Art Shows and Rainy Days

Vivian Greene, the wife of author, Graham Greene, once said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Among inspirational quotes, it has always been a favorite of mine, not merely for its intrinsic value, but also because it suits my somewhat eccentric appreciation for those rare stormy days in our Sunshine State. Judge as you will, but I hold that there is something dear about those rainy days that gathers us together, under one roof, for pleasant conversation and companionship, however brief it may be in our busy lives. Therefore my enjoyment of this past weekend is without question.

The Pinellas Park Art Society had it’s Artist’s Reception at the Stirling Gallery in Dunedin this weekend. The event was marked by thunder and sporadic deluge, but enjoyed by all present… and what a turn-out we had! The halls were, at times, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with friends and guests enjoying and discussing the assorted art work. The storms gathered us together for a second helping of the delicious hors d’ oeuvres and drinks, and we pleasantly discussed future events at Park Station, from the cozy comfort of the lobby sofa and the kitchen table. Our own work was joined by a display from the Miniaturists Society, which was a fine introduction to The Art Society’s September, miniature-themed, exhibit at Park Station.

Thank you to all who made our Stirling Show a success. Please enjoy the photos!

L. Polyak

(To see more art go to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com or www.artoflylepolyak.com)

Island Times

9:00AM November 11th -

Salutations Blog Readers!

It’s a beautiful sunny morning. Seventy-some degrees with the constant comfort of a gentle seaward breeze, coming off the Gulf. I’m typing this letter to you from my HP Mini with a palm hammock to my back and the open Gulf ahead of me. Checking my map of the shipping lanes I see that I’m looking at the Straits of Tampa Bay. Somewhere in the distance a ship’s bell is tolling and to my side are the white washed bricks of a lighthouse.

Yes, I’m on an island. Egmont Key to be exact, enjoying the distinct comforts of a beachcomber with my Nikon D7000 at my side. A juvenile bald eagle flew overhead a moment ago and I know the island’s reputation as a haven haring for gopher tortoises, osprey and various sea birds. Before the day is out I hope to get a collection of new images for the website.

A union soldier was visiting the sales booths a moment ago. He’s talking with the light-keeper at the moment, two of the historical reenactors sharing this day with me. The occasion is Discover the Island Day, a history fair held here on Egmont Key to advertise the sprawling beaches and Historic Ruins of Fort Dade. For a history buff and nature lover like me it’s a great chance to get out, do what I do best and make some extra cash selling my wares.

11:00 AM -

The sun over the Egmont Key Lighthouse Station made a beautiful surreal image, and I found a means to reach the peak of the Macintosh Battery for a great shot of the Light Station over the tree line. I happened to take a walk earlier and sadly did not have my camera with me as I witnessed a hilarious sight. A gopher tortoise crept out of the brush and approached the children's area, then proceeded to methodically knock over each of the rungs of a children's croquet set. He would have continued his fun if a volunteer had not noticed him and scooted him away.

For those of you interested the Fair is scheduled to run every November. The ferry to the island leaves from Fort Desoto Beach from 9AM to 4PM. Come see the island, it’s open to the public and one of the last real deserted islands presenting a walk through Florida’s past.

Pictures to be uploaded later ...

Thanks for reading!

L. Polyak

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

A Twist on Portraiture at the Zoo

When it comes to wildlife photography, nothing beats taking the camera and the telephoto lens out to a preserve and following your senses. Often bird-calls and a well-trained eye allow you to locate a scene worthy of framing. Other times luck guides you to a one in a million snapshot. However until it becomes economical to travel to Borneo or Australia, to capture what we would term "exotic" animals in their native habitat, the zoo is still the best bet to set your sights on those creatures.

Lowry Park Zoo is the closest environment in my area to go for candid photos of an exhausted meerkat or an awestruck crane. Confused by my adjectives? Wait until you see the pictures. It's like I said in my portfolio...

"Expressions are the lifeblood of portraiture. As mature human beings, we tend to hide our expressions from peers, however animals do not adhere to those norms and as a result, their expressions are genuine, unencumbered, and shine beautifully in photographs."

Seeing an orangutan with his hand on his chin, looking out at a certain onlooker in the crowd, with a stare that could be called contemplative, I can't help but ask "I wonder what he was thinking?" Or observing a sandhill crane suddenly go wide-eyed and drop its jaw when a camera beep is followed by the bright light of a flash, it's easy to call the expression awe or surprise. Even the gestures of some animals have their parallels with we humans. Glimpsing the meerkat, who has spent the past half hour digging in the dirt, suddenly stagger off and plop himself down wearily, we can empathize. "That's hard work."

Looking for a twist on the usual portrait? Try taking your camera to your nearest zoo or just observe the animals around you at work and among their own kind. What you see might just change your outlook on the world.

Thanks for reading.

Lyle Polyak

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

Homosassa Springs, A Great Road-trip for Photographers

As I type this blog entry I’m off of “Commercial Way” on my journey back toward Tampa, and Clearwater. Today, I ventured from my hometown an hour or two to The Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Without further explanation, you and the rest of my readers may envision a recreational park? A forest preserve perhaps? In fact, Homosassa Springs is a working zoo and a wildlife rehabilitation center.

I arrived at the visitors center this morning, a spacious building with children’s exhibits, baked goods, a gift shop and a sheltered boat dock. Passenger ferries arrive to and from the center on the half hour and take visitors on smooth ride down Pepper Creek to The State Park. The ferry captain entertained the youngsters with origami while we waited for boarding, then offered us a narrative of the local plants and wildlife we glimpsed on the short trip. Visitor's who prefer a quicker means of transit may board the trams to and from The Park. I assure you though, the boat trip is worth your time. I glimpsed gators, turtles and nesting osprey on the thirty minute transit.

