Halcyon

by AnnaJo Vahle

Title

Halcyon

Artist

AnnaJo Vahle

Medium

Painting - Watercolor

Description

This is a plein air watercolor painting I did in Big Pine Key, Florida. I painted it in 1991 when my parents owned this part of Big Pine Key. It had a few boat docks along the east coast. This is a little cove. It was was the first original bordello in the United States. It had four small cabins and a larger house. My parents lived in the house. It, also, had a large mobile home park. It was enchanting.

When I visited from time to time, I would stay in one of the little cabins. I loved listening to the coconut palm fronds rustle in the breeze. It always sounded a bit like falling rain. The fronds clanked against each other.

The sailboat was the first little one that my father got. He learned to sail with it. Mangroves can be seen behind it. Seagulls fly in the air. I loved to sit by the shore beneath the trees and paint. My young sons swam in the warm waters.

My parents named this park, Halcyon. According to the dictionary, halcyon denotes a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful. It refers to a tropical Asian and African kingfisher with brightly colored plumage. It, also, refers to a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm. I always liked the name.

The property is no longer in the family. I miss it. I was delighted to discover this old painting that I had done there. This watercolor painting is 14 inches by 20 inches.

Coincidentally, my father threw himself a birthday party one year and he invited Jimmy Bufffet to play here. He did while we all hung around on the beach beneath all the coconut palms. It seemed serendipitous to enter this contest!

9/15/23..1st place win in the 'Jimmy Buffet Inspired" contest

Uploaded

March 27th, 2015

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