Reno based artist Hannah Eddy created this mural for the 2023 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
Check out her Instagram as well for more artwork.
Nov 272023
Nov 172023
On the Road, created by Caratoes for the 2016 edition of SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
For more recent work by the artist, also check out her Instagram.
Oct 182023
Lindsay Oesterritter has created several lovely works for her current exhibition Orientation at Morean Center for Clay in St. Pete.
From the artist about her work-
“When I work with clay, I aim to convey a narration of time and place. I work in an intentionally straightforward manner, choosing the clay and combination of processes for the marks that will be left on the vessel. The processes of making are recorded on the surface of the object and begin to reveal the qualities of the material and tell a visual story.”
Oct 182023
Keith Crowley “Longwood Run (Nocturne)”, 2019, Oil on linen (left) and “Mooring Fields (Twilight)”, 2021 (right)
Kenny Jensen, “I Didn’t Forget You (The Clearing)”, 2023 (left) and “I Didn’t Forget You (Papa’s Van)” 2023 (right)
Alison Tirrell “untitled (It’s all under control)”
Elizabeth Barenis, “The Creek Drank the Cradle”, acrylic on canvas
The Factory is a massive space in the Warehouse Arts District in St. Pete that houses numerous galleries and artist spaces, as well as the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, Museum of Motherhood (MOMMuseum), Fairgrounds St. Pete, and Daddy Kool Records. This past Saturday (10/14/23) was Second Saturday ArtWalk and there was a lot to see. On this page and the ones that follow are some of the highlights.
In Studio B, a temporary gallery space, was the group exhibition Soft Spoken (images above), which included artists Keith Crowley, Kenny Jensen, Alison Tirrell, Elizabeth Barenis, Raheem Fitzgerald, Kate Cummins, and Alfredo Christiano. This show remains on view by appointment with the artists.
In The Factory’s gallery space was the group exhibition Medium (images below).
Oil paintings by Luke Vest
Laurent Waldron “Road Killer”, 2023, Latex and acrylic paint, rubber tire and “Last Rodeo” 2023, Acrylic paint, wirebrush frame
At the Florida Wildlife Corridor’s gallery space Wild Space is Mickett/Stackhouse Studio’s Circle of Water, a collection of paintings, drawings, and video by artists Carol Mickett and Robert Stackhouse continuing their explorations of environmental issues. This exhibition will remain on view until 1/13/24.
Work by Mickett/Stackhouse Studio– “Mitigation Paintings: Green Shade Oak, Whale Pump, Mangrove Family, Mangrove Sea Wall, Green Swamp, Green Swamp Aqua Feeder, Whale Pump & Plankton, Shade Oak”, Watercolor on paper
About the above by the artists-
Mitigation Paintings further explore the ways in which natural resources can help to remedy and even forestall the damages of climate change. The swamps, whales and trees depicted are all “carbon sink,” in other words they absorb CO2, among their other contributions.
Work by Mickett/Stackhouse Studio at Wild Space Gallery
Oct 142023
A flashback to earlier this year and checking out Juan Alonso-Rodriguez’s studio when he opened it for St. Pete’s 2nd Saturday ArtWalk. His studio will be open again for this month’s ArtWalk and is filled with all new and different work.
You can also check out his studio on Instagram.
Sep 292023
Christina Bothwell, “Spirit Animal”, 2014, Cast glass, ceramic, oil paint
Christina Bothwell and Robert Bender “Cloud Pillow”, 2016, Cast glass, ceramic, oil paint
Karen LaMonte, “Etude 11”, Cast glass
Leah Wingfield and Steve Clements, “Low Winter Sun, Shadow III”, 2016, Cast glass
K. William LeQuier, “Synergy 2”, 2017, Cut and sandblasted glass
Above are some of the amazing glass works from a 2021 visit to Imagine Museum in St. Pete, Florida. For more work by artists Christina Bothwell, Robert Bender, Karen LaMonte, Leah Wingfield, Steve Clements, and K. William LeQuier, head to the links in this post.
This weekend (9/30 and 10/1) you can visit the museum for $5 (normally $15).
Aug 142023
This mural by Florida artist Tasko was created for the 2022 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
Jul 242023
This mural by Shark Toof was created for the 2015 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
About the mural from the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance website–
The artist hails from Los Angeles and is known around the world for his iconic shark illustrations. Although the shark’s reputation is fearsome, Shark Toof uses the image of a shark to give strength, optimism and possibility to the viewer. He sees the shark as a voice of rebellion, and a conduit for the unheard.
