GATOR PARK | Niki Butcher

Everglades National Park © 1998

Photographic Story I love funky wayside places. They were in abundance when we first moved to Florida, however as Florida became more ‘sophisticated’ they are few and far between. Gator Park is located on Tamiami Trail (hwy 41) and is an airboat ride. The cola sign is still there, but a hurricane blew down all the neat animals they had placed on top of the cola sign. I hope someday they replace them. In the meantime, I photographed it because it is part of Florida’s history. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Niki prints her images on fiber-base black and white mat surface paper in the darkroom, then using Q-tips and cotton balls, she applies a thin coat of oil paint over the surface allowing the image to gently be seen through the oil paint. 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.