Artists' Retreat 2011: Day 1

This past weekend, Emma and I embarked on our annual artists' retreat. In short, it's really a sabbatical - a chance to rest and refresh our minds, which usually leads to some nicely creative thinking! We really had such a lovely time, experiencing new places & trying new things.
On Friday, we wandered around Naples on foot and took in the European atmosphere. Balconies and lovely flowers everywhere! So nice.





We stopped in a local coffee shop for a drink (it was so incredibly hot that day!) and visited a fun vintage store. We had seen its proprietress, uh, sloshing down the street a bit earlier. She was a hoot. Loooots of black eye makeup, really big hair and slurred speech that matched her gait, if-you-know-what-I-mean. But her store was darling.
We kept meandering down the sidewalk because it led to the beach and we just had to see the beach as soon as we could. Everything feels better once you know for sure that the beach is there.

Friday night, we went to Ft. Myers' Art Walk festivities. It's a little bit like our First Friday here in Lakeland. There were galleries and a bead shop, live music and hipsters everywhere. I was asked about my tattoos more than once and got to talk to a sweet older gent about lenses and such, once he saw my camera.
We walked up to see this great building, lit up so colorfully,



and stumbled on this great art project! There was a live model in striped tights, posed in front of tables filled with paper and pencils. Emma had been shy about participating in activities that night, but when I asked her if she wanted to sit down and sketch the girl, she immediately accepted the offer!



I think she did a great job, don't you?



Once we had thoroughly explored the area, we stood by the river for a bit. That's what rivers always seem to want - some quiet company - and we were all too happy to oblige.