May 142026
 

Ashley Cantero created this mural of stylized aliens for the 2022 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

From the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance about the artist-

Ashley Cantero is a Tampa, FL native and artist who actively engages in the local art scene. Best known for her precise line work and bold female characters, her work embodies a profound energy that she defines as the “intense and complex emotional responses we have to the world around us.” With themes inspired by ‘60s psychedelia, Atomic Age design and Sci-Fi, Ashley’s work is ever evolving through various mediums and artistic forms of expression.

You can also find her work on Instagram.

Apr 032026
 

“American Pastorale”, 2016, Acrylic, latex, glitter on linen

“American Pastorale”, 2016 (detail)

American Pastorale, by Elisabeth Condon, part of the Tampa Museum of Art‘s permanent collection, is currently on view in the museum’s group exhibition Avant Garde: Remarkable Women in the Permanent Collection.

From the museum about the work-

The foliage growing near her Tampa studio, traditional Chinese scroll painting, vintage fabrics, and wallpaper samples inspire Elisabeth Condon’s paintings of tropical flora. She often isolates an object or pattern from these source materials and incorporates it as a central image or texture in her paintings. In American Pastorale, a chrysanthemum anchors the painting. To create various layers in this work, Condon applied color with expressive brushwork and poured paint directly onto the canvas. The artist’s palette of intense reds, oranges, and pinks, as well as cooler blues and greens, evokes Florida and Southern California’s vibrant landscapes. Iridescent glitter adds texture and luminosity to the surface.

Oct 302025
 

Betsy Lester, “The Weyward Sisters”, Acrylic and collage on canvas

Florida artist Betsy Orbe Lester‘s mixed media work blends the familiar with the mysterious. The works pictured are from a 2023 visit to her studio at ArtLofts in St. Pete.

Oct 242025
 

Threshold, 2020, a painting by Orlando-based artist Ericka Sobrack, was on view in 2021 as part of Morean Arts Center‘s Fresh Squeezed 5 The annual Fresh Squeezed exhibitions focus on a selection of emerging artists currently living in Florida.

Her solo exhibition, Witching Hour, is currently on view at Cat Eye Creative in Decatur, Georgia, until 11/2/25.

From the artist about her work-

My paintings are disorientations of everyday spaces, offering the viewer access into a realm of the unknown, ripe with psychological strangeness. Suburban environments are often subverted into a hyper-reality, revealing juxtapositions between the mundane and the eerie to create conflict and tension. I’m interested in how form, light and color within unassuming settings can be manipulated and orchestrated into uncomfortable, almost uncanny depictions of the banal. By deconstructing the mundane and colliding it with the abnormal, these familiar suburban settings transform into strange, otherworldly scenes that amplify human drama, usually suggesting an implied event, a vague story, or fragmentations of memory. Behind these charged scenes often lie personal yet common experiences that linger in a heightened state of uncertainty.

I often explore the idea of safety and threat within domestic spaces, where the viewer becomes a witness, an observer, or a participant of the narratives that unfold before them. These intimate scenes are an embodiment of the emotional discord many of us share, where vulnerability materializes, and we are forced to confront the uncomfortable truths of both physical and psychological isolation.”

Jun 062025
 

Breaking Free by Rhys Meatyard for the 2023 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.

From the artist about the mural-

For my mural, I wanted to do something hopeful and bright, and the color palette reflects that intent. I took inspiration primarily from classical art and 70s prog rock album covers. I am a big fan of Roger Dean – the artist behind covers for bands such as Yes and Uriah Heep – and borrowed some of his themes for this piece. In the foreground, you see two statues in a colonnade, and as your eye moves across the piece into the mid and background, you become aware that the land and temple are breaking apart, with parts floating off into the sun. The furthest statue has awakened and is stepping off of her base, gazing into the sun. Although the context – the solid ground she has been standing upon is breaking apart – should be frightening, she is looking into the light and moving towards her new existence. This is a metaphor for the process of being reborn in the breaking we all face in our lives, for waking up to the beautiful and terrifying reality of self, and becoming another thing and venturing into the unknown.

Spatially, the piece unfolds for you as you round the corner approaching it. Your first view is of the static statues, and as you come closer, the rays of sunlight draw you in to the rest of the scene. There is not much room to stand back from the piece, so you are forced to confront its magnitude up-close, pulling you into the world in which it exists.

