Plein air artist Linda Apriletti’s primary goal through her work “is to communicate the uncommon beauty found in nature.” The Miami Springs-based artist prefers Florida settings, and says she enjoys hearing from viewers that her images evoke a sense of peace.
Apriletti was recently in Central Florida for the 2022 Winter Park Paint Out, held by the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens. This issue’s cover image was created during the event.
Purple Wreath Pathway checks a lot of boxes for Apriletti, not the least of which is that there’s plenty of purple. Her last cover image for Winter Park Magazine, in Fall 2019, was called A Passion for Purple. It showed the queen’s wreath (petrea volubilis) in full bloom on the exterior staircase leading to the upper floor of the Polasek.
This year, she originally headed to downtown Winter Park to paint the rose garden in Central Park — but another queen’s wreath caught her eye.
“I kept looking at where to stand so I could include the pergola with the queen’s wreath,” she says. “I really liked the composition. Using that color and the shadow and light would help draw the viewer into the painting and scene. I also loved the purples against the green of the leaves.”
Purple Wreath Parkway is Apriletti’s third Winter Park Magazine cover. The first, “April Showers Bring May Flowers,” was in Summer 2018. It showed foliage overlooking Lake Osceola and was also set at the Polasek.
Although her college degrees are in accounting and taxation, Apriletti pursued her lifelong love of painting while employed as an accountant. She also honed her skills — first in pastels and later in oils — by attending workshops during her vacations.
It was at a workshop in Rocky Mountain National Park that Apriletti discovered her passion for plein air painting. She launched a full-time career as an artist in 2011 — and never looked back.
“Painting outside is critical to helping me observe and understand patterns in nature,” she says.
Much of Apriletti’s work focuses on Everglades National Park and Big Cypress Nature Preserve, adjacent to the Everglades, where she has staged solo exhibitions. She was artist in residence at Big Cypress Nature Preserve in 2012, but also paints in the Blue Ridge Mountains and on Martha’s Vineyard.
Apriletti particularly likes palm trees as subjects. Luckily for her, inspiration is always close at hand — she has more than 25 species growing in her yard.
Says Apriletti: “In both my plein air and studio paintings, I’m trying to bring a fresh and accurate portrayal of the many moods, quality of light and clarity of color of the changing seasons in Florida. I want to draw the viewer into my paintings and perhaps rekindle a personal memory.”
Visit lindaapriletti.com to see more of Apriletti’s work.