Leslie Landers

The volcano that was once at the center of Tikihau is long gone. What remains are a collection of tiny coral islets (cays) that form a ring around a 178 square mile lagoon. I stayed in an eco resort on one of the cays. The image at the top of this post was painted as the sun rose over a neighboring cay.

Tikehau is postcard beautiful place with swaying palms and water with every shade of blue and green imaginable. For me the most memorable experience was the time I spent in the water checking out manta rays (and being checked out by them). Pure magic.

The bungalows at the Ninamu Resort are each crafted from local materials and look like they were designed by a collaboration between Robinson Crusoe and the Hobbit. Our view through palm trees of the lagoon led me to paint this scene. My attempt to try to capture the many colors of the water. Purple, intense turquoise and so many other nuanced hues.

A leisurely walk around this small islet takes about 20 minutes. I’m not really sure though because each time I walked it I stopped to paint or take photos. This view is of the palms and pink sands of the far site.

The airport serving Tikehau is on larger neighbor island. This boat “Hi There” was docked at the marina as we passed through en route to take our flight. I’ve long had a thing for yellow boats so very happy to paint it.

It’s pretty great to board a our local airport in San Francisco and land in Papeete Tahiti eight hours later.

While in Papeete, I enjoyed the terrific swimming pool our resort, walking along the marina area, the public Paofai Gardens and painting.

Often, I set out with a specific objective of a scene I hope to capture. Other times, I select my painting site based on practical considerations. This painting of a pond and traditional thatched roof structure in Paofai Gardens was the first painting I did of the trip. The site was selected for a very important reason … a well positioned shady bench

I have always loved the beauty and fragrance of plumeria (frangipani) and once again a shady bench made this tie time to paint a watercolor.

I was able to make another trip to the South Pacific recently. I brought my watercolor sketchbook and enjoyed trying to come close in capturing the endless variations in blue.

The best known of the islands I visited was Tahiti. It’s located about 2500 miles south of Hawaii. New Zealand is about the same distance to the west. I also visited two atolls (Tikihau and Rangiroa) that are located about 200 miles from Tahiti. In the coming days post sketches from the trip.

I baked lots of Christmas cookies this year. For these I pulled out some paintbrushes. Here’s wishing a very happy holiday to all!

I returned from a trip to Georgia to news that my painting “Ayala Weekend” received an Honorable Mention as part of this year’s Los Gatos Art Association’s Annual Juried show. This means a great deal to me because I so admire the judge, Kim Lordier. Plus … between us friends can I also just say … there is ample self doubt that comes with this painting stuff and it is so lovely to receive an unanticipated affirmation. Thank you Kim!

Jekyll Island is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide. It’s situated between the Intercoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. The paintings in this post were done on on the Atlantic side. The scene above gives a glimpse of the dunes that offer protection.  Native sea oats are key to the process. They  grow and gather up sand berms. Stepped up wooden walkways straddle the dunes enabling them to remain undisturbed by visitors.

Jekyll’s Atlantic side beaches are broad, the sand is fine and well packed. They absolutely perfect for taking long walks, watching shorebirds and listening to the waves.

After one of our walks we stayed for sunset margaritas and tacos at Tortuga Jacks a combo that is perfection. We also appreciated having access to the terrific pool, restaurant and beach chairs available to us at the Jekyll Ocean Club (which is managed by the Jekyll Island Club). It was great having access to both properties with on-call friendly shuttle drivers to take us back and forth.

Jekyll Island … I’ll be back!

I’m just back from a fun week on Jekyll Island Georgia. Though we were worried on the bumpy flight into Brunswick Georgia, the projected hurricane missed us. As a result, we had bluster and blue skies and I was able to get in some painting every day.

The turquoise fishing boat in the painting above was docked about 200 yards from our hotel room on the western side of Jekyll Island in the  Intercoastal Waterway.

I knew the moment I saw this boat, I knew I’d paint it. I enjoy painting boats but particularly like colorful boats. There is something a little boring about a marina chocked full of white fiberglass. Anyway, this fishing boat is named “The Other Side.” Its owner, James, mostly uses it to take kids from his church out fishing. He invites them to bring kids who aren’t affiliated with the church too. At least that’s what I heard from a local resident who greatly admires him.

I painted the scene below of dawn in low country Georgia from the wharf as well … just facing the other way toward Jekyll Island. Both paintings were painted early in the morning and there is something kind of delightful about painting before breakfast.