Plein air painting of a palm tree near the Pinellas Trail in Dunedin FL. I wanted to keep my brush strokes loose and energetic while I was painting this. It was a little windy that day and the palm fronds seemed to be playing with the wind. 
I painted this still-life as a demonstation for my Pastel Painting class at the Pasco Arts Center. The Center is in a really neat old cracker house in Holiday FL right behind the Centennial Library. The classes are held in what used to be the upstairs bedrooms of the house. Downstairs is a gallery and gift shop space, and in the basement is the pottery studio. It's got a nice artsy charm. Here's the website if you want to check it out: www.pascoart.org
And here's another painting from Honeymoon Island. I like the simplicity of this composition and I also like the tropical colors in the water and the shadows. These colors are really there, to my eyes anyway. My plein air group will be painting here for a few more weeks. It's a great location for these steamy months because we get in the water and take little swims to cool off between painting and lunch. I know how lucky I am to live so close to this paradise. 
Another view from Honeymoon Island, this was painted on the beach near the North parking area. It's so hot at this time of year but we cooled off by taking frequent dips in the water. Yes, the water really has these beautiful shades of blue, turquoise and green, and changes color depending on the weather conditions. And we are so lucky that the horrendous oil leak catastrophe has not reached these waters. I do not take that for granted. While I'm so happy to have clean and clear water here, I am very saddened at what has happened to other areas of the Gulf. 
My plein air group has been painting at Honeymoon Island for the last several weeks and this is a shady spot on a little path near the beach. Looking out across the water, you can see the city of Clearwater in the distance. I love this spot and will probably paint there again. 
Palm trees line the inner banks of the Pithlaschacotee River (more commonly known as the Cotee River), which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This is a large Impressionistic painting that I created from field studies and photos of a day in the James Grey Nature Preserve. 
one side, strip of natural plants and trees down the middle, man-made parking area on the other side, and water and sky straight ahead.
Another creekside painting, this one has a somewhat abstracty (I know it's not a word) impressionistic quality. I don't usually paint in a square format, so this was an interesting challenge.
I'm so far behind on posting my paintings and resolve (once again) to catch up. This painting has thick vibrant layers of oil paint. It was painted along the side of Brooker Creek.
This was painted in plein air off Bayou Drive, Hernando County. 
Here's that view again, this time done in oil. If you click on the picture, you can see the thick layers and texture of the paint. The reflections of the clouds on the water are what originally drew me to this scene. 
including oil, watercolor, pastel, acrylics, and combinations of some of them. I like all of them although I think my current favorite is oil. That changes from time to time. I also teach classes in all those mediums, at Pasco Hernando Community College and/or the Pasco Arts Council. What's that saying? Jack of all trades, master of none? or something like that. Hmmm. Anyway, I certainly don't consider myself a master of anything yet, and I know I still have a lot to learn. But that's the challenge and the joy of painting for me - there's always more to learn. 
Painted on a foggy day at Howard Beach in Tarpon Springs FL. We get a lot of humidity here in Florida, but foggy days like this are somewhat rare. I tried to capture the neutralizing grays created by the atmosphere. This painting is currently on view in the Contemporary Impressionists exhibit at the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center. 
Beach Path, Oil, 18x24"
I liked this scene because of the 50/50 weather. It was raining out in the Gulf but sunny up on the shore. This beach is along the north side of Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, FL. Contact me at jennastarfriedman@gmail.com for more information or to purchase this painting. Thanks for visiting!
This mixed media piece is a view of one of my favorite areas to paint - the salt marshes along Bayou Drive in Hernando County. I used watercolor and soft pastels to create the painting. It's currently on display at the Pasco Arts Council, where I'll soon be teaching classes in Pastel. 
A view from Howard Beach, Tarpon Springs FL, of some cheerful flowers. This painting is a combination of watercolor and pastel. 
Here's one of the paintings I did in preparation for the 17th Annual Studio Waltz, which was held in October. This is a view of the Pinellas Trail as it runs through the heart of Dunedin FL. This is the third year I've been one of the plein air painters for Studio Waltz. Several of us came out to paint for several weeks before the event this year. It was a lot of fun, although the actual day of Studio Waltz was unbearably hot -- heat records were broken! -- and painting outside from 9 am to 5 pm was pretty torturous. Contact me at jennastarfriedman@gmail.com if you'd like to purchase this painting. Thanks for looking!
This is a watercolor painting of the little beach on Green Key in New Port Richey FL. I painted it a while back but don't think I've ever posted it. Recently I was going through some stacks of paintings in my studio in an attempt to get it better organized, and I pulled this one out. I like the bright sunny-day feel of it.
Another painting in the Weeki Wachee series, this one is of Mermaid Lagoon. Oil, 11x14". Contact me at jennastarfriedman@gmail.com for information about purchasing this painting. Thanks for visiting!
I'm trying to simplify shapes down to just the essentials. I like the light effects here. Email me at jennastarfriedman@gmail.com for information and prices. By the way, even though I don't post my prices here, which is something I often debate with myself about, they are very reasonable, so don't be afraid to ask. Thanks for visiting!
Everyone working at Weeki Wachee was very pleasant despite the unpleasant weather. A couple of my fellow painters and I took this boat ride twice while we there. The first week, we saw a mother manatee with two calves - one of them was 4 weeks old, the other about a year. The three were just relaxing quietly on the bottom of the river, occasionally coming up for a whiff of air. Because the river is so very clean and clear, we were able to see them quite well - a first for me. The blues and greens of the river are so beautiful, they don't look real and I kept wondering if they had put some blue coloring into the water to get it that way. The park rangers said no, that's just the way the water looks because it's from a deep natural spring. Amazing. 
This Impressionistic painting was painted in plein air on the Anclote River right near the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. The black borders at the top and bottom show the digital formatting to size that is required when you submit an image to most major art shows today. I decided to leave them on for this blog post just to see how it looks. I really like the sunny feel of this painting.
