FIVE BY FIVE Art Event at the Tampa Museum of Art

Last night, George, Linda, Duane, and I attended an art event to benefit the Arts Council of Hillsborough County’s individual artist programs.  This is the fourth year the event has been held but the first time any of us had attended.  George and Duane both donated art.  George sent two of his photographs and Duane donated a painting.  The rules for this event are basically that the art must by 5" x 5" in size and if it's three dimensional, the depth can't be over 5 inches.  There is no entry fee for the artists who donate and each artist may donate up to two pieces.  Each piece of art is priced at $25 and the artist is not known to the buyer until after it's been purchased.  Admittance is free to contributing artists and is $10 per person for everyone else. 

Duane and George -- our two artistes.

Since this was our first year of involvement in this event, we discovered the hard way that you need to get there early -- well before the 8pm opening -- and stand in line for the doors to open.  Because the art was available to view online, I'm sure many people had their hearts set on certain pieces.  I know I did but the place was literally packed by the time we got there -- at almost 9pm.  Duane's son had been there before it opened and he said the line was very long and you could barely get up close to see the art due to a crush of people craning their necks to see what they wanted to purchase.   Because I'm short and a bit claustrophobic in crowds, I'm not sure how I would handle that.  It was still very crowded when we went in despite many of the pieces having been sold.  Have to wait and see next year.

Happily, both of George's photos and Duane's painting sold.  Here are their entries:

UT by George Howlett

   

Wig by George Howlett

 

Gulls over choppy water by Duane K. Reigel

You can't tell from these pics but Duane's painting was a bit three dimensional.  It consisted of drywall with drywall mud, acrylic paint, and seagulls made of blank card catalog card stock.  (She just knew those cards would come in handy someday...)

Duane and I each purchased art, too.  I bought two photographs.  Here they are:

The Old Window by Neil Sperling

Optical Theatre by Stephanie Schulte

Duane's purchase was fairly thick and was described as 'felted eco print.'   Here are two pics to give you an idea of the size and texture:

Flirt of Fall by Barbara Kazanis

Duane holding Flirt of Fall -- a thick piece

We're really looking forward to next year's show.  It's such a great cause and a wonderful opportunity to purchase art at a very low price while benefiting working artists.  I don't know who purchased George's UT pic but I did speak with the woman who bought the Wig picture.  She's a gallery owner in Tampa so we know it's going to a nice place.  I should also mention that entries were welcome from all over the world, not just locally.  I think my favorite part was not knowing who the artist was and just selecting a piece because I liked it.  I tend to purchase art that way, anyway, and we found out after our purchases were made.  There was an alphabetical list of the artists and their locations on the FIVE BY FIVE homepage.  Also, all of the artists in attendance wore special stickers like Duane and George are wearing in the picture above. 

'Til next year!

A Shop Local Day

Yesterday, Duane, Linda, and I decided to make it a 'shop local' day in Duane's part of Tampa, Seminole Heights.  Lots of independent businesses in the Heights that I've blogged about here before along with great places to eat.  We started at the Bali Bay Trading Company.  (In addition to their website, here's their Facebook page.)  They've really expanded their furniture and home decor section along with their usual jewelry and accessories.  The owner told us that he's expecting two more shipments in June so Linda and I both decided we would wait on purchases we were just about to make.  Can't wait to see their new stuff before making up our minds.  All three of us have bought items from Bali Bay before and the owners are very friendly and inviting.

Our next stop was A Modern Line owned by our buddy, David.  Due to a fire a few months ago in his original location, David had to relocate but he's up and running again.  Great place for mid-century modern furniture and decor.  Linda and I have bought furniture from David and all three of us have purchased decor items.  I've even placed items on consignment in the shop.  There was a new watercolor dating from the '70's that Linda and I both had our eye on.  We decided to think about it.  In addition to his website, David also has a Facebook page here.

We noticed a new vintage shop that had opened next to A Modern Line and decided to stop in and check it out.  Frolic Exchange is a cool little boutique with vintage clothing, accessories, home decor and even some furniture.  Duane fell in love with a chair she saw but needs to make sure that the measurements will work for where she'd like to put it.  The decoration of the shop was adorable.  We complimented the young girl behind the counter and she said that she and her mother did it themselves.  Very eye-catching!  We recommend checking out this new shop.  They have a Facebook page here.  This mother/daughter duo have done a great job.

Our last stop before lunch was another long-time favorite -- D & D Antiques and More  -- which also has a Facebook page here.   Duane has purchased several large pieces of furniture from D & D and yesterday I got lucky with some smaller items.  I purchased a long scarf style necklace, two pink Depression glass dessert plates and a piece of Hull matte white pottery (yes, one of my obsessions and not the first piece I've bought at D & D).

By then we were ready for lunch.  We decided to eat at one of the many local favorite diners and went to the Three Coins Diner which also has a Facebook page (doesn't everyone these days?) here.   Three Coins is open 24 hours and has a huge menu of selections including breakfast anytime.  Duane and I both ordered breakfast food and Linda had a gyro.  Then we decided to splurge on dessert.  I thought I had left plenty of room but, let's just say that they don't skimp on portions at Three Coins.  My brownie sundae was HUGE.  I did manage to tunnel through it and only left a small piece of brownie.  Linda had a chocolate sundae and Duane had one of the diner's most popular desserts -- their rice pudding.   To say that we rolled out to the car afterwards would be an understatement.  But it was worth it.

We plan to have another 'shop local' day in a few weeks so that we can all go back and buy the larger items that we weren't quite ready to commit to yesterday.  I'm looking forward to it already.

My purchases from D&D Antiques and More.

