It’s a Surreal World opened on Friday, April 4, 2008, at the Progress Energy Art Gallery in New Port Richey, Florida. The featured artist of the evening was Patrick Stickney who explores dreams, meditations, and myths in his paintings.  He works in various media depending on what fits the subject matter and his inspiration of the moment – acrylics, tempera, charcoal, ink, colored pencil, paper collage, photo montage, and even enamel spray paints.

The exhibit also included three soft pastel paintings featuring my new goddess series: Polyhymnia, Summoning Brigit, and Mari, Goddess of Dreams.  This series explores various archetypes from the religious to creative muses with dreamlike imagery.  Polyhymnia features a nude transposed against a guitar with little cute goldfish swimming around.  Summoning Brigit is another goddess posing nude this time with a long flowing piece of silk amidst a colorful background with a hidden light bulb.  And finally, Mari, Goddess of Dreams, has a nude cradled by heavenly wings against a full moon and imagery of transformation symbolism with the butterflies against a stark ocean view with deep red poppies.

The exhibit also featured a new mixed media painting created just for the exhibit entitled, It’s a Surreal World.

[Featured in the photo: Polyhymnia, It’s a Surreal World, Summoning Brigit, Mari, Goddess of Dreams, Shakti, & Chaos Theory]

Along with these new paintings, the exhibit also features three large scale metallic prints of original paintings that have sold in prior exhibits and on my online Etsy store, Surrealmuse Studios: Shakti, Chaos Theory & Original Desire.

Other exhibiting artists include Eva Diana Berman who was born in Germany and grew up in Bavaria.  For this featured exhibit, she selected works from her portfolio that explore the discrimination, aggression, and violence that impact women, and explains:

Today, on a regular basis we are reminded of the fate of some of these unfortunate women. Some are scarred forever, some go missing, and some become pioneers to stand up for women’s rights.

It is these facts that prompted me to create the “Fractured Roses” series. Through the use of slashes and breaking up the planes of the canvas I intend to invoke feelings of uneasiness in the viewer as a reminder of the vulnerability of women.

Another exhibiting artist, Melissa Fiorentino, who’s influences range from Michelangelo to Piet Mondrian, strives to bring a convergence of the human passions, emotional thrills, despairing nightmares and the conquest of dreams together to the conscious and unconscious level of the human aspirations.  A variety of color schemes, intense and sometimes risky subject matter help Fiorentino’s work to project a very shocking and different motive . She tends to have a unique style bringing a representational piece, abstract and a portrait all into one. It is a way to allow for there to be a reality and dream or nightmare enclosed onto one image. As Melissa explains in her artist statement:

Nothing speaks to me more than our own emotion .. Basically my main goal is to … [bring] together a surreal and abstract idea of what a person feels while they are experiencing life.

Featured below, another one of Melissa’s paintings encompasses an esoteric metaphysical feeling next to Sherry Shamback’s Spellbinding Garden & Altar Stones, spiritual words encased in cement. The small round ones have astrological glyphs on them and double as (stick) incense holders.

Branden Lukes, another exhibiting artist of the evening, displayed very large paintings that were done on different types of wood.  It is surprising how the different textures of wood in each piece really contribute to the whole experience work.  His use of  simple colors and sweeping black lines is evocative of modern comic books, anime, tribal tattoos, and finer graphic novels.

The exhibit also includes works of art by Virginia Erdie, Kathrine Jakob, Wes Trigger, the curators of the event, Paula Showen and Michelle Collins, along with many other gallery members.  It’s a beautiful exhibit so do check it out if you’re in the area now through May at Progress Energy Art Gallery:

6231 Grand Blvd.

New Port Richey, Florida 34652

Phone: (727) 848-6500

You can read more about the exhibiting artist bios & artist statements here on PEAG’s website.

After after the art exhibit, we wandered the streets of New Port Richey and discovered the festivities of the Annual Chasco Fiesta that featured pow wow dancing and various vendors from food to arts & crafts.

It’s a Surreal World opening this Friday from 6-9 pm. at the New Port Richey Art Gallery.  I’ll be featuring my new goddess series along with the featured artist of the evening, Patrick Stickney who finds that:

Inspiration comes from our contemporary world, the internal imaginative world, cultural symbols, and ancient mythology.

Other exhibiting artists include: Paula Shown, Eva Diana Berman, Branden Lukes, Virginia Erdie, Melissa Fiorentino, Kathrine Jakob, & Wes Trigger.

Directions to the event can be found here on the event posting.

MIT Researches have produced an amazing set of images as part of their New York Talk Exchange (NYTE) project, which are currently on display at The Museum of Modern Art from February 24th through May 12th 2008. The images are part of the Design and Elastic Mind exhibit which explores the dramatic ways in which changes in human communications have impacted our collective psyche as we gleefully slosh through zeros and ones. This is the age where the Oracle at Delphi is at your fingertips, after all. You don’t know how to do something, or where to turn for help? You are just a few steps away from the keyboard or phone. Our lives are indelibly changed as a people, and as individuals, and this exhibition has alot of cool items on display that explore this kind of thought.

