Presidents Message:
Another Stitch in the Colorful Fabric of the Florida Keys
There is a particular quality to the light in the Florida Keys. It dances across the water, filters through the mangroves, and settles into the weathered textures of our island architecture. Each passing cloud shifts the colors, each changing tide reveals another layer, and even the most familiar landscape offers something new to discover.
As an artist, I have always been fascinated by these layers of light, the way one color influences another, how a shadow can reveal as much as the sunlight itself. I find much the same beauty in the relationships we create through art. Each experience adds depth to the one beneath it, each encounter leaving its own impression.
For 46 years, the Florida Keys Watercolor Society has been weaving a colorful thread through the cultural fabric of our island community. Founded in 1980, the Society has brought together artists of varied backgrounds, abilities, and perspectives. Some have spent a lifetime exploring the medium, while others are just discovering the possibilities of a brush, a little pigment, and a sheet of paper.
Each brings a different color to our collective palette.
My years working with textiles taught me that a beautiful piece rarely begins as a finished composition. It begins with gathering, arranging, and considering how seemingly unrelated pieces might belong together. We baste them into place, allowing room for adjustment, before the stitching gives them strength and permanence. Eventually, what began as individual fragments becomes something quilted together, each piece retaining its character while contributing to a greater whole.
I see our Society in much the same way.
A workshop introduces a new technique. A paint-out brings artists together beneath the tropical canopy. A demonstration sparks a conversation that becomes a friendship. These are the basting stitches of our creative community, bringing people and ideas together, allowing relationships to develop naturally before becoming part of something more enduring.
With each gathering, another stitch is sewn.
Education has always been one of the strongest threads in our history. Through visiting artist workshops, monthly demonstrations, and opportunities to paint together, we continue to share the knowledge and traditions passed from one generation of artists to another. Our Julie Joyce Rehbock Memorial Arts Scholarship carries that commitment forward, encouraging a young Monroe County artist to pursue further education in the visual arts.
In 2025, our Society was recognized internationally in The Art of Watercolour magazine, celebrating 45 years of watercolor in paradise. It was a wonderful acknowledgment of the artists who came before us and the community they helped create. Now, in our 46th year, I find myself looking not only at what has been accomplished, but at the possibilities still waiting to unfold.
Our 2027 season offers new opportunities to explore those possibilities. From workshops with accomplished visiting artists to plein air gatherings and our second annual Wet Paint Contest at Crane Point Museum and Hammock, we are creating occasions for artists and neighbors alike to experience the joy of making art.
Through our Dive Into Creativity initiative, I hope to extend that invitation even further. I believe art should be accessible, welcoming, and shared. You need not call yourself an artist to experience the satisfaction of creating something with your own hands. Sometimes a simple introduction to a new medium can open a door we never knew was there.
And sometimes, the most meaningful work we create is not the painting hanging on a wall, but the connection made while creating it.
As President, I see my role as helping to bring these many threads together, honoring the traditions that shaped our Society while making room for new ideas, friendships, and voices. Like a quilt assembled over time, our community carries the marks of many hands. Some stitches are nearly invisible, others become part of the design, but each helps hold the whole together.
There is a kinship between the layering of watercolor and the quilting of fabric. One transparent wash settles over another, allowing the colors beneath to remain visible. In much the same way, the experiences of those who came before us continue to shine through the work we do today. Nothing is entirely lost beneath the next layer; instead, it lends richness and depth to what follows.
The fabric of our Society is still being made. There are new pieces to gather, new colors to consider, and countless connections waiting to be basted into place.
Another stitch is sewn, joining history and the present, artist and audience, inspiration and expression.
I invite you to join us, whether you are an experienced painter, a curious beginner, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of art and the community it creates.
Together, we will continue stitching new experiences into the colorful, ever-changing quilt of the Florida Keys.
Dive Into Creativity.
President, Florida Keys Watercolor Society