Journey to Costa Rica

"Last Evening in Costa Rica" ©Olen Sikes

Last summer, when I went to pick up my painting and piece of sculpture from the Chesapeake Bay Pen Women show at the Bay School in Mathews, several women urged me to support the Bay School endeavors by purchasing a raffle ticket. The Bay School Community Arts Center has been a wonderful facility for area artists, providing classes, a gallery for display, and much more, so, of course, I wanted to buy a ticket.

Although I didn't have a pocketbook with me at the time, I remembered the emergency money stashed away with my cell phone. I found a $20 bill there and purchased the ticket, expecting only to make a donation and nothing more. I forgot about it, so you can imagine my surprise when Pam Doss, executive director, called at the end of September with the news that I had won the trip to Costa Rica.

The prize was round trip airfare for two, along with a stay at one of two Marriotts located there. After researching both resorts, we chose Los Suenos Marriott Ocean and Golf Resort at Herradura, partly because it was available in January when Virginia is often cold and dreary.

I was especially excited because the only "Passenger to Paradise" book I have ever written without visiting the location is Jungle Jeopardy which features part of its setting in Costa Rica. Now that I have been there, I can feel most confident about the details I researched.

The Los Suenos Marriott Resort is lovely, situated next to a luxury marina that was hosting a three-leg fishing tournament which appeared to be quite an important event. I know nothing about fishing nor related tournaments, so I could only observe the setting up efforts and imagine what would take place later.

The resort pools were magical. The buffet breakfast (included in our package) each day was outstanding. We were happy to enjoy many of the features at the resort, including a zumba class and Spanish lessons.

I'm happy I found that hidden $20 bill and that Olen and I enjoyed the luxury of Los Suenos Resort. Thank you, Bay School, for a magical and memorable trip to Costa Rica.

My Fascination Abounds with Jungle Paintings and Jungle Settings

"Jungle Thicket" MMSikes

On our first visit to Jamaica a few years ago, I discovered a fascination with jungle flowers and foliage that follows me to this day. When I returned home, I couldn't stop creating pastel working drawings and large acrylic paintings until I had a large series of these works of art. I named that series "Tropical Fantasies" because of the love I had developed for the tropics.

Now I am bringing that jungle obsession into my writing. From my first novel, set in Jamaica, I have wanted to place my characters into warm, tropical climates.

Much of the setting for my WIP (work in progress) takes place in the jungles of Central America, including Costa Rica. I have taken the characters from an earlier novel, Secrets by the Sea, and cast them in this book. While it is a story that will stand alone, it will be helpful to the reader to have read the earlier book first.

I find it inspiring to have photographs of jungles around me as I go deeper into writing this story. And we sleep beneath a 4 x 6 foot acrylic painting of Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica from my "Tropical Fantasies" series. This painting was the second large art work I created of this dramatic jungle waterfalls setting. The first was purchased by a large hotel chain to place in a new facility when it opened. I missed that painting so much I had to paint another of the waterfalls scene to hang in my own home.

Do you, as a writer or an artist, find a subject that attracts you over and over again? My fascination with jungles abounds. I wonder how much farther it will go...