Tropical Beauty

Round Hill, Jamaica

My last post reminded me how much I enjoy tropical plants. Here a a couple of favourites from my own photography. Bougainvillea being at the top of the list. Such a cheerful plant with it's bright saturated colours. Especially beautiful when found in large quantities such as covering a wall or lining a driveway. 

Bougainvillea

DONNA GRANDIN- Blue Roots Art Studio

Venturing Forth, 40" x 30", acrylics on canvas, Donna Grandin, 2010.

I recently discovered this artist and I really like her work! 
She was born in St. Lucia and studied Art at Mc Master University in Canada and currently lives in Burlington,Ontario. She has done a fantastic group of Tropical Botanical Paintings of Hibiscus flowers, Banana trees and Flamboyant trees. This painting reminds me a lot of the photograph behind my Blog Title that I took. 

She has more pictures of her work on her website. Her Studio is called Blue Roots Art Studio and she also has a Blog.

Children's Bay (Sapodilla Bay)

On the island of Providenciales in Turks & Caicos there is a very special place called Sapodilla Bay or also known by it's nickname Children's Bay. It has powdery soft white sand and shallow crystal clear water that goes out for hundreds of feet. A gigantic wading pool in the ocean. It is our family's absolute favourite beach. Every time we travel to Turks & Caicos we make it a point to visit this beach.

The sand is perfect for building sandcastles and the water is always calm. 

There is a private community of villas on the bay called Harbour Gates. A few of them do rent out. One of my favourites is called Blue Heaven. I like it because of the indoor outdoor living. It has a huge 32 foot wall of glass doors that can be opened to the pool area. 

Blue Heaven Villa

Blue Heaven Villa
Villa Vacation Rentals Providenciales 
Turks and Caicos Tourism Board

"The Book"

Caribbean Style by Suzanne Slesin is the first book I ever read about Caribbean Architecture over 20 years ago. It is a beautiful Coffee Table Book and gives you an insight to the varied Architectural Landscape of the Caribbean Islands. Still one of my favourites. It is available at Amazon.com.

Hibiscus Villa, St. Lucia

This beautiful home is located in the neighbourhood of Cap Estate in St. Lucia. It was built in true West Indian Style with lovely fretwork and shutters enabling cool sea breezes to pass through the house.  I first read about this this home in a great article by Katherine Atkinson in MACO Magazine. Hibiscus sits on a cliff above the sea and is surrounded by lush tropical St. Lucian gardens.  It has cool, calming white interior and rich dark wood floors.

When originally purchased by a UK Restaurateur and his wife, it was a small traditional cottage; much too small for entertaining guests. They proceeded to hire Lane Pettigrew to redesign and expand the house.  Even though they enlarged the home and raised the ceilings, the home still retains the small island cottage feel. One of my favourite parts of the house is the incredible 30 x 30 foot great room over looking the sea and the spectacular view framed by detailed fretwork.

You can rent Hibiscus Luxury Villa and enjoy your own piece of Caribbean living for a week or two!

St. Lucia Tourist Board

Tensing Pen Jamaica

There is a special resort called Tensing Pen in the west end of Negril, Jamaica. It is one of my favourite places to escape.  The rooms have thatched roofs, wood or cut stone walls and a few are even raised on stilts. True relaxation can be found as there are no televisions or phones in the rooms.

This room is called The South Pillar. You actually feel as if you are staying in a tree house, with the rustic wood interior, thatched roof and an outdoor shower!

Behind the bed all the louvred windows open to the cliff below and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks lull you to sleep for your afternoon siestas.

You can enjoy a cocktail on your private verandah and watch the incredible sunsets.

Jumping off of the cliffs at Tensing Pen into the crystal clear Caribbean Sea is simply heavenly.

 Jamaica Tourist Board
www.visitjamaica.com

MACO Magazine

One of my favourite Caribbean magazines is MACO published by Toute Bagai Publishing in Trinidad. I was actually introduced to the magazine in Jamaica a couple of years ago. We were driving and chatting with my friend's Aunt and discussing my love of anything to do with Caribbean Architecture and my friend pulled into a store to pick something up and her Aunt promptly returned out of the store holding a MACO magazine. She handed it to me and said you have to read this then. Now I eagerly wait for my copy to arrive at my home in Canada every few months. This large format, glossy magazine is packed with stunning photography and great articles on interior design, fascinating people, artists and food. I highly recommend this magazine! A lot of my posts will be thanks to this great mag!