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Artist:  Lisa Houck

Title:  "Blue Birds with Wild Weather System"

Medium:  Painting - Oil

Size:  30" x 60"

Year Installed:  2004

Location:  Century Plaza Branch Library

Blue birds, sunsets, palm trees and the weather were the images that inspire people in this painting. This branch library is at a farthest distance from the ocean than the other three branch libraries in which the artist also has artwork commissioned. She has emphasized on a landscape filled with palm trees (palmetto, jelly, fishtail and bottle palm) along with ferns and mosses. This colorful artwork is installed on a wall by the front entrance of the Library.

"My art is based on the landscape, and it is filled with color and pattern to create a vibrant and complex surface. I used this approach to make fanciful, imaginative paintings for each of the four branch libraries in Broward County. I have included imagery inspired by South Florida, including palm trees, sand, ocean currents, roseate spoonbills, orchids, butterflies, seagulls, sunsets, movements of water and wind, tropical plants, weather patterns, blue skies, loggerhead turtles, pelicans, seaweed, creatures of the coral reef, and sunshine. I have endeavored to include as many specific references to the natural world surrounding these communities as possible."