David Ouellette

From the third floor of his house in northern St. Augustine, David Ouellette has a treetop view.

But his attention is more likely to be centered on a canvas lying flat on a table as he paints with liquid enamel, a medium that tends to run.

Propped against one wall is a proper studio easel that he pulls out when he uses oils. A workman-like bench runs against the other wall, loaded with paints, rags and brushes, with other tools of his trade hanging neatly above.

Over the polished and paint spattered floor hangs the odor of linseed oil. “I just love the smell of linseed oil,” Ouellette said.

He’s an artist, one who has been painting for decades. For more than 20 of those years, he worked as an instructor and gallery director for Florida School of the Arts.