Get to know the Emerging and Professional artists and their art practices

By Antonia Lewandowski

Imperfect Most creative people have files, cabinets and closets full of unfinished projects. No surprise there. Not everything we try to do comes up to expectations. Sifting through my files,… Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

For this drawing I created a still life with a handful of Spanish needle tied up in the knot of a taper candle. Spanish needle often finds itself labeled as… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

My essay collection The Thing about Florida: Exploring a Misunderstood State turns three years old this month! To celebrate, I wanted to give a behind-the-scenes look at my writing process. … Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

Poets! It’s April. Our month! I say we’re all poets. Therefore, it’s a month for all of us. To celebrate, I want to share a recent poetry exercise as a… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

I discovered letterpress printing not through graphic design, like many, but through writing and my love of words. As an undergraduate Creative Writing student I was driven to self-publish chapbooks… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

The zine exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum wasn’t my only print stop in NYC that weekend. I also visited Printed Matter in Chelsea, the Museum of Modern Art, and the… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

  April 10th marked the third of the virtual cohort check-ins as part of the Creative Pinellas 2024 Emerging Artist Grant. We are weeks away from the exhibition opening and… Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

Graphite, a humble mineral found abundantly in nature, holds an esteemed place in the realm of fine art. Often paired with paper, it forms a timeless medium that speaks to… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

I dream too much. It’s strange. I also know that I am not in my body when I dream. I am traveling. The dream, the images of it, happen outside… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

One of my favorite aspects of poetry is its associative quality. The genre allows us to make leaps — over the canyons we call cracks in the (figurative) pavement. These… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

For my birthday last month I got to see the Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines exhibition before it closed on March 31st at the Brooklyn Museum.  As a… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

I’ve been using the writing portion of the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist 2024 Grant Cycle to tell my journey as an artist as well as publish updates about the grant… Read More

By Fran Failla

The Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant experience is now in its final phase. My artwork for the long-awaited exhibition, which is only about a month away, is completed, including the… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

You want to discuss the photograph, to hear about it. Ear Art. I want to discuss the creative process, visual timing, the galaxy behind my ball clock eyes. Equipment, don’t… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

No, it’s not a fancy new cocktail or even a rich, continental dessert. Terza rima is a verse form. We associate its development with Dante writing the Divine Comedy in… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

On Tuesday, March 12th, I launched Florida Man: Poems, Revisited (Burrow Press) with Chad Mize and Gloria Muñoz at Tombolo Books. The bookstore set up its glorious courtyard for the… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

At the book launch Q&A for Florida Man: Poems, Revisited, Gloria Muñoz asked Chad Mize and me about our multiple artistic pursuits. Chad creates work from murals to merch, and,… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

You are my candy kitchen not my sweet and low religion, not my cold cut keeper. I kid you not. I’m here for the sundae, homemade in dairy heaven, not… Read More

By Fran Failla

There are a gazillion platitudes out there about how to stay positive, rise above the noise and push on to ultimate victory. It’s at your fingertips, they say. It’s all… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

    So far I’ve briefly mentioned three chapters in my past; beginnings in Barbados, education in different states, and cultural studies in Newcastle upon Tyne. After these sojourns I… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

Give or take a few of the sentences that include nothing but dialogue, the “he say she say” that frequently displaces imagery preventing a writer from inserting a picture into… Read More

By Fran Failla

First, I have to say that I’ve learned a valuable lesson regarding the subject of stress. For the past several weeks, I’ve been thoroughly stressed out about completing the third… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

In my family, Fox 13’s Linda Hurtado is iconic, so I was beyond honored to be a guest on her segment “Tampa Bay Reads.” The week before the release of… Read More

By Fran Failla

As mentioned in my previous story, I am continuing to guide you, the reader, through the process of creating this third and final painting in the triptych series of “The… Read More

By David McCauley

David McCauley is an interdisciplinary artist based in St Petersburg, FL. Since 2012, he has founded multiple 501c3 organizations such as The Rise Up Gallery, The Laundromat Art Space, and… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

