A Life of Color

One of the things that has influenced my art and jewelry profoundly is my life in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  I lived there for more than 20 years and raised my girls there, created community and life long friendships and still go back as often as I can.  I recently was working on some new art and got inspired by old Vintage Travel Prints from far locations in a graphic style. I picked a Caribbean Color Palette and started creating my own set of art based on my favorite country.  

Turks and Caicos is made up of 8 main islands and 22 smaller ones divided in two groups. The Turks Islands are on the east side of the Turks Islands Passage and the Caicos Islands are on the west side.

My home is located on Providenciales, the most populated of the islands and where the main airport is located.  It's home to some of the worlds best beaches and resorts.  Grace Bay Beach was the first piece I created which is consistently named one of the Top Vacation spots in the world.  I added a Sailboat as I have spent a lot of time on boats in the crystal clear blue water and the local sailing center where my oldest learned to sail is located right on Grace Bay

I also needed to include in my "home beach", Long Bay, on the south side of Providenciales. It's a wonderful Kite boarding beach with steady on shore winds and Shallow water for miles (less than 10 feet deep).  There is also a great company that does horseback riding in Long Bay taking the horses into the water.  I decided to add some Kite boarders representing Long Bay because we always see the tops of the kites driving home on the ridge.

Next up is North Caicos.  North is quiet and full of places to explore inland and deserted beaches. Its definitely worth the ferry ride from Providenciales to explore North and Middle Caicos.  Flamingo Pond is located on north and it's always a wonder to see the flocks of Flamingos (which is called a Flamboyance) on the Pond.  Flamingos can be found throughout all of the islands and seeing them in flight is a delight. 

Driving across the Causeway to Middle Caicos and head to Mudjin Harbor or Bambarra Beach or the Caves.  Mudjin Harbor has majestic views and scenery and usually you are the only one around.  Crab Fest happens on Bambarra Beach each year and these little land crabs are found throughout.    

Next up is South Caicos AKA the Big South which is a quick flight from Provo.  This quaint island is home to many sweet donkeys roaming around and has spectacular fishing and diving.  A number of boutique hotels have opened recently giving people options to get away from it all.  South Caicos is also where Historic regattas of big sailing sloops happened.  So I had to include one of the big sloops with it's huge sail!

Over to the Turks Islands, this one is of the historic lighthouse on Grand Turk. Cockburn Town on Grand Turk is the capitol of the country and has a long history which can be explored at the Turks and Caicos National Museum! There is a lot of great diving and history on Grand Turk and it's just a short flight from Provo or a stop from a cruise ship. 

Grand Turk and Salt Cay are right next to the Turks Island passage and this is where Humpback Whales migrate South to the Silver Banks to Calf in the Winter.  They then head back in Late winter and from January- March you can go on whale watching tours, or even spot them from shore.  All of the islands will have whale sightings every year as the Humpbacks all take different routes but Grand Turk and Salt Cay have dedicated whale watching opportunities.  This Print is based on an Underwater Photo taken 20+ years ago on a dive where humpback whales popped by to say hello. 

The final print in this series is Historical Salt Cay and its' windmills and salt ponds.  Salt Cay is the smallest of the main inhabited islands with a small population of around 100 people.  Grand Turk and Salt Cay were colonised in the late 1600's as an alternative to Bermuda for Salt production.  For more than 250 years Salt was a main component of the economy of The Turks and Caicos.  Salt Cay is known for it's quiet life, and great diving. 

So there is the collection, It brings me a lot of joy and color and all of these prints can coordinate with each other.  They're printed on archival 100% cotton paper with archival inks.  Pick one or a few of your favorites!