Incredible as it may seem, it wasn’t until after I was 40 years young that I had the opportunity to vacation at the beach. Oh, I had seen the ocean, but I had never actually spent any time just walking along the shore, watching the sea gulls or just people watching. Most of all, I was just totally overwhelmed by the ocean itself. Spending our summer vacations on the Gulf of Mexico and the beautiful shore there is the inspiration for this series, “The Emerald Coast”.   The ocean calls to me . . . so it must be painted!