Paintings of Paradise in an Island Garden Setting

February 21, 2002 - Paradise This Week, Key West, Florida

Special to Paradise

Watercolor paintings of Key West will be exhibited outdoors from 5pm - 9pm. Friday in the tropical garden at Simonton Court Historic Inn and Cottages 320 Simonton St.

Artist Sandford Birdsey has teamed with artist and friend Sue Clay Moloney for a show of their works.

The tragedy of Sept. 11 kept the pair from making their annual painting odyssey abroad - France, Italy, wherever. So the result has been a series of paintings by the tow artists that are set around Key West and its waters.

Sandford, whose Sign of Sandford studio is at 328 Simonton St. regularly conducts "Paint Key West en plein air" outdoors on Saturday mornings from Dec. 1 - June 1. Often joined by Moloney, Sandford and her classes of painters gather on Simonton and then paint at different locations, from the bustling historic waterfront to quiet residential streets and other settings around the island.

In the late afternoon and early twilight hours Friday, the works will be shown on lighted easels around the garden paths of Simonton Court.

An internationally collected artist who has made her home in Key West since 1981, Sandford is a founding member of the American society of Marine Artists, and is represented in many private collections including that of the late President Kennedy.

Sandford's watercolors reflect her joy at using pure colors, her emphasis on design, her earlier experience in oils, roots in abstract expressionism and Cubism and sense of humor that reaches to the heart of Key West living.

Moloney had evolved over the years from portrait painter working in pastels to an accomplished watercolorist. She has managed to grow as a serious artist while managing demands of her award-winning inn.

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