Two Saturdays, Two Museums

Over the past two weekends Frank and I visited two of our favorite local museums to view their current exhibits. Both exhibits were highly interesting and we would recommend them if you are in the area.

The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg has a lovely collection of Art Glass on display. The exhibit, "Global + Local Studio and Contemporary Glass on Florida’s West Coast" is on display through October 14, 2012. It includes works by Dale Chihuly, William Morris, and Chuck Boux among many others. Most of us recognize the work of Dale Chihuly especially since St.  Petersburg is home of the Dale Chihuly Collection, a permanent collection on Beach Drive. I am truly amazed at the lovely works produced by these artists and the magic they can work with molten glass. 


The next exhibit was "A Hundred Years - A Hundred Chairs. Masterworks from the Vitra Design Museum" at the Tampa museum of Art which runs through September 16, 2012. While this topic may not seem exciting enough to get you out of your chair to visit, it really is a worthwhile exhibit which covers 100 years of contemporary chair design utilizing an array of materials from wood, leather, plastics, fabrics, and cardboard (yes, really). Designers include Frank Gehry, Mies Van der Rohe (of Barcelona Chair fame), Philippe Starck and others. The chairs in most cases will be recognizable and continue to be staple of contemporary design. Another exhibit well worth the time to visit. But with 100 chairs in the exhibit, there isn't one place to sit to enjoy the works. 




Barcelona Chair designed by Mies Van der Rohe (from the Internet)

Framed Finally

Last November, my friends, Paul & Libby, gave me a wonderful limited edition print by Victor Vasarely. You can read my original post and see a picture of the unframed work by clicking here.


But even better is the framed version which was hung in the red room this past week. I am really please with the finished product and again thank Paul & Libby for their kind generosity.

Klimt, Bosch, and Venus

Since photography is not permitted in most art museums, I will not have photographs of some of the works we discussed in the posts from Vienna. So for your viewing enjoyment, here are three images pulled from Wikipedia. (click on image to enlarge)

Klimt - The Kiss

Venus of Willendorf

Bosch - The Last Judgement

183/250 Untitled

Paul & Libby, of Paul & Libby's World of Travel fame (see Blogs I Follow in the right sidebar), came over on Saturday to introduce Frank and me to their 9 month old daughter, Emerson, and to have lunch. Hard to believe that we have not met Emerson before this. She is adorable, and extremely well behaved. We had a nice lunch at the new Bella Brava location on Beach Drive. 


Paul also brought me a wonderful Victor Vasarely limited edition print (Untitled - 1970) which I love and am very grateful for Paul's kind generosity. He snagged multiple copies of this print in an art auction, and kindly decided to share one of the copies with me. I have print #183 out of 250. Very neat, I say. The photograph does not do it justice. I will post another photo after it has been framed and hung in my study (aka "The Red Room"). You can view Paul's other gift to me, a painting he created just for The Red Room, by clicking here.

 Untitled - 1970
Victor Vasarely

Thank you Paul & Libby. 

Bravo !

Tonight I got a dose of culture again. I walked 6 blocks to the Mahaffey Theatre to hear The Florida Orchestra perform Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6, the Tragic. Now I don't profess to know much about classical music so I will not go into an elaborate discussion of tonight's concert. If you are set on learning more about Mahler's 6th, click HERE to go to the Wikipedia entry and read away. Let me just say that I enjoyed the concert, especially the last movement; Finale Allegro moderato (that's music-speak). It was a very powerful and moving conclusion to the piece. Portions of the earlier movements reminded me of movie scores with soaring melodies. OK, that is about as musical as I can get. I always enjoy The Florida Orchestra and I love being able to walk to a concert. It feels so big-city like. 


