We returned to St Martin once again for a September vacation on the Dutch side, which is still recovering from Hurricane Irma (much better than the French side). This time we stayed at a resort on the Little Bay instead of Simpson Bay. Little Bay is closer to Philipsburg but farther from restaurants.
For this trip, I brought several turquoise and teal and blue paints so I could capture the amazing Caribbean waters. Below is the view I had every morning (le sigh). The small brown building on the top of the hill is the remnants of Fort Amsterdam. The resort was almost finished up with its repairs and the orange-yellow buildings to the left had yet to open.
Watercolor on 270 gsm paper 11x8.5
This was a little rock alcove that separated our small bay within a bay from the main area. It was very peaceful. It was off season, so on more than one occasion I felt like we had the bay all to ourselves.
Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x4
The sea turtle of Tintamarre Island are just starting to come back and we did not see any on our trip. So instead of snorkeling again, I stayed on the boat and did a painting. I wanted it to be loose and airy to remind me of a truly wonderful day.
Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x8
Here is the view from the Fort Amsterdam overlooking Great Bay and Philipsburg. Not my favorite in this series.
Watercolor on 140 lbs paper 6x8
Sailing to Anguilla was a great day. When we signed up for the trip, we did not realize it was such a booze crews (but apparently they all are). The rum started early (learned about a variant of a Dirty Shirley made with rum) and kept flowing all day. But that was not the highlight of the day. For me, painting while sailing (see below) was the true highlight (that and the after party).
Below is the picture of the catamaran I did after a lovely lunch of mahi mahi, jerk ribs, curried coleslaw and rice. It is my favorite piece of the whole trip. In fact, it might be my favorite piece I have done in the past year (this or the old stone bridge).
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
Below is a series of three small (postcard size) pictures I did while sailing to Prickly Pear and Anguilla. Despite all the rum, not many people were talkative. However, after I pulled out my watercolors and began sketching that all changed. It was a fun conversation starters.
These three sketches are rough and loose and just plain fun.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
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Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
Vacation was relaxing and awesome. And incredibly productive. I did 9 painting/sketches of various sizes, including 3 while sitting on a catamaran (coming soon).
Instead of my normal Daniel Smith watercolors, I brought a new palette of colors by M Graham watercolors (Highland Green, Bismuth Yellow, Cobalt Teal, Permanent Green Pale, Scarlet Pyrrol, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Violet, Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Green, Alizarin Crimson, Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Sienna) specifically because of the gorgeous cobalt teal, which was perfect for the clear Caribbean water. M Graham watercolors are made with natural blackberry honey to prevent them from drying out. It was my first time really using these watercolors and they did really well, except for the Cobalt Green which never, ever dried in my palette and therefore leaked all over the place. Good thing I kept them in a zip-loc baggie.
This was the view from my room, looking out to the far right. I did have a view of Simpson Bay but could not see it sitting down.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
View of the Caribbean Sea
We spent most of the time hanging on the beach or floating in the Caribbean Sea. I did a sketch of the view, sitting on a beach chair, looking to the right on the first day and the view to the left on the last day. Connecting them would give a full view of the little horseshoe bay where we sat most days.
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 5.5x8.25
View of Simpson Bay and the "Hills"
The view of the "mountains" were a close second to the sea itself. Not sure if these are Sint Peter Hill or Sentry Hill, but I enjoyed watching the clouds drift in the sky to make the shadows flows across these "hills".
Watercolor and pen & ink on 180 lbs paper 9x12
Watercolor and pen & ink on paper 3.5x5.5
