The indoor show and sale at the Harborview Center features works in several media.
By TERRI D. REEVES
Published May 2, 2004
CLEARWATER - If the fear of being paralyzed in traffic from the Cinco de Mayo celebration, the new library opening, the Fun 'N Sun parade, and the high school prom kept you away from downtown Saturday, take one deep relaxing breath.
The celebration and parade are over, the library is closed today, and the rent-a-limo set is probably asleep.
It may be the perfect time to catch the Out of the Blue art festival.
Sixty-three artists have gathered in the air-conditioned comfort of the Exhibition Hall at the Harborview Center in downtown Clearwater to show and sell their art. Selected by a four-member jury, they are competing for $10,000 in cash awards. This is the first time the city of Clearwater has joined with the Professional Association of Visual Artists to cosponsor this type of indoor exhibit and sale. Don Grainger, visiting from Rochester, N.Y., admires some of the wood sculptures.
"From what I've seen, the craftsmanship of this show is superb," he says. The artists generally draw their inspiration from life's colorful palette.
Mari Kaake Borsuk, an art instructor at Trailside Artists Colony in Dunedin, paints whimsical women golfing, feeding chickens, going to the beach and to the circus.
"These are me with large breasts, no waist and long curly hair," says the 70-year-old painter. "I'm part goddess and part gypsy." Paper artist Barbara Melby of Palm Harbor has created fun fish, crabs, lizards and garden fairies from molded cotton paper.
"I started making these 12 years ago to get out of a depression. I've been making myself and others happy ever since," she says.
Bosnian artist Sebastijan Petrovic is an abstract artist turned surrealist. He likes to explore themes related to family, love, marriage and divorce. In one work of art, he has painted the torsos of a man and a woman breaking out of what could be interpreted as a boxing ring.
"I don't need to see a shrink," he says. "I just talk to myself when I paint."
Kelly P. Thomsen, 42, takes his inspiration from nature. He finds pieces of live oak that have fallen into black water creeks and bogs and are naturally stained black from the decaying leaves.
"As soon as I pull them out of the water my imagination takes over, and I know I'll make a nice dolphin out of that," says the Pinellas Park resident. Fiber artist Kate Groff of Tarpon Springs explores the ancient methods of fiber technique and divination in her art. She uses the Japanese technique sakizome, which gives a pixilated look to woven fabrics. "I am one of the few in the country doing this technique," she says.
Ric Savid, a former writer for the St. Petersburg Times, likes to discover the ironies of life with his black and white photography. In one photograph, he captures a crumpled old man sitting in front of the face of a beautiful young woman in a window display. It advertises an anti-aging treatment.
"I was originally attracted to the female face and then he was sitting there probably not even realizing what he was sitting next to," he says. "I knew it would make an interesting photo."
While most patrons seemed to enjoy the cool, humidity-free art show, Diane O'Hara says she thought an outside show would be more festive.
"It's cooler in here but not as artsy," she says. "Any way you look at it, it's nice to see all these talented people in one place."