At the artist’s request, the wall was painted red before he got to St. Pete. Even so, the mural took four days and almost one hundred cans of aerosol paint – and it was a challenge because of wires and the architectural details of the wall.
When the painting was done, the artist stepped into the doorway on the bottom right, closed the iron grate and said, “See? Now I’m in a shark cage!”
For more of Shark Toof’s work also check out his Instagram.
Jul 172023
This mural by Marina Capdevila was created for the 2022 edition of the SHINE Mural Festival in St. Pete, Florida.
Check out her Instagram as well to see her most recent work.
Jun 212023
Center work by Laura De Valencia
Morean Arts Center in St. Pete, Florida, is currently showing Fresh Squeezed 7, their annual exhibition of emerging artists in Florida. It’s a great opportunity to see some of the best artwork being done by local artists. The exhibition closes 6/22/23.
From the the Morean Arts Center’s press release-
As always, our selection panel culled over 120 applications from across the state, narrowing the exhibition down to the six artists featured here. It’s always a joyful and heartbreaking process, seeing so much inspiring good work and only having a limited amount of space in which to show it all.We were looking for diversity in medium, in ideas, and in geographical location, all of which somehow comes together to form a delightful, cohesive whole.
While we don’t necessarily plan it that way, themes and commonalities do emerge among the artists selected for the exhibition. We’re happy to announce this is the first year that we have an ALL FEMALE line up. And due to the inclusive interpretation we use to define an emerging artist (no previous solo shows in Florida), you’ll find artists here who are still pursuing their MFAs (KJ Skidmore and Leeann Rae) AND artists who are returning to their first love of art after finding fulfillment in decades of other related careers (Latonya Hicks and Deborah W. Perlman).
Other themes you may notice as you peruse the galleries are the inventive (and exuberant!) use of materials. Denise Treizman and Latonya Hicks both incorporate cast off, recycled and vintage materials in their dimensional wall work. While Denise’s process is more spontaneous and Latonya’s is deliberate and measured, they both create joyful works of art that invite contemplation and perhaps a spark of recognition from the viewer.
KJ Skidmore and Laura De Valencia both deal with contemporary issues and pop culture in their work, though to wildly different effect. KJ’s humorous mixed media paintings address the notion of the male gaze, and the women who must endure it. Laura’s installations use fashion culture as a jumping off point to raise questions about international stereotypes and the borders (both visible and not) that immigrants have to experience on a daily basis.
Both Leeann Rae and Deborah W. Perlman create work that challenge the viewer to look longer, and to think deeper. With their disparate materials (Leeann with soft pastel and Deborah with cut paper), they raise notions of space, whether physical or mental, real or imagined, in the present or a memory from the past.
KJ Skidmore “Squeeze ‘n’ Block”, Acrylic and coffee
KJ Skidmore
KJ Skidmore “Angel’s Bar”, Acrylic, fabric, trim, paste and wood paper
The work above is by Tampa based artist KJ Skidmore.
Morean Arts Center’s information about the artist-
KJ’s current work is based in painting/drawing that extends into3-D space through multimedia installation. Her immersive spaces are chaotic and aggressive, but at the same time alluring. She works within her own bizarre and disjointed narratives and themes containing warped textual elements, strange cartoon characters, and color palettes that are both grimy and fluorescent. Her material use is variable and may include masses of hair clumped together with canned beets, pink stained carpet, fabrics, wood, plaster, teeth, rain jackets, and Smurf-themed objects.
KJ’s painted series Burger Time caricatures leering male clientele as flat, monster-like cartoons that interact with a staring waitress to explore gendered tropes and forms of voyeurism. This series reconstructs reality in relation to being female by presenting experiences like getting stared at or groped within a hokey themed attraction called “Burger Time” restaurant. Her series is meant to revolt the viewer through acknowledging the male gaze, while also celebrating its trashiness and the culture surrounding it. She uses humor to poke fun at this harmful and uneven power dynamic. The series presents this sickening concept through more palatable presentation such as expressive cartoon figures and bright colors.
KJ is from Gainesville, FL, but was living on the West Coast until recently. She is back in Florida pursuing an MFA at USF in Tampa.
For more of the artists in the show, continue to the next page.