ArtBank, 111 Orange Ave. Co-founders Allie Comer, Sherry Horton, Ginny Piech Street and Deena Wynne began talking seriously about their dream in December 2007 and refined their ideas and goals at weekly meetings through the first part of 2008. Art Mundo incorporated in August 2008 and obtained its 501 (c) 3 status in January , 2009.. Its first educational event was a series of workshops, Discover the Artist Within, held in conjunction with the Backus Museum's annual Tribute to Backus exhibition this past March.
Then - thanks to the vision and generosity of Leo Henriguez, who developed The Renaissance Center and is the owner of the former SunTrust building, Art Mundo found its location on the bottom floor of the place now known as the ArtBank!
exhibits are also part of Art Mundo's plans for the future. For information on current and future classes see Art Mundo's blog: www.art-mundo.blogspot.com
Carmen will be teaching a mini Spill It!™ Workshop
Stacie Williams, lifetime rock collector, mixed media artist and metal-smith is our Feature Friday Artist this week. Stacie’s beautiful Azoho hand made jewelry line is available in her online shops: etsy, Art Fire and 1000 Markets.
According to her web site, Smith has, “painted and practiced art since graduating college.” She
has painted commercially and has been commissioned for private and corporate customers. In fact, viewers can email to inquire about commissions at Lee@LeeGSmith.com. Please include size, price and style requests.
Smith states, “I am especially motivated to paint dramatic light events, patterns of shadows and displays of bright color.” Her love of her surroundings is reflected in her work. Working in plein air she uses a brush and canvas to preserve the divergent vistas of Florida and Massachusetts. Smith states, “ I have always enjoyed doing plein air painting…It is such a stimulating experience to be painting and to be immersed in the beautiful setting and source of
my desire to paint.” Her beautiful and whimsical paintings will make you smile as they capture the setting and subjects with expressive exactitude.
Lee has also won numerous awards including Best In Show for, “Fort Pierce Marina” Vero Beach Art Club Spring Juried Show, Best In Show “Fort Pierce Marina” Sebastian River Art Club Spring Juried Show. She has placed 2nd in Oil and Acrylic in the Indian River County Cultural Council Annual Show and 1st in Oil/Acrylic in Sebastian River Club Spring Juried Art Show.
Her painting McKee Garden Bridge, was accepted to the Treasure Coast Juried Invitational Show and the Vero Beach Art Museum in August of 2003.
You can see Smith’s work at www.leegsmith.com and on her blog.
All images © Lee Gorman Smith
Last month's Kick Off was a huge success!
This week’s Feature Friday Artist, Katrina Kniep is a small town girl with big heart. She enjoys all sorts of arts and crafts including art journaling, drawing, painting and knitting, but her passion is writing.
Kat has been invaluable as the author of a majority of the Feature Friday articles here on TCWAA’s blog. Her published work can also be seen in Parkland Life, Alpha Sigma Alpha Phoenix Magazine, A Lovely Dream Zine and her blog, My Darling Anodyne.
Kat looks forward to writing novels but truly enjoys writing short pieces as well. She loves to research and learn new things and plans to always freelance in some capacity even when she does get published as a novelist. She said, “I guess I just love writing. When I write I lose myself in the story and feel most alive.
I have many ideas for writing from short articles about dogs and knitting to a teen series on character and a novel about duality. I feel excited to think about writing plays, poetry and songs, too.”
She’s wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember and has fond memories of a Playskool toy with wooden keys that send a bead up a rod to ring a bell. It had about 7 keys and she would pretend to type as her mom was typing stories for the local newspaper next to her. Kat would look to her mom and say, “I’m finishing my story.”
Kat said, “I grew up in Harrisville (population 514) in Alcona County, Michigan right on Lake Huron. My parents ran a newspaper (The Alcona Almanac) when I was young. I spent my youth traipsing around train wrecks, sitting through court room trials and examining fire damage. My dad took the photos and my mother wrote the 1000 words that went with them.”
Kat finds inspiration in authors, Elizabeth Berg, Pat Conroy, John Irving and Abigail Thomas and artists Emily Martin, Andrew Wyeth and Kelly Vivanco, but says her parents have been instrumental in inspiring her to explore creatively. Kat says, “They are inspiring, supportive and unique people. They are amazing researchers who never stop looking for what they don’t know. They find out.”
She remembers her moms nervousness one time when she finger painted on top of one of her dad’s paintings when she was little. Her mother was afraid he would be angry, but to her surprise, when he came home he was excited that Kat wanted to paint like him.
Kat recently started a feature on her blog called Fiction Friday where she shares snippets of a short story she’s writing called The Harbormaster.
More of Kat's artwork and writing can be seen on her blog, My Darling Anodyne.
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written by Carmen Torbus
According to her brief biographical statement, Silvia was born in Brazil, and she spent her childhood surrounded by an artistic environment provided by the many musicians in the family. Raised and educated in Brazil and in Israel, she went on to enjoy a successful career as a chemical engineer both in Brazil and in the United States where she has lived since the 1980’s.
Since her retirement she has dedicated her time to her painting career and has exhibited her work at a number of juried art shows in Florida where she now resides. Her work can be found in several private collections in the USA, Canada and Brazil. She is also an active participant of the organization Oil Painters of America, the Pastel Society of Eastern Florida, the Vero Beach Art Club and, of course, the Treasure Coast Women’s Art Association.
Silvia prefers the Impressionist and Abstract style and draws her inspiration from nature. “Nature is my most constant source of inspiration. I am particularly attracted to the landscape of the West and Southwest. What usually grabs my attention first are the colors and designs within nature but many times the paintings that are dearest to my heart are the more subtle ones which have a more introspective nature and are the most difficult to execute due to the very subtle passages.” Silvia often works, “ in the afternoon and evening as I am not a morning person. When painting in "plein air" it is usually dictated more by nature than by me.”
It is no wonder that Silvia’s amazing paintings are able to evoke the pride of, “being able to share with the viewers the impact the subject has on me.” The subject of many of her paintings, the natural world, is captured and magnified with each skillful stroke of her brush. Silvia also shared that the message she would like to get across in her work is, “to preserve and share the beauty of the world around me as I see and interpret it." The development of this artist’s skill makes the preservation clear. Silvia has captured this natural scene and preserved it forever. The viewer can look to her painting as a window into that scene at that time.
When asked about roadblocks that came her way, Silvia stated, “Many times my analytical and precise brain get in my way and I have to remember to just enjoy the process.” Thankfully, she has learned to do just that.
You can view Silvia’s artwork at her website: www.silviaforrest.com.
She also has a mini website at the Painter's Keys Premium Artist's listing: www.painterskeys.com/pal/silvia_forrest
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Congratulations Linda!!!
Polarity / Torbus & Company Linda said: "I love your work Carmen and
I wish I had the drive/motivation to
stay creative like you!!"
email your address to carmentorbus @ gmail.com
