Every year, the Zodiac Membership Committee invites 12 local emerging artists to exhibit at the Museum during one special evening.
For our 2020 event we invite you explore a retrospect of past Dalí Dozen artists in this year’s Dalí Dozen online event; “Where are they now?”
The Zodiacs are an all-volunteer group that supports the mission of The Dalí Museum by building meaningful relationships with members and helping to strengthen the ties between the Museum and the arts community. For more information about the Zodiacs, please contact membership@thedali.org.
Name: Alli Arnold
2016 Dalí Dozen
Website:www.alliarnold.com, www.etsy.com/shop/AlliArnoldPortraits
Email: alli@alliarnold.com
Phone: 917-696-7464
Alli Arnold is an illustrator from New York City. Since graduating from Parsons School of Design, Alli has illustrated for clients including The New York Times, Chronicle Books, Tiffany & Co., Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Alli has lived in the Old Northeast of St. Petersburg since 2011. She is currently accepting portrait commissions and is thrilled to be one of HGTV Magazine’s favorite pet portrait artists.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
Since I was a featured artist in The Dalí Dozen event, I have created an Etsy shop where I accept orders for custom pet, people, and house portraits. This past July, I married my graphic designer husband, Ken, on the steps of St. Petersburg City Hall, with Mayor Rick Kriseman presiding.
Name: Brandy Stark
2016 Dalí Dozen
Website: www.bstarkart.com
Email: brandybstark13@gmail.com
Phone: 727-821-5759
Brandy Stark moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1992. As an undergraduate, she took a course in sculpture at the University of Tampa where she discovered her wire wrapping abilities. Utilizing welding rods, she made three wrapped wire figures: a triton, a dragon, and a centaur. These constituted the first generation of her “Metal Myths” series, established in 1995. A lifelong lover of world mythology, her works often manifest as ancient characters, legends, and deities. Tying past to present, Stark sees herself as a Neo-expressionist with the weaving and wrapping process she uses transferring her own energy into the piece. Inspired by the sculptures of Joan Miro, she also utilizes found objects in her pieces. These promote an awareness not only of upcycling, but symbolize that everything and everyone has a place in this world.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
I have had a radical life shift since that time. I was full time faculty at St. Petersburg College, but my love of the arts, along with 20 years of teaching inspired me to quit my faculty position in order to focus on my art. I shifted my faculty office into my art studio, went to part time faculty status (adjunct at State College Florida, Daytona State College, and State College Florida Jacksonville), and began working on my wire sculpture. I have won a few grants, taught interpersonal classes on wire building, and won more art awards; most recently, my Flamingo photographic prints were requested to be stocked in the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce store.
Name: Eric Roeske
2017 Dalí Dozen
Website: adeptneonmfg.com
Email: ericmroeske@gmail.com or info@adeptneonmfg.com
Phone: 727-544-7400
Eric Roeske, craftsman of many trades, started out as a mechanic. By age 11 he was already elbow deep in engines and fixing household appliances. A few welding certifications and tons of car restorations later… Roeske’s mechanical instinct and inquisitive nature has led to decades of repairing and restoring anything and everything, especially “junk” left on the side of the road. His first glimpse of neon being made was at a sign shop, where he worked as a welder. After being kicked out of the neon shop numerous times and hanging around the Old-time tube benders, Roeske bought his first neon plant. Flash forward forty years and he still runs a premier neon plant providing high quality neon to the trade.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
Since taking on my neon apprentice, Kira Oglesby, I’ve been creating much more art.
Name: Michael Baker
2019 Dalí Dozen
Website: www.michaelbakerglassart.com
Email: superbaker10@gmail.com
Phone: 517-980-1841
Michael Baker is a St. Petersburg artist specializing in stained glass and mosaic art. Taking inspiration from European cathedrals and castles, Michael produces stained glass panels in a wide variety of styles. He also fashions kiln-formed glass objects d’art. He produces pieces that use the mystical qualities of light as focused through color and texture to evoke a sense of wonder and whimsy. His use of the Tiffany method allows for intricate glass forms to be incorporated into equally intricate designs. Michael’s eye-catching artwork has graced church windows, art galleries, and private homes.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
I have seen an increase in commissions for my artwork, which has inspired me to create more edgy abstract stained glass designs.
Name: Monique McLaughlin
2015 Dalí Dozen
Website: moemakeup.com
Email:makeupandhairbymonique@gmail.com
Phone: 813-765-1354
Known for her versatility in all makeup and hair genres, Monique McLaughlin is in high demand as a Makeup Artist as she is able to create a variety of different looks. From clean beauty to avant garde and edgy, Monique is often requested by photographers as she is able to work with little direction and she employs a vast creative vision. Equally talented in both makeup applications as she is in hair styling, Monique is a rarity in this field.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí? Well, with Covid limiting physical contact with people, I had to create art in a more socially distanced way. Since I have always been an avid traveler I decided to incorporate my photography together with sketching, painting and photo editing.
