WHIDDEN’S BAR | Niki Butcher

Gasparilla Island © 1984

Photographic Story I took this photograph in 1984, a long time before digital. Clyde was going through my old negatives and came across this one and said I needed to hand-paint this image because it is a lost piece of history. The bar is still at Whidden’s, but it looks nothing like this, and it isn’t a “real” bar. Back in 1984, Gasparilla Island was a small quiet island with not much happening on it. Pretty much everyone knew everyone. The town of Boca Grande barely existed. Today, well, it’s grown up and has become well known. It’s still a wonderful place to visit, but the population has increased, and there’s a lot more going on, much like the rest of Florida. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Photographed with her film camera, Niki was able to scan the rediscovered negative and paint using Photoshop. Changing from the old-fashioned way of doing her art, to the new ‘fashion’ of using technology was challenging, but she’s enjoying getting back to her own personal expression. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.