That's All I'm Saying

"Tuscan Twilight Landscape'

I am now the proud and happy owner of another Peter Stilton original painting. Peter and his wife, Jill, came over today with the new painting and it looks great in my space. I am very excited to have a piece of lovely art created just for me and my place. The painting is three separate 2" x 4" panels hung with a slight spacing between them as you can see in the photograph. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do justice to the painting. It is much more dramatic in person, and really must be seen in the place for which it was painted.


Peter also wrote a great poem to go along with the painting. It follows the photograph. 


Please check out Peter's Website at Stilton Studio for more of his work.

"Tuscan Sun Descending"

By Peter Stilton

Tuscan Sun Descending

Not into Dante’s depths of darkness

But into a quiet night of fresco colors

Reflecting Cimabue, Giotto, Masaccio,

And ending in Michelangelo.

Terra cotta tiles, olive groves,

Sunlight gilding rivulets of oil and honey,

Cicadas buzzing in ochre fields…

Shadows of deep cobalt blue with marble clouds

Infused with polyphonic flame and too brief incandescence….

Dugento, Trecento, Quattrocento blend into Cinquecento complexity—

All tending into deepest opal, emerald, and sapphire depths.

Bells for vespers with umber shadows…

The Arno mirrors Tuscany’s skies

In tones of clay, paint, and stone.

Movable Art

As mentioned yesterday, I relocated the "Embers of Venice" painting to the bedroom where I think it creates a great focal point for the room and fits the space better than the long wall in the living room.

And someone was offended that she
wasn't included in the photograph.
I present, Ms. Lucia

A Special Saturday

     Wow, yesterday (Saturday) was a busy but delightful day for me. It was filled with art, and food (naturally). A week or so ago, I decided I wanted a new painting for the large wall in my living room. Since I moved in two years ago, I have enjoyed the "Embers of Venice" painted by my friend and high-school classmate, Peter Stilton. I love the painting, but always felt it was a little under-sized for the wall. I decided to move it to the bedroom, over the bed (photograph to follow in a future post) where it adds a new focal point to the room and is complemented by my photographs of Venice and Florence. After considering a number of options, I decided to ask Peter if he had something abstract that might work in my space. His lovely wife, Jill, emailed me an image of a great abstract painting titled "Autumn, New England" which I liked but again the size (48" x 48") did not seem appropriate. Peter actually brought this painting with him and it now resided temporarily in my living room. Long story, but I am getting to the point... hold on, I finally decided to commission Peter to paint a special piece just for me. So, yesterday began with Peter coming over to discuss the space, size of work, colors and concept. I am truly excited about this project and I know Peter will create a wonderful painting. 
     Next, Peter, Shirley, Frank and I headed to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the current special exhibit of  "Transcending Vision: American Impressionism 1870-1940". We started with a nice lunch in the MFA Cafe (at the Museum) where I enjoyed a delightful and tasty Smoked Duck salad with Frisee and a lemon champagne dressing. We toured the special exhibit with Peter providing additional comments on many of the paintings. Not only is he an artist, he is an art educator. There were some paintings from the Ashcan School which is a current favorite for Frank. This very interesting exhibit showed the impact the European impressionist had on American artist during this period, but with the Americans adding their own imprint on the style and subject matter. We also toured the permanent collection, as this was Shirley's first visit to the museum. As I have mentioned before, this is a wonderful small museum with an amazing permanent collection.
     Shirley, Frank and I had dinner at Salt Rock Grill in Indian Shores. In all these years Frank and I never dined at this very popular and well regarded restaurant. We shared a Portobello and Crabmeat appetizer which was served with polenta and topped with three cheeses. It was very good, but Frank and I both felt it actually had too much going on. We think it would have been better with fewer ingredients. But we cleaned the plate none the less. For our main course, Shirley order the tuna kabob with an Oriental preparation, served over rice. This was very good. Frank and I each had grilled Caribbean Lobster Tail. We each opted for the single 1/2 pound tail; more than enough food for us. I enjoyed a Mediterranean Orzo for my side, and Frank had a baked potato. The lobster was sweet and tender and I used every piece to transport the traditional drawn butter to my lips. For dessert we shared the Hot Apple Crisp Pie, served upside down with a bourbon pecan crunchy crust. This too was very tasty, and large enough of a portion for us to share. While we had a very nice meal and a lovely evening, Salt Rock Grill was not quite the "wow" experience we expected. Frank commented that it felt like an upscale Bonefish, and I would agree. It was very good, well prepared food with good, but not great, service. The view of the intracoastal water way from the tiered dining area was enjoyable, but for an overall dining experience it does not compare to a place like Cafe Ponte.


