Tamara Culp moved from the high desert country of Colorado to Florida to be closer to water. Since childhood, water has held a special place in her heart as a sanctuary and a haven. A long-time jewelry artist in the mountains known for her silver landscapes, she began using pencils, watercolors, and soft pastels to bring to life the verdant greens and sparkling Gulf water landscapes of her new home.

Tamara was a World Economics major in school and is the co-owner of a software company, but she was always intensely interested in art. Over the years she has belonged to some excellent art organizations which afforded her the opportunity to participate in peer critiques and to form long lasting relationships with fellow artists of diverse mediums. Tamara enjoyed teaching her jewelry techniques in Colorado and has thoughts of doing that again in Florida. She has augmented her studies with workshops both in-person and on-line, though she considers her weekly plein air sessions her most taxing and rewarding teacher. Gallery exhibitions keep her very busy, and the occasional award is satisfying. Tamara is a current member of the Pastel Society of America as well as the Colored Pencil Society of America and locally the Fort Myers Beach Art Association. Her work has been included in national publications. In the future she would like to travel around the country to participate in plein air events to further push her abilities and experiences.

Tamara loves to bring her visions to life and is always gratified when those visions also resonate with others. To be able to continue to do that is her heart’s desire.

“I portray relationships with my art. Those relationships may be as simple as my own with my surroundings when I’m painting en plein air, the relationship between my art and the viewer, or the relationship between my subjects and their story as imagined by me. I am a storyteller at heart even if the only person I’m telling stories to is myself. I hope those who view my art can hear stories, too, even if they differ from mine.”

Tamara Culp Studio

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Artist Laura Ball attended H.S. of Art & Design in NY. Originally from Bayside Queens NY she moved to Florida in 1995. You may know her from the Sanibel Post Office where she has been working full time for over 25 years. Laura’s paintings of local wildlife had been hanging in George & Wendy’s restaurant since they opened in 2012 up until Hurricane Ian destroyed the building and the art inside. She also paints coconut postcards that can be mailed. She’s been featured in the Times of the Islands magazine twice in articles about her coconut postcards. Laura has always been very involved in the Sanibel community and has always been happy to donate her art to the local non profit organizations to help with fundraising. After Hurricane Ian Laura did a painting of The Mailigator (because after the hurricane there was an alligator in the Sanibel Post Office). She sold t-shirts with this painting on it and raised over $10,000.00 and donated it to local servers, artists, business owners and families who were affected by the hurricane.

“My paintings are done in acrylic paint. I love painting local wildlife and things that remind people of our beautiful Sanibel Island. I especially love painting birds. We have so many amazing birds here and everyone loves to watch them at Ding Darling or at the beach. My intention is that you can bring a little piece of the island home with you in my art. I hide a tiny footprint in each of my paintings in honor of a friend who encouraged me to start painting on canvas. When my art was hanging at George & Wendy’s everyone loved to go around and try to find the footprint in all my paintings. Someone once said to me “Art shared is beauty shared, love shared and goodness all around.” That really resonated with me. I am truly blessed that I can touch so many peoples’ hearts with my art.”

Laura Ball, laurajball.com

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Barbara Marti is an artist who has lived on Sanibel for nearly 20 years. She graduated with honors with a BFA from Mundelien College of Loyola University in Chicago, IL.

“I usually paint seascapes or beachscapes of Sanibel Island. I have lived here for nearly 20 years and am always inspired by its beauty. I would say my work is mostly impressionistic. Recently I have been using fluid acrylics, which are much more experimental in nature. I find this very freeing. And fun!”

Barbara Marti

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David Acevedo is considered one of southwest Florida’s most prominent artists.

Since his arrival to the area in 2000, he has been crucial to the city of Fort Myers’ cultural growth through his art, proposals, business accomplishments and event coordinating. Acevedo is one of the co-founders of the very popular Fort Myers Art Walk. He is the founder of DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery & Gifts, which houses over twenty-five local artists and operates as the only cooperative gallery in the city, the Union Artist Studios and most recently, the Arts & Eats Café – two other unique concepts promoting local artists in southwest Florida.