It can be necessary to step out of your comfort zone and try something new, not just as artists, but as humans. This month, my mother and I took a… Read More

By Luci Westphal

By Luci Westphal. Every year artists in St. Pete’s Historic Kenwood district open our home studios and backyards to the public to look behind the scenes of the creative process, mingle with fellow art lovers, enjoy performances and purchase hyper-local art…. Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

Although women have always been part of the printing industry, our work has been historically undervalued and underrepresented.  In the 17th and 18th centuries when printing was extremely labor intensive,… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

In January I segued from writing poetry to taking a six-day workshop in suspense writing at the well-established Writers in Paradise Conference held at Eckerd College. Through its 20-year history,… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

This article is dedicated to my journey as an artist. I left Barbados at the age of 16 to act as an ambassador of sorts at the Armand Hammer United… Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

Balthasar van der Ast, a prominent Dutch painter, left a special mark on the art world with his exquisite depictions of nature. A testament to his lifetime of works was… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

SPZF24, St. Pete Zine Fest & Symposium, was held on Saturday, February 17th from 11am-3pm at the West Community Library at the St. Petersburg College-Gibbs Campus. It was a magical… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

During a recent poetry/memoir panel at ReadOUT, an audience member asked about my poetry prints. The poet wanted to know: 1) if I write poems with prints in mind (meaning,… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

A lot has changed – both in Florida and my writing – since the original publication of my collection Florida Man: Poems in 2018. To reflect this reality, the publisher… Read More

By Luci Westphal

In a way, I lost part of my emerging artist grant cycle because of two “interrupting” trips to Germany (adding up to 6 weeks) to help my ailing father, Günter… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

In March 2024, the Orlando-based publisher Burrow Press is releasing a new edition of my poetry collection Florida Man: Poems. The book “revisits” the original work and extends its themes… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

I’ve always loved zines from the moment I discovered them, but one of the first zines that *really* left an impact on me was “Fat at the Gym” by Kallie… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

I’ve always loved ‘Love’ and Valentine’s Day. Some of the very first greeting cards I printed when I got my Chandler & Price tabletop press and started my printmaking practice… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

Last week I started to write about my progression as an artist starting with what it was like growing up in Barbados and the support I received from the artistic… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

After we met at Indie Flea, Kaitlin Crockett and I got coffee at the Black Crow on Central. We talked about Florida and poetry and her experience as a printmaker…. Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

I am very inspired by Dutch painter Adriaen Coorte, whose work often features elements on the verge of falling. His compositions are set up in a way that imply “imminent… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

Broughtupsy: (noun) Diminutive of brought up. (Caribbean) good manners.    What was it like growing up on a Caribbean Island? This is a bit of a loaded question. I lived… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

On the last day of 2023, I stand in an alley with a staple gun. My artist/poet friend Keifer hands me one of the poetry collages we’ve made with our… Read More

By Fran Failla

As promised, I am continuing to take you through the development process involved in the creation of a themed triptych of oil paintings. The theme that embraces all three works… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

Empty and Full In what sense might we say a poem is ordinary?  For the most part, thoughts that come from unexpected directions get pulled together by everyday language. I… Read More

By Tyler Gillespie

I’m a fifth-generation Floridian born and raised in Pinellas County. I’ve written about Florida for over a decade, so people often ask me about it. Recently, they’ve been asking if… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

. . . One of the things that keeps me coming back to Letterpress in my art practice is the way it engages my senses. When much of my day… Read More

By Kaitlin Crockett

Community building is an important part of my art practice as a printmaker and book artist. Finding ways to engage others in the work brings meaning to my personal work,… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

Once I heard that I’d received the 2024 Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant I knew that I wanted my artist stories to journal the process from beginning to end.  Last… Read More

By Luci Westphal

My biggest dilemma as an artist: So little time, so much to create. There seems to be a lot of talk about where to find inspiration. But I’m more concerned… Read More

By Fran Failla

Well, the second painting of the series I’m creating is now complete. Its title is “The Big Apple is Burning” and it’s a rather dark metaphor of the destruction of… Read More

