Ocala area, especially the Ocala National Forest.  I’ve been visiting the springs there for years, which feels like visiting another planet compared to the rest of the overdeveloped regions of Florida.  Ocala has both beautiful water and forest regions with rolling hills, a perfect combination of the deep south and coastal rivers.  Early in...

On October 15 and 16, 2011, I exhibited at the the 4th Annual 2011 Winter Springs Festival of the Arts.  Winter Springs, as I remember last year, had one of the most beautiful locations for a festival, with its bricked pathways in the Winter Springs town center.  I was happy to receive the ‘Award of Distiction’ for my new series, titled ‘Florida 67′. My booth was next to Melvin McGee, a proud self-taught painter...

Since April 2011, I’ve been working on my documentary of the Florida’s rivers, swamps, and coastlines.  Perfecting the technique took several months, followed up by several months of shooting and traveling throughout the state of Florida, from the Gulf Island National Seashore in the Panhandle to the swamps of Big Cypress in South Florida.  The adventures and obsessive study of light, weather, and water were both exhausting...

Rained Out! As many shows as I’ve done, this was the first to be completely rained out.  For almost all day Saturday, and half the day Sunday, it rained and rained without a single pause.  When the rain did stop on Sunday, Winter Park was forecasted to have winds of 20 miles per hour, and then begin raining again.  On Sunday morning, I began to pack up and cut my losses while their was a small break in the weather.  This is very...