To Boldly Go again

to boldly link

http://www.tampabay.com/features/events/article1002528.ece

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/2009/05/22/artsqueeze-weekend-roundup-may-22-23/#comment-4003

http://web.me.com/tmreller/WTCA/current.html

"To Bodly Go" begining

About 3 years ago, Mike Stewart saidto me, "Hey, I have this idea about doing an art show about the orginal Star Trek. Would you be interested?" Before I could even say, "Why yes, Mike, I do think I would be interested and it is a great idea and am jealous that I didn't think of it myself and end up asking you instead," my brain had started thinking of what I would do: comic book, flip book, zoetrope, ROD PUPPETS. I said, "Yeah, sure."

Then three years went on by. We would mention the show every now and then.

But after three years, Mike said Joe Griffith and Experimental Skeleton found a space for the show and we had a date.

A DEADLINE!

ok, we all know Douglas Adams quote (if not, find it). But I like deadlines. It is the only time I work. I had THREE YEARS to work on this project, but did I? no. Not until I had a deadline. It is why I loved school, they always gave me deadlines. I have seen this pattern from me for the past 40ish years and it played out once again. So I finally started the project and got it done with five days to spare. That ws creepy. I've never had time to spare, at least never this much time. I am good enough to schedule in time to do touch-up / revisions, but this much time made me nervous and anxious. So I packed everything up and waited until I could bring it to the gallery.

I documented my process from begining to the show's opening:

To Boldly Go

The Experimental Skeleton Group and The West Tampa Center for the Arts
presents "To Boldly Go", an exhibition of art that explores the original
Star Trek television series. The exhibition features artists'
interpretations of the visual style, utopian vision, flora and fauna and
technologies of the Star Trek program as well as its effects on popular culture.

Participating artists include - David Waterman, Mike Stewart, Max Valentonis, Don Fuller,
Chris Deacon, Vincent Kral, April Childers, Allen Hampton, Bob Dorsey, Katey Raven Dorsey,
Brian Taylor, JR Bonds, Joe Griffith, Kym O’Donnell, Jason Rodrick, Bradley Paul Valentine and more!
With Special Sonic Enhancement by DJ Sam, DJ Brian Oblivion, and Bud Mayhem.

The exhibition opens May 22nd, 2009 at Gallery 209 in the West Tampa
Center for the Arts at 1906 Armenia Ave., Tampa Fl with an opening reception
from 7pm - 11pm and runs through June 14th.

For more information call 813-217-1240 or e-mail c1cada@earthlink.net

Frequent contributor plus one

I always LOVE letting everyone know when I’ve been PUBLISHED and this is no exception. I have had a CARTOON published. And it warms my HEART when I get to be published in several issues by the same magazine. I’ve had a few on-line and print magazines where I’ve had this BLESSING. So I am glad to announce that I’m in the new issue of Cliterature! But WAIT. It does get BETTER. My WIFE, Michelle is ALSO PUBLISHED in this issue. This is her FIRST story and her first PUBLICATION! I am the happiest & POUDEST husband around. So please take a look, read and hopefully enjoy the new issue of Cliterature.

 

http://cliteraturejournal.com/home.html  

 

And flip through the back issues to read some of my other pieces. 

co-written by Michelle Valentonis

The Twelve Days of Florida

 On the first day of Florida my true love gave to me a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the second day of Florida my true love gave to me two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the third day of Florida my true love gave to me three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the fourth day of Florida my true love gave to me four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the fifth day of Florida my true love gave to me five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the sixth day of Florida my true love gave to me six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the seventh day of Florida my true love gave to me seven mermaids splashing, six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the eighth day of Florida my true love gave to me eight blue-hairs knitting, seven mermaids splashing, six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the ninth day of Florida my true love gave to me nine suntan lotions, eight blue-hairs knitting, seven mermaids splashing, six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the tenth day of Florida my true love gave to me ten life guards, nine suntan lotions, eight blue-hairs knitting, seven mermaids splashing, six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the eleventh day of Florida my true love gave to me eleven speed bumps, ten life guards, nine suntan lotions, eight blue-hairs knitting, seven mermaids splashing, six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

 On the twelfth day of Florida my true love gave to me twelve swimming suits, eleven speed bumps, ten life guards, nine suntan lotions, eight blue-hairs knitting, seven mermaids splashing, six swimming pools, five pelicans, four cockroaches, three seagulls, two coconuts and a Pink Flamingo by a Palm tree.

That time of year again

"MAGICAL MOMENTS OF MUSIC" the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour's Christmas Gala Concert is Friday December 12 at 8 PM.

