at Bellwether Beach Resort’s 727 Event
On the rooftop bar of the Bellwether Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach, visual artist Esh Hornsby, known as Artist Esh, displayed his captivating Another Storm Weathered mural for the resort’s ‘727 Day’ Celebration.
The title of the event spawned from the date of the celebration, commencing on July 27. The date doubled as the perfect occasion (nestled in sunny days and hurricane season) to showcase Esh’s osprey mural.
“It’s got a pretty wild backstory. Merritt and the Bellwether put this event together. At first, I was supposed to be painting for the zodiac,” Esh says the original display dealt with the fourth sign of the zodiac, or Cancer, since over the next 12 months Bellwether will host events related to the zodiac. However, Cancer season had already passed, so Esh needed to follow a different theme.
Conflicted about what to paint as an interim piece, the Bellwether team suggested a nature mural. Esh adored that idea, given his 14-year long experience as a park ranger. He approached the painting process, unsure of the outcome but leaning toward his fondness for painting ospreys.
“I’ve painted quite a bit of osprey in my career and in my life. In fact, the first big mural I painted since I quit my day job was a giant osprey over in Jungle Terrace (in St Pete). Anyway, for whatever reason, I decided I’m going to paint an osprey,” Esh thanked the muses for a riveting end product.
As he stared at his art, he meditated on a title. The blue-beaked, gray-headed and brown-feathered Osprey serves as the mural’s central focus. Behind the bird, a sunset tinged with purples and blues rages against the Floridian sky. The Osprey appears on a beach, perhaps St. Pete Beach or another nearby island. The sand reflects the sunset’s vibrant colors, entertaining a mix of blues, oranges and purple hues.
“To me, it looked like an Osprey that just weathered a really hard storm. Little personal [touch] about me, I’ve had a pretty rough year this year, like probably so many people. So, I called him Another Storm Weathered,” Esh explains.
Esh wrote a description to articulate his path to painting the mural and as a testament to resilience for himself and the painting’s viewers.
“Titled Another Storm Weathered, this spray-painted piece captures the striking and powerful presence of a majestic osprey. After enduring many storms, the osprey stands resolute and strong. Each stroke brings to life the bird’s regal beauty, reflecting its enduring spirit and unwavering determination. This painting serves as a reminder that, like the osprey, we too can weather life’s storms and emerge stronger, embodying resilience and strength in our own lives.”
Before Esh set up the mural display on the rooftop bar, the mural weathered a strong storm of its own. Esh always performs a load test on his murals, meaning he tracks how well they stay on the roof of his car for transport. He secured the painting to his car’s roof by strapping the painting to the roof rack. If the car shakes, but not the painting, it’s secured and ready to transport. If both shake, he reassesses the painting’s setup.
As Esh drove off his exit from the Gandy Bridge, the wind piled underneath the mural and threw it off the back of the car. The wind mutilated the mural into three separate pieces, leaving the osprey’s head detached from its body. Salvaging his artistic endeavor, Esh ran out into the traffic, grabbed the split pieces, and delivered them to the Bellwether.
Fellow muralist and co-coordinator of the ‘727 Day’ event Merritt Horan Capurro decided to fuse the painting back together with gold leaf paint. Jagged streaks of gold paint traverse the painting, furthering the idea that hardships don’t break spirit.
“As much as I like to act like that was intentional, that was all just a freak accident. So with all that, that is what we got,” Esh says.
The Bellwether Beach Resort complemented Esh’s mural celebration with a DJ set from DJ Teo or Mr. Open Format. His beats leaned into the creativity billowing through the creative commemoration. Guests admired the mural, listened to DJ Teo’s curated rhythms, and paired the experience with local cocktails.
Esh says he’s always looking forward to the next project, and has more murals and commercial projects on the horizon.
bellwetherbeachresort.com/events