We arrived at the State Park and disembarked in time for an introduction to Lu, the African hippopotamus. I understand he was retired as a mascot for Union Carbide and awarded honorary citizenship, in 1991, by Governor Lawton Chiles. This legal gesture assures that, though he is not a Florida native, he may live out his days peacefully, with the local wildlife of the zoo. The remainder of the park is a network of hiking paths that follow the Homosassa River, leading visitors to open-air enclosures for manatees, black bears, bobcats, white-tailed deer, American alligators, American crocodiles, river otters, and a variety of native water birds and birds of prey.

Unlike our local zoo, The Park is not dense with vacationers so it offers a variety of fine opportunities for photographers, like myself, to get unobstructed shots of the wildlife. At the time I visited Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park the fees were $13 for adults, $5 for children. I recommend it to all of my artistic friends. The Park is located at 4150 S Suncoast Blvd, Homosassa Springs, Florida. Visit their website at http://www.floridastateparks.org/homosassasprings/default.cfm.

 Thanks for reading!

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

"Givin' you the bird." (No, no. Not that way.)

My classes in Adobe Photoshop continue with lessons in clipping masks and artistic manipulation of photos. It's to my benefit that my homework offers me additional prints to add to my gallery online. The classes I'm taking at Saint Petersburg College are less lectures than real-world exercises that graphic artists would accomplish for design corporations and advertisement industries worldwide. Last Thursday, I edited a restaurant ad, using multiple images, to create a puppy dreaming of chicken curry, and utilized a few vacation photos, with clipping masks, to make a convincing Hawaiian postcard.
Later, I applied these same methods to a few images of mine. On my latest trip to Walter Fuller Park I captured a very nice image of a juvenile ibis, a common seabird in my area that has a thin, curved peak. While the image of the bird was impressive and crisp, the surrounding mud flats, murky waters and lichens combined into palate of nauseating hues. Well, I did manage to apply a clipping mask to Mister Ibis and remove him from his surroundings. and then I located a simple snapshot from Fort Desoto Beach to apply behind him. After a bit of tweaking, and multiple Photoshop layers, Mister Ibis developed a blurred shadow, some selective color fading and Gaussian blur to suggest that he was on that beach, in the sun, all the while.

Thanks for reading!

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

Missing owl ID-ed?

On my latest hike for new photos I visited McGough Nature Center in Largo ... An exceptional location, with trails that snake through lush high pine and palm hammocks on their way to a private boardwalk with an amazing view of the inter coastal waterway. A year ago this was the site of an owl heist. During the dark of night, an intruder attempted to steal or set free a fledgling great horned owl who was being cared for by the nature center. "J.R. the owl" had fallen from his nest and was abandoned by his mother. It was assumed that he had no knowledge of how to fend for himself in the wild, hence, when he was released by this uninformed intruder it was assumed that his would be a short life. On my hike, I came across an older gentleman who was birdwatching along the trails and he guided me to a mature great horned owl perching at the top of a pine tree. He was awestruck when I pointed out in my camera's viewfinder what appears to be a band around the owl's leg and he immediately ran to get the park ranger. This small band may be the identifier to prove this owl is the missing J.R. I have sent my photographs to the Nature Center and I'm currently waiting for the results of their analysis.


These photographs remain unedited but seem to show a band around the owl's leg.

Thanks for reading!

(2 C More art go to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

Photo Opp at The Suncoast Parrot Sanctuary

I had the distinct pleasure to visit the Pinellas Suncoast Parrot Sanctuary this weekend and meet its founder and President Captain “Tut” Barrett. The Sanctuary takes in Parrots who are injured or handicapped, who have outlived their keepers and other exotic birds from families that can no longer afford to keep them. Captain Tut does an excellent job nursing these beautiful birds back to health, training them and providing for them. The birds in turn provide affection, education and entertainment for PARC, Disney, local parades and other events. Captain Barrett has become an authority on Parrot Health and well-being with local veterinary clinics and it is always a pleasure to photograph animals who approach my camera out of personal curiosity. My crew and I wish him the best and hope we may be invited back should he require photography for advertisement in the future. Expect to see a variety of color parrot photos added to the Take Flight Gallery in weeks to come.

Please visit the Suncoast Parrot Sanctuary Website at http://www.suncoastparrotsanctuary.org/ and consider donating to aid its efforts.

"Hey, whatcha got there?"

Captain Tut with Cockatoos.

Parrots like their toys.

Captain Tut with a Macaw.

An African Gray.

These guys love attention.

"Ah! Flash!"

Thanks for Reading.

(2 C More art go to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

Find my photos on Egmont Key!

Egmont Key is a small barrier island on the mouth of Tampa Bay just southwest of Fort Desoto State Park. It can only be reached by ferry or private boat and is home to the ruins of Fort Dade, a lighthouse and a collection of gopher tortoises. This is an exquisite place for photography! Inaccessible to motor vehicles the island remains uninhabited by all but resident park rangers. The lone photographer often has the entire island all to him- or herself.

In support of my photographic endeavours, and those of fellow artisans, The Egmont Key Alliance (EKA) is a local organization whose role is the preservation of the natural and historical aspects of Egmont Key. They have allowed a small number of locals to exhibit our artwork for sale on select Island Days, in the Old Radio Room. Proceeds from the sales benefits EKA's efforts. These fundraising art sales culminate with the EKA's annual Discover the Island Fundraiser, in November. During this fundraiser one of my favorite shots of The Egmont Key Lighthouse will be available on auction.

For more information please visit EKA's Website.

Selected works of art available for sale in the Radio Room.

(this photo provided by EKA representative Janica Johnson)

Where is Egmont Key?

(Map Provided by Google Maps)

(2 C More art visit www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)