Forget the "One Hour"!

Here's an octopus crawling around in water less that three feet, one meter deep. Crispy bright sun rays dancing on the sand.

I gently followed him/her for a half hour, as she/he foraged, stopping at each likely looking rock to feel all around underneath for a crab or some other tasty morsel.

An Octopus must have a different brain from me, they can keep track of each of eight tenticles at the same time! Poor guy, girl, didn't find anything to eat by the time I went on my way.

There are two common kinds of Octopi in the Caribbean, one is nocturnal, the other diurnal, daytime active.
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I'll keep the splatter paintings for the Friday Plien Air group that I paint with. I look at that last mess I posted and do not wonder that I lost a follower. This blog is not for to be a diary.

This computer is clogged up with I don't know what(my fault, adding security) and is either slowwwwww or just plain stuck.

I finally went for a snorkel yesterday, and the water was bearable. Warming, I mean.

OK, I'll have something for you in a day or two.

OK, one hour---

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One Hour Stoplight

16x12 inches Acrylic on stretched canvas

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Here we go! I've decided to see if I can do a painting a day in one hour. That's why this one is such a mess! And the colors are brighter than they are in this post, my photography needs bettering, also. If I manage to discipline myself on this task, I should improve quickly. I don't finish paintings if I get too 'perfectionisty'.

I don't really have very many photos of Stoplight Parrotfish. They're on the menu here, so there are too few of them, and they flee from divers. I keep thinking that I should make a quick trip to Bonaire to photograph fish. Although Grand Turk would be better, because they have real parks with no fishing. Easier diving in Bonaire. GT requires a boat ride, and they would make me stay with the group, few photos that way.

OK, thanks for stopping by!

A Website, finally.

I've been fooling around with foliotwist, learning how to use the beast. It's a cross between a blog and a website, seems. I have started different galleries for the different things I paint. Then here will be only coral reef stuff, and not dumb things unrelated.

http://www.coralreefpaintingsbymelissaevangelinekeyes.com/

More soon,

Melissa-dizzy-from-thinking!

Christiansted Harbor before People

8x10 inches, Acrylic on Canvas

This little mess, you could call it 'Impressionism', is what I painted Friday with the Palletteers. I sat out on the boardwalk by myself, to be in view of the cam. One friend emailed that she'd looked and seen me, so it wasn't a total waste of time. The scene in front of me was actually the harbor full of boats, and a few people wandering around on the boardwalk. I enjoy painting people, and usually I paint the Palletteers painting. But they were all up in the town painting buildings. I felt rather like a idiot, sitting out there painting, having the occasional onlooker. Ha! They never comment when I'm doing a mess like this. Ha!

I like these blue messes. I think I'll do a rather endless series of sea and sky, and work on getting the clouds accurate. Hmm. I aim to load the brush with two or three colors, then lay only one coat of paint. Hmm, but then there's one 'plain' layer underneath. Now I'm confused.

I was sad this morning that I didn't have a new coral reef painting for you. sigh. I'll fix that today, I feel much better when I have a fishpicture to post, solid and real. OK, thanks for stopping by!

Here's the Christiansted Boardwalk cam, if you wish:

http://www.gotostcroix.com/live/harborcam.php

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The Palletteers

On Friday mornings, a group of Open Air (Plein Aire) painters gets together in different places around St Croix. Sometimes a resort or sometimes a private home.

In the winter months, there are as many as thirty of us, but then summer comes, and a lot of folks go north for summer there, and we are only four or five.

I like summer here. The weather is much milder, the sea calmer, and the cooling sea breeze is nice. Much more pleasant that where my USA friends live, with their 100 degrees in the shade and horrendous thunderstorms. Of course, every so often we do have a rotten weather day, or night, and it takes months to recover... I'm almost getting accustomed to that.

If you want to see what we paint, the blog is:

http://www.palletteersofstcroix.blogspot.com/

And I cannot just write, so here are some photos for you. I've been gardening instead of painting lately, bad me. The building is a Great House, a residence back when there were sugarcane plantations here.

