Saturday, January 17, 2009

Painting a Florida sky


Beaming myself to a Florida lighthouse is certainly a toasty idea on this crisp Cape day! We've been snowed in for a few days, so I've taken advantage of the weather by stitching like crazy.

There have actually been four St. Marks lighthouses. The first, constructed in 1831, was so shoddily built, it was reconstructed the same year. It suffered the common fate of foundation erosion, and was succeeded by a third lighthouse-- which was destroyed by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. The one we see here was built in 1867 and today is surrounded by a wildlife refuge near Tallahassee, Florida.

I've stitched the sky using a needle-blending technique (see previous post) in basketweave. And now that the lighthouse itself has been stitched, again using DMC floss in basketweave, you can see how the variation in the sky makes the white areas really pop.

Working my way down the canvas, I'll add the trees in the background and give the adjoining lighthouse keeper's house a roof.

5 comments:

Possibilities, Etc. said...

It's actually colder there than it is here in Austin. This is going to be beautiful, and I feel myself there again. Question - Florida was a Confederate state - why did the soldiers destroy the lighthouse? I am imagining the Monarch migration swarm to the right, where you can't see it.

Anne Stradal said...

Two different sources say renegade Confederate soldiers tried to blow up the lighthouse and seriously damaged the base of the tower in the process. Maybe they didn't like the turn the war was taking and decided the Union shouldn't have it, either?

Possibilities, Etc. said...

LOL that makes perfect sense.

Cindy Minick said...

You have captured our State's beautiful sky perfectly! Nice job.

LIZ said...

The shading looks great! Good job!