Name : Nicole Desiree Hays
2016 Dalí Dozen
Website : www.nicolehays.com
Email: thecuriositorium@gmail.com
Phone: 813-489-0147
Nicole Hays is a St. Petersburg fine art bodypainter and variety performer. She runs the Curiositorium, LLC, an arts and entertainment company.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí
Over the past three years, I’ve had the opportunity to produce two original acrobatic shows, expand my fine art bodypainting portfolio, and work with a diverse group or clients through my business, the Curiositorium.
(1) This is a bodypainting creation photographed by Michael Sheehan for our fine art bodypainting book, St. Petersburg’s Art of Body Experience (funded by St. Petersburg’s Arts Alliance). This piece was actually photographed in front of the Dalí museum. Model: Jeanna Masi
(2)This is a bodypainting creation photographed by Michael Sheehan for our fine art bodypainting book, St. Petersburg’s Art of Body Experience (funded by St. Petersburg’s Arts Alliance). This piece was photographed in front of the Bask Mural located by Foolish Pride in downtown St. Pete. Model: Daryn Bauer
(3)This is a body art creation photographed by Michael Sheehan for our fine art bodypaintingbook, St. Petersburg’s Art of Body Experience (funding by St. Petersburg Arts Alliance). The piece is painted on a total of five bodies. Models from right: Dana Reese, Josh Dexter, Haley Hanson,Jasmine Amanda, Darien Carter-Grey
Name: Anne Andersson Art Studio
2017 Dalí Dozen
Website: www.anneandersson.com
Email: inquiries@anneandersson.com
Phone: 727-643-7347
Anne Andersson’s artwork serves as an homage to our planet’s charismatic and rare wild animals. Inspired by the majesty and beauty of exotic wildlife, and motivated by an urge to preserve them, Anne’s astonishingly realistic life-size sculptures capture the experience of seeing these animals up close. Born in Sweden, Anne has a Bachelor’s degree in Science from Kjällbergska University in Gothenburg and a degree in Art from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. She now works from her private studio in St. Petersburg, Florida. She combines her talents in painting, weaving and illustration with an intuitive attention to the smallest detail to truly bring her sculptures to life. She has created lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, bobcats, lynxes, pumas, elephants, rhinos, bears, water buffalo, bison, deer, moose, wolves, coyotes, foxes and more—but she feels closest to big cats. Each fine art animal sculpture reflects her reverence for nature and exudes its own individual personality in a way that only Anne can create.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
My work has always been inspired by the majesty and beauty of exotic wildlife, but this motivation was really reaffirmed for me after the release of Tiger King. I’m grateful that so many more people understand the plight that tigers and other wild animals face, and am proud that my work provides a humane alternative to cub petting, trophy hunting and taxidermy.
Name : Pamela Joy Trow
2019 Dalí Dozen
Website : www.pamelajoytrow.com
Email: info@pamelajoytrow.com
Phone: 541-390-1154
During her childhood in Brooklyn, NY, Pamela Joy Trow’s world was ignited by the words of her perceptive kindergarten teacher, “You should be an artist when you grow up.” And that’s exactly what she did. After graduating from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Trow pursued a career in visual communications. As a graphic designer and illustrator in Atlanta, Georgia, she worked with a variety of clients and taught at The Portfolio Center. The design industry and teaching sensitized her to the power of an image and its message…which serves as the foundation of her art today.
Using vibrant colors, Pamela’s work expresses her passion for impact. Her love for drawing is evident in her intensely detailed acrylic & ink work that adds definition and texture to the colorful imagery. Inspired by her environment, Pamela’s 13 years in Bend, Oregon produced a series of shadowboxes that integrated digitally-produced art, her poetry, found objects, and jewelry parts. The work received much acclaim and she was a featured visual artist on the Oregon Public Broadcasting show, Oregon Art Beat. During her time in Bend, Pamela was appointed by the mayor to the City of Bend Arts, Beautification & Culture Commission. Serving six years, four as chair, she dedicated her time to helping local artists expand their opportunities. Her accomplishments included the creation of “City Walls at City Hall”, an innovative art show that brought the art and business community together, and much-needed revitalization to a public space, Bend City Hall. After her service, Pamela began exploring using needlepoint as a painting medium. Working on needlepoint canvas, she used a random stitch, embellishments, jewelry parts, and found objects to create award-winning fiber art pieces. Two years in Santa Fe, the New Mexican culture inspired a well-received series of paintings on the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. The series was the impetus for a line of prints and cards sold today, through museum shops, art centers, and niche boutiques. Landing in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2016, Pamela is invigorated to be part of the art community and continues to create being inspired by the beautiful Florida sun and water.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
The Dalí Dozen was a wonderful opportunity for me. I shared my diverse work including acrylic & ink paintings, award-winning fiber art, and my extensive greeting card line. That night, I received so much kudos and inspiration from the members who attended. Since then, I’ve been continuing to grow my wholesale art product business. Turning my paintings and digital art into affordable products such as greeting cards, prints, stickers, magnets, and more, has been a successful vehicle for exposure and growing my audience. Each year I’m gaining more of a presence in museum/fine art center shops and boutique stores in niche markets. Although Covid has slowed the growth, it hasn’t changed the upward trajectory.
