Art Taco's Guide to Mainsail

This is AT's totally unofficial Guide to the Mainsail Art Show in Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg, FL. Just got in from walking around, and in no particular order, here's some must-see highlights from the show.

Susan Livingston with her fossil series, incorporating clay with genuine Floridian fossils. The Past and Present run side by side in this work. This award-winning artist is extremely good with the use of textures as metaphor. Elegant stuff. See more at [Link]

On the left are several Raku pots by Orlando ceramicist John Kellum. They are ornate and whimsical,with beautiful colors. More of John's work can be seen here: [Link]

Scott Hartley hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan and paints large, intricate watercolors that take one's breath away. To see more of his work, here: [Link]

Duncan McClelland Glass stands out in any setting, and Mainsail was no different. I've long admired the piece on the right, ""Communication". This work properly lit is dazzling.

This is a picture of Duncan with more of his beautiful work. While I was standing there, two women stood, one of them trying to get Duncan's attention (he was busy at the time) and she said to the other: "I just want to know the meaning, for him to tell me what it means". The other replied: "It will mean something different to you than it does to him or me". [Link]








On the right is Nancy Cervenka and one of her latest pieces. It's one of her abstract, botanical-looking works, simply stunning in person. Nancy's work is in several major collections.

By Nancy  Cervenka

On the left is Michael Nemnich (Looking a lot like The Dude) with his figurative paintings of heads, which are very Buddah-like. See more of his work here: [Link]

 

Sculptor Charles Parkhill, a graduate of USF and later University of Utah, and a former winner of Mainsail, was recommended (wisely) by Nancy Cervenka. His woodwork is incisively intricate and delightfully contemplative work.

Misao Adachi, below, works out of his studio in Salt Creek Artworks. His luminous renditions of Japanese women in kimonos are intriguing explorations, sometimes with subtle symbology included. [Link] 

Edson Campos, no stranger to this blog, has been focusing more and more on art historical references in his paintings, still using his sublime skills in rendering the human figure to great advantage. 

Above, Edson has referenced a stretched-out version of  "Las Meninas", a very famous painting from 1656 by Diego Velazquez, who included himself and his easel and canvas on the left. Edson injects himself conceptually into the painting, looking more than a little wistful. For more see here: [Link]

 Mainsail is a great show this year. I've only touched on nine excellent artists that I thought were standouts, but there are 240 more, and your opinion will certainly vary from mine, as it should. Put on the sunblock, bring a hat, some cold water, and head out early if you want to find easy parking, be prepared to walk a ways through a beautiful neighborhood, or pay.  Congratulations to the organizers of Mainsail for a beautiful outdoors art show in an unbeatable waterfront setting.