So, the weather has been crappy here lately. It’s not very cold, but it is gray and overcast every day with the occasional thunderstorm. For whatever reason, this puts me in the mood to do a landscape study here and there. I used to shy away from beachscapes because there is extreme danger of straying into kitsch territory, like a cruise ship hitting rocks too close to the shore…

But, the good news is that my particular area in Florida (on the Panhandle near Pensacola) is rarely the perfect beach destination. The weather is variable and tempestuous at times. While on the peninsula, storms rage and pass almost instantly followed by blinding sun, here they simmer and swirl over us for a time. It makes the water and the atmosphere downright interesting! So here are a few of my  little watercolors and such of this area.

Not only was it stormy on the day I did this, there were also wildfires burning in the distance, making the conditions even more dramatic.

Here are a couple of studies I did closer to home:

There is a palm tree behind this house, believe it or not.