MADMEN DYE HAPPY (SIESTA BEACH)                : price $3200

Sunday sunset at Siesta Beach where the drum circle beats and dances on sugary white sand, hotheaded pink meets serene teal water as the emerald flash sparks the horizon.

RED TIDE & DRAGON SCALES    SOLD

Dragon scales tend to harden when they shed, and the ones I found on the beach at sunset were no exception.  A bit crusty on the rounded edges, they could have been tears sliding down a volcano, but they weren’t. Though this is Florida, not Hawaii,  the mist of dragon’s breath rising off the ocean could be mistaken for sulfur from a volcano. Or it could be the rancid smell of the red tide that kills manatees and causes a human’s throat to swell. If I collect enough scales, perhaps I can summon a dragon…

Musical confluence: The Mask and the Mirror by Loreena McKennitt

MYAKKA: the subtlety of gators          SOLD

“Don’t be scared,” said my guide as the alligator lunged for my kayak. The waters of the Myakka River are a feast of birds and gators—I just didn’t want to be the main course.  “Gee, I’m glad he didn’t decide to climb across our boats,” confided the guide. My reaction,  that of shock masquerading as aplomb, earned me a new moniker. At an orchid sale the next day, I was introduced by one of my paddling companions as Gator Girl.

Musical confluence: Unaccompanied Cello Suites by J.S. Bach performed by Yo Yo Ma

ORCHID SOCIETY price    $4200

Orchid growers are part farmers, scientists, and appreciators of beauty.  The owners of Fender’s Flora, who have added my custom painted Ultimate Aloha shirts to their classic Hawaiian shirt   collection, generously fill my studio with hybrids to paint.                                                            

Too Much Beauty      price: $3200

Some of the residents of exclusive Longboat Key complain that there are too many peacocks wandering the streets, so I sent the birds out for a swim.

HURRICANE: Eye of the Storm   price: $3200                                                              Less than two weeks after I arrived, I sat out in someone’s backyard listening to poets and songwriters spill out their frustration at Hurricane Charlie’s wild trip. By the third poem of fear and homelessness, I asked the group if I should turn tail and run. “No, we figure in a year you’ll be living down here with us, and we’ll tell you when to run like hell.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUBBLE                              price: $3200

The Whirlpool Galaxy

as seen by

the Hubble Telescope,

the circles of a conch,

the mandala of creativity.

Welcome to Beth’s Nebula.

Musical confluence:                Sky Kisses Earth                   by Prem Joshua

GANESH ON THE GULF COURSE                                         price: $3200

The elephant headed god is called the Breaker of Obstacles—a good companion in creativity.