Last month my husband and I spent 10 days in Florida. It was our first big vacation in about two years, and it was greatly needed. It had a rocky start & end (airline travel is THE WORST) but overall was an amazing experience.
Visiting the Florida Keys has been on my wish list for a while. And while on our final drive back towards Miami, my husband humored my impromptu and last minute requests to stop in a couple local art galleries. When we travel we make a point to focus on local--local bars, restaurants, and souvenirs--so local art galleries are always a favorite of mine.
And I'm so glad I acted on my impulse to stop, because I found a hidden gem in Lisa Lee Herman's Gallery of the Arts! Her shop is filled with life-sized prints of fish, created using a historic method called "gyotaku".
Lisa takes her supplies to the dock and makes black & white prints of freshly caught fish. Then she takes those prints back to her studio and sometimes adds a light wash of paint to capture the living fish's colors.
This unexpected detour was a highlight of my trip because I loved learning about this type of art I'd never heard of before. It was a timely reminder that acting on impulse, taking the detour, and talking to passionate people is never a waste of time.