Regarding his artistic profile, his pictorial work is recognizable by the impeccably bold colors, textures, and clever compositions. He has, however, created darker imagery attributed to his silent resistance to conformity and established stereotypes. A notable part of his depictions is the hidden message or symbols in his work, drawing the viewer into each piece and creating intrigue. The work Acevedo produces ranges from vibrant Pop-like, expressionistic, and abstract. Not one to stay within the lines, he mixes mediums and techniques, unconventionally and unapologetically. A recognizable trade for this artist is the symbolic consistence and elements that represent a language. That, plus a beautiful balance of light and dark, plummet the mind into the world he has created. Currently, he is represented by local galleries and his work is collected all over the world. He has exhibited in part of the United States, Spain, and China (Hong Kong).

Acevedo grew up in a house nestled by the mountains and the ocean. As a child, he discovered the world of comic books and for years, he practiced copying the shapes of their bodies and analyzing the details and colors. He developed a keen eye for proportion and color. This influence is noticeable in some of his work today. This, mixed with a vivid imagination and a natural sense of resiliency, prompted the young artist to pursue his passions.

In 1998, Acevedo graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Visual Arts from the prestigious University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. Two years later, David was offered a job in Southwest Florida and moved to the area. Since then, he has established a solid reputation as one of the primary artists in the community, winning the title of Visual Artist of the Year in 2009 and a Gulfshorelife Magazine FACE Award in 2016 for his community work in diversity and inclusion. His first professional artist studio opened in 2006, later transforming into a pioneering art gallery called DAAS. It was after opening the first DAAS Gallery that he co-founded the popular Fort Myers Art Walk (2008), then serving in the core committee until 2012. Acevedo served in the Fort Myers Public Arts Committee from 2011 to 2012 as well. From 2013 to 2020, Acevedo contributed as Arts Editor for TOTI Media INC, publishing numerous articles for their five local and international publications. As part of his artistic endeavors, Acevedo has judged multiple exhibitions with award prizes for the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center, the Fort Myers Alliance for the Arts, and Big Arts on Sanibel, among others. His reach has been extended by numerous featured articles in magazines such as Gulfshorelife, the Fort Myers Magazine, Happenings Magazine, the Fort Myers News-Press, D’Latinos Magazine, and others.

“I am an intuitive artist.

I do not seek to fix the world or criticize governmental institutions through my work; rather learn from myself with every brush stroke and allow my mind to wander the state of sub-consciousness that I fall into during my creative process. My work does not speak about politics or demands you to recall the stresses of everyday living. The color palette I utilize varies from time to time because of an ever-changing mind that dictates it. Never one to follow recipes, I create my own mixture of mediums until I feel content.

My process includes a long stare at a blank canvas, a look around my studio for inspiration and finally a decisive moment of whether to grab a brush and paint or the keys to my car and leave.

The artwork I produce has been described as abstract-expressionist, but I have found that descriptive labels push me to stay within the limits of a movement and that counteracts with my muses. I humbly admit traveling the journey of experimentation and I continue the constant search for individualism within my body of work.

The materials I utilize to create my paintings are usually photographs, magazine cut-outs, acrylic paints, gesso, inks, pencils, dry and oil pastels, oils, enamels, colored markers and pens; applied to cotton rag paper or stretched canvas. A particular painting of mine could have all of these mediums or as little as one; it all depends on my vision at the moment and most importantly, my mood.

I believe that we are all artists in one way or another. It just so happens that some of us are cursed with a constant and overwhelming need for creativity while others find a way to ignore such urge. Talent is not necessarily what makes the artist; passion and perseverance does.”

David Acevedo, acevedostudio.com

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Charlene M. Taubert, a Southwest Florida-based artist, actively works across multiple artistic mediums, including painting, mixed media, digital art, and cartooning.

Her work has garnered multiple awards, featured in gallery exhibitions, and resides in numerous private collections.

Taubert’s passion for art ignited during her sixth-grade art class when she won the annual “Picture Contest” with a captivating autumnal scene created using pastel chalk on construction paper.

As a young adult, Taubert developed an affinity for creating artwork on unconventional surfaces while designing sets for children’s Christmas plays and securing first place at the annual pumpkin decorating contest held at the famous Publick House Historic Inn in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The recognition she received fueled a surge of unsolicited requests for custom “painted pumpkins,” capturing the essence of the fall season. Her reputation grew, leading to numerous commissions and an annual output of over 40 painted pumpkins.

