My Vacation Discovery

Earlier this month on my vacation, we had the pleasure of spending a few nights with my old college pal Fran Decker, an artist living in Key West, and with her husband, Bob Decker who leads charters on a gorgeous Choi Lee sailboat. I wanted to write about her here because she has fully manifested her dream of making a living from her paintings, and done so in style!

Back at Wellesley, when I knew Fran she was a passionate marine biologist with long hair and a melted butter Southern accent. Accent's still there, only now she has a year round tan and has had a long and interesting adult career running boat charters and being involved in conservation efforts around the Florida Keys.

And, in recent years, she's begun to sell her work as a painter - something that was pretty peripheral in college. How did she do it?

Fran has an affinity for painting the architecture, natural life and mangroves of Key West, which if you've never been there, is a charmingly 'housey' town. Lots of beautiful, grand old clapboard houses and charming smaller wooden houses - many painted ice cream colors - dot the old section of town. Plus wonderful 19th century brick warehouses and factories that have all had stunning conversions into commercial buildings.

And there are lots of chickens running around. So who wouldn't want to paint all of this?

Fran had several shows up in the area when we arrived. Her work is just the right size - not too big, not too small, and drenched in color and the very atmosphere of Key West. I was struck not just by the strength of her painting but how many of these babies she can crank out. This woman is prolific!

Some of my favorites are: Mexican Mangoes, Pepe's II (we ate breakfast there!), and Soar.  I'll fill you in later on a few ideas I had for Fran on how she could expand her painting business on the Web.

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