Offshore racing at Rick's on the River

I found this mural of offshore race boats on the wall at Rick's On the River.

Every Order Counts!

A small section of a huge, warehouse-size mural on the Amazon Hose and Rubber building located on 50th Street in East Tampa. This mural, all crated as if it's a series of comic strip sections, is extremely well executed and each section relates to the company's business and customers.

Breakfast, a Cuban or Crab Cakes?

This mighty big, handpainted chef probably stands 9-10 feet tall. His platter is also on the giant side and it holds a bit of everything you might find in a quick and cozy roadside restaurant in one of Tampa's hard working neighborhoods; this one is near the docks and marine repair facilities on the west side of the city. The food is so typical of a menu from these parts that it probably hasn't changed much for close to a century: eggs, bacon and toast; a thick, hot and pressed Mixto, or Cuban sandwich; and a plate of crab cakes. Plus, your choice of a Coke or sweet tea. A delectable menu that has something for everyone' taste and time of day. Filling and delicious.

A Colorful History Unlike Any Other: Ybor City in all its glory

Tampa has muralists of all levels of artistic ability, creativity and seriousness. (I well know that other cities throughout the world can also rightly lay claim to some real talented wall artists...even subway cars!) I like discovering these works of art as I wander through our streets and neighborhoods. I've found that if I go out specifically to find one chances are very good I won't even find badly spray-canned graffiti. Many of these handpainted murals are fun and colorful and aren't really meant to engage the viewer or to teach in a serious way. They are light and decorative and most succeed in bringing a smile to our faces. I've posted some in the past that adorn convenience stores, auto repair garages and restaurant/bars. The brighter the color and more attractive the graphic design the better. In most cases the artist (and I hope the owner of the building) is trying to draw our attention and promote the business. Some are in locations that make no sense and are comical and inexplicable at the same time. To me, the sillier and more whimsical the better.

In May I posted a mural, HERE, celebrating the history of West Tampa. Like that large mural in MacFarlane Park, this mural representing Ybor City is treated with respect and even reference for the history it depicts so well. With great color and style the artist presents highlights from the rich history of Tampa's Latin neighborhood. In many ways Ybor City has a far more interesting history than does Tampa. This handpainted piece is facing west so it will be on your left as you enter Ybor through the iron gateway on 7th Avenue at Nick Nuccio Parkway. Tobacco leaves, cigar workers and factories serve as the backdrop and anchors for the painting as workers handroll cigars on the left side, and el Lector, the reader, his arm raised and pointing as he reads to them from a Spanish or Cuban newspaper, is to their right and above. The bespectacled Lector, very important to the cigar workers, was educated, well paid and greatly respected. He kept the factory workers informed of labor issues, world and local events, and even read novels. (Go in close to him to see the powerful way he is painted.) The flag of Cuba flies to his right. Scenes of Ybor in the 1920s show cars of that era and a trolley. Jose Marti, the hero of Cuban independence from Spain, who I featured HERE, is the mustachioed gentleman to the left of center. The entire mural is surrounded by handpainted tiles affixed to the wall. I'm glad I found this one, hiding in plain sight as they say, and will keep my eye out for more. Serious or plain silly, I love my murals.

Brazilian Jeans Win for Best Tampa Mural

OK, you guessed it, it was my contest and I chose the winner, of which there was only one entry. Brazilian Jeans from Feranda. It was a tough decision but, in the end, she, I mean this mural, won. It was the graphic design. Use of color and crisp photography. Typography. Use of exterior mural materials. All of these individual elements contributed mightily to my awarding this street mural, hidden as it is on a west-facing wall on Platt Street, as the newly-crowned winner. Ever since this company was uprooted from Hyde Park Village I wondered where they had moved. The owner is super nice. Even though I personally cannot wear their clothing, it doesn't mean I can't appreciate its creative use of fabrics, its rich style and good fashion taste - you know my wife isn't buying even one word of this. I'm sure you would agree that we should be celebrating the culture, food and music of our South American neighbor. Come on, isn't this the country that brought us the "Girl from Ipanema" and the movie "Blame it on Rio"?) Every evening as HRH Porter, the Peke, gets walked, he would insist on passing the windows of Feranda Jeans, just to see if any cute, fluffy pocket poodles (his favs!) had been carried inside by their frou-frou owners looking to wear a bit of Brazil on the streets of Tampa. He had missed the store tremendously. (And doesn't know I've found it.)

