It’s Only Natural

Artist Evan Schwarze was born and raised in the Midwest and made his living in Chicago as an advertising illustrator for a number of years. But it was the allure of the tropics that galvanized his talents and provided the inspiration to develop his art as it is today.

Schwarze, who moved to Vero Beach this summer, spent 10 years on the tiny island of Culebra in the Caribbean, painting the beauty that surrounded him. “It is paradise,” he says of the 3-by-7-mile island off the east coast of Puerto Rico, where he and his wife still maintain a home.

While his home base was small, he was excited by the big views. “What inspired me then, and still does, are the breathtaking views and the vastness of space. When you are in an area by the ocean, where you see the horizon every day, here in Florida or down in the islands, the views are endless.” He strives to share his enchantment with these scenes in his paintings. “I want to create the thrill that you get when you come over the ridge or look out over the water and see these awe-inspiring views for the first time.”

Many of his paintings are aerial views of sites he experienced flying over the Caribbean during the years he lived in Culebra. “A lot of what we needed for daily living required our getting to the larger islands,” he says. “So, over the years, I have taken about 4,000 aerial photos. I shoot lots of photos for reference, and then I work off a number of different photos and sketches.”