Spring!

Two weeks ago I set up my tent at the Mandarin Art Festival!  This fine arts show is located on the beautiful tree-lined grounds of the Mandarin Community Club - close to the St. John’s River.  It was a beautiful - and hot weekend!  Everyone connected with the festival was wonderful, and so were all the other artists that I met.  We did set-up on Friday afternoon and take-down on Sunday after the last customer left at 5PM.

Yesterday, there was an Art League of Jacksonville art show connected with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Matthews bridge in Jacksonville.  The art show and activities took place at the Norman Studio complex in the Arlington area. The Norman Studios was founded in 1920, when silent films were produced, and is the last surviving studio complex left from that era. The art show was held in what had been the prop storage building!  It was a very interesting venue and so nice to meet wonderful people!

Next weekend I will be showing my photography at the Jacksonville Fine Arts Show at Boone Park, in Avondale.

Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens

In October 2012, I went to my first meeting of the Beaches Photography Club.  It was very nice to be with others who like photography!  It didn't take me long to figure out that there were many professionals in that group - and also, many who just liked taking photos!  I have been able to go on two outings, so far, with the members of this group.  It has been great fun, and at the same time, a learning experience.  Last month, I wrote about a visit to the Guana River Preserve, which is a place I had never before visited, although it is close to home.  This next outing was to another place I had never been to, also close to home, but in a different direction.  Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens was a wonderful place to visit!  We wandered around the trails and the lake.  We saw some flowering cherry trees, some ferns that were uncurling, and a plant that certainly looked like a dandelion variety!  I used my macro Nikkor lens for the first time in quite awhile.  I found that, in some cases, I was trying to get too close to the flowers and plants that I wanted to photograph.  This lens also works very well for some of the woodlands scenery.  I'm glad that I was practicing with this lens again.  I went back a couple of days later and took some more shots.  It was interesting that some of my favorite "tiny" things had changed in the course of two days and there were new "tiny" things to see - nature is always changing!

Lights and Sounds of Christmas in Jacksonville

Before going to The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens last Tuesday, I went to Friendship Park in Jacksonville.  There is a pretty fountain there in which the music and lights are programmed with the water to make a gorgeous display!  This fountain is close to the Main Street bridge, otherwise known to me as the blue bridge, which was even bluer with its lights!

I walked part way up to the top of the bridge, which was easy to do and very popular with joggers!  It is a drawbridge and before I got to the top, traffic was halted and crossing bars went down so the bridge could open for a sailboat.  I didn't complete my walk up to the top of the bridge and down to the other side to the Jacksonville Landing, but I had a great view of the Landing from my position on the bridge.

The lights back at Friendship Park and Fountain seemed to be even more spectacular, since the sun had set.

After taking more photos, and wishing that I had brought a tripod to take the evening shots, I went to The Cummer which had two great exhibits going on.  One was a photographic study of people and customs in Africa that was just about ready to leave the museum.  The other was the first night of a special exhibit of paintings about Florida.