Taubert’s artistic journey further expanded through commissioned canvas paintings for celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurants in Bonita Springs and Naples. She was also invited to showcase her work in a solo art exhibition titled “Familiar Faces: An Expression of Celebrity” at the Chicos FAS Taga Gallery in Fort Myers, Florida.

During her time as an innkeeper in coastal Maine (2013-2022), Taubert’s creative force flourished. She took painting workshops with acclaimed Maine artists Dennis Perrin and Mary Byrom. She was commissioned to paint an array of special event posters. Each autumn in Maine, Taubert created large-scale, seasonally-inspired public art displays. These displays gained viral traction on social media and attracted significant local media coverage, culminating in her esteemed first-place award at the 2017 Ogunquitfest Halloween Display Contest in Ogunquit, Maine.

Now back in Southwest Florida, Taubert serves as the General Manager and Construction Oversight Manager of the Blue Dolphin on West Gulf Drive, a landmark cottage resort on Sanibel Island that was completely destroyed by Hurricane Ian, requiring a full rebuild. She dedicates her creative time to mixed media painting and her digital cartoon series, “On Podunk Road.”

“My artwork has always been dominated by playful and colorful elements, along with an embrace of the types of warmth and nostalgia that always seem to make children of all ages smile!”

Charlene M. Taubert, onpodunkroad.com

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Leoma Lovegrove is an impressionist-expressionist painter and a graduate of the Ringling School of Art.

She rose to prominence by ceaselessly painting energetic and vibrant Florida-themed works splashed in bright and saturated colors – and making them available at her Lovegrove Gallery and Gardens which she transformed into a landmark whimsical-tropical-kaleidoscopic-psychedelic experiential destination on Matlacha Island in Southwest Florida.

Lovegrove is represented in numerous galleries across the United States.

In Atlanta, Lovegrove’s portrait of Jimmy Carter hangs in his Presidential Library. Her art is in the private collection of the White House in Washington, DC and in President George W. Bush’s Presidential Library in Dallas. Lovegrove was honored at an artist’s reception in the White House given by First Lady, Laura Bush. Her artwork has also graced the windows at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Internationally, Lovegrove was commissioned to paint a portrait of Richard Branson for the Virgin Airlines Headquarters in London. Her Beatles Series drew the attention of the city of Liverpool. She was the first American to paint on the replica of Claude Monet’s floating studio in Giverny, France, and she was honored to be the first American artist to exhibit, An American in Giverny, in the famous Pierre Bonnard home in Vernon, France.

Lovegrove’s work is also prominently represented across Bealls department stores which feature her as their Florida artist and offer clothing covered with her artwork (and even her trademark eyeglasses) under the designer label Leoma Lovegrove.

Hurricane Ian destroyed much of Matlacha, including Lovegrove’s house, gallery, gardens, and art studio. Moving forward, Lovegrove generated tangible excitement and commanded major media headlines by announcing her move to a new (and larger) flagship gallery on Dean Street in Downtown Fort Myers.

“I believe art is in everything, from the car you drive to the fork that you eat food off of. I’ve just always tried to be creative throughout my life.”

Leoma Lovegrove, leomalovegrove.com

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Dana Enders is a full-time artist who relocated to Fort Myers, Florida, in 2020 from Atlanta.

She is an established plein air painter who regularly participates in art shows and plein air events. Dana is active in several local art organizations and is Coordinator of the Fort Myers Beach Art Association’s plein air painting group.

Over the past year and a half, Dana has transitioned from acrylics to soft pastels and has been loving this new medium! Dana’s paintings include landscapes and seascapes of Georgia and the Florida gulf coast. She paints subjects that are revealed or concealed in beautiful, dramatic lighting. She is also well known for her custom pet portraits.

Originally from Maryland, Dana enjoyed painting in high school. She received her BFA degree with a focus in graphic design from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1996, Dana moved to Atlanta and started her career as a graphic designer. It was not until 2016 that she started painting. Her artist mentor was her dad, Duane Sabiston, a retired art teacher, and plein air artist. Dana fell in love with outdoor painting and quickly realized that she no longer wanted to be sitting at a computer designing. Later that year, Dana joined her first art organization and started participating in art shows and outdoor art festivals.

“My years as a graphic designer naturally influenced what has become my painting style. My paintings have a strong sense of design and composition, as well as a dynamic use of color and shape. I am an impressionist plein air painter. Painting on location allows all of my senses to play an active role in summarizing a scene’s light, color, and atmosphere. I choose subjects to paint that are either revealed or concealed in beautiful, dramatic lighting. Instead of replicating what I see, I often selectively omit details by combining interlocking shapes of light and dark colors, leaving the rest of the pieces to the viewer’s imagination.”

Dana Enders, paintingsbydanaenders.com

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Rachel Pierce is a lifelong artist and long-time TV journalist who recently left the anchor desk to focus full-time on her artwork.

Based in Sanibel Island, Florida, Rachel paints bright, modern original art in oil and acrylic reflecting the natural beauty and abundant wildlife found only in tropical Southwest Florida.

From her abstract beachscapes to her joyful underwater tableaus, Rachel’s colorful coastal creations feature swimming sea creatures – like loggerhead turtles, manatee, jellyfish, sharks, seahorses and octopi; soaring shorebirds and wading flamingos; technicolor palm trees and florals; gators, mollusks, mermaids, and more.

Rachel sells and exhibits her fine art originals in shops and galleries throughout Southwest Florida, as well as on her website, ByRachelPierce.com, along with a variety of collectible prints and notecards.

Her fantastical Florida-inspired artwork also features on chic handmade jewelry, and is currently available for purchase on her website and in several SWFL locations. A collaborative jewelry collection with EVOCATEUR has launched on EvocateurStyle.com and in more than 100 boutiques nationwide.

“I’m a happy, positive person and I think it comes through in my artwork. When you see one of my pieces, I hope it makes you smile!”

Rachel Pierce, byrachelpierce.com

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Mara Balodis is an artist living on Pine Island in Southwest Florida. She is a graduate of Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, a former art teacher in South Jersey and a 40 plus year veteran of arts and craft shows in Florida and the Northeast. Along with her husband she created and sold hand painted canvas products featuring wildlife and nautical designs.

The pandemic in 2020 forced them to stop travelling north and cancelled all shows, so Mara started doing paintings on canvas again. For inspiration she turned to her own backyard, doing a lot of birdwatching and photography. Rainy days in Southwest Florida bring lots of birds to watch. Egrets, ibis, a variety of herons, sandhill cranes and even an occasional spoonbill or two.

She also used some of the designs she had been painting on handbags for many years, including the Sanibel lighthouse. When they started to visit Sanibel again they took numerous photos on Lighthouse Beach. Many of her current paintings were inspired by these visits. After Hurricane Ian hit the islands, before and after scenes of the lighthouse and surrounding area became the focal point of her art.

Six months after Ian’s 4 foot surge wiped out her studio Mara was busy painting in her newly renovated space. Some of her paintings survived, others were lost or ruined, new ones are being created daily. She is still showing her paintings in local shows and promoting her work on social media.

“I paint what speaks to me and I prefer to let my paintings speak for themselves.”

Mara Balodis, Mara Balodis Art

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Ellen Negley is known for her bright, colorful, and whimsical watercolor scenes. Negley grew up in Peoria, Illinois, attended the University of Iowa and later made the move to Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The artist has the ability to capture what she sees in front of her and happily rearranges even the most mundane of scenes into interesting compositions that make you wish you could live inside one of her paintings. Her favorite subjects include worn and tattered boat yards, funky dockside marinas, beaches and other coastal hangouts where she can set forth her unique vision of the world while capturing the everyday hustle and bustle in bold, exciting color and composition. Negley is a signature member of the Florida Watercolorist Society. She studied under Frank Webb, Frank Francese, Larry Gerber, Garri Katz, and Don Andrews.

“For me, watercolor is the perfect medium. It’s elusive, unpredictable and has a mind of its own. I’m fascinated by its nuances. One minute the colors are bold and electric and the next they’re delicate and transparent. If I painted every day for the rest of my life, I still wouldn’t know all there is to know. My watercolors are a reflection of my surroundings so lately, my paintings are likely tropical. There is something so special about the light in south Florida and I am captivated by tropical foliage, especially palm trees, as you might have noticed. I also love including figures in my paintings because it’s the people that make the place.”

Ellen Negley, negleywatercolors.com

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