Steve Otto of the Tampa Tribune wrote a lovely recommendation. And I mentioned it before... last year I think.... when I mentioned I did last year's artwork. Wel, guess what? I did this year's artwork as well. Last year they made a neat banner which really impressed me, but this year Greg, one of the congregation made a plywood backdrop from my art. I am impressed. He did a great job. We installed it last Sunday. Yes, I get "volunteered" to help convert the altar into the stage. It is now a winter tradition for me. So to follow the tradition,

I will show the line drawing:

Then in colour:

Then the backdrop:

And installing the stage:

Florida Pirate Fair

a coupon from your friend, Captain Henry Jennings, coFounder of the Pirates Republic

New publication

My poems

"Lost in Urban Landscaping #19: wandering eye"
"Lost in Urban Landscaping #34: Imprint"
"Road"
"Cosmic Yesterday - Summer Romance (26 August 2003)"

are included in the current issue of Cliterature Journal #9 THE GAZE.
http://cliteraturejournal.com

Read it. Enjoy it. Feel it.

Safety Harbor RENAISSANCE NIGHT

I joined the Florida Pirate Festival this year. http://piratefair.com/

Now that they have me, they have been trying to teach me how to act and stage fight. They have cast me as Captain Henry Jennings which I am pretty excited about. I haven't actually fought anyone, but then again they are doing a good job of keeping me away from other people and sharp objects. They might be pirates but they ain't dumb.

Some of the Pirates will be appearing this week at the Safety Harbor Renaissance Night, Friday September 19th, 2008. This is a fun (albeit small: yet FREE) Renaissance Fair. I went last year and enjoyed it greatly. I suggest that you come out and also enjoy it. These will be different Pirates (same actors) than who will be at the Florida Pirate Festival, November 21st -- 23rd, 2008 at Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Watch me try to act.

And if that is not enough, Jen Shumilak http://www.myspace.com/morrisdance & David Waterman  http://www.voiceoveraudio.com/ will be there as "For Love Or Money" http://flom-music.com. And we all know that they are entertaining, even if I am not, but don't say that, I will have a sword (or more) I am a Pirate after all.

See Safety Harbor's web site for more details:
http://www.cityofsafetyharbor.com/index.asp?nid=317

Here is me trying on Pirate Captain coats:

MashUp

I have a problem staying off stages. It started recently. No, that's not it. This problem goes back a long time. An old friend mentioned to me that I have always been the center of attention person. I just haven't recognized this in myself until recently.

Now that I know what to look for, I am seeing just how pervasive my problem is. Apparently, everyone who knows me has been aware of my problem. And some of them have used my problem to suite their own wicked needs.

Most recently, I was invited to go to the USF Contemporary Art Museum to take part in their current exhibition. For those of you who have read previous blogs, you know that even though I stopped working there over a decade ago, I still seem to be held in their orbit.

The show "MashUp" included a piece by Pablo Reyes, where people get to 'air guitar' on a stage to selected songs, using a wooden guitar silhouette which is smashed by the participant. The guitar remnants accrue on the stage. They video taped the performances and then replay them on a monitor at the side of the stage for the rest of the exhibition.

I was performer #1.

Then after all the other performers finished, David Leonard of "Tampa Bay's 10" needed assistance for his feature. I was called on to assist because I have a problem.

Look for me with the mohawk (TampaBays10.com)

I brought my family to the opening of the exhibition. My son jammed out to the song I performed. A reporter from the St. Petersburg Times took some photographs of him and loved the parallel performance.

My son introduced himself to the curator and the artist. The artist's wife suggested that my son perform to a song and smash a guitar as well. He chose the same song I had performed and he got a good size audience. Apparently, this is a genetic problem which I have passed on.

Check him out on the tbt* blog: http://blogs.tampabay.com/scene/2008/09/destruction-art.html

Fuzzy Vision 43

2008 Summer Update

It has been a while since I have given the rest of the world a glimpse into my universe which this missive hopes to rectify. And yep, for those of you whom haven’t received one of these mock belles lettres before, I do speak and write like this. The current color of my sky is jumping between blue-green and gray (according to the mood ring spectrometer). The land is moist and full of weeds, and apparently a few sunflowers have poked through to my delight. My family is now healthy which is of great relief to us all. I adapted well to role of Daddy-Mommy-Nurse as it was needed but it does tire one immensely. I have done things, some which might surprise and amuse you and a few which even surprised me.

The first big surprise was my first adult acting role. And I do qualify this by saying “Yes, I know, adult IS acting for me”. Yet I ingest. Or repress. So I had the wonderful experience to be a ‘Mad Scientist’. Again, I know many people would not perceive this as me acting. My family (in-laws as such) works and volunteers and works some more at Lutheran Church of Our Saviour. I have on many occasions volunteered work there, done artwork and design for them, and taught martial arts (Don Jitsu Ryu) there. It being a church, it is no wonder that they would have a Vacation Bible School. Curiously, this years’ theme was SCIENCE. Now, as an aside, I feel compelled to tell you that on weekends, I occasionally have a kitchen full of neighborhood kids as we do science experiments. My son Alexander loves science and that was one of my passions as a youth, so I encourage it as much as possible, and so he and I do experiments, then he invites over his friends, that is how it grows into a neighborhood event reproducing last week’s episode of MythBusters in the front weeds (not lawn) because at that point we have been correctly shooed out of the kitchen by my lovely wife, who invites her family over. Yes, Mentos and Diet Pepsi are always on our shopping list. I have sown the seeds and drawn the map for you to understand how I, of all people, ended up spending three weeks of lunch-breaks in silly costumes doing science experiments for children at a VBS. My son was my trusty robot assistant X-10!

