10 Spotlights on Bonita Springs National Art Festival, January 13-14, 2018
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Bonita Springs National Art Festival opens January 13 in Riverside Park in historic old Bonita Springs.
This boutique - style, two-day outdoor juried fine art and fine craft show attracts some of the country’s finest artists.
Exhibiting artists are eager to share their creative process with you so please feel free to ask questions, and enjoy live art demonstrations.
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#1
Spotlight on wood turner Ray Cannata
Ray Cannata is among the artists participating in this year’s show. Cannata is a self-described wood turner. Like the potter’s wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms limited only by the turner’s imagination.
Cannata is attracted to the grain and features of the wood he chooses for each artwork. While he has an innate affinity for wood of all kinds, including spalted or partially-rotten wood, he especially has developed a deep love of cherry wood from New England, which he turns into fantastic salad bowls of various sizes.
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#2
Spotlight on Award of Distinction winner
John Costin
Local artist John Costin is a past Bonita Springs National Art Festival Award of Distinction recipient. You can see his latest work when John returns to Riverside Park this weekend.
An Ybor City (Tampa) native, Costin showcases Florida’s wildlife with his unique, yet realistic etchings of bird life on copper. Costin’s work reflects a profound sensitivity toward his subject, which allows for his highly accurate portrayal with incredible detail. The artist uses a wide range of color, which stimulates the senses and enhances the authenticity of the viewing experience.
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#3
Spotlight on Wyoming bronze sculptor
Ben Foster
Foster’s bronze sculptures are collected internationally, and the artist has designed and installed monumental works at universities, schools, municipalities, parks and corporations throughout the United States.
Foster has been featured in numerous one-man shows, group exhibitions, as well as select juried exhibitions across the nation. His work has been profiled by magazines such as Southwest Art, Wildlife Art, Sporting Classics, Private Air, Fly Rod and Reel and The Dupont Registry. He credits his ability to capture the grace and movement of his subjects to his love of fishing and the outdoors.
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#4
Spotlight on digital artist Edward Loedding
Award of Distinction winner Edward Loedding is one of the artists bringing work to this weekend’s Bonita Springs National Art Festival. On first view, most people encountering a Loedding composition ask themselves, if not the artist himself, “Is this a painting or a photograph?”
His art, by contrast, seeks to bridge the gap between realism and abstraction. He merely uses a smattering of digital tools to edit his photographs in order to accomplish this overarching goal. “Elements of both [painting and photography] are merged together using digital tools to form a totally new way of creating art”.
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#5
Spotlight on Bonita artist Kimberly Marshall
Kimberly Marshall, an internationally-renowned Bonita Springs artist who has won several awards for her creative talents in painting and mixed media. Though her subject matter is vast, some of Kimberly’s favorite motifs are flowers, seascapes and landscapes. Her paintings inspire simple beauty, serenity, and joy. Her motifs are inspired by nature, her travels and photography.
Marshall specializes in impasto painting with acrylics and oils, which she applies to her canvas with a palette knife. “I refer to my style as sculpting in paint,” says Kimberly, who graduated with a degree in Fine Arts in Toronto, Canada.
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#6
Spotlight on metal screen sculptor
Bonnie Shanas
Shanas’ art was shaped by intensive study in the studio classes of Israeli artist No’am Douieb and through a mentorship by sculptor Shaulmit Hartal. From the former, Shanas developed a unerring eye for figurative studies. From Hartal, Bonnie acquired the skill to use mesh sculpting to capture the human.
“As an artist, I find myself most intrigued by the study of the human form,” Shanas remarks. “I am as much inspired by dance and movement as I am by the subtleties and simplicity of unspoken gestures. Together these compose a universal language which I attempt to instill and imbue in my work.”
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#7
Spotlight on porcelain sculptor Debra Steidel
The name Debra Steidel is synonymous with exquisite porcelain vessels finished with mesmerizing crystalline glazes. She’s perfected the recipes for the latter over decades with the patience of a Julia Child or other accomplished gourmet chef. You can see Steidel’s award-winning work at the Bonita Springs National Art Festival this weekend.
“The glazes contain minerals that promote the growth of crystals and crystal formations,” Debra is quick to point out. “The key is the way it’s fired. You have to have a really slow cool or the crystals won’t form. So I do various holds for different amounts of time as the vessel cools in the kiln.”
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#8
Spotlight on magical realist Marcus Thomas
“I like realism and the edginess of surrealism,” Marcus notes, and toward that end, his paintings combine hyper-realistic technique with magical surrealism imagery.
His paintings are spectacular and regularly stop festival-goers dead in their tracks. Only then do they notice Marcus parked in his wheelchair, meticulously daubbing paint on a canvas and stroking it into place.
Not only are his works a true crowd pleaser, they garnered him a number of Best of Shows. “I like art festivals,” says the artist. “They allow me to travel and be outdoors.”
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#9
Spotlight on Award of Distinction winner Antanas Ulevicius
When Bonita Springs National art festival goers last saw Antanas Ulevicius, he was busy winning an Award of Distinction for his hand-built stoneware and porcelain figures.
Each colorful piece is embellished with copper slips and glazes that add to their distinctive quality and appearance. It’s a process that Ulevicius has been refining over the 15 years he has been exhibiting at art fairs and festivals across the country.
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#10
Spotlight on glass blowing artist Paul Willsea and Carol O’Brien
Paul Willsea and Carol O’Brien have worked together since 1983. They combine blown and cast glass to create timeless contemporary works of art. “Our work is a response to what we love in our world: the bloom of a flower, the movement of water,” Paul and Carol note. “There is an element of mystery in the creative process. Working with glass, we always anticipate a satisfying discovery that we can share with others.”
Their output consists of two distinct lines or work. The one is made up of blown works for wall or tabletop. Made in cohesive groups, they are studies in color and how color affects form.
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The Riverside Park location offers ample free parking on site with wine, beer, food and beverages available for purchase and live music to enjoy while you view and purchase fine art. While there is no admission fee for this event, the Centers for the Arts of Bonita Springs volunteers will be asking for an optional donation, directly supporting the Centers for the Arts programming.
Visit us during the 41st Bonita Springs National Art Festival - it's sure to be the one of the best events this year in Bonita Springs!
Riverside Park on Old 41 Road in Bonita Springs from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 13, and Sunday, January 14.
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Items of interest
- History of 40 Festivals in Bonita Springs
- Rated one of the top Fine Art Festivals in the USA
- Juried events; artists selected by a panel of experts
- Festival proceeds support community art activities
- Largest attendance of any event in the area
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New Member Promotion
Join the Centers for the Arts for the first time!
Individual Membership and above receive 2 FREE tickets to a Live Performance
One Membership per household
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For more information, please call (239)495-8989
or visit www.artcenterbonita.org
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Footloose (Friday & Saturday, February 9 & 10, Saturday & Sunday, February 10 & 11, 2018)
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