NOCATEE | Niki Butcher

Jiggs Landing © 2005

Photographic Story When I was told by Denise Kleiner that the Old Braden River Historical Society was working toward saving a small house that is a piece of the architectural history of Manatee County, I was very excited. I had driven past the Jiggs Landing Boat Launch and often wondered about the tiny mysterious ‘shot-gun’ fishing camp cabins sitting behind a barbed wire fence.  Manatee County had purchased the land and was going to create a new park and boat launch on the site. The Old Braden River Historical Society had convinced the county to save and refurbish one of the cabins as a historical marker, and add historical information about what this area use to be about. When Denise asked if I would photograph the Nocatee house that is going to be saved and create a piece of art for auction, I was honored. Other than the city of St. Augustine, our state has a very short architectural history. It has always bothered me that as Florida grows communities often disregard the architectural history that came before the growth. I am impressed that Manatee County cares enough about its history to save even the tiniest house as a memory of what came before. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Photographed with a Sony digital camera and instead of oil painting with Q-tips and cotton balls, Niki was able to 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.