Meet the Artist - Fleet Landing Residents

Paula O’Bannon

I love color – that is why I paint. Originally from Missouri, I moved to Atlantic Beach in 1977 to teach elementary & middle school art for the Duval County Public School District. Retiring in 2014, I am now a resident at Fleet Landing. My walks inspire my paintings. Beach, landscape, still life, figure painting – whatever I choose, I like to use different acrylic techniques to express my “point of view.”

Judy Barton

26 years ago, I saw my first piece of mosaic art, a $1200.0 Queen Ann table, I loved it! My husband was with me. He said…” You can do that!”  My life as a stained glass artist ended, and I began my life as a “self-taught” mosaic artist.  I began a company called Mosaic Memories, which specializes in mosaics using antique china, such as Limoges.  My repertoire is from tables, birdbaths, shelves, frames, clocks, pictures…really almost anything that stands still and is solid.  
 I soon entered juried art shows and later rented a room in a lovely shoppe in South Tampa, FL.  For many years I was fortunate to have three shoppes on Jackson Square in the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA, carry my work.  During my life, I have enjoyed different art media,
 painting in both oil and acrylic and years of stained glass, but working in mosaics is truly my favorite art form of all!

Pat Payne

Although I had been drawing and painting throughout childhood, I didn’t start painting seriously until I moved to Fleet Landing following a career in information technology. I took lessons in our art studio and fell in love with watercolor. When I paint, I try to interest the viewer in looking more closely at the images and, if they do, to give them something more to notice. I’m drawn to subjects that elicit mixed feelings in me, such as the beautiful giant grasshopper known locally as a lubber, in “En Garde.” I enjoy starting a piece by tossing some tinted water at the paper and letting it flow, as I did when I painted “One Thing Led To Another.”

Craig Miller

Although he had an accounting education, Craig Miller was always an artist at heart. In 1984 he left a government position in Washington, D.C., to draw and paint full-time. The preponderance of his work was done on commission. He is now semi-retired but definitely continues to paint for pleasure, etc. His work is typically done in a representational style using various mediums: oil, acrylic, pastel, watercolor, pen and ink, pencil, and computer applications. Craig and his wife Maureen moved to Fleet Landing on 9 July 2021 and are crazy in love with it.

Lynn Blakemore  

I grew up in Avon Lake, Ohio. I majored in graphic design and illustration at the Cleveland Institute of Art. After a career in freelance graphic design, I started painting again in 1980. I had several galleries for as long as 35 years and an annual solo show for 16 years. I love architecture and landscape. Light and shadow make me happy.
 Color makes me delirious!

John Hen

Upon retiring from a science career in 2006, John began to pursue his interest in watercolor painting in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.   After a slow start, he began taking lessons from Anne Abgott, a prominent local watercolorist.   He has painted a number of landscapes while consulting in Tuscany, Italy.  More recently, he paints interesting human subjects, as witnessed by his two exhibits at Adele Grage Cultural Center.

Hanley (Bo) Smith

I am a retired ecologist with a strong interest in painting, drawing, and art history. Upon retirement, I returned to college to obtain a BFA and broaden my knowledge of art. Art has opened a world that career scientists are rarely able to access. I am a docent at the Cummer Museum. I have been able to visit most of the world’s best Western art museums, and I have shown my work in many juried shows. My media are charcoal, acrylics, and colored pencils; and my interests are wildlife, landscape, and figure. 

Richard Lundgren

Richard worked for 20 years as a professional artist and is nationally recognized for his award-winning pastels. He also works in watercolor, acrylic and oil. His pastel paintings have won awards in over 30 national and international competitions, including the top award in the Degas Pastel Show in 2004 and again in 2006, and the Gold Award at the International Association of Pastel Societies in 2005 and 2008. His work has been shown at the National Arts Club in New York, NY, and at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH. He is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and became a PSA Master Pastelist in 2012 through awards won in their annual international shows. He was also awarded Master Circle status in the International Association of Pastel Societies in 2007. His work has appeared in American Artist Magazine, The Pastel Journal, and International Artist and as a contributing artist in Maggie Price’s 2011 book, Painting Sunlight & Shadow with Pastels.

Julia Pet-Armacost

Julia Pet-Armacost, inspired by her artistic parents (her mother was a soloist and artist, and her father was an artist and a potter), has enjoyed drawing and painting from an early age. After a 40-year career as an engineering professor and administrator at the University of Virginia and the University of Central Florida, she began doing pastels in 2000 after she and her husband purchased a vacation home in New Mexico. Mostly self-taught, she uses painting as a form of relaxation and creativity. Her favorite subjects are lighthouses, landscapes, and flowers. Her most recent paintings, using acrylics with the guidance of artist Gordon Meggison, were motivated by a trip to Utah and by her cactus garden in Florida.

Monica Cote

I am an impressionistic painter, spiritual leader & baker living at Fleet Landing in Atlantic Beach, Florida, with my husband, Jim.  I have worked in many studios over the years – from sea to shining sea, but now call my light-filled kitchen or sunroom my art home.

Painting brings me peace and offers me a place to meditate on the beauty in the world & grace I feel while living in it. My highest goal is to convey peace and grace to the viewer, offering a moment or pause & feeling of deep belonging.

Contact Information

Mary Faria

Email: wellness@fleetlanding.com

Phone: (904) 247-9900 ext. 1395