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Arts and Entertainment: “CHICK SCHWARTZ, CEDAR KEY ARTIST,” OPENS AT APPLETON MUSEUM IN OCALA
January 29th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Fiber Artist Classes at Cedar Key Arts Center
January 5th, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: ACOUSTICAL AFTERNOON FOR THE ARTS FUNDRAISER FOR THE CEDAR KEY ARTS FESTIVAL
December 31st, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Arts Center - January Events
December 25th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: CEDAR KEY ART FESTIVAL DEADLINE EXTENDED
December 21st, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar KeyHole Artists of the Month
December 10th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: December 1 - Gallery Opening at Cedar Key Arts Center
December 5th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Arts Center - Holiday Mini Projects Party
November 29th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Florida`s Eden and Bev Ringenberg at the Arts Center Opening December 1
November 28th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Suwannee Valley Players - Open Auditions: "Little Shop of Horrors"
November 27th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: WEEKEND MUSIC SCENE
November 23rd, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Make a bowl for Empty Bowls event
November 22nd, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: CEDAR KEY CALLING ALL FINE ARTISTS TO DELIGHT AND INSPIRE!
November 19th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key Arts Center - December Workshops
November 14th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Keyhole`s 35th Anniversary
November 12th, 2012

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A View Under the Ocean with Artist Alda Leffew

A View Under the Ocean with Artist Alda Leffew

Maureen Landress

There are artists who imbue their work with hidden meanings, who bare their souls on canvas with swirls of shadowed darkness that leave us feeling somehow diminished. Then there are also those rare few whose work is so filled with the joy of life, that our own lives are enriched by having viewed it. Alda Leffew's work is infused with that kind of warmth and wonder, the kind that brings a smile to your face each time you see it.


Reticent to talk about herself and her work, she lets her creations speak for her, and they speak volumes. If you have never had the pleasure of seeing Alda's work, then stop by the Cedar Key Market and ask if you can visit their restroom. No, you have not misread that last line. When Tina Hooper, the market's owner, wanted to spruce up the restroom, Alda offered to paint a mural on the walls. What she created is an incredible view from beneath the ocean that covers the entire room from floor to ceiling.

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Floor and walls cleverly combine in a delicate coral reef.

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The room's floor transformed into the ocean bottom.

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The ceiling becomes a bird filled sky.

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A friendly octopus waves hello.


Working in her spare time, it took several months to complete the project. Everyone who witnessed the room's transformation got caught up in the creative energy, so Alda hung a piece of paper on the wall and asked them to jot down their ideas. The result is an unbelievably intricate mural depicting the creatures that live above and below the sea. Everywhere you look there is something wondrous and delightful to behold, like the octopus whose arms drape down from the wall, the small crab crawling up from the floor, or the sharp-eyed gull swooping overhead. The scene is so cleverly rendered that one can barely tell where the floor ends and the walls begin. It is like standing under the ocean, eye-to-eye with the denizens of the deep. It is the essence of joy, life, and laughter.

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