During a week segment in the middle of my Art of Jazz tour painting with the Birdland All-Stars featuring Tommy Igoe, I stayed in Miami Beach at the historic 1940 Art Deco Ocean Surf Hotel. One morning I came out of the hotel to find a beautiful pink 1959 Cadillac Convertible, “wings” ‘n’ all, parked outside! It turned out it was for a fashion photo shoot. Not to miss such a great opportunity to build on my on-going series of Miami South Beach Art Deco hotels with classic cars (even though this is Miami North Beach, not Miami South Beach), I got my iPad out and started painting, while trying to keep out of their way and out of the backgrounds to their shots!
The scene I captured in my painting is that of a very special and unusual part of Miami Beach, a quiet off-the-beaten-track block that feels more like 1940 than 2018. It’s a gem that is going to vchange dramatically in the coming few years as this Miami Herald article explains.
This painting is part of my Miami Beach Art Deco Series which currently comprises:
Avalon Olds
Beacon Bel-Air
Breakwater Chevy
Majestic Kaiser
Ocean Surf Caddy
Park Central Olds