The evening was wonderful, I had the opportunity to
socialize with a number of friends whom I’ve not seen since my last big art
show – Arlen Thorensen, the oil painter, Mary Byrd the owner of Frame Factory,
and a number of my friends from the Pinellas Park Art Society. The night opened
with music by a local pianist and catered hors d'oeuvres from seventeen local
restaurants. I sampled a full gambit of delicious samples – marinated mushrooms,
herbed meatballs, chicken parmesan, vegetable stir fry, pad-thai, sushi, roast
pork, Cuban rice and flan. Quite a selection of artists presented their work
both indoors and on the patio and the genres of art presented spanned all
aspects of the creative spectrum… Oil and watercolor painting, caricature and
sketch, computer generated art and photography, pottery, jewelry and textiles,
music and the culinary arts.
I presented a number of different genres – my wildlife and landscape photography, my canvasses, my sketches and my comics. I sold a few prints of beach scenes and enjoyed the visit of a couple who saw my juvenile burrowing owls and recounted the story of a clutch of owls who had called their yard “home.” For their time and an enjoyable discussion, I felt compelled to offer my barred owl sketch to them as a gift. The canvasses of the owls and the macaw garnered attention, the print of “Beach Boardwalk” was the top seller again, but the comics were my attention-grabber again. The laughs of my readers and their refrain of "Aww, that character is so cute" tell me my job is done right.
At eight o’clock the piano music ceased and a local brass band – the Treble Clefs – took over. They set up directly opposite me. A better opportunity for a few caricatures of musicians in action could not have been wished for. And I spent the remainder of the night sketching the saxophonist, the trumpet-player, the drummer, vocalist, and piano man. I suspect my friend Diann Franks, who specializes in jazz-themed art, would have been proud. At the end of the night each musician took home his likeness as a gift. The auction ended at ten o’clock and my 24x36 canvas – “Cape of the Twilight” – has found a new home and my family has acquired two new curio cabinets for ninety dollars.
The Art Hop is as usual among my favorite art events of the year and the only one to so involve the community and bring together so much talent under one roof. Every year the show gets better. My heartfelt thanks go out to all who make this night such a wonderful success year after year.
Thanks for reading!I presented a number of different genres – my wildlife and landscape photography, my canvasses, my sketches and my comics. I sold a few prints of beach scenes and enjoyed the visit of a couple who saw my juvenile burrowing owls and recounted the story of a clutch of owls who had called their yard “home.” For their time and an enjoyable discussion, I felt compelled to offer my barred owl sketch to them as a gift. The canvasses of the owls and the macaw garnered attention, the print of “Beach Boardwalk” was the top seller again, but the comics were my attention-grabber again. The laughs of my readers and their refrain of "Aww, that character is so cute" tell me my job is done right.
At eight o’clock the piano music ceased and a local brass band – the Treble Clefs – took over. They set up directly opposite me. A better opportunity for a few caricatures of musicians in action could not have been wished for. And I spent the remainder of the night sketching the saxophonist, the trumpet-player, the drummer, vocalist, and piano man. I suspect my friend Diann Franks, who specializes in jazz-themed art, would have been proud. At the end of the night each musician took home his likeness as a gift. The auction ended at ten o’clock and my 24x36 canvas – “Cape of the Twilight” – has found a new home and my family has acquired two new curio cabinets for ninety dollars.
The Art Hop is as usual among my favorite art events of the year and the only one to so involve the community and bring together so much talent under one roof. Every year the show gets better. My heartfelt thanks go out to all who make this night such a wonderful success year after year.
