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Art

Artistic drive on display at walk

By LENNIE BENNETT
Published August 10, 2006

I met Helene Ross, an artist and retired art professor, about 20 years ago when I was a fledgling volunteer at the Museum of Fine Arts, roped into drawing promotional posters that didn't require her artistic finesse.

Nothing keeps her down, not even the car accident in June that crushed her pelvis. In her words: "An 86-year-old woman should not try to stop a moving car."

While in rehab, she asked for her canvas and paints. She wanted to finish the homage to Manet in time for the Arts Center's members show that recently opened. Finish it she did, a portrait of Olympia, that famously seductive nude. She reclines on her courtesan's bed, still desirable, but, as Ross says, looking a little like time had taken its toll.

See it Saturday at the Arts Center, 719 Central Ave., along with lots more art there and at other galleries listed below during St. Petersburg's monthly Downtown Arts Association walk. Extended hours are 5:30 to 9 p.m., and all venues are free.

Alla Prima Fine Art, 111 Second Ave. NE

Artists Gallery Royale, 200 Second Ave. N

ArtSpace, 10 Fifth St. N

Augustine-Ludovico Studio, 2851 First Ave. N

Central Gallery, 540 Central Ave.

Craftsman House, 2955 Central Ave.

Creative Clay & Cultural Art Services, 1124 Central Ave.

Crystal Mirage Gallery at the Pier

Davidson Fine Arts, 725 Central Ave.

Florida Craftsmen Gallery, 501 Central Ave.

Glass Canvas Gallery, 146 Second St. N

Interior Motives, 1110 Central Ave.

Kellusion Art Gallery, 538 Central Ave.

Lynn J. Merhige Gallery, 216 Fourth St. N

Shapiro's at Baywalk, 185 Second Ave. N

Studio Encanto, 209 First St. NE

Studio Szabries, 1746 Central Ave.

Trinity Gallery, 214 Beach Drive NE

Vladimir's Collection, 111 Second Ave. NE, No. 102

- LENNIE BENNETT, Times art critic

[Last modified August 8, 2006, 13:40:59]