Sunday, December 29, 2019

SKETCHBOOK PAINTINGS AND MANATEES

A couple of paintings in my sketchbook - the whole sketchbook is filled with trips to Anna Maria Island and nothing else - from 2014 to 2019.  Time to start another!

When we arrived at the house we were renting, we unpacked and put things away, put away groceries, and then walked out to the canal and sat on the dock for a while.  For the first time ever, we saw 2 manatees swimming right by us!  It was great to see them.  But that was it for the trip, as we had a bit of a cold spell that chased them into warmer waters after that.  



Because of that visit by the mama and calf, we were inspired by manatees the whole trip, Sweetie even getting books on manatees at the library to read up on them and I, of course, had to paint a few.









So we met up with a friend who moved to Bradenton/Cortez from Kentucky and she told us about a spot that had manatees.  We drove over there and, sure enough, there was a mama, a calf and big daddy swimming in a little area where the locals keep their boats.  Amazing!!  







Now, you really cannot get great photos of them, but you can see their cute noses coming up for air and see, through the water, their big bodies, as they glide along.

This is mama.






And this is big daddy - he didn't come in as close as the mother and baby, but we could tell how big he was by that head coming out of the water.









And this is the mama and calf swimming together, coming up for air.  


2 comments:

Jennifer Rose said...

I'm jealous lol they are such neat animals :)

Barbra Joan said...

I'm so glad you got to see these sweet gentle creatures. I just love when I see them, but that's only when I go down to the Keys. or on the West Coast.. Too cold up here in Tallahassee