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)

In the news again!

In early July, Pinellas County artists were invited by The County and The Florida Gulf Coast Center For Fishing to enter their creative works for selection as the official Pinellas County Centennial Poster. The winning image was fated to be used as official art for the September 14th Celebration of The County's hundred years of existence. Participants were invited to submit interpretations that serve to reflect the rich heritage and unique history of Pinellas County. It gives me great pleasure to announce that my own submission titled "Timeline Pinellas" will be used for this purpose and recently appeared on the front page of the Pinellas Park Beacon.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

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

Christmas Cards!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Pinellas County Centennial Poster

In early July, Pinellas County artists were invited by The County and The Florida Gulf Coast Center For Fishing to enter their creative works for selection as the official Pinellas County Centennial Poster. The winning image was fated to be used as official art for the September 14th Celebration of The County's hundred years of existence. Participants were invited to submit interpretations that serve to reflect the rich heritage and unique history of Pinellas County. It gives me great pleasure to announce that my own submission titled "Timeline Pinellas" will be used for this purpose.

With symbolic imagery, "Timeline" (featured above) expounds upon the historical events and peoples who have called Pinellas County "home." The color scheme of the poster is an allusion to the colors of the Pinellas Logo. At the bottom of the poster, a Native American, representing a member of Pinellas's Tocobaga Tribe (who called the area home in the 1500's to 1700's) looks out of the poster at the viewers. Above him a tall ship flies the Spanish Colonial Flag, representing the era of the Panfilode Narvaez Expedition and the Spanish Conquistadors who landed in the spring of 1528. Nearby, a period sailor looks through his telescope to the image of an orange, symbolic of the citrus industry which will later bring rail and commerce to our county. This same orange is playfully inserted as the sun icon, which is a component of the Pinellas Logo to the left. The logo overlooks a fisherman, alluding to the area's fishing rancheros of the 1700's, and his line dances across the sky carrying our eyes to the train, alluding to the rail industry of the 1800's and the vacationers alluding to the tourist boom of the 1900's. Modern day Saint Petersburg lies at the forefront of the poster.

I would like to express my gratitude and thank the judges for affording me this great success. I hope this may be serve as a gateway to many more wonderful projects.

Thank you all.

Lyle Polyak

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

"Filling Station" Places in Top Three

On June second The Pinellas Park Art Society opened its Annual Photo Contest at Park Station with the results of the judging announced at the gathering on the eleventh of June. The Exhibit was open to submissions not only from Art Society Memebers but also photographers throughout Pinellas County and Tampa Bay. Submissions were permitted in three categories including standard (color) photography, digitally enhanced photographs and black and whites. When the results were announced I was enjoying the sights of Historic Saint Augustine with my family and my trusty camera and, as luck would have, while I was away, I placed in the top three for the black and white category. Second prize in black and white went to "Filling Station," a custom-sized monochrome print of three model-T's refuling at Largo's Heritage Village. It's a great honor and the same photograph will soon appear at Carrollwood Cultural Center's September Art Exhibit. See you there?

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



Carrollwood Cultural Center B&W Exhibit Draws a Crowd

It's one of those events that remains in your memory for years to come as a "remember when..." story. The day before my road trip to Saint Augustine on the other coast, I partook of the enjoyment of meeting friends, patrons and strangers with a shared interest in the arts. I'm looking out a window now at a gray sky and listening to the roar of rain and the distant tinny-sound of thunder as I type.

Let the weather app on my laptop serve as the proof. As I type this article it is pouring in Carrollwood, however, despite the weather, a plethora of guests is present at the Carrollwood Cultural Center, observing a newly installed collection of artwork. The rain falling outside is doing little to impact the high spirits of the guests.

The ride into Tampa from Clearwater was well worth it to see four of my works beside so many other inspired pieces. The theme of this show is Black and White, but it encompasses familiar and no-so-familiar genres - Sketch, Painting, Pastel, Scratchboard, Sculpture and Metalwork, to name a few. Regularly used for plays and recitals the center is tonight hosting a friendly gathering of artists discussing the ways and means they choose to produce their masterpieces.

My favorite piece in the show displays the brilliance of imagination - a full sized bust of a horse amassed like a puzzle of conjoining bits of scrap metal. Hooks, pulleys, cogs and bars, the barrel of a rifle, some other components who original purpose I can only speculate, but joined harmoniously into a unified whole. Other works will leave you puzzling and asking yourself, "I wonder how they thought of that?"

The exhibit will be on display from now until the second of July, so if you are in the area please stop in at Carrollwood Cultural Center to view the collection. The majority of the Black and White artwork is available for sale. with artists contact info supplied on the posted title cards. Carorollwood Cultural Center is located at 4537 Lowell Road Tampa, FL 33618. They have a loaded schedule of events throughout the year which you can browse at their website www.carrollwoodcenter.org, or you can call their office at (813) 269-1310.

Below are a few snapshots from the reception.

Thanks for reading!

Lyle Polyak

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