I got in the Palm Beach Post

INDIAN RIVER DRIVE : Old Florida's last stand

By Barbara Marshall

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, August 25, 2007

LORI & JACK McNAMARA

THEIR HOME: A 2-bedroom, 11/2-bath home built by Lori's parents in 1950.

Except for 13 years during her first marriage, Lori McNamara has lived her entire life in this small, low-slung house on the river. A painter and head of the Plein Air painters of the Treasure Coast, the river and Indian River Drive are Lori's constant subjects.

"It changes minute to minute," she said. "That's what's great about living on the river."

Lori is a member of a group of artists called "daily painters." She is nearing the end of a project where she finishes a painting a day for a year, which are then posted on her Web site. Most are scenes on or near the river she loves.

One of her recent subjects is a clump of blooming red bromeliads that locals call "hurricane flowers."

"The legend is that they only bloom in hurricane years," she said .

During the Treasure Coast storms of 2004, the McNamaras lost 10 feet of river bank and several large hickory trees. In exchange, they discovered new species of birds and plants blown in from other places.

"For a while, we had a family of Cooper's hawks, who cleaned up all the songbirds and squirrels, but they're gone now, so the squirrels are coming back," Lori said.

After trips, the McNamaras look forward to the moment when they make the turn in downtown Fort Pierce and head south on The Drive.

"Coming home from vacation you can smell the salt air and it feels like home," she said.

To see Lori McNamara's paintings, go to www.lorisart.blogspot.com.