Coming off of 2018 and into 2019 was pretty thrilling! Seeing my girl, Gretchen all around town in billboards, banners, advertisements, posters and in doll form was a total joy! For those of you unfamiliar… First Night is a city wide celebration on December 31st, ending in fireworks at Midnight. I ran a tent from 6pm to 10pm where I sold prints, bags, dolls, patches, pins and stickers AND hosted an interactive PHOTO BOOTH! Hundreds of people came through and had their pictures taken. I’m thankful for my family for doing me a solid with their volunteer hours. Thank you to everyone who came downtown and said a big hello!
As promised, here are some photos of the electrical box covered with my art via Jack’s Signs and Designs, part of the Shine St. Petersburg Mural Festival and powered by Bank OZK! Please stop by, take a selfie, label it with @kosharekart or #kosharekart so I can see it!
This year’s Shine Mural Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida was a pure delight for local artists and international alike. Ok, I guess I’m speaking for myself when I say I was thrilled to be included in the Shine shenanigans. My art was chosen to be a part of the electrical box wrap project–where art is wrapped around electrical boxes–transforming the drab into the fab! (pics of that in the next post).
REVEAL: ST PETE STREETS
Then I was asked by, girl wonder, Diana Bryson to be a part of her panel discussion on the history of street art in our town–I said… of course! It was nice to talk about the good ol’ days of the 600 block of Central avenue when rouge artists were making their way with DIY art galleries and the start of street art murals here. I am happy to say that I was the first woman to do a street art piece and also one that pushed to bring art from the gallery to the alley. For those of you that don’t know–I had the eve-N-odd gallery in the historic Crislip arcade for three years. Three glorious years and 30 art shows that went from one person shows to major group shows that included artists from all over the globe. It felt great to relive some of those art memories in my head and share a few stories about my female peers on the block… who are all doing amazing things now… and then. Shout out to: Kathryn Cole, Saori Murphy, Liz of Dysfunctional Grace, Rebekah Lazaridis, Ungala, and the one and only Queen of Indie Flea: Rosey Williams. That’s a whole lot of girl power on that list. I’m proud that we all shared some rental history in the Crislip Arcade. Those may be the fondest memories of my life… making and selling art… surrounded by really great business women–in the arts and otherwise.
SHINE: CLOSING ART EXHIBITION @ THE MOREAN ARTS CENTER
“2018 SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival Finale Reception will be held Saturday, October 13 from 5-9pm at the Morean Arts Center, 719 Central Avenue.
Held in conjunction with the annual SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival, this exhibition features artists from this year’s festival as well as our local street artists and muralists. The exhibition will be open to the public October 8-27th.”
Many thanks for including my work in these events and shows! Shout out to curators: Diana Bryson and Amanda Cooper.
This is my latest mural project! It was a complete joy to work on this beach house. The name of the cottage is the Starlight, thus the phrase, “Wish Upon a Sea Star” was chosen to adorn this home. Seahorses and starfish make this vacation home a truly unique place to stay. Usually I work with just spray paint, but this time I used home paint with a brush. I feel like the end result turned out just like the mock up art and that made me pretty happy. If you are interested in making your rental property a little more exciting and unique, please feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to work up an idea and bid for you. Jennifer at 727-215-3605.
The details: Gorgeous 1,500 sq. ft. Starlight Cottage is available mid September for annual rentals. This totally renovated cottage is complete with dock & wet slip. On the intercoastal & 2 minute walk to Sunset beach. (St. Petersburg, FL area) If you have any questions about renting this beach home, contact Pam at 727-896-1000.
I’m working on new art work for a street art show at the Morean Arts Center in October. This work incorporates two of my favorite things– buffed wall photographs and embroidery. Five years ago I went on early morning alley walk-abouts in St. Petersburg, FL. On my walks I photographed the buffed walls. The City paints grey, or whatever color they have, rectangles over graffiti. The interesting part about using photos that are five years old is that none of those walls look like that anymore. I printed my photos on fabric and have begun hand sewing my Gretchen character on walls she’d like to own. I think being a female street artist can be a struggle and I’ve been told that my character is too cute to be taken seriously. Despite the negativity, I persist. This tongue-n-cheek piece combines the idea of a male dominated art form with traditional women’s work.