Sources:

• Yahoo News
• Museum of Modern Art
• New York Talk Exchange

Mystikal Scents is a most excellent metaphysical shop run by a very good friend of ours, Pearl Prather. On Saturday, October 27th, from 11am to 7pm, the store will be celebrating its one year anniversary and hosting a Psychic Festival.

The shop also carries Natalie’s prints, handmade cards, and original art. Many of the items available from Surrealmuse’s Online Store are there, so you could go to Mystikal Scents in person and take a look at them.

A number of tarot readers will be available along with a rune reader and a palmist. Illustrator Deanna Davolie will be there to sign her Fairy portraits and will have her originals on display for purchase. Author Gina Estavez will be signing copies of her newest book, Tarot Spreads, Threads, and Mandalahs and will give a single-card reading with the purchase of her book.

The shop is an incredible space. It has all the metaphysical items you need including candles, hand-dipped incense, oils, books, stones, teas, herbs, tapestries, statues, fairy prints, fairy statues, jewelry, ritual clothing, cauldrons, athames, and other ritual items. My favorite part of the store has got to be the incredible selection of stones and crystals and Natalie loves the books.

There are comfy couches and pillows to sit and chat with other people interested in the metaphysical realm. Come out and have fun!

• Mystikal Scents is at 9545 E. Fowler Ave.,Thonotosassa, FL. 33592, which is a few minutes from USF. Click here for directions!
• Phone 813-986-3212

Heya all! Well, here is the final draft of the Montezuma’s Prophecy video. I have tightened up the editing, removed some of the pan shots, and synched the video with the sound. I am pleased with how this one turned out. Are you in it?

Thanks go out to everyone involved. Tampa’s art scene is very much alive! If you know of an event we should cover, contact us and let us know about it! We keep track on our online calendar of the art events happening in Tampa Bay and there’s always room to add more. Send us your art events!

WOW! What a wonderful time! On June 29th we attended the final show of the 2012 event “Montezuma’s Last Prophecy” at the New Cigar Theater in Ybor City. The staff, performers, and production team were incredibly gracious in allowing our cameras into the event. Everyone was friendly and treated us like family. We really hope there will be more events like this in Tampa.

There was a visual arts exhibit, live bands, a DJ, spoken word, and the AWESOME “Montezuma’s Last Prophecy,” which was a nod to the ending of the Mayan calendar, which is supposed to be the hallmark of some incredible metaphysical changes in the world. Drums like crazy, beautiful young women in skimpy ritual clothing, a sword dancer… WOW!!!

If you want know a little more, Wikipedia has a little information on 2012, but I would suggest a good Google Search. Take a few grains of salt, there’s alot of red herrings out there.

Anyway… Yes, the video is a tad dark. Consider this a VERY rough draft. I will post a better version soon, but I couldn’t wait to share some of the spectacle with you. I definitely am getting a lighting rig for future events… But here is a quick video of the great time we had. Were you there?

Today we celebrate freedom. For whatever that means to you, and whatever it means to your politics, your psychology, your heart, your mind, your concept of community… Freedom is always available in your own mind. Take it, hold it close, and give that same gift to the others that surround you.

We plan on being at the Crimson Anchor Tattoo today. The last time we attended one of their parties, we had an absolute BLAST. You can find their Myspace page and directions here.

I love this video. There are a ton of versions of it floating around on YouTube. Happy 4th!! Hope to see you there!

Here is a little Jimi Hendrix playing The Star Spangled Banner..

And, just in case you’re in the mood, head on over to the official Jimi Hendrix website at www.jimihendrix.com

We had so much fun making that last video, we’re doing it again. We’re all attending the 2012: Montezuma’s Last Prophecy show on June 29th. We’ll have a few video cameras floating around at this excellent event. We went last weekend and it was a total blast, so we’re going again. Drums, drums, and more drums! Ritual human sacrifice! (I am relatively sure it was staged… I think.) Oh, and a bevy of lovely young women in skimpy ritual robes. Add walls and walls of art, that Ybor City vibe, and the insanely cool location of an old cigar factory with giant, vintage, authentic mechanical conveyor belts all over the place and you have the makings of an interesting night

Natalie is also scoping out new models to inspire her newest series of creations. Come out and spend time with us!

Recently Natalie took part of an event at the Tampa Museum of Art, “Art After Dark.” It was wonderful! Natalie had several pieces on display and actually created a piece live while the event was going on. There was music, an open bar, tons of art, and an all around great vibe you only get from the Tampa art scene.

I will have to write more later, but here is quick video montage of our adventures. We just got a new video camera and I have been itching to put it to work.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow night I’ll be at Pre-party mixer at Whiskey SoHo in Tampa from 6pm - 8pm. Come out if you’re in the area. It’s to promote my upcoming group exhibit at the Tampa Museum of Art!