Name: Jeffrey Romano
2019 Dalí Dozen
Website: instagram: jeffreyaromano
Email: dispatcha@gmail.com
Phone: 845-943-0373
Jeff’s work has been exhibited at the Dalí Museum, the Dorsky Museum, RPI Institute as well as many group and solo shows. “The artist, the pioneering individual, has done the most human action, he has created, he has made something in his own image. From this image a conversation is provoked, between the artist and the viewer, who searches in themselves meaning, interpretation, reason and pattern.”
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
The Dalí Dozen event reinforced the importance of focusing my work on a principle of my abstract expressionism – to create a problem and try to solve it. The “Tree Bones” series which debuted at the Dalí Dozen show provided me with an immediate and direct response with the public.
Name : Eric Wilson
2017 Dalí Dozen
Website : instagram: @ericwilsonart. Web: https://ericwilsonartstudio.wixsite.com/fineart
Email: EricWilsonArtStudio@gmail.com
Phone: 360-348-6568
Eric Wilson is a self-taught, American contemporary artist and Florida-native based out of downtown St. Petersburg. Originally getting started in drawing, he began painting in acrylics in 1998, then transitioned to oils in 2004. He has been honing his skills ever since, becoming proficient in realist portraiture and figurative painting, with a wide breadth of range in impressionism, landscapes, abstract, and pop art. Eric’s evolution through art took him from a focus on practical and technical development and visual aesthetic to creating works that conveyed messages he is passionate about, such as human sexuality and socio-political marginality. He has an ongoing body of work, the Erotic Gold Series, a sex- and body-positive realist figurative painting collection using the techniques of the Flemish masters that incorporate subjects in an empowering, self-expressive sense of modernity. 2020 was an eye-opening and fatiguing year for everyone across the globe. Eric has started to shift his work’s focus to convey socio-political themes and messages that promote the liberation of the oppressed, the equality of the marginalized, and advocate for unity.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
Since I was last featured in the December 2017 Dalí Dozen, so much has changed, from my relationships and friendships, to my living environment and atmosphere, to positive life milestones and character-shaping events. With the arrival of 2020 came COVID-19, and as I am a full-time Registered Nurse in addition to being an artist, I volunteered to go help in the epicenter in NYC where numbers were soaring daily. COVID-19 truly shined a spotlight on the social disparities and systemic inequalities in our country as a whole that has created a national awakening and has inspired me to explore these issues more through art.
(1) “Reclining Nude” (2019. Oil and Gold Leaf on Wood Panel, 18×24”) is one of my latest additions to the Gold Series. The painting gives a traditional treatment to the subject of a black woman in a classic posture on a palette of silks, satins and tulle, as a reimagining of classical painting and symbolizes the need for more representation in High Art.
(2) “Quarantine Cuddle” (2020. Digital Painting). For many, people started 2020 thinking this would be the year they would get everything they wanted, and it quickly became a year for appreciating what they have. A time of isolation made people cherish human contact; for those fortunate enough to be isolated with a companion, it helped to get them through such trying times.
(3) “Compassion in the Time of Covid,” (2020. Digital Charcoal Drawing). This is an illustration of Dr. Joseph Varon, aka the COVID Hunter, on Thanksgiving Day and his 252nd consecutive shift in the hospital, comforting a sobbing elderly patient who missed his wife. It’s an insightful look at both the toll on the patients and what healthcare workers are going through during this pandemic.
Name: Harvey Drouillard
2019 Dalí Dozen
Website: http://www.harveyphotos.co/
I practice, (invented?) a rare art form, I create images of famous landmarks with nude people in front of them. The purpose is to pay homage to the landmarks we all are familiar with, along with the businesses that have become institutions in their respective cities.
I created my first image on April 4, 1994, in Ann Arbor Michigan during the annual Hash Bash. I have now shot 5000 locations in 36 North American cities. I have shot several new images, including the new St Petersburg Pier and will be shooting many more Tampa Bay locations in the coming weeks (starting with the giant Christmas tree on Beech Drive). As soon as possible I will be taking a crew to; Miami, Key West, Boston, and Philadelphia.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
Since the Dalí Dozen event in 2019, the interest in my work has increased dramatically. Although I had already published a coffee table book and have been featured in many news stories, being featured in the Dalí Dozen has given my unconventional Art form the kind of credibility only a respected museum can.
While the global pandemic rages on and continues to crush the attendance art galleries everywhere, the popularity of my work has increased, I give credit to the exposure I received at The Dalí.
Name: John Gascot
2016 Dalí Dozen
Website: www.gascot.com
Email: jgascot@gascot.com
Phone: 727-313-2250
Latin American/Caribbean artist John Gascot spent the first twelve years of his life in Puerto Rico, a fