THE PLEIN AIRE COTTAGE ARTISTS AND THE ULTIMATE LIFETIME HONOUR
Plein Aire Cottage Artists Mary Rose Holmes, Violetta Chandler and Helen Tilston painting en plein aire at Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. Twenty seven years ago at Iindian Rocks Beach, Florida three painters who love to paint outdoor, en plein aire, met and their friendship began. Violetta Chander, Mary Rose Holmes and Helen Tilston were enamoured and captivated by the beauty of the old fashioned seaside town of Indian Rocks Beach (where they resided)with her historic cottages, flora and fauna. They took their French easels to the streets and painted the historical cottages many were being demolished without thought and large moders McMansions were being installed without regard for local planting. Mary Rose Holmes felt, if uncontained, this could become The Great Wall of Florida and pointed out that "if one cuts down a tree, one can plant another - but if you smash a cottage it is gone forever". Local residents and those who live among us as visi...