The Turtle Trail: Painting a colorful story
Beaulieu #Beaulieu
Scattered around Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Bunnell are 11 painted loggerhead turtles. Each loggerhead turtle has its own colorful story to tell, and through whimsical brush strokes inspired by Monet, Louis Comfort Tiffany and other famous artists, the indigenous creatures are making their mark.
Palm Coast Arts Foundation Executive Director Nancy Crouch came up with the idea to start the Turtle Trail to share and promote public art in the community.
With the goal to promote public art and incorporate local artists, each turtle draws inspiration from an artist of historical significance. The first turtle of the trail is “Claude,” who was unveiled in April 2018. Claude’s inspiration comes from artist Claude Monet and encompasses a water-lily theme. Local artists Tom Anastasio and Paul Beaulieu collaborated on Claude to kick off the project. Claude sits in front of the Palm Coast Arts Foundation outdoor stage.
“I worked with Nancy Crouch and she asked me if I wanted to participate. She had the idea of doing the turtles and I came up with the idea of fashioning them with the different master painters from history,” Beaulieu said. “I did the first turtle to get the ball rolling with Tom Anastasio. We worked on it together and it was quite a fun project. We thought it came out pretty good.” The Parkside Realty Group sponsored Claude for PCAF.
In addition to working on Claude, Beaulieu also painted the turtle “Marc,” based on the French-Russian artist Marc Chagall. Inspired by Chagall’s “Peace Windows” stained glass pieces in the United Nations building in New York, Beaulieu spent more than 100 hours painting the turtle in his studio.
“I was about 12 years old when I became interested in art. I went to art school for four years,” Beaulieu said. “When I graduated college, I started a design firm in Boston, which I ran for 43 years. Then I sold it and retired and moved here to Florida. For about 65 years I’ve been in love with art.”
A love for local art is what drives the Turtle Trail project and brings in sponsors. PCAF finds a sponsor to pay for the 60-pound fiberglass turtles and also searches for artists to execute the chosen theme.
“It is a wonderful project to incorporate the talented artists in the community,” Crouch said. “It’s been a great collaboration between the community, the artist and the people who go around and see the turtles.”
Another artist known for his stained glass is Louis Comfort Tiffany. Local artist Ronald Lace worked on the turtle “Tiff” for 12 days around six hours per day using acrylic paint in his at-home studio. Lace’s creation can be found at the Long Creek Nature Preserve. Tiff’s shell is painted with birds inspired by the local wildlife and state reserve.
“Tiffany was famous for his stained glass, so I reviewed some of his work. I wanted to do something more unique to the area in a stained-glass fashion,” Lace said. “I live close to the state reserve so I see a lot of birds, so I thought that would be more indicative of the area.” Stained-glass-type work is not Lace’s usual work, but it landed him an opportunity to work on the second turtle of the series. Lace took pictures each day during the process of painting the turtle.
“I would say I’m very eclectic in the sense that I do a lot of different subject matter and I’ve painted in a lot of different styles. I do people, landscape and animals,” Lace said. “Most of my art career has been self-taught after retirement. I’ve done most of my painting since then.”
Once the turtles are completed by the artists, they are taken to Tom Gibbs Chevrolet, where a final acrylic coat is applied. This final step allows the painted turtles to keep their color and shine in the Florida sun.
The sixth turtle in The Turtle Trail is “Quilty,” inspired by 1700s quilt artist Bettie White. Sitting at Waterfront Park Drive and Colbert Lane in Palm Coast, Quilty was painted by local artist Bettie Eubanks. “When the turtle project came up, the sponsors, Bill and Pat Verhagen, came to me. Pat, the sponsor, is a quilter. We did some research and the Smithsonian has an exhibit of quilts. Pat wanted to do something historic and meaningful,” Eubanks said. “We both agreed upon a design. The design on Quilty’s shell represents inspiration from artist Bettie Smith at the museum, as well as Pat and the work she created.”
When transferring the concept to the turtle, Eubanks found it to be a challenge. “It was a difficult feat with the dimensions and angles. The turtle took many weeks and took up the whole studio. The design was tough because the turtle is not flat. I just kept looking at the turtle and going around and around,” she said.
“One day, I went into the studio, took a piece of chalk and just started marking on the turtle. It just came together through answered prayers. I didn’t want to let the turtle go, I wanted to keep it. You do fall in love with the turtle,” Eubanks said.
Eubanks describes herself as a color impressionist and enjoys using color to its fullest. “I want to express happiness and make something on a canvas that is joyful or makes you think. I want to have that explosion of color created around the subject,” she said.
The most recent addition to the Turtle Trail is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, by local artisan Christine Broussard and sponsored by The John W. Kurtich Foundation for Study and Research.
“The Winged Victory was the goddess of victory that was found in France by an archaeologist. Now it is in the Louvre. I went back to read the story of Mr. Kurtich, since his foundation was the one who donated money to have this turtle decorated. I read about his life many times and decided I’m going to paint his life on the turtle,” Broussard said.
On display in Broussard’s home is a sketch of Winged Victory’s concept. Before painting the turtle, Broussard had to develop a concept to share with her sponsors. Broussard started painting the turtle in June 2020 in her at-home studio. Working seven to eight hours per day, it took Broussard one month to complete the turtle.
“The loggerhead has various limbs that I thought could be used to really tell the stories. I did one limb for the Winged Victory and the other for Provence,” Broussard said. “On the lower limbs, I wanted to keep the whole bottom of the turtle in the water because she is a water animal.”
Like many of the other artists on the Turtle Trail, Broussard used acrylic paint. “On the other side of the loggerhead, I did some mosaic because this is what the artists at the time were doing,” she said. “Then on the actual shell, I did columns and modern Greece, so people have a feeling of being there.”
Inspired by Kurtich, Broussard decided to put his face in mosaic on the turtle. “I wanted to tell the life of Mr. Kurtich, with his travels to Greece. He was an architect, archaeologist, poet, musician and much more,” she said.
Broussard’s turtle, Winged Victory, is at the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center in Bunnell. “I could’ve never dreamed that I would paint anything for a city. It was a challenge, but at the same time, quite a pleasure for me,” she said. “The community here in Palm Coast has helped me a lot and built me up to where I am today. I can see the progress, and the support of the other artists is fantastic.”
All around Palm Coast, these fiberglass loggerhead turtles continue to find their new homes in various locations for residents and visitors to admire.
“I think the community benefits indirectly. If you read the plaques on the turtles, there’s a story there. For younger people, they can learn about the master painters. They can also learn about color and design,” Beaulieu said. “It’s good for the kids, young people and retirees. I think culture, music and art is always a good thing.”
In the next few months, more turtles will meet the brush strokes of local artists and find their way into permanent locations around Palm Coast. PCAF has four turtles in the works.
“The next one will be our first Florida Highwaymen turtle named ‘Journey.’ It will be our first indoor turtle that will be placed inside the Government Services Building in Bunnell. The Tomoka Eye is also doing a turtle called their ‘See Turtle’,” Crouch said. “Beverly Beach is doing a turtle called ‘Beverly’ and it will be a beach-themed turtle reminiscent of the ’50s. Then, Alice-based on the adventures of Alice in Wonderland is going to be put at the library off Palm Coast Parkway.”
With the Turtle Trail, PCAF wants to continue to share and promote public art with the community. “A vibrant arts community will drive tourism and economic value to the community,” Crouch said. “I think the Palm Coast community is already becoming known for the Turtle Trail. I know a family that came down to visit from up north. When they went home, the kids kept talking about ‘the place where the turtles were.’”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: The Turtle Trail: Painting a colorful story