Antiquing sales

Duane and Linda and I hit a parking lot sale and a tent sale yesterday being held by two of our favorite vintage stores.  Kaleidoscope was having the tent sale.  Duane found a couple of antique oval wood frames (one still had the original art work in it) and I bought a cool handmade pillow featuring a palm tree print and plastic fringe.  The pillow is for my futon in my home office.  Linda bought a set of two lovely metal and glass tables.  The glass is a beautiful shade of green.  She plans to use them in her redecoration of her guest room.  There were some great deals on so many little tables (I have a weakness for those) but I would have to get rid of something else in order to make room and not crowd any areas.   Too bad.  I usually have to think about something like that for awhile.

Parking lot sale at Yesterdaze.

 

My pillow and Duane's loot from Kaleidoscope and Yesterdaze.

 
We headed to Yesterdaze after that for a parking lot sale.  Duane found a book and a set of kitchen vegetable prints.  There's always a lot to see at Yesterdaze so we went into the store, too, as usual.  From antique to vintage, this store has it all -- packed to the rafters.  Not just home decor but vintage/antique clothing including wedding dresses, fur, hats, gloves and tons of jewelry.  Linda spotted a couple of turntables and left a phone message for our buddy, Danny, who has been looking for a turntable.  He doesn't want one in a cabinet, just the turntable, and these were in good working condition with new styluses/needles.  Apparently, the owner has to keep the styluses behind the counter because they have a way of disappearing.  Tsk.

 We stopped by D&D Antiques to look around.  This was the first time we'd visited since the owner moved her store to a larger building.  A really nice store -- well curated and fairly priced.  This is the store where Duane bought her aqua kitchen table.  (See blog entry for July 17, 2011.)  She's still looking for a pair of chairs that are 'just right' for her table.   


After taking a break at Starbucks for some caffeine, Linda had to leave to meet our friend, Barbara, for a football game.  Duane and I went on to another antique store nearby.  (I always forget the name of this place but I'll add it when it comes back to me.)  Beautiful garden statuary at this one. Linda bought her buddha there -- see blog post for Feb. 20th, 2011.  I saw a free-standing turquoise birdbath that was hard to pass up.  Right now, we have one that hangs from an oak tree in our backyard.  George refreshes it each day.  I'd love to replace it with the turquoise one.  Something else I need to think about. Sigh.

By this time, Duane and I were ready for lunch so we headed to Mikey's and we both had my favorite tuna melt with pasta salad.  Yum.  Too bad we're always too full to buy anything from their bakery when we're finished eating.  We made one more stop after this to shop for yarn.  I haven't knitted or crocheted in years but I had been thinking about making something for the project my friend Kate is involved in -- The Humble Stitch Project.  I've already shipped yarn to Kate that I picked up cheaply at estate and yard sales but I hadn't thought of making something myself until I came across a free pattern for a scarf on the 'net last week.  I'll post a pic here if it turns out well enough to send to The Humble Stitch as part of their distribution of warm clothing items for the homeless in South Florida.

The 48th Annual Chiselers Market

If you've ever seen a picture of the Tampa skyline, you've probably seen the minarets of the University of Tampa.

This Moorish style building was originally the Tampa Bay Hotel, built in 1891 by Henry B. Plant. The 500 room building is now home to the University of Tampa and the Henry B. Plant Museum.

For over 52 years, a non-profit volunteer group has worked to restore this beautiful building. This group of dedicated workers call themselves The Chiselers due to the 'chiseling' that had to be performed in the late 1950's to remove paint and mortar from the hotel's fireplace tiles. One of the ways the Chiselers raise money is their annual Chiselers Market. Today was the first time my friend Linda and I had ever attended the Chiselers sale.

Items are collected via donations throughout the year and the market is held one day only from 9am to 3pm. Maps are available as you enter the sale (people line up before daylight for the bargains). Since this was our first time, it was hard to know where to start. Items are divided into different rooms or areas for books, jewelry, furniture, art, collectibles, china, crystal and silver, plants and a room called the 'bargain center.' There's also a silent auction for special items.

To say that you have to be willing to fight a crowd would be an understatement. We made our first mistake by not deciding which area was really the most important for us to check immediately. Linda has been looking for small end or occasional tables so we should have visited the furniture section first. Instead, we headed there much later and groaned at all of the nice tables with SOLD written over the $5, $10 and $15 price tags. Bummer. And those were just the items that had sold but hadn't been picked up yet. Oh, well, live and learn.

I had the best luck in the 'bargain center,' scoring a set of 1960's cocktail forks (in the original box) for .50, a small handpainted (and signed) tole tray for .50 and a Nora Fenton hand decorated bowl for $1. Linda and I both found goodies in the book room. I bought a beautiful coffee table book of the history of the White House Christmas cards (signed by the author) for $5 and Linda found several books and some sheet music from My Fair Lady with a lovely rendering of Audrey Hepburn on the front cover.

All of the jostling made us really hungry so we stopped mid-morning and went out to one of the verandas where the Chiselers had yummy muffins, turnovers and brownies. We treated ourselves to brownies. Many people stay for lunch -- the specialty is the Chiselers' pimento cheese sandwiches.

We know that some of our friends were planning to go but it's hard finding anyone in that crowd. We did see our buddy, Danny, standing in the line outside (before the sale started) as we passed in the car to find a parking space but we don't think he saw us. (Hey, Danny, we honked at you!) Needless to say, after looking in all of the sale areas, we were both tired from all of the neck craning and elbowing but it was a fun experience for a great cause.

The Chiselers are a great group and were very nice to chat with. Besides all of their hard work preparing for this sale, they also worked the booths.  Over the years, they've raised over $4 million to restore this historic Florida landmark. They have a website here if you're interested in finding out more about them.