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CovetArt Exhibit Pulls In Talent

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CHERYL KUCK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2009

OWEN PACH

In the competitive business of art, it's rare when a passionate arts lover enters the field and creates a new and successful venue without setting up a storefront or propping up the business through picture framing.

Entrepreneur Ciney Snook has accomplished the unique feat of encouraging a variety of top international and local artists and artisans to exhibit in a once-a-year event at which their work is showcased in her South Tampa home.

The second annual CovetArt exhibit in December brought together talented artists from Australia and the Tampa Bay area.

The artists from "down under" were Kay Faulkner, who hand weaves exquisite fabrics; Robin Phillips, a designer and jeweler who creates one-of-a-kind pieces of wearable fine art in cloisonne' enamel and metals using ancient Korean Keum Boo, a specialized gilding technique; and Janet Ayliffe, whose 30-year sojourn into photopolymer printmaking has earned her countless international accolades, including the Australian Masterworks 2007.

The Tampa Bay artists included Donna Morrison, a Tampa painter who has collaborated with Snook on the show and made her second appearance as a CovetArt exhibitor. She primarily works in watercolor using fine detail to show her passion for nature. In 2008, she was awarded first place in the Artist Colony International exhibition and participated in many events, including the Westshore Alliance Banner Art Expose.'

Joe Coupe is a Sarasota wood turner who created exquisite sculptures from blocks of wood. He uses a variety of exotic woods and creates his artwork using carving, texturing, wood-burning and even air-brushing to create unusual effects. His perfectly replicated hats, for example, have wood-grain satin finishes that look like fine fabric.

Snook's major coup was discovering that renowned glass artist Owen Pach has moved back to Brandon from Philadelphia - and then persuading him to show in the exhibit. He has been sponsored by the St. Petersburg Arts Center to teach at Susan Gott's famous Phoenix Glass Studio in Tampa, where he began as an apprentice in 1985.

Pach is more than a glass blower. He is an inventor who uses broken glass and found objects to make colorful glass-blown creations, which he fuses to steel and marble in what he calls "elemental improves."

The winner of countless awards, Pach's works are displayed in permanent Florida collections, including the Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo; the Museum of Florida Art (formerly the DeLand Museum of Art), DeLand; and the City of Orlando art exhibit.

For more information about the CovetArt exhibiting artists, contact Snook at (813) 832-3171 or covetart@hotmail .com.

Around The Arts

•Brandon area artists are among some 800 artisans who have works on display at the 34th annual international miniature art exhibit through February 8 at the Dunedin Fine Art Center, 1143 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin. The exhibit is sponsored by the Miniature Art Society of Florida. Preparation includes a week for judges to pore through more than 1,800 entries from Tasmania to Zimbabwe, England to Thailand and all across America. The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free, but donations for the art center are requested.

•The Dunedin Fine Art Center also will feature free coffee and a lecture on miniature painting at noon Thursday. Miniaturist Kay Petryszak will discuss miniatures in historical context, while fellow award-winning miniaturist Markissia Touliatos will cover technique. Petryszak is vice president of both the Miniature Art Society of Florida and Miniature Artists of America. Markissia has been a commissioned portrait painter for more than 30 years specializing in alla prima techniques. Her painting, "La Jaliciense," measuring just 3-by-4 inches, won first place in oils in the 34th international competition currently on display at the art center. For information, call (727) 298-3322.

•Brandon League of Fine Arts member artist Ruth Soucek's watercolor and acrylic paintings are on display through January at Valrico State Bank, 1815 State Road 60 E., Valrico.

•Also through January, Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association at 619 Vonderburg Drive, Brandon, will have a prestigious showing by the Central West Region of the Florida Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in the Mook Gallery. The exhibit is multimedia and represents all genres. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call (813) 685-8888.

•The Second Annual Bay Area Art Show at Tampa Realistic Artists Old Hyde Park Art Center will have a $2,000 purse and will be judged by the Gulf Coast Museum of Art's founding director and curator, Lynn Whitelaw. This is a major show and will be limited to only 200 juried entries. For an artist's prospectus, contact Brandon League if Fine Arts member Frank Bolock at fbo lockartist@yahoo.com or call (813) 914-8759. Artwork will be accepted for jurying from noon to 3 p.m. Jan. 29 to Feb.1 at the Old Hyde Park Art Center, 705 Swann Ave., Tampa. A reception will be held there from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 13. The exhibit will continue through March 8.

Cheryl Kuck is a media member of the Greater Brandon Arts Council. She can be reached at wkuck@tampabay.rr.com.

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