As a coincidental cosmic counter balance to the Lutheran Science demonstrations, at the beginning of this year I took the Wicca 101 class at Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa and Circles in the Woods CUUPS. It was a great class, with wonderful instructors, great classmates, and lively discussions. I learned a great deal and suggest whoever has interest and is in the Tampa Bay area find a way to attend the next class for it is well worth the minimal money (which goes to the UU Church). http://www.geocities.com/uutampa/CUUPs/calendar.htm

Don’t think I have neglected writing and cartooning, I think about that enough myself, however; I have produced some items worthy of reportage. To begin with I once more reestablish myself as an artistic footnote by being thanked for my scholarship and work on the Robert Stackhouse Print Archives housed at the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum in the catalogue of said archive. This is as important to me as being footnoted by the Guggenheim Museum’s Arakawa / M. Gins catalogue. I am deeply honored for being noticed and associated with artists who I admire so greatly. I shan’t elaborate more details since that was the focus of my last missive.

I would like to mention, so I will mention, that the Jose Marin catalogue is available. I and many people have anticipated this commiserate publication. The bittersweet is that Jose, a friend and co-worker of mine, deserved an exhibition and catalogue of this magnitude. Unfortunately it is a posthumous exhibition, many years after his untimely passing. I missed him when he moved across the country and missed him more so when he died. This was a fitting tribute. http://131.247.128.63/CAM/exhibitions/2004_04_Jose_Marin%20/jose_marin.html

It’s not all about me.

The Pilcrow Literary Festival in Chicago was May 22-25. http://pilcrowlitfest.com/ Lynn Brewer, the editor of Cliterature online journal spoke on a panel among other glorious editor activities. Before she went, she emailed to me “I'd love to use an excerpt from ‘Lost in Urban Landscaping’ that was published in the Hags & Witches issue in my speech, and of course plug your name and work along with it.’ I do believe I said “YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! That would be acceptable.” Or something along those lines. I am very sorry I was unable to attend the festival. Travel has been one of my banes this year. I do love the acknowledgments though.

Mostly, it IS about me.

In July, Cliterature Volume 8 “The City” was published http://cliteraturejournal.com/thecity.html. And I am excited to say that they included two of my poems: “Lost In Urban Landscaping #33: Ybor City” and “smog”. I am very happy about this and hope we have a long term publishing relationship. They produce an entertaining and thought provoking magazine that I am proud to be associated with. I think that is enough sucking up for now, but I may have more later.

Tokyopop magazine and Sakura Pens and the Grand Sumo Tournament had an art contest. http://sakuraofamerica.com/?q=node/297 The grand prize was two tickets to the Grand Sumo Tournament in Los Angeles, CA. Unfortunately, my bane of being unable to travel prevented me from attending so in my place went Max Waterman and friend. I hear they had a good time and met Elain Chang, my charming contact at TokyoPop who coordinated the details. However, I did receive two LA Sumo Tournament T-shirts, an official "Sumo Sign-in" Kit, an assortment of Sakura drawing pens, and best of all a tegata (handprint signature) of Hakuho.

And as if my life isn’t going in enough different directions I have purchased a guitar and a ukulele. I took guitar lessons way back when I was in High School, I never took ukulele lessons. I have been practicing and will take some real lessons soon. Hopefully, with five or six more years of random plucking on these instruments I might be able to play a song. Maybe.

I have taken some of my more recent images and made them available as clothing and accessories via CafePress. Many of these are specifically being released in honor of “National MUTT Day” on July 31. http://www.nationalmuttday.org/ The money raised from many of these items will go to the starting of Michele Martin’s “Lucky Dog Organics” (pet food and services) or to the Pinellas Animal Foundation http://www.vetsforpets.org/process.cfm?PageID=1

NEW PRODUCTS:

http://www.cafepress.com/critter1

http://www.cafepress.com/critter2

http://www.cafepress.com/critter3

http://www.cafepress.com/critter4

http://www.cafepress.com/critter5

http://www.cafepress.com/critter6

http://www.cafepress.com/critter7

http://www.cafepress.com/critter8

http://www.cafepress.com/critter9

http://www.cafepress.com/critter10

http://www.cafepress.com/critter11

This morning I resumed my fledgling acting career and auditioned for the Florida Pirate Festival. The audition went well and I had a lot of fun doing it and met some really nice folks. I had some great advice from David Waterman on how to survive the audition, we will see if backrub and bribery were enough.

There is more in the works and as usual I am only informed about some of them, as they make themselves apparent to me, I shall share them with you. Be well.

Lizard Loves Ya!