By Fran Failla

At the end of December 2023, I completed the first painting in the series I’m creating for the upcoming Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Exhibition. I documented that journey from initial… Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

When I first learned about the proposed idea of the Earth entering a new geological epoch, transitioning from the Holocene to the Anthropocene, I was fascinated to be alive during… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

It’s easy to make a Sunday. All you need is faith, the desire to explore the invisible geometry and the forced matrimony between stages of light. In an old box,… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

A Good Story Seven-year-old Vilemina and I sat down to write a story. “I don’t know,” she began. “Well, I suggested, “Let’s think about what happened this week. What do… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

One of my favorite, normal Florida things to do is to drive from St. Pete to Amtrak’s Tampa Union Station, park my car in the weakly fenced lot, take the… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

I hate bookshelves but that has not always been the case. I once had an apartment with a full bookcase of shelves built into the wall––one end of the main… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

As part of the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant, grantees are paired with mentors. I think it’s only fitting to use alliteration in the title of this article because my… Read More

By Fran Failla

So far you have seen the beginning steps to creating an oil painting, going from the initial idea and sketch phase to the first “underpainting” on the stretched canvas.  These… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

Because creation, both capital C and small c, is continuous, there is no such category as non-creativity not even amidst a waste land. The all of life, included death, bleeds… Read More

By Gabriela Rosa

As we strolled through the soft white sand towards the calm water at Treasure Island beach, the clear skies above seemed to promise the perfect backdrop for a sunset –… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

I search for time. Not the gap of fifteen minutes between boiling pasta and serving dinner, but time like a safari, two or three hours tracing my steps in the… Read More

By Thomas Sayers Ellis

A friend of mine, a local photographer, and I were brainstorming a name for a new photography magazine. Back and forth, in a cafe, the math of verbal volley. No… Read More

By Luci Westphal

I’m not sure which feeling came first: honored or startled. A few weeks ago, I sat through a rather intense online experience with many invisible peers, as we watched a… Read More

By Fran Failla

The Next Step In my last blog/story, “Beginning the Painting Process”, I outlined the first steps to creating a finished still life oil painting. There I took the process from… Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

Being an avid user of our library system, I often find myself led to unexpected literary treasures. In a quest for William Morris’s ‘How We Live and How We Might… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

When I sit to think about what I want to share for the Artist Story blog Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant Artist Story I ask myself what has already been… Read More

By Fran Failla

As a visual artist, working with oil paints as my medium, I usually go from initial idea, to setting up the still life, to sitting down in front of my… Read More

By Antonia Lewandowski

One Wednesday afternoon in fall  2021, I walked into the Creative Pinellas art gallery, having read about it in the Sunday Tampa Bay Times. The work I saw in the… Read More

By Vanessa Cunto

In this drawing, I am working with elements often found in Dutch Golden Age paintings that not only symbolize the transience of human existence but also serve as poignant reminders… Read More

By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre

. . . Brimming with excitement. That is how it feels to have been awarded the Emerging Artist Grant from Creative Pinellas. I admit that painting on larger canvases instills… Read More

By Fran Failla

The Start I’m sure that there have been dozens of artists before me that were lucky enough to receive an artist grant from Creative Pinellas. So technically, I shouldn’t feel… Read More

By Elizabeth Barenis

As the grant period draws to a close, I look back at the past five months in gratitude to Creative Pinellas for their continued support of my journey as a… Read More

By Elizabeth Barenis

There’s nothing quite like the threat of losing everything to shake up one’s life. My first major hurricane experience came in 2017, when Irma was headed straight for us as… Read More

By Andee Scott

First of all, thank you. Thank you to Creative Pinellas for the incredible support you provide for artists in Pinellas County. Thank you in particular to Charlene Harrison. Charlene, please… Read More

By Andee Scott

Video: The Shape of Memory (excerpt) I created this piece for my mother in the spring of 2023. I am so grateful that I have a place to put all… Read More

By Andee Scott

Another project I have on the horizon is the commission of a new duet from renowned San Francisco-based choreographer, Robert Moses, for Bliss Kohlmyer and myself. We applied for and… Read More