And before I close, I must extend a grazie mille to my dear cousin Shirley for spending the past week with me and helping me during my recovery from the last round to IL2 treatment.


The following images are of the two painting by Peter Stilton mentioned in the post.  The two dimensional photographs do not do justice to these lovely works of art. They must be enjoyed in person.
For more of Peter's work check his Website... Stilton Studios

Embers of Venice

Autumn; New England

A Saturday Trio

Wow, this past Saturday was BUSY ! But really good busy. 
     To start, Frank and I met our friend Andrea, Pat (a co-worker of Frank's), and Bill (Pat's husband) at The Chihuly Collection, the new gallery on Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg, devoted to works by Dale Chihuly. It is a small gallery specifically designed to showcase the individual works, which are all amazing. 
     Next stop was Cassis, a relatively new French-style brasserie on Beach Drive where we were joined by Frank's sister, Mary Ann. We all enjoyed our food, but some of the items seems a little "heavy". Frank and Bill ordered the BLT which had a basil cream sauce. Both felt they could have cut back on the sauce. I ordered the Croque Madame, a "grilled" ham and cheese with bechamel sauce and topped with a fried egg. It was crusted with cheese, and almost seemed deep fried. Tasty, but not quite what I expected. I want to try the dinner menu sometime. And we had a celebrity sighting... Emeril Lagasse was having lunch at Cassis. (Whoopee) He was  probably in town pushing his products on Home Shopping Network. 
     More food... that evening, Paul and Libby, of Paul & Libby's World of Travel fame, traveled from the far reaches of Pasco County to St. Petersburg. We dined at another new restaurant, The Hanger, at Albert Whitted Airport. The early reviews have been good, and the owner also has Parkshore Grill and 400 Beach. When this opened, I thought it was a strange location, since the airport only has private planes, and it is not in the "heart" of the downtown action. I felt he was taking a chance on opening a new restaurant at this location in difficult economic times. But, hey, what do I know... it was busy all evening Saturday. Libby ordered the Fried Chicken and Waffle, served with maple syrup AND gravy. Paul, Frank, and I each ordered the Hanger Steak with Smashed Potatoes. How can you eat at The Hanger, and not order hanger steak, eh? At least they were bright enough to include this cut on the menu. My steak was perfect, properly cooked, with a nice flavor. We were all pleased with our meals.
Note: Links are in red

The Green Bowl

I have a new addition to my glass art collection, this one thanks to my co-workers. As you can see it is lovely. Thanks all, especially Pat who selected it for me.

Here's Looking at You Kid !

Chicago 2010

To "see" photographs from our trip to Chicago, click on the giant eyeball. 

Fly and Art

My last day at work was Friday. To celebrate, Frank treated me to a night (well, OK, for me, an evening) on the town. We started with dinner at Fly Bar and Restaurant in downtown Tampa. It is a funky hip place with high energy especially on a Friday evening after work. The crowd is mixed; you will see some suit-types, some young professionals, as well as the pierced and tattooed crowd. Fly primarily serves small plates for sharing. They have a large list of imported and domestic beers as well as a decent wine list. Our selections included: Hanger Steak with fingerling potatoes and sauteed mushrooms; hummus with a cucumber/onion relish; and panko crusted fried goat cheese. Everything was great. We finished with a key lime tart. Liz, you would love this place - come on down.


