Bonita Art Show: Paintings and Photography

 The Bonita Springs National Art Show was held at Riverside Park.  Attendance was strong and lots of folks were carrying packages as they left.  Exhibitors must have been happy.

Bruce Howled exhibited terrific paintings of faces, dancers and other figures.

Robert Green showed some fine photographs, including (at the top left) a Southern plantation seen through a breathtaking tree canopy and (top center) a stunning sunset.

Bonita Art Show: Ceramics, Pottery and Similar Works

There has been another art festival this weekend, this time at Riverside Park in Bonita Springs.

Nicario Jimenez is a Peruvian artist who now works in Naples.  He crafts "retablos," 

portable boxes filled with brightly colored figurines arranged into intricate scenes.  

One of Jimenez's retablos is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

John Cheer is a Pennsylvania-based ceramics artist.  His works generally have smooth textures and are reminiscent of life forms.  Several of the works in his booth were based on stingrays.

Even though he lives in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and has never been to Asia, 

David Bryce's artworks -- drawings in clay and sculptures -- are based on traditional Chinese figures.  

William Kidd is a ceramics artist who creates colorful works that are from his imagination but seem alive.  He describes them as "life forms that might exist in some worldly place."

Art in the Park: Photography and Painting

Holly Manneck works from vintage images -- like The Beatles or Marilyn Monroe -- and adds her own colors, words, photographs and other elements to create prints heavy with nostalgia.

Marc Damon shows gorgeous, detailed, large format, black and white landscape photography. 

Marc was originally an engineer and he is an avid triathlete.  A true Renaissance man.

April Davis paints landscapes that could pass for photographs.

Lisa Middleton creates colorful antique map prints.  She photocopies old maps in black and white, 

blows them up onto heavy paper, ages them with tea stain, then hand paints details.  Finally, she creates giclee prints in different sizes, and sometimes creates scarves and wallpaper!

Nels Johnson photographs funky things he runs across, like old cars, signs, posters and the like.

Then he converts the images to black and white and hand-paints in some of the details.

Art in the Park: Crafts and Jewelry

Once January arrives, the art festivals begin.  This one was on Naples' Fifth Avenue South.

Let's see some of the artists who make special kinds of jewelry and crafts.

James Floyd makes guitars from found objects and other unconventional components.

This guitar is made from the top of a Korean barbecue placed on a tambourine.  

The silver decoration was originally a silverplate trivet.
Other guitars began life as cigar boxes.

Miami Beach designer Anna Saulino showed her bold and beautiful necklaces, bracelets and pins.

Much of it was assembled from large hammered gold discs and chains.

Don't you love her coordinating dress? 

Linda Caristo has been a jeweler for more than 20 years.  Much of her jewelry is enameled silver designs from nature, like butterflies.  Her husband Carl (above) casts her designs 

and now designs and casts some of his own silver jewelry.

I absolutely loved Vince Pompei's clocks!  He makes them from old silver trays, plates,
spoons and serving pieces.  (I liked his braided beard, too.)

Swamp Buggy Queen

Swamp buggy races are traditions in the blue collar, "Old Florida" part of Naples.
A highlight of the races is the coronation of the Swamp Buggy Queen.
This collection is in the Naples Depot.

Palm Cottage

I took a tour of Palm Cottage in December.  Built in 1895, it is the oldest house in Naples.

Today Palm Cottage serves as the headquarters of the Naples Historical Society.

Naples Pier

Time to move on to new photographs from southwest Florida.

Naples Pier re-opened in November after a $2.4 million renovation that took place over the summer.

The 1,000 foot long pier needed ten linear miles of Brazilian ipe, a very hard, termite-resistant wood.
I visited early on a weekday morning.  The view was good.

The pier was built in 1888 to provide ferry access to the little fishing village of Naples.  

It had previously been rebuilt after hurricanes in 1910, 1926 and 1960.