"Lake Eola Bandshell and Courthouse"
18" x 24"
Plein Air Oil on Canvas
Copyright by Artist, Brenda Hofreiter
I painted this on location in downtown Orlando at Lake Eola. Lake Eola is a pleasant place to walk in the city and a lovely park surrounds the lake. It was early morning and the palms on Bird Island reflecting in the water just called out to me to be painted! The slight breeze made them wave and undulate and created an interesting painting challenge. The band shell was sporting a new paint job and I'm a sucker for orange and blue color combinations. It was early fall and the cypress around the lake were beginning to turn to red/orange. The "new" courthouse loomed large in the distance. Totally satisfied with the scene, I settled in for an enjoyable morning of painting. Unwittingly, I had chosen a morning when there was a charitable Walk-A-Thon around the lake. I received lots of attention from the large walking crowds, especially the children, some of whom had never seen an artist at work outdoors. It was fun talking to them all, but not much work got done that first day!
This painting was one of 3 of my paintings of downtown Orlando that was juried into an exhibition in January 2006 by Orlando Museum of Art's First Thursdays. The three paintings were also chosen for publication in Orlando Magazine's January, 2006 issue in an article entitled "Paint the Town" which featured the work of 20 Orlando artists.
