Artist Roy Woodhall with Steve and Linda Barker [Photo: Denise Ritchie]

A steady trail of cars meandered through Sebastian neighborhoods recently in a quest to visit local artists in their home studios during the Sebastian Art Studio Tour. It was a chance for the general public to get a glimpse of where artists create and to meet them personally.

The self-guided tour was created nine years ago by a group of artists who wanted to generate awareness of the quality of art in Sebastian’s growing community of artisans. This year, nine artists generously opened their studios to visitors and were busy explaining their techniques and fielding questions about their inspiration.

“Art tours were big in New Mexico where I used to live,” said Mary Segal, credited with introducing the concept to Sebastian, who again opened her studio, located in the garage of her duplex.

“I love flowers. My second passion is gardening so you’ll see my entire yard is filled with inspiration,” said Segal, whose paintings are sometimes layered with flowers, lizards and dragonflies to produce a textured, 3-dimensional effect. “Of course, our lizards and bugs have already met their natural demise, so I just use the bodies they left behind.”

Further down the road, painter Vicky Lada displayed her colorful acrylic paintings in her garage and under a tent in the driveway. Remarkably, Lada only started painting five years ago, when she retired, and yet her paintings were fluid and vibrant, utilizing a variety of mixed media.

“I truly enjoy painting with other painters, so I do most of my paintings in other studios and art classes,” said Lada. “This is the first time I’ve participated in the art tour and already I’ve had a steady flow of traffic.”

Half the fun of visiting watercolorist Roy Woodall’s studio was getting there; his large studio beside a picturesque pond was located a short walk through Rosewood scrub. The affable Woodall openly shared memories of his upbringing in Chesapeake Bay and the stories behind some of his works. As most of his paintings involve boats and water, Woodall found the perfect medium in watercolors.

“I do a lot of research before I paint,” he said. Pointing to a painting of Ernest Hemingway’s boat, Pilar, bouncing in choppy ocean waters, he explained, “Hemingway used to fish off of Key West and Cuba and he loved this boat until the day he died.”

Other artists on the trail included Julie Hewitt, a fluid acrylic artist who manipulates paint with a variety of items, including palette knives, skewer sticks, gravity and compressed air, as well as her hands to create a free-flowing image.

Sheila Lougheed, Suze Lavender and Lana McConnell displayed their mixed, oil and acrylic paintings, each depicting their individual styles. Geoffrey Meyers showcased a few of his large sculptures and Quentin Walter opened up her eclectic Stouthouse to feature Dave Bazinet’s Sepia Drawing Series.