Finding some inspiration

”Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature into his pictures.”
                                                                      -- Henry Ward Beecher.

As an artist I always keep my eyes wide open and camera handy to capture a moment in time that might or might not make it into a painting.  We recently visited our friends in Key West and everywhere we drove or walked, I had my camera ready.  This first photo is actually from a walk in our friend's neighborhood...

This is a photo of our friend's house in Key West.   Picture-perfect setting...

Blue Heaven is a well known restaurant in Key West...

We were just walking by this house and I loved the colors and placement of everything.  Wouldn't this make a nice watercolor painting?

Don't ask me why, but I've been drawn towards roosters for a number of years.  I've been wanting to paint a series of them...

This guys colors and feathers are amazing...

We went through part of the Everglades and Cypress Swamp on the way home to Sarasota.  If you look on the left side of this next photo, you'll see a couple of large turtles...

See the lone bird?...

I'm looking forward to painting a few of the above with my watercolors after we return home to Michigan; but I think I should try finishing my unfinished paintings first, don't you think!