I was alert to my surroundings while painting this view, knowing an alligator could return at any time from the adjacent salt marsh or appear from beneath the algae-covered pool. Had I know a momma and babies had been spotted there that morning (something I only found out later), I probably would not have stood there for a couple of hours attempting to capture the scene.
Normally this is a much wetter and much buggier location than what I encountered on this particular spring day. Those inviting conditions and the rich green colors in sun and shade seemed like good reasons to try to paint it.
