Hello Friends,

Blogspot has created a monster. I started a new one. Unlike this one, it has no theme, and will reflect the eclectic meanderings of my whimsical mind. Follow, Please.

A Muse Revealed

Driving along, I listened as Campbell McGrath read his poems on NPR. I don't love his work, but I like it. He presented to me a new Florida. A strange, wondrous, and exploited land. He writes of a Florida worth exploring, worth writing about, worth blogging about.

"The Orange"
An Excerpt from Florida Poems
By Campbell McGrath

Gone to swim after walking the boys to school.
Overcast morning, midweek, off-season,
few souls to brave the warm, storm-tossed waves,
not wild but rough for this tranquil coast.

Swimming now. In rhythm, arm over arm,
let the ocean buoy the body and the legs work little,
wave overhead, crash and roll with it, breathe,
stretch and build, windmill, climb the foam. Breath,

breath. Traveling downwind I make good time
and spot the marker by which I know to halt
and forge my way ashore. Who am I
to question the current? Surely this is peace abiding.

Walking back along the beach I mark the signs of erosion,
bide the usual flotsam of seagrass and fan coral,
a float from somebody's fishing boat,
crusted with sponge and barnacles, and then I find

the orange. Single irradiant sphere on the sand,
tide-washed, glistening as if new born,
golden orb, miraculous ur-fruit,
in all that sweep of horizon the only point of color.

Cross-legged on my town I let the juice course
and mingle with the film of salt on my lips
and the sand in my beard as I steadily peel and eat it.
Considering the ancient lineage of this fruit,

the long history of its dispersal around the globe
on currents of animal and human migration,
and in light of the importance of the citrus industry
to the state of Florida, I will not claim

it was the best and sweetest orange in the world,
though it was, o great salt water
of eternity,
o strange and bountiful orchard.

Click to hear Campbell McGrath read excerpts from this poem and others.

Sweat the Small Stuff (Part II)

I spent a delightfully rainy after noon at Tate's Comics about two weeks ago. Located off University Dr., the bottom floor of the store is dedicated to comic books and related items (hence the name). Bear and Bird Boutique+Gallery overlooks everything from a small loft above, and offers odd and eclectic treasures.

I browsed the Small Stuff collection hosted by Bear&Bird. There were less pieces than I had imagined. It was initially a small collection, and many pieces had been sold by the time I went. Most of them were comic oriented, which isn't exactly my thing, but might have been expected considering the venue.

I enjoyed myself and ended up buying the little piece below by Valentina Ramos. It is a 6x6x1 inch canvas and has an interesting texture as the artist covered the canvas in a collage of maps and newspaper clippings before drawing and painting over it. The ink beta fish swims in layers of blue water color. When I got the piece home and unwrapped it, I found a tiny label on the back with the title "I know where I'm going," an ironic statement at this very indecisive juncture in my life. Appropriately, the piece has found it's happy home just to the left of my front door.

The staff was so down-to-earth and excited I bought a piece of art. They were even more elated when I told them I read about their boutique in Go! magazine (Air Tran's poorly edited attempt at in-flight entertainment) while traveling. Their positive, indie, nerd energy was infectious.

I drove home quite contented. It felt most satisfying to support a family-owned and operated indie business, as well as a local artist.

www.tatescomics.com

They are always having interesting events. Follow them on their blog.

Click to check out the rest of Valentina Ramos' beautiful collection.

The fish with an ironclad grasp on his future.

Not-so-Cultured Kid (Part II)

I went to Art Basel in Miami this past Sunday afternoon. I saw so many things, it is hard to remember. Someone said the walls of the exhibit amount to the circumference of the earth in length. I believe it. I felt like an outsider looking in. Not in a bad way. I wanted to know and understand what I was seeing, yet there was little time, and scarce information given. I often found myself more intrigued by the crowd than the art work. There were so many beautiful and interesting-looking people. Where are they from? Are they artists themselves? What’s it like to be part of this subculture? Were they born into it? It all seems rather inaccessible and intimidating.

“It’s an elevator. You start going down and you keep going down and you can’t get off. But you can’t kill energy. It keeps on going.” An older blond woman with thick -rimmed glasses philosophized as we peered down into a piece constructed of mirrors and neon lights that spelled “DEATH”. An optical illusion, it seemed to go miles and miles into the earth.

Favorite Piece: Tree Constructed of Metal, Paper Mache, Feathers, and Thread

Unusual Piece: Moving Heads Constructed of I Really have no Idea

Animated Piece: Dark but Charming film by Brent Green (His display marked the first time a living self-taught artist had been given a solo exhibition at Art Basel Miami Beach.)


For the record, Beethoven lived in Vienna, not Salzburg. Thank you, Stephan.

I don't have the artists' names for the first two pieces. I understand this is lame. I'm sure artists do not like not-so-cultured kids like me.

Not-so-Cultured Kid

Art Basel started today and runs through the 6th of December. I have never been, so I don’t know what it’s like as an experience. I’m going to remedy that this weekend. More and more, I am realizing how out of the loop I am with my Community. This is what the website says:

“Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 40 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels.”

“The most important art show in the United States”?I will have to see for myself.

As I am clearly not an authority on this subject, here is their website for all the necessary details: www.artbaselmiamibeach.com

I’ve climbed out from under my rock. The daylight is blinding and my legs are trembling.

Sweat the Small Stuff

I'm off to class, so this will be a short post. Bear and Bird Boutique+Gallery (4566 N. University Dr, Lauderhill) is holding an exhibition featuring "affordably priced smaller artwork by local, national and international artists." I'm so there!

More info at http://www.tatescomics.com/bearandbird/

D