Old Florida Adventure---looking for painting subjects

Hi everyone and welcome to Ten Gables,
Yesterday, my friend Beth, and I went on a little Old Florida Adventure. I wanted to find some interesting subjects for paintings and Beth had some things in mind she wanted to do, so off we went. We stopped at a country store for for refreshment and I spotted this beautiful begonia on the porch.
There is a crystal mine about 15 miles from our homes and we wanted to find it and see what it was like. I have been thinking about taking my two grandchildren out there for a "dig". Well, we liked to never have found it, but it was a grand place when we did. The picture shows Beth on top of a mound of shell rock and full of minerals and crystals. We picked up a few little crystals, but next time, we will take shovels and buckets.


You won't believe where we headed? To an old cemetery where Beth wanted to do some
tombstone rubbings. She came prepared with some interfacing material and a charcoal pencil.
The old stones were from the 1800's and were very interesting. Here is a photo of her as
she does a rubbing.

You may ask what in the world is she going to do with them? That is what I wanted to know!
She plans to make collages of them using some copies of old photos, bits of antique lace, etc.
It sounds interesting!















Below is one of the cemeteries we visited. Yes, we went to two!

It was soooooo hot yesterday; I thought I would bake while Beth just had a ball getting her
rubbings!

These Brahman cows found us as fascinating as we found them. I started gathering ideas and photos to paint from. These trips always get me excited and ready to paint!

At Keanansville, an old railroad town, that has little left in it, we found the old bank building, which is no longer used. Such a cute building---made me want to open a gallery there! Of course it is in the middles of nowhere, with very little traffic going by.

Here is the Heartbreak Hotel, which is old but has been restored. It opened again a couple of years ago and didn't make it, so now is closed and for sale. It is so neat with a gift shop downstairs and beautiful rooms upstairs. I guess the rumor is that Elvis stayed here once.

The little old post office there is so special. It still contains the old mail boxes and the inside is just as it was in days gone by. I am glad it was never destroyed.


So, I have some new ideas for paintings and must get started!

Ready to go!













But where do I put all these paintings I do? I sell some, but not all and my studio, even though large is quite full of paintings, stacked everywhere!

I even have paintings on my grandmothers old coal burning stove that I brought from Kentucky with me when I moved to Florida. It has so many memories, but I really have no where to put it except in my studio. So I just display things on and around it!

Time to get to work! Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our adventure day. Beth and I really enjoyed the day.











Have a creative day! Egretta