Commissions and Art Galleries, Huzzah!

And here we are again! I'm taking a brief pause prior to work to update my readers on recent events, while I await the toaster at my kitchen table. Wonderful how effort pays off... Recently my hobby and my job have intermingled with funding and enjoyment being had on both fronts.

At this time I have exhibits running at Suntan Art Center, Stirling Studios Art Gallery, Pinellas Park City Hall, and the Park Station Gallery. I'm preparing for the annual vacation to St. Augustine this June, to satisfy my cravings as a History-buff, and , at the same time, a good number of my sketches and oil pencil portraiture will soon be on display at Carrollwood Cultural Center in June.

Networking does pay off! Through my friend, fellow artist, Doug Land, I received a commission from a local writer, I don't think he will mind me advertising his name... The cover art for David Watts next literary work will be taken from a 18x24 oil pencil sketch, inspired by an excerpt from his tale.  I truly did have a great deal of fun expressing myself in this piece. I can't reveal the title or the artwork yet, but it will be here as soon as the book is published. Whoo! Commissions, gotta love 'em! So I'm adding illustration to my offerings now, and advertising them with my boss's help at FASTSIGNS, where custom jobs are also a specialty.

It does bring a smile to my face as I think back to what I was doing for a living only a year ago. "Winds of change, baby! Winds of change."

Thanks for reading!

Lyle Polyak

(2 C more art go to www.artoflylepolyak.com or www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

(my favorite spokesperson, showing

off the new sign campaingn.)

(The art reception at Stirling Studios was really packed.)

The News

New Year, New job, New plans, New opportunities, New… stuff.

2013 opened at a rapid pace with welcome changes, and I can now legally introduce myself as a Graphic Designer for the national signage and advertising firm FASTSIGNS. Included in the job description… the design and production of custom graphics, logos and backgrounds for tradeshow banners, window displays, billboards, menus, props, decals, vehicle graphics, wall art,… You name it, we print it or have a subsidiary that does it for us. FASTSIGNS presented me a welcome departure, well received, from previous careers that had no focus on art. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

My duties continue with the Pinellas Park Art Society. In addition to welcoming new members I have been seeking venues for the display of public art. The first of which was Largo Public Library’s Gallery 120. The Library welcomed thirty artists of PPAS, for a month long show in their spacious gallery wing and we eagerly await our next opportunity to display our work. If you own or work with a venue in Tampa Bay with ample wall space and an appreciation for fine art, send me an email. We at PPAS have the talent to give you a great exhibit.

It’s still only January and already my works have hung in Ruth Eckerd Hall, Park station, Largo Public Library, Suntan Art Center, The Menaul Fine Art Gallery and more, but 2013 shall be a year when I aim to do more with my art. I’m reaching out to my peers for critique, and taking up, anew, many of the artistic genres that I enjoyed prior to college…  Charcoal, Pencils, Pen and ink, Pastels. My sketches have hung in Park Station and Suntan Gallery in previous shows, but I hesitate to give my sketches equal billing, beside my photography, until I know that others view them as quality art. (In truth, my drawing style arises from the techniques I have learned from many different peers and professors. Some of those instructors emphasized point perspective and the golden ratio, others insisted that art based on math is “cold” and encouraged emotion at the expense of perspective. Not all the techniques I learned work well together. So I aim to attain “the nod of approval” from at least a few peers who owe their good reputation to similar art.) Perhaps soon I will have online galleries devoted to sketches as well?

Thanks for reading

L Polyak

Below: Anatomy of a work in progress

(2 C More Art go to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com or www.artoflylepolyak.com)

March Madness

It's getting busy again. The spring breakers are in town and the art exhibit schedule is picking up pace. Last week we enjoyed a three day art show hosted by the Largo Community Center. Fine works of art in various genres were presented upon flowing linen curtains which really set off the plenitude of colors. Friday was the reception, free to artists and their families but with a twenty five dollar entry fee to other visitors. It was really very enjoyable and well presented and I had the opportunity to speak with some friends in the artistic community whom I had not seen in some time.

I'm following a lead I received from friends at the Pinellas Part Art Society. Within the grounds of the Florida Botanical Gardens and Heritage Village is the structure which was once the Gulfcoast Museum of Art. It has been abandoned for some time, but once hosted a number of artists and events that had the surrounding gardens as an inspirational backdrop. This structure is being re-opened as a gallery and interactive museum which will celebrate the area's maritime and fishing history. I am hoping that a collection of my work may be included.

Last night we attended the reception for "Off The Wall," an art exhibit hosted by The Exhibiting Society of Artists at the SunTan Art Center. The Gallery is immediately beside the popular Don Cesar Resort at the south end of the Island Beaches. My new work titled "Fractured Rhythm" joined the collection. The show featured a fine assortment of abstract art, a potluck fare of snacks, good company a casual atmosphere and a belly dancer. Yes, a belly dancer... see my photos below. We all had a great deal of fun after which my family invaded the Don Cesar to browse shops and take in the beach scenery. It was a wonderful night.

I have received my copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5. I recognize the familiar painting and ray tracing tools which I've given some use already, but this program is packed to bursting with features I've never heard of before, so I'm off to Borders to get a "How To" book and I've enrolled in a few classes at SPC to learn from the masters just what other fascinating things this software is capable of producing.

Next week is "Country in the Park" - an art and music fair just behind the Pinellas Park City Hall. PPAS will be present and I will be among them selling art and raising art awareness. The weekend following is the Largo Library Art Hop where I will again be "peddling my wares" and during which one of my works will be held for auction. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at Frame Factory on East Bay Drive. Proceeds will benefit the Library. See you there?

A special thank you to my readers from PPAS and TESA.

To all of you I wish a fun and artful week. Be on guard, you never know when inspiration will hit.

Thanks for reading.

(2 C more art go to www.artoflylepolyak.com or visit www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)