Key West - a day of artists

A hidden garden right off Duval Street

 On this Saturday there were two famous artists painting in two studios open to the public. So Ann had to go see them. The most exciting one was Alexei Butirskiy, a relatively recent artist from Russia. His paintings glow with light and when the lights in the room are dimmed, the painting comes alive. You've got to see it to believe it. You would swear that there were lights behind the painting shining through but it's all done with oils. They are amazing to look at. He's one of the top five living artists in the world in terms of paintings sold and awards won. Ann was entranced standing behind him as he worked on a composition in real time. Most unfortunately, we are not allow to take photos in an art gallery but I did give a link to his website above. 

I'm a sucker for a good flower picture

Continuing onward north up Duval Street, we noticed another artist giving an exhibition so we stopped by a gallery exibiting Adam Scott Rote's work. His speciality is photo realism and has worked with many Hollywood stars who have signed his work along side himself. Some examples are here. I think Ann talked to him for 1/2 hour or so, fascinating. He's been doing this work for 38 years and knows everyone in Hollywood. Key West is a real artist community. There are many local artists too that we stopped by to appreciate but Ann was especially taken with the first two. 

Flowers abound in Key West this time of the year

We also stopped by the gardens right off Duval Street, a quiet place that you night otherwise walk right by if you didn't know it was there (see first photo). On the way back to the boat, we admired many of the local flowers in bloom, it's summertime down here. We've never experienced such wonderful weather as this year, extraordinary days of high 70's, full sun and little wind, nice. 

One more while walking one street over from the marina