Ybor City Wall Art: Cigar Rollers and a Mercedes CLS Coupe

What does the hand painted mural on this nightclub wall in Ybor City have to do with the Mercedes-Benz? Nothing really. A great juxtaposition. But if you want to know what the mural represents, the story is more valuable than the cost of all the luxury cars rolled into one. At its pinnacle as a bustling city of industry, Ybor City was an eclectic mix of immigrants who spoke many languages, proudly celebrated their ethnic foods, music and cultures, and through their hard work made their city into the cigar manufacturing capital of the world. So, what about the Benz? Owners of the cigar factories could easily have driven any automobile made in any country. At any price. But a Cadillac or Duesenberg, with a very-y-y long hood, convertible top, 12-cylinder engine and lots of leather was probably their odds-on favorites during the cigar industry's heyday.They proudly drove American back then, the epitome of their hard-earned fortunes and sophistication. A Mercedes? Just some truly oddball import from Germany - a nice car indeed - that would probably break down on one of Florida's dusty, rutted cracker roads. Get it repaired at the local garage? Good luck. Ship it back for repairs? Oh sure. Although the owners of the major cigar companies could afford such luxury, I doubt many were so extravagant. (One of the most breathtaking automobiles made in the 1920s and 30s, the Hispano-Suiza from Spain, was being driven over the brick streets of Tampa and Ybor City by a man of considerable class and means. Now he had real taste in cars!) Parking your new Mercedes CLS Coupe today at the cigar-rollers' table isn't the same statement that would have made back in the years between the two world wars. The mural draws more attention today than does the car. The entire wall represents different scenes from Ybor City's rich history. If you look closely, cigar workers are shown handrolling cigars which were then bundled and shipped to every corner of the globe. The Cigar Capital of the World produced millions of cigars, handrolled and later machine made. The Mercedes? Hand fashioned but mostly machine-made. In this economy, both the cigar and the import luxury automobile may represent extravagances and spending of another era, the booming turn of the 21st century. Looking ahead, the car will certainly last a good many years. The mural? Sadly, it's fading fast.

Huge Hungry BLUE NOTES Escape Tampa Building

Has a fresh coat of paint on an office building ever stopped you cold in your tracks? Or made you skid to a stop in your car? I was in our downtown, on brick-covered Franklin Street, when I approached Tyler. (Many of our earliest streets are named for U.S. presidents such as Madison, Polk, Jackson, Harrison, etc. Kennedy didn’t come until much later.) I was noticing several attractive additions to our restaurant and bar scene. Just then I glanced to my left and literally did a double-take. One of the fine, solid old brick office buildings, probably built in the 1930s or so, was sporting an incredible new coat of paint. But ripping away from the roof and splitting the entire brick wall at the building’s corner was a horrible, almost ghoulish gash. A lava-like flow seemed to be coming from the opening and was drooling toward the sidewalk below. Huge, giant Blue Notes were escaping from the hole and rushing out in every direction. It was just too cool. Not only had I never seen this painting but had to really work to learn who was responsible for this creepy and chaotic scene in our business district.

Terry Klaaren, the artist (KlaarenArt.com) is extremely talented and has paintings and murals in several locations in the Tampa Bay area (including 80 Hillsborough and Pasco county schools) as well as in Texas and Utah. He has a studio in Tampa but has completed several "plein air" paintings while traveling throughout the United States and Europe. Currently he is exhibiting at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) Arc Gallery. His outdoor murals are simply fascinating and so well conceived and executed. Klaaren’s murals are in private collections and numerous companies and public institutions… including an unsuspecting three-story building in Tampa’s downtown, just blocks from the new Tampa Museum of Art, which is under construction. Like ants that march through any opening, the ravenous Blue Notes might be making their way right now to the new museum’s riverfront site and burrowing into the foundation. Can’t anyone stop them?

What is the world of visual and performing arts coming to? Sweet, dear, harmonious notes of music gone mad. And very blue.