Mural depicts citrus industry's past
'It's a way to preserve Florida's history'
 

The quartet of painters worked together during the two-day Bloomin' Arts Festival to create the giant work that will eventually find its way to someone's personal collection.

"Our murals basically represent Florida in the late 1800's and early 1900's, Power said. "It's a way to preserve Florida's history."

The painters have worked together to produce a number of the large landscape murals, including the cattle industry, turpentine industry and citrus.

"Nobody can understand how we can work together without killing one another," Power said laughing. But the artists work together and combine their styles that compliment each other.

"We have fun with it," Power said. "We love talking to the people who stop and ask questions."

With the exception of photos provided to the artists to accurately depict architectural design from the turn of the century, the scene in the mural is generated from their combined imaginations.

"We start on one and it goes wherever it takes us," Power said. "To me it's so exciting to do something like this. Your heart and soul are in this. They just take on a life of their own"

Power developed his love of nature from what he was taught from his father, and tries to portray that in his work. He feels that his challenge lies in transforming the two dimensional canvas into a three dimensional scene through the use of adding portrayed depth.

The mural created for the Festival was created to portray a time of the citrus industry complete with the workhouses, grove, tree line, and an extending lake.

Power began painting in 1989 and partnered with, now friend, Robert Butler. He is self taught in his discipline and has received some guidance from Butler, but relies on his imagination and past memories to create his work.

Power first began working in creating the group in 1998 with Butler at Cracker Country, located at the Florida State Fairgrounds, in Tampa.