Thursday, March 24, 2011
Copeland Baptist Church
I was invited to attend a sketch outing at Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve near Copeland, Florida, and the first place we visited was the historic church at Copeland. Copeland is a small community (population just under 300) nestled against the edge of the Preserve. During our visit, we were treated to a tour of the interior and a brief history of the church and area by Reverend John Gilmore. The church was built in 1947 of local cypress during the peak of the logging period, closing briefly when logging declined in the 50’s.
After lunch, we joined a scout troop for a swamp walk at the Preserve through some of the most beautiful sloughs and hammocks in Florida. I wasn’t able to sit down and sketch, but I brought back reference photos for the future! This was part of the Arts in the Preserve – En Plein Air event for March. You can read about the upcoming get-together for April by clicking on the “Events” tab at the top of my blog under the masthead. A warm thank you to Amy, Kathryn, and Karen for sharing their creativity that morning, and a BIG thank you to Karen, a park ranger at Fakahatchee, who organized the event and shared her knowledge of flora and fauna. It was a beautiful day!
You can click on the caption above to view it on my Flickr photostream.
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This sounds like you had a fabulous time, Elizabeth, hope you're also feeling better! Love the sweet church. When I first opened the post and looked at it, I wondered if it was wood and then read where it was cypress. Cool!
ReplyDeleteI see your buildings are as lovely as your paintings of the natural world. Love the soft whiteness of the church with the little pops of color around it. Sounds like an amazing day of nature and art.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful watercolor! Sensitive!
ReplyDeleteWish I could find a group like that around here! Sweet old church!
ReplyDelete...sounds like a wonderful time.....and I know your weather was perfect because I was in Captiva on 3-19! Oh my gosh...I love southwest Florida. They skies were as blue as those in your painting...
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone! It was a wonderful time. Kelly - Captiva ia also a wonderful and special place...I imagine you saw lots of birds in our blue skies. I hope you got a chance to go through the Ding Darling Refuge there!
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