OK, and a fish, a Redstripe Parrotfish. These fellows change colors and patterns as much as any fish. Sometimes they're vivid green, and the fins are so red that it's difficult to believe. But when you try to get a photo, they get nervous, and dull down. Yes, thtis image is a little over photo shopped, but not much.

And some scenery. Where are the fish???

OK, off to paint something in downtown Christiansted with the L.O.L.'s. Thanks for stopping by!

To begin...

I don't know where to start this selling of art on the internet. There's a lot about marketing, but then what? Do I need a local business license? I guess I do need a business bank account. Do I need an lawyer knowledgeable in the arts? I've had my work stolen and published twice, that's a shock, I opened a magazine and find my painting there in an ad...

Owell. I'll get it figured out soon.

Longspine Squirrelfish and friends

Hum, I wanted the squirrelfish first, still learning! Blogging, you put first things last! And I have no idea how the photos came out side-by-side in the post below. Owell!

OK, when a Squirrelfish is hanging out above the reef, they become very pale. This fish is REALLY at attention! See his fins so stiffly erect! The camera didn't catch his eye, a nighttime active fish, with large dark eyes.

He's over a "Do Not Touch Me" Sponge. This sponge is very defensive. If you bump into it, you knock loose stinging cells that can really hurt! Even someone diving along in front of you, well, if they hit the sponge with a fin kick, and you're following closely, you could swim through the cloud of stingers. And be stung. So? Just stay up off the reef.

The sponge is actually very pretty, a velvety looking surface, and a warm brown color. Just don't touch it.
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The blurry photo is one I plan to use for a painting. This is just a tiny part of the original photo, hence the poor focus. Maybe I'll put in some more fish, and a Great Star coral on the right side, we'll see, once I have brush in hand. That's a barrel sponge in the background, and a Stoplight Parrotfish.

Ok, off with me. There's been rain, so the yard is knee deep, should I mow, or paint??

Thanks for stopping by!

Anchor and Squirrel

The left photo has an old encrusted anchor, lumpy with coral, standing right in the middle of the image. There's a Blue Chromis fish above the anchor, swimming in front of a tangle of Rope Sponges. Many divers go right past without seeing the anchor. Mostly visible is the crossbar and shaft, at a slight angle. This is in about twenty five feet depth, or roughly seven meters.

This anchor is in Cane Bay, on St. Croix where I do most of my diving. There are lots of anchors in this bay because this was an easy stop for the old sailing ships to get their cargoes of rum. Thus avoiding the Customs Man, who couldn't get there quickly enough from town to collect taxes. Unfortunately for the ships, sometimes their anchors became hopelessly stuck in the reef, and the ship would have to cut the rope and leave the anchor behind.

The fish is a Longspine Squirrelfish. Fearfully regarding me, trying to decide if he needs to run for his life. Or her life. There are six different kinds of Squirrelfish. This kind is the most often seen here in the sea around St. Croix. I like the white tips on the dorsal fins, and the 'standard' spikey pose, this is usually their posture by the time a diver is close enough to see the fish.

Some Island Photos

A beautiful Elkhorn Coral.
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One of my wild guppies, I have hundreds! All different colors.

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Obligatory coconut trees, on a windy day.

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Rain 'out west', where the sea is usually mellow.

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Pelicans flying along the coast at dawn

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OK, all for now! See ya soon!

I'm here now

I just got internet service at home, finally, and I'm using my own geriatric computer, rather than an internet cafe machine.  Therefore, I have my photos in hand, so to speak, and can easily post every day, or maybe I'll say six days a week.  Or maybe five!  Ha, I do need to keep myself off the internet as much as possible, I'm one of those addict people.  We'll see...

 I haven't been diving (too cold!) or painting (!) for a while, but that's changing 'soon'.

And I can't seem to upload a photo today, hmmm. 

OK, I plan to be here a LOT in the future, and I'll fix this photo problem quick, too.  I'm a sight kind of person.  Thanks for stopping by!