Saturday, February 26, 2011

PALM TREES REVISITED By Cecelia Lyden

Florida Palm Tree by Cecelia Lyden Acrylic ~ 8 x 10

'View

acrylic

It is always gratifying when you feel that you have grown or learned something new. For me, my time in Florida has forced me to look carefully at palm trees. Perhaps, because I am a northeast born and raised woman, I never really liked paintings with palm trees, especially when those trees were situated on a beach and silhouetted against garish sunsets or sunrises. They always appeared cliche, phony, over-colored , painted assembly line-like.

Painting with a plein air group in Florida, I had no choice. Palms were everywhere we went. I had to paint them. I didn't want to paint a stylized version of a palm tree. The one, that as a child, I painted with palm branches radiating from the center, like a wheel, usually with coconuts. So I forced myself to really look at them. The more I looked, the more I learned to appreciate their gracefulness and beauty. We are leaving in a week, but I will be anxious to return next year to continue observing and painting these beautiful trees. As for those "garish", phony-looking sunrises and sunsets, "they're real and they're spectacular."

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I did not realize there are so many different types of palm trees. When I see them I think of a warm place where I am not right now. You did a very good job painting all of them and I'm sure you will miss them when you return home.

Claire Beadon Carnell said...

Cecelia, I have to say again how much I have enjoyed seeing your beautiful plein air paintings from Florida this winter! This is especialy nice to see this array of palm trees all together!

Maria Kovalenko Leysens said...

thank you for your sharing your images. ahhhh warm breeze, fresh air...
I think my favorite is the third one down and the fifth one down because I can feel the light.

Cecelia Lyden said...

Thank you all--the 3rd and the 5th are my favorites, too, Maria.