PleinAireCottageArtists

Violetta and Mary Rose paint at the Vinoy Hotel A warm return welcome greeted Violetta and Mary Rose this week at one of our favourite historic hotels, the Vinoy in St. Petersburg, Florida Garden at Vinoy Hotel A glorious blue sky and a harbour sparkling with boats raised our heart rate.   Easel legs were quickly released and paint squired on palettes and in no time we had begun our paintings. Violetta & Mary Rose Painting, en plein air  Lunch time and the aroma of delicious grilling from the kitchen called us to lunch A quick lunch and back to the porch and easels Mary Rose & Violetta Violetta and her painting from Vinoy Helen could not be with Violettta and Mary Rose.  She is at Southampton painting Painting by Helen Tilston   How was your week? 

Mary Rose Holmes at the entrance to her beach cottage with Artist Violetta Mary Rose painting en plein air Violetta and Mary Rose painting en plein air Hello Again, Please step inside my home, have some iced tea and pecan pie and I shall tell you a story. Mary Rose Holmes majored in Fine Art. During her time at college the emphasis and style was certainly modern. Students were encouraged to used bold slashes of colour in a minimal fashion, which Mary Rose did.  Returning home during college break, she would boldly present her modern ideas to her father (a collector of original realistic and impressionistic art) and imply that he should move along with the times.  Her father Algenon Speer, a Fifth generation Floridian  defence attorney living in a small town in Florida had his own ideas about art. He tried cases in various areas and during his travels back in the 50's he stumbled upon some black artists who sold their  paintings on the roadside, out...