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Arts and Entertainment: SUNNY & STEADY - The 48th Annual Old Florida Celebration of the Arts
May 1st, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Pastel Art From Citrus County
April 30th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Where’s Bo? A Happy Sad Story
April 28th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Cedar Key’s 48th Annual Fine Art Festival
April 24th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Official 2012 Posters & T-shirts for Sale
April 19th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: VALERIE BRETL RECIEVES `BEST IN SHOW` AT INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION
April 19th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - Food Map
April 16th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Join the Fun - Be an Old Florida Celebration of the Arts Purchase Award Patron?
April 9th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Henry Gernhardt and Kevin Hipe to exhibit at Cedar Key Arts Center
April 5th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - List Of Artists
April 5th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - Street Map
April 4th, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - MENU
April 3rd, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: Arts Festival - Entertainment Schedule
April 2nd, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: AND THE WINNER IS...
March 31st, 2012

Arts and Entertainment: ART THERAPY CLASSES
March 29th, 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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