St. Augustine Artist Dara Dodson Paints 'A Land Remembered,' With Shows at the Karpeles Museum and the St. Augustine Art Association

St. Augustine, Fla. — Cattle drives at sunset, a mule turning a cane grinder, a boy and his horse outside a palmetto-shaded cabin: painter Dara Dodson is putting Florida's "Cracker" frontier back on canvas, one scene at a time.

Dodson is creating a series of oil paintings based on A Land Remembered, Patrick D. Smith's best-selling 1984 novel about pioneer Florida, and she says she is doing it with official permission. The work is headed for two St. Augustine shows: a small exhibition at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum on St. George Street in November and December, and a full exhibition of more than 30 paintings at the St. Augustine Art Association opening May 7, 2027.

"I've been painting for many years, but still study under living 'master' artists," Dodson said. "Now I feature paintings of Florida's 'Cracker' history."

Where to see Dara Dodson's paintings

The Karpeles museum is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and is closed on holidays. Questions can go to (407) 376-7705 or [email protected]. Cheryl Karpeles Alleman is the director.

The St. Augustine Art Association's gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., with free admission, according to the association.

Why 'A Land Remembered'

For many Floridians, A Land Remembered is the state's story in one book. Smith's novel follows three generations of the MacIvey family from 1858 to 1968, from scratching out a living in the wilderness and driving wild cattle across the open range to orange groves and, by the 1960s, a very different Florida. It was published by Pineapple Press, and a two-volume edition for young readers is used in many Florida schools.

That sweep of history gives a painter a lot to work with. Dodson's canvases linger on the early chapters of that story: cow hunters on horseback, open prairie, cypress swamps and the hard, hand-built life of Florida's pioneer families.

Cattle, cane and Cracker cabins

Cattle run through much of Dodson's work. In one large canvas, cow hunters and their dogs push a herd of longhorn-style cattle through tall grass toward a blazing sunset, with live oaks and cabbage palms framing the scene.

Grazing on Ninety Mile Prairie, one of the largest pieces shown at the Art Collective gallery at 36 by 46 inches, sets a long line of cattle and two riders beneath towering summer clouds, with a flock of white birds overhead and the prairie reflected in a pond. Under a Fiery Sunset shows cattle grazing at the edge of a cypress-lined river as the sky turns orange and purple.

Other paintings focus on daily work. Sugar Cane Grinding shows a mule hitched to a long wooden sweep, turning a cane mill while a man and a child tend the barrels, the old way of pressing cane juice for syrup. Another shows a girl working a vegetable garden with a basket of carrots and beets while a boy gathers oranges beside a log cabin, chickens scratching along the sandy path.

Can I Come Too, Papa? pairs a young boy in a cowboy hat and his saddled horse with two wolves outside a weathered cabin, under a sprawling, moss-draped oak.

Florida wildlife and wild places

Dodson also paints the natural Florida that the MacIveys would have known. Sanctuary looks down a sunlit creek through a cypress forest, where a bobcat and her kittens stop to drink, deer stand in the distance and an owl watches from a branch.

One painting brings back the Carolina parakeet, the green-and-orange parrot once found in Florida that has since disappeared, shown perched on a mossy branch as another flies over a golden marsh. Smaller river and marsh scenes capture egrets, a white-tailed buck and cabbage palms against fiery Florida sunsets.

From an introductory show to a full exhibition

Dodson's series had its introductory showing at the Art Collective gallery in St. Augustine in September. Gallery photos from that show include Grazing on Ninety Mile Prairie, Sanctuary, Under a Fiery Sunset, Sugar Cane Grinding and Can I Come Too, Papa?, all in oils.

The Karpeles show this fall is a smaller preview. The May 2027 exhibition at the St. Augustine Art Association, with more than 30 paintings, will be the first time the full series is shown together.

And the paintings may travel south. The Elliot Museum in Stuart is interested in adding some of Dodson's work to its major six-month exhibition on A Land Remembered in 2027, she said.

Why the Karpeles Museum fits

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is one of a group of Karpeles museums that display historic manuscripts and documents. Its St. Augustine location sits in a two-story white building with green shutters and a balcony on St. George Street in the heart of the historic district. A show of paintings drawn from a beloved Florida novel is a natural match for a museum built around the written word.

If you go

• November and December: Stop by the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, 105 St. George St. Check with the museum at (407) 376-7705 for exact exhibition dates.
• May 7, 2027: Mark your calendar for the opening of the full exhibition at the St. Augustine Art Association, 22 Marine St.
• Read the book first: A Land Remembered is widely available at libraries and bookstores, and seeing the scenes after reading the novel adds a lot to the paintings.