On Monday after the show, some friends took my husband and I kayaking on the beautiful Hillsborough River.  The river made you think that you were in the middle of the Everglades instead of minutes from Tampa.  Palm trees gracefully bent into the water and purple Pickerelweed bloomed along the banks.  Alligators swam silently near us, one of which was longer than our kayak (I have to admit, I was nervous!).  Pink spoonbills, tricolored herons, great white egrets, little green herons, great blue herons, ibis and little blue herons were playing along the river.  I was most excited to see limpkins looking for snails and was able to get some great photos.  This will be the first time that I will paint a limpkin since I have been waiting for a wonderful photo.

Last weekend we flew to New York for the 142nd International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society.  My painting, Sleeping Beauty, was accepted into the competition which is the second time that I have had a painting accepted.  At the reception on Friday night, I was able to meet many of the artists and view their paintings.  The only way to describe the evening was that it was a dream-come-true for me.

Read the full article on my website.

View this watercolor painting in my gallery.

Christine Reichow at the Winter Park Art Show

I was thrilled to receive a merit award for my artwork at Vero Beach.  One painting that received a lot of attention at the shows was “C’est La Vie”.  The painting features an airplant soaring into space while clinging to a heavy tree.  An airplant is in the bromeliad family of plants and I saw this colorful one as I walked on the boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Florida.

Check out “C’est La Vie” and another one of my airplant paintings called “Just Air to Breathe”.

Painted Bunting

What could be more cheerful than a bright little red, yellow and blue bird darting from branch to branch?  The Painted Bunting fits this description.  During January, February and March the Painted Bunting can be seen at Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Florida.  The morning that I saw the Painted Buntings, they were flying from the bird feeder to the nearby tree branches and back again.  My painting entitled “Painted Bunting” records that visit.

Order Painted Bunting or view more nature watercolor paintings in my gallery.

The Bat Flower

My latest flower painting features the tropical bat flower.  This exotic plant can be found naturally in Southestern Asia and Africa.  I was fortunate to be able to see the Bat Flower in bloom with its long dusty purple filaments cascading to the ground at the Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

This is the second bat flower painting I have created. The first (shown below) highlighted more of the purple hues found in this flower.

African Beauty

Order The Bat Flower or African Beauty.

View more nature watercolor paintings in my gallery.

I am busy preparing for my next show, Gasparilla, in downtown Tampa on March
7th and 8th.  This is a new show for me.  I am completing a new painting of
an African bat flower about which I am very excited to show for the first
time in Gasparilla.  This exotic flower is a beauty beyond compare!