Stewart Jones Art

I had the opportunity to do this painting as a commission for one of the local city managers as a gift when he left his office. I have always been fascinated by paddlewheel steamboats. When we were discussing this commission, we wanted to show historic Sanford and something to do with the lakefront. I suggested the idea of steamboats and off to the historic center we went to research the steamboats that used to come into Sanford in the late 1800's. This scene was only a few blocks away from where my current gallery is on Lake Monroe. Horses with carriages were used to take passengers and cargo off the boats. Sanford was also know as the Celery Capital at this time and the workers on the left are show "boarding" the celery, to keep it tender for market. Wouldn't it be fun to go back in time and ride a Steamboat down the St. John's River?  SOLD

I watched the news last week about the flooding in Vermont. They showed a covered bridge being swept away in the floods. On a trip to Vermont about six years ago I photographed a few covered bridges that were near my brothers home. Searching for subject matter; the news reminded me of my trip to Vermont and I pulled some images from my archives to work from. I exaggerated the fall colors a little bit to make the background hills appear to be more lively. I kept the sky simple with a dark to light coloration so it would not compete with the old covered bridge. The three trees on the left were used to pull you down from the sky to the foreground. The road leads you right into the center of interest; the covered bridge, where I put the most visual contrast, darks next to lights. Wouldn't you enjoy a trip to Vermont?