The Tao of Walking Ridge

It adds an exciting dimension to read a book and absolutely recognize the location being described.  Sort of a “been there, if not done that” feeling.  I was reading one of my favorite authors John D. MacDonald’s Darker Than Amber and on the very first page had a “been there” moment.  The fifth paragraph reads:

I was sitting there under the bridge in a skiff with my friend Meyer.  We were under the end of the bridge nearest the town of marathon, and it is the first highway bridge beyond Marathon on your way to Key West - if you are idiot enough to want to go to Key West.

I’m on the first page of the novel, and I realize that it is talking about the exact spot I made a KAP (kite aerial photography) flight from.  Further, due to the technical difficulties, the one and only semi-decent shot of the day was a photograph of the exact spot.  That was very cool.

John D. MacDonald lived in Florida for a time, and weaves real life Florida locations and commentary (such as overdevelopment) into his novels.  Mention slip F-18, and any fan of the Travis McGee series will answer “Busted Flush, Ft Lauderdale”.  The Busted Flush is the name of the houseboat that the main character Travis McGee lived aboard.  He also had a faster runabout and would rent skiffs to be able to access more remote locations such as the one on the opening page of Darker Than Amber.

The small panel color study on 5″ x 7″ canvas board worked great.  The customer liked the form of the initial design:

But the customer really liked the color palette of the alternate design:

However, the orange would not go with the rest of the room.  So the original composition was chosen, with the red and yellow of the alternate palette.  Instead of the orange, a desaturated light blue violet was substituted.

Executing the painting in 16 x 20 inches was a little more challenging than I expected.  It was a bit difficult to keep my focus on the two panels and ensure that the colors and forms matched.  I set up two easels and added color mixes to my mixing palette rather than ever let it go dry and try to recreate the mix.  The end result looked even better when the paint dried.

Reclined - 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 inch panels

When I saw the Blue Marlin Motel, I was struck by the color as well as the rounded architecture and surrounding foliage.  It all came together in a way that reminded me I was in a sub tropical climate (not that I could forget with evenings of 75 degree weather and days of 85 degree weather and a wonderful smell of ocean saltiness).

Photographers affectionately refer to slide film as chrome, as in Ektachrome, Kodachrome, etc. Chromes produce very high contrast and full color saturation, a look that many like. This photo had flaring of the lens from the sun. Digitally I was able to edit it out, and save what I have always thought was just a nice picture, that gives some sense of being on the boat. It was taken during a single handed voyage back in 1992. Now I have an Epson Perfection 2450 scanner that can scan transparencies, so I decided to edit it. While trying different editing options in Gimp (Linux photo editor) I found “threshold”. This created a black white high contrast image with an adjustable threshold. I liked this happy accident too.

What does diet have to do with creativity? Well, we are what we eat. If you feel better, you can be more productive. For the last 3 years I have struggled with asthma. Slowly I’ve learned my triggers. Cigarette smoke and salt are two of them. I never smoked, so that trigger just means I miss out on the enjoyment of live music here in Michigan until they catch up with Ontario Canada, California, and other areas where no smoking laws allow me the freedom that others have. But salt, arg, I love salt. But I like breathing better.

So I started reading labels.  I was unable to find food without salt added.  Bread, canned beans, crackers, vegetarian hot dogs, the list goes on and on.  So finally I got an idea.  Quite simple really.

Just eat real food.  No prepared stuff, just food.  No preservatives.  No MSG.

Not canned beans, beans.  Actually put real beans in a bag and buy them by the pound.  No added salt.

Instead of bread - rice.  Just rice.  No added salt, no added preservatives.
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The Florida Keys, somewhat ironically, has very little in the way of beaches.  Bahia Honda state park is an exception.  Bahia Honda has one of the nicest beaches in Florida.  Not only is there great swimming, but you can climb out on a bridge that is no longer used and take in a great view from above.

There is a very nice park on the intra-coastal waterway that Cocoa Village is adjacent to.  On a weekday when I visited, the park was empty and I had a rare opportunity to do some kite aerial photography of the dowtown Cocoa Village and the intra-coastal.