Next up, after a brief trip through IKEA, was Art After Dark at the Tampa Museum of Art. This monthly event usually features art from local artists in the lobby as well as admission to the permanent galleries and special exhibits. This month featured art by disabled students from the McDonald Training Center in Tampa. There were two special exhibitions of interest. The first is a series of light installations by Leo Villareal. My favorite was titled "Horizon" and is three long horizontal tubes filled with colored LEDs. The waves of changing colors was mesmerizing. In addition to the installations inside, he had large set of LEDs installed on the exterior of the museum titled "Sky".  (Photo pulled from the museum website). Paul... you would enjoy this.

The other exhibit of interest was a collection of three short films by Jesper Just., titled "Romantic Delusions". Each file was very different but all had a high emotional impact. The website blurb states: "Just’s films explore the complexities and contradictions of human emotion."


We finished the evening with some gelati at the museum's Sono Cafe. It was a fun evening and a great way to celebrate my last day at work.


That's All I'm Saying

Keep me away from art festivals

Mainsail Art Festival was held this weekend in St. Petersburg. After a Lucky Dill Deli lunch with a group of friends organized by Mr. Social Coordinator, Bob G, we roamed through the works of 200 plus artists. Somehow this lovely glass panel attached itself to me with velcro and forced me to carry it home.
That's all I'm Saying

Bowled Over

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the Gasparilla Festival of Arts, as I mentioned in a previous post. I am always on the lookout for a new piece of art glass, and walked through the majority of the exhibits without finding anything that caught my interest. Then I walked into the exhibit booth of Xochitl Ross, a Melbourne Beach glass artist. Click on her name to check out her site. Well, glass was jumping off the shelves, attaching to me with velcro. This is a common occurrence for me it the object is art glass, some books, and anything Italian. I found two or three pieces that I really liked and settled on the one pictured here. I loved the shape and the color, and the design reminded me of some of the work of Joan Miro. There is something organic about this piece, and I am very happy with my new purchase.

Seasons 52, Art, and More

A new Seasons 52 opened in Tampa a few weeks ago and I finally visited on Saturday. This is a Darden Group restaurant, but IMHO far superior to their two flagship brands, Olive Garden and Red Lobster. I have dined at the original Seasons 52 in Orlando and another one in Altamonte Springs, so I knew what to expect. The decor is Arts and Craft style, with nice rich wood tones. The service has always been good. The "schtick" is that all entrees are less than 475 calories and their menu changes seasonally. While their calorie claim is accurate, don't look at the nutritional breakdown for sodium levels, although I think we would be shocked by the sodium levels in most restaurants. 
I have not had a bad meal at Seasons 52 and Saturday was no exception. Frank and I started with a shared Grilled Steak and Cremini Mushroom Flatbread appetizer, which was very thin and tasty. Frank ordered the Spicy Chicken Chile Relleno, with goat cheese, which was very good, and just the right amount of bite. I enjoyed the Grilled Boneless Rainbow Trout; moist with a nice grilled flavor. For dessert we each had one of their "shot-glass" sized desserts, just the right amount of sweet to finish a nice meal. 
We paired our meal with a couple glasses of Honig Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley. 


After lunch, we headed to what my friend Liz refers to as Whole Paycheck Foods to shop for dinner ingredients. Shopping on a full stomach helps, but I wanted to cook, so we probably had more than needed after the nice lunch. We decided on a shrimp dish that we prepared in a cooking class at a B&B in Fernandina Beach, FL many years ago. Appropriately, we found some U-15 shrimp at Whole Foods that were labeled as Mayport Shrimp, so we are of the opinion they were from the waters off Mayport, FL, near Fernandina Beach. How neat ! We also fixed asparagus risotto as the side dish. Here is a non-exact recipe for the shrimp, since I really don't know how much of anything I used - other that about 3/4 of a pound of large shrimp for two people.


Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a saute pan
While heating, add a smashed clove of garlic, for a minute or so, to flavor the oil. (Don't let the garlic burn)
Remove the garlic, and add the shrimp. Be careful not to crowd the shrimp.
Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until they start to brown. Do not overcook the shrimp
When almost done, add the juice from 1/2 - 1 lemon, add 1 minced garlic clove, season with salt and pepper, and finish with some chopped fresh Italian parsley. Cook together for one minute more, and serve immediately.


Art Sunday:
Today, Frank and I met Paul and Libby (of Paul and Libby's World of Travel fame), and the new proud parents of a baby girl, Emerson, at the new Tampa Museum of Art. The new contemporary building is a dramatic improvement over the old building. The exterior space around the museum is much better utilized with a public park, children's playground, and a dog park. Next door, still under construction, it the Tampa Children's Museum, This area of downtown was previously blocked from views of the river, but the new arrangement opens up the river, with views of the University of Tampa. 
The Museum itself seems to have less gallery space, but what there is, is well utilized. You enter a two story atrium with a center stairway to the gallery space, and a Calder mobile hanging from the ceiling. A nice first impression I say. The grand opening exhibit is A Celebration of Henri Matisse. focusing on his printmaking more so than the paintings we usually associate with him. It was a large (170 pieces) exhibit which included a number of wonderful line drawings. The exhibit is well worth a visit. 
As an aside, Paul, and all of us were pleased to see Ellsworth Kelly's "Black with White Triangle" painting in the museum. Kelly is one of Paul's favorites (feel free, my friend, to add any comments)
We had lunch at the SONO Cafe, operated by Mise en Place. While the menu is primarily sandwiches and salads, they are inventive and very good. Click ---> menu, to view the full menu.
We concluded our Art Sunday with a stroll through the Gasparilla Festival of Art, beginning in the park next to the museum and extending to Ashley Drive. I purchased a wonderful piece of art glass to add to my small collection. I will post a photograph of the new acquisition at another time. 
This was a great weekend of food and art, and sharing with good friends. A perfect day in paradise.

New Art

I have recently been redecoration my study by replacing much of my older furniture with more contemporary pieces from my new favorite furniture stores - IKEA and American Signature. The new look is more in keeping with the style of the rest of the loft and it also provides better guest accommodations. No longer will guest have to endure the Aero Bed; they now have a real sleeper sofa. My good friend Paul (of Paul and Libby's World of Travel fame - link in left sidebar, check it out), created a wonderful contemporary painting for the room, picking up on the red accent colors. It looks great as you can see in this picture. Paul, thanks so much. And would you care to enlighten my readers on the artist whose style inspired you for this piece.

St. Pete Sunday

It was another busy day in downtown. The Jazz Festival was going strong in Vinoy Park, so you could hear the music all along the bayfront. The city is preparing for the Honda Grand Prix, coming in two weeks, so many of the streets and sidewalks are partially blocked by the race barricades and fences. 

But I opted for a quieter day. Frank joined me for Sunday brunch 

at Red Mesa Cantina, followed by a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Albrecht Durer exhibit. The exhibit was great, showing a collection of 100 of his amazingly detailed woodcuts. We then stopped at the nearby gelateria before heading back to the loft (aka Bistro 523) for Bouillabaisse. I used lobster, shrimp, tilapia, and mussels and, I must say it came out great. (forgive me for a little boasting). Dessert, while not homemade (or not made by one of us) was a truly excellent cherry pie which I picked up from "Desserts by Millie" at the Saturday Morning Market. Every time I stop at the market, I have to buy something from Millie, even if it is just a couple of cookies. She makes wonderful desserts and is a friend of my good friend, Bob. 

Health update: I had another PET scan on Friday, and am now waiting on the results. The prior CT scan showed a small spot on the lung, the PET will help determine what action is needed. Stay tuned. 

That's all I'm saying !