Apr 252025
 

Mural by Donald Walker

ArtFields Community Mural by Jessica Diaz, Morgan Funkhouser, Olivia Cramer, Sam Ogden

Today’s flashback is to 2021 and a trip to Lake City, South Carolina to check out ArtFields.  Started in 2013, the event is a wonderful example of how the arts can revitalize local economies.

So what is ArtFields? Every year for one week local businesses and galleries host works created by artists from the Southeastern United States for a competition with prizes totaling over $145,000. There are also two People’s Choice Awards which are determined by the attendees of the festival. The other awards are chosen by a panel of art professionals. Special events take place throughout the week and ArtFields Jr. offers a chance to see work by South Carolina students.

This year the event runs from April 25th to May 3rd, 2025. Even if you can’t make it, it’s worth taking a look here at this year’s artwork as well as from past years.

Below are a few selections from 2021-

Mural by Lance Turner

“From This Moment Forward” by Herman A. Keith Jr. inspired by Gee’s Bend Quilters

Partially finished mural by Broderick Flanigan honoring Lake City educators Elouise Cooper and Derrick Faison.

“7 Red Wolves” by Joann Galarza Vega

About the work from the above by Joann Galarza Vega

“There may be as few as only 7 red wolves remaining in the wild. These animals, like so many others, are disappearing in the shadows of our periphery. Their very existence depends on us, as did their extinction. Let us see them, acknowledge them, acknowledge that biodiversity and the balance of life matters. They are painted bright red in order to stand out and bring attention, no longer hidden away.”

Pictured above is The House on Church Street which in 2021 was used for several art installations including the two below. The first is New Histories: The Gadsden Farm Project by Michael Austin Diaz and Holly Hanessian.

About the installation-

The installation below, All Too Brief, was created by Gainesville, Florida artist Cindy Steiler.

From the ArtFields website about the installation-

All Too Brief was inspired by the movement of time and the unconscious process where our present moment is being continuously converted to memory. The elements comprising All Too Brief include a series of scrolls of cyanotype photographs and repurposed textiles wound on antique industrial weaving bobbins. Each scroll has a WW2-era laundry pin embossed with a number that corresponds to the written narrative of the images and textiles it holds. This piece is my attempt to document and archive people, places, and fleeting moments I hold dear. This piece became even more meaningful to me this year. My studio assistant at the time this piece was created has since passed.

Finally- while in town it’s also worth checking out the Ronald E. McNair Life History Center and Memorial Park. The Lake City-born astronaut and physicist died tragically in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

Jan 282025
 

Marti a flor de labios (Marti on the lips) is a portrait of Cuban poet, writer, journalist, philosopher, and activist José Martí by Cuban artist Edel Alvarez Galban (AGalban). The painting was part of the 2023 exhibition El Arte: Echos of Cuba at the Clearwater Library in Florida. Galban emigrated to the United States in 1995, later moving to St. Petersburg, Florida in 2001 where he works in both the medical profession and the arts.

José Martí was born in Havana on January 28th, 1853 and died in 1895 during the Battle of Dos Rios, fighting for Cuba’s independence from Spain. He traveled to Tampa Bay’s Latin Quarter, Ybor City, on several occasions while in exile to give speeches and to raise funds to support his cause.

Parque Amigos de Jose Marti (Friends of Jose Marti Park) in Ybor City features a statue of Martí and a plaque. The land was gifted to the Republic of Cuba in 1956 and was once home to the boarding house of Afro-Cuban activist Paulina Pedroso. She was friends with Martí and he stayed with her during his visits to the area.

 

Nov 082024
 

This mural was created by Florida artist Taylor Smith aka Dreamweaver for the 2022 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete.

You can find more of her recent work on Instagram.

 

Sep 122024
 

Superpalm Mural, by Florida artist Elizabeth Barenis, was commissioned by the city of Dunedin in 2022 for their Parks and Recreation building.

Her solo exhibition, Tropical Splendor, is on view at Morean Arts Center in St. Pete until 9/24/24.

Mar 092024
 

The mural above, Celestial Tigers, located outside the Oceanic Market building in Tampa, is by Florida artist Michelle Sawyer.

She is currently showing recent paintings at Parachute Gallery, located in the Kress Contemporary building in Ybor City.

Also check out her Instagram for recent work.