What do I like to paint?

The short answer is everything! I am known for my conch house paintings, colorful, tropical depictions of the unique old houses of Key West. And new - you can find a mural of the Harbor House on the construction wall close to the corner of Elizabeth and Caroline Street. I also like painting landscapes, seascapes, and still life. What you don’t see a lot of is people. It’s not that I don’t like painting people, it’s not one of my strengths. I have a closet full of bad people paintings, but I continue to try, so one day you may see some.

The Key West houses and landmarks mostly are painted en plein air. I paint every Wednesday with a small group of artists, the Key West Plein Air Painters. We meet somewhere different each week, paint for a few hours, sometimes the same thing, other times different things in that general vicinity. Sometimes we lunch together afterwards. We’ve had a few group exhibits, notably one at the Key West art museum, The Custom House.

The still lifes are mostly from Jim Salem’s classes. Every Thursday, Jim has a class at the Sugarloaf Tiki Lodge. He is a most gifted teacher. He gives a demonstration in which he explains clearly what and why he does. We then paint on our own and there is a critique afterwards. Jim always finds something nice to say about all the paintings, even while offering suggestions to improve. His classes have had a huge impact on my work. You can clearly see the difference in the before Jim and after Jim paintings. Check out his website jimsalemart.com.

The sea and landscapes could be from either and you can see everything I mentioned on my website, frandecker.com. Another thing you won’t find is some of my travel paintings. I love to take photos when I travel, but even better is a memorable painting from a place I visited. I think I love these paintings because they capture the emotion of the place and how I felt when I was there. Here is an interesting example, “Fall Vista,” painted from memories of a magnificent Blue Ridge Parkway drive. I am uncertain of whether to put it on my website, as it is not tropical and has nothing to do with Key West. What do you think? Should I start a travel page on my website? More important, do I want to sell these intensely personal paintings?