Naples New Year's Art Show - I

One of the biggest and best outdoor art shows is being held this weekend on Fifth Avenue South.  

I wandered around, saw some wonderful things and had some good talks with artists.  

The photos will be spread across three days.

Marilyn Endres and her partner Eucled Moore are from Driftwood, Texas.  They make striking and intricate wood turnings, some of which incorporate mandela-like beadwork.  I loved this piece but can't imagine the patience it requires.  It is worth clicking on the link to see 

more pieces and read about their techniques.

Gerardo Leccese makes funny tri-dimensional artwork that incorporates interior design,
architecture, photography and painting.  His shirt, scarf and hat

fit with the style of his work, don't you think?

Jack Pine is an Ohio glassblower who showed wonderful glass urns, vases, bowls and and other decorative forms reminiscent of Louis Tiffany.  His unusual specialty is making glass pumpkins.  Click on the link to see and read about those unusual pumpkins. 

Kathy

Kathy sat across from me at a very crowded sandwich shop.  She was a critical care nurse for many years, but now she provides palliative and hospice care in an elderly housing community.

After so many years in a high stress job, a slower pace is welcome.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Though it does not compare with the brutal cold, heavy snow and bitter winds up north,

it is atypically cool down here in Southwest Florida.  Today is expected to be in the 30s 

overnight before reaching the high 50s (maybe 60) during the day.

When most days in the winter are in the 70s and often reach into the 80s, there is little reason to head to the beach on days like this.  Yesterday Barefoot Beach was nearly empty except for a brave

few people in heavy jackets walking along the beach and the occasional fisherman.

Rental boats stayed in their slips, too.  No one wanted to be out on the water.  But, 

normal weather is expected to return by Monday.

True

True Kitchen is a new "healthy eating" restaurant at Waterside Shops in Naples.

Dinner at Vergina

One of the best things about spending the winter months in southwest Florida

is being able to have dinner outside at 8 o'clock in the evening.

M15

Harriet and her mate M15 are the stars of an eagle cam at Pritchett Real Estate in North Ft. Myers.

Harriet hatched two eaglets in the days after Christmas.  I drove up to see what I could see.

M15 preened and posed atop a dead tree near the access road to the Pritchett property.
A long zoom lens, big picture files and heavy cropping give us a nice view of M15.

Harriet and the eaglets stayed in the nest, low enough that I couldn't see them.

There are three eagle cams.  Camera 1 is above the nest and visible in this image.

Photograph of the Year

I was away from both Naples and Hartford a lot this year, so the inventory of photos from either place was not as robust as some previous years.  (My own rule is that a "photograph of the year" can't be taken on one of my many travels.)  There were a lot of decent photos, but this photo of an
organist rehearsing for a concert at Hartford's Trinity College chapel was a personal favorite. 

City Daily Photo bloggers are showing their "photograph of the year" for 2017 today.

Click here to view them.