Aruba Shore Watercolor Painting

I am fortunate to know someone who travels quite a bit, and who allows me to use his photos as reference for paintings. This beautiful seascape is found on the southern Caribbean island of Aruba, an island with a dry, desert climate with perfect beaches and lovely European architecture. I knew that Aruba was part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, but found it interesting to learn that it was also claimed by Spain for a century and Great Britain for several years.
The tree that looks more like a piece of driftwood than anything, is a Divi tree devoid of its leaves. You can see the twisted and gnarled shape of the tree, bent by the constant trade winds at the shore. In fact, none of the Divi trees on the Aruba shore grow straight because of the winds. Because Aruba is outside the hurricane belt and has a consistently good climate, it's a great place to escape from the winter blues!