By Andee Scott

In 2022, I received a Pinellas Partnership grant which stipulated partnering with a local arts organization in order to support creative research. One of the main areas of focus for… Read More

By Andee Scott

During the summer of 2020, as we were just (barely) emerging from the lockdown, Amanda Sieradzki and I were commiserating about the state (lack) of live dance in these (early)… Read More

By Andee Scott

As a dancer, the pandemic was devastating, particularly the lockdown. Dance is a social art form – we take class together, we rehearse together, we perform together – for an… Read More

By Andee Scott

This is a project I have been working on since the zoom-days of the pandemic – late 2020-ish. In the great pandemic shifting of life from 3-D to 2-D, moving… Read More

By Andee Scott

Tracking is both a fundamental and a meta skill in dancing. The ability to sense/feel the complexity of what one’s body is doing is essential to becoming a compelling dancer… Read More

By Andee Scott

I lost my mother two years ago. I didn’t actually lose her, she passed away. She didn’t pass away, she died. She’s gone. She’s not here anymore. Except that she… Read More

By Andee Scott

Close your eyes for 15 seconds and imagine yourself dancing (with zero judgment). What were you doing? What were you wearing? How old were you? Where were you? Were you… Read More

By Anna Kate Mackle

As I near the end of my summer break and get ready for performance season to start up in September, I’ve started thinking about the various concerts coming up and… Read More

By Anna Kate Mackle

One of the most fulfilling projects that I have been a part of in my career has been the creation of a harp and percussion duo with my husband, The… Read More

By Eric MacNeill

The first time I traveled to Scotland was in August 2004, to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships.  From that first trip, I was hooked and completely fell in… Read More

By Christina Bertsos

There is a compelling force that drives my artistic practice. It feels automatic, but my strong curiosity and search for meaning in everything beckon me to ask the “why” behind… Read More

By Courtney Clute

Imagine: you’re tucked away on a cliffside lodge in the Colorado mountains, within walking distance from Rocky Mountain National Park trails. The air is crisp and cool, the afternoon sun… Read More

By Mikhail Mansion

UPDATED 8/28/2023 …I wanted to do something a little different with this post. I’ve decided to turn it into a “living” blog post, continuously updating with details of my process… Read More

By Elizabeth Barenis

With the exception of an occasional request for parrots, most of the birds that I paint grow from the ground. They are birds of paradise.   Although it is native… Read More

By Anna Kate Mackle

Being a professional musician can be a 7-day-a-week, 365-days-a-year job. Schedules are unpredictable and can range from rehearsals in the mornings and afternoons to performances in the evenings, with practicing… Read More

By Elizabeth Barenis

My last two blog posts have centered on three-dimensional work I’ve made using the bird as a symbol for transformation. And if you’re curious about other iterations of that work,… Read More

By Eric MacNeill

Playing the drums is one of the things I enjoy most in my life.  But something I also really enjoy is listening to great playing and there’s no doubt that… Read More

By Mikhail Mansion

Truchet tiling is a valuable technique for crafting intricate geometric designs using tiny tiles. Originally conceived by French mathematician Roger Truchet in the early 18th century, it has been widely… Read More

By Christina Bertsos

Nestled high in the mountains of  Tuscany lies the small village of  Pomezzana, home of the family-run business, Milani Utensili. Visiting this idyllic place and meeting the lovely Milani family… Read More

By Courtney Clute

The ultimate dream of any writer is to devote 100% of their time to their craft in a full-time capacity. However, in most instances, this is just not feasible. There’s… Read More

By Anna Kate Mackle

As a professional musician, I perform in front of people constantly. Sometimes it is in front of smaller audiences in a room or small theater, and sometimes in front of… Read More

By Eric MacNeill

The Glengarry Highland Games are held each year in the small community of Maxville, Ontario, which is about a one hour drive west of Ottawa, Ontario.  This is one of… Read More

By Mikhail Mansion

Recently I was invited to speak at the Dali Museum in St. Pete on the topic of algorithmic art. In this post I’d like to share some of my code… Read More