Art Basel Miami - Inspired by Others

Being inspired by others is a wonderful gift to receive. 

It was my pleasure to be invited to Art Basel Miami by my artist friend Tatiana Cast (www.TatianaCast.com). She was excited yesterday to show me one of her favorite venues; Aqua show in Miami Beach. What a fabulous, intimate show in the Aqua hotel on Collins Avenue, and the works were sensational and inspirational!

View of Collins Ave Art Deco hotels from the Aqua Hotel 2nd floor open-air patio.

At Aqua, I saw the work of Dawn Southworth, through Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA (www.RicePolakGallery.com), who had many personal sketches adhered to an ironing cloth or collaged onto tar-paper. Here are my 2 favorites from the Aqua show...

The rawness and personalness of these images inspired me to get back to drawing today simply for the enjoyment of it, grabbing a few minutes to sketch over morning coffee. Wow, just that simple act has rekindled in me an imagery I have enjoyed painting in the past (hair-on-fire people) and this tinkering allowed me to discover, through a happy accident, creating the spider like squiggles you see in my sketches below.

Oh, the serendipity!  Personal experiences such as this today have many times so plainly demonstrated the brilliance behind Picasso's quote, "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working!" Just through small consistent action, we can stoke the creative fire. What are you drawing, painting, photographing, or writing today?

Here are more of the Aqua show artworks that I really enjoyed...

Alejandro Salazar, California, www.Gallery-300.com

 

This image is carved out of a freakin' telephone book!!!

Alex Queral, www.ProjectsGallery.com

Derek Gores, Florida, www.ThinkSpaceGallery.com

Fred Tieken, Arizona, www.PerihelionArts.com

Happy Arting!  :D Tristina

Visit With Peace Mural Foundation

Yesterday my daughter Samantha and I went to Miami Beach to visit dynamic and prolific Artist Huong (Anna) at her Peace Mural Foundation Museum Gallery and view the spectacular Peace Murals that she has created through her own paintings and by inspiring intern artists from local universities, children, and people of all ages and from all walks of life. Find out more about the Foundation at www.peacemural.org

This one Mural for Peace consists of 2000 canvases and includes paintings 

with the word Peace written in 120 different languages.

As a refugee from Vietnam, Anna came to America with her son to escape from the ravages of war. Having experienced the effects of war first hand, she has made it her mission to work at educating people to think of PEACE as a priority in our lives and for the good of our shared planet. Her organization does this through ART!

I am grateful that Anna has asked me to help teach her university art student interns how to use the Pebeo Fantasy paints on 400 canvases for the Foundation's latest Save Our Oceans mural project to be unveiled in Miami in November! I have loaned my Reef Skull 1 and Prism's Dance paintings to the Foundation as inspiration for the interns, and they may be viewed by the public while visiting Miami Beach at the Peace Mural Foundation Museum Gallery, 1606 Washington Avenue. Open daily 2 pm - 10 pm.

One of my favorite murals (they are all gorgeous and provocative) in the museum is the Immigration Mural running the length of several walls. Here is an article on the Foundation website about it: http://www.peacemural.org/miami-newtimes/

One of my favorite quotes from the Immigration Mural!

Thank you so much to Anna for her gifting Samantha and me the intaglios from the Immigration Mural series of a family and wise owl by the late Miami artist Joe Demarais and signing her Peace Mural poster for us! I'm so looking forward to working with Anna's team on the Save Our Oceans mural. :D

Happy Arting & Peace Out!  Tristina