Look twice at Rhonda Serra's works. The first time, you'll think her beautifully-captured landscapes and natural studies are paintings. A closer look will show they are photographs. As a girl, Serra tagged along with her father while he fished and shrimped the St. Johns and the Intracoastal. Now, she says, she feels a kinship with the members of the San Sebastian River Artists Studio at Holborn Gallery, whose works recall both those sun swept days and convey the splendor that still abounds in Northeast Florida.

But it was Italy, not home, that revealed Serra's natural eye for photography. During a trip a few years ago, she found herself absorbed in viewing, framing, and then capturing the scenes around her. Once discovered, Serra followed her talent where it led. "My motto is, 'I shoot what I like what I see,'" she said. "It's still like a dream to me that I can create something that's beautiful and that other people think is too. I know what I like and it's very rewarding that other people see what I see."

Most photographers rely on mirror-gloss paper for their prints. Serra and fine art print maker Hugh Holborn experimented with canvas and favored the results. "The canvas brings out the colors and textures that are already in the photographs," she said. "Most people think at first they are looking at a painting." Serra wants to wake up the viewers of her work to the wonder around them. "Drive over any bridge in this area and it's beautiful wherever you look," she said. "A lot of people seem to forget the beauty of it all."

"The new San Sebastian River Artists' venue is a wonderful opportunity, not only for the artists, but also for the people who live and visit here. The subject of all the art — painting, sculpture, print, and photography — at the San Sebastian River Artists Studio at Holborn Gallery is Northeast Florida." Rhonda Serra's photography is now on display.