Fifth Avenue South

Just a reminder that tomorrow's theme is "white."

Rae

Chicago native Rae is a fitness instructor and barista.  She also dances with the Florida Everbabes, the cheerleaders for the Florida Everblades hockey team.  On occasion Rae

sings the national anthem before Everblades games.

Kindness

A Naples man is often seen around town with his "Kindness" bus.

In these troubled times, it is a good message.

David

David is an avid rider. I asked him about his Pyrenees bicycle shirt and David confirmed that he had climbed the Pyrenees on his bicycle with six other riders.  He has gone on nine bicycle tours with Backroads (with whom I have done seven bike or hiking tours), another 13 with VBT 

(Vermont Bicycle Tours) and numerous other bicycle trips.

Italian Cultural Society of Naples

Some pretty nice cars, like Ferraris, an Aston Martins and a Fiat, welcomed guests
for the luncheon and lecture at Audubon Country Club.

Potpourri

Time for another assortment of photos that didn't get their own day.

A turtle resting on a fountain ring that is also resting.

A juvenile little blue heron.  It won't turn blue until it is a year old.

An ecumenical gathering.

A roseate spoonbill.

No, I don't know what was going on.

More from the Open Studios

I always like visiting Tammra Sigler.  It won't be boring.  She is colorful and fun, as is her work.

Dennis Holt retired from bond trading and now indulges his passions for adventure travel and nature photography.  He keeps a studio mainly to process, display and store his photographs.

Andrea Beloff describes herself as a fierce Christian.  Religious figures and symbolism feature strongly in her work, especially her angels series.  She has also created colorful paper collages.

Today she is exploring abstract painting with a palette knife. 

Elizabeth Williams was a musician and a successful graphic artist before turning to painting full-time.

Her works are colorful and rhythmic.

Eric and Jessica Crabtree share a studio, ART 41.  They share a muted palette.

Much of their work is commissioned.

Open Studios at the Naples Art District

Randy Coleman was a lawyer and telecommunications lobbyist.  Fifteen years ago he started taking art classes at Washington's Corcoran College of Art.  He gravitated toward abstract geometric forms.  Two years later he retired and started painting full-time.  His Naples studio opened three years ago.

Susan Shipman has created art nearly as long as she has breathed.  Her non-exclusive list of things she likes to paint is "trees, designs in nature, music, flowers, the sun, the moon, light and darkness, color, roots, pathways, gates, clouds, blessings, rhythms, energy, mysteries, things seen and unseen."

Deborah Martin is passionate about the natural life in Southwest Florida's waters.  She combines her precise drawings with overpainting in an ancient technique and medium -- encaustic wax -- 

to celebrate marine animals and underwater scenes.

Chicago native Shirley Kelley paints abstracts both in her Naples studio and in her Montana cabin.

I visited her studio four years ago, too, and featured her here.

A Couple from Akron

Friends in Ohio introduced Beverly and Jack for a blind date.  Beverly spent the dinner talking with the wife and Jack talked with the husband.  To this day, Beverly doesn't know why they went out a second time.  But, they did and now have been married for 29 years.

Beverly worked for a Belgian company that sold wire to the many tire companies that used to be in Akron, including Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, General Tire and Firestone.  Today Beverly is retired.  She plays golf, plays a social game with tiles, reads and walks.

Jack headed technical teams at Goodyear.  Much of his time was spent in Akron, though he lived and worked a long time in Luxemburg.  Jack is a golfer.  He also likes to read.

Martin Luther King Jr. Parade

 

Yesterday I attended the Martin Luther King, Jr., parade on Fifth Avenue South in Naples.

Billy from Philly met Peggy Sue

Bill has played baseball for most of his life.  These days he plays in the outfield in a senior men's baseball league.  His wife Peggy Sue keeps score.  They knew each other in high school but went in different directions and married different people.  In 2010 Bill read her mother's obituary and called Peggy Sue to offer his sympathy.  They talked, moved in together, and were married last year.

Little Blue Heron

This beauty prowled for food in a creek not far from my home.  It was one of those times when I was happy with my shots and could have picked any one of about twenty blindfolded.

Mercato

Mercato is a popular high end shopping center with stores and restaurants 

on the first floor and residences above.

Someone Likes Flamingos

Not sure I would want to live next to them.

License Plates

Interesting license plates have always caught my eye.  Now they catch my lens, too.

If you say so.

Yes, sir, I am impressed.  A Medal of Honor winner.  Thank you for your service.

Julie, meet David.  David, meet Julie.

I know several guys who would disagree.

Here's looking at you.

A driver with a lot of relationships.

Hertz Arena

Hertz, the big global car rental company headquartered in nearby Estero, has bought the naming rights to the local arena used for rock concerts and sporting events.

They originally proposed painting the entire facade Hertz' distinctive cadmium yellow color.

That didn't pass muster.  In a compromise with civic leaders, Hertz is painting

segments yellow but the majority will be shades of gray.