Right now you can see the history of Marco Island take shape in oils, watercolors, and acrylic.

In this "Maggie Monday," our Maggie Crane learns what it's like to be one of the artists in the island's "Art Interprets History" showcase.

"You can teach anybody to sing the notes, it's just how you sing them," Paul Arsenault, Naples-based artist, says.

Instead of a camera or pencil, Paul Arsenault picks up a paint brush. With it, he forever puts history into a painting.

"There are just certain tricks of the trade as you go," Arsenault says.

And Arsenault is going all over the world.

"I have a patron who sends me around to paint different places where he buys new software companies," Arsenault says.

So much for the "starving artist."

"He's got 150 paintings in his world headquarters here in Naples, so it's been a wonderful run."

But he's not done. Arsenault and other Collier County artists are interpreting history based off of old photographs and even some of Arsenault's own work.

"I never wanted to become a documentarian or an historian, but just because I did paint it then, rather than come back and it be gone, I suddenly am now considered an historian because I did it so long ago and there's no other record," Arsenault says.

Giving a whole new meaning to "art history."

Other places Arsenault painted before they were torn down and too late or reshaped are the Ideal Fish Camp at Caxambas Pass, the old Marco Inn and even his own home.

"This is our property here before we put the wall up," Arsenault says of one of his pieces. "That's the last time it looked like the Old Naples before the wall."

"There's always the question of what's going to happen next," he says. So, Paul paints it before he can find out.

"When you find these little poetic vignettes -- not that you're trying to glorify sentimental, but there's a certain, a classic soulfulness that you like to record," Arsenault says.

He finds inspiration in everyday life and even takes his cues as a contemporary impressionist right from his own backyard.

"Being here a long time, you kind of get a sense for the rhythm of things, like you know that this week is going to be the last week for the blossoms that are on that wall over there," Arsenault says.

There are no rules to paint Paul's way -- it's like an imprecise precision.

"If I wanted to get a gray, I could put a little orange next to a little blue and from a distance, the way your eye puts those colors together, it becomes a rich gray," Arsenault says. "It should look good from the couch."

Dipping into his pallet of paint...

"We have a little ultra-blue and a little yellow okra..."

Paul teaches Maggie more tricks of his trade.

"One thing about my work, that I'm told, is that it's immediately recognizable because there's a certain rhythm and a certain color thing, so if you if you want to do a couple of strokes that indicate the palm fronds, it winds around like that," Arsenault describes. "Nothing is in stone, it's always a work in progress."

"Thank goodness!" Maggie says.

The Marco Island "Art Interprets History" show runs through the end of the month. You can see it for free at the Center for the Arts Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you have an idea for a "Maggie Monday," send Maggie an email at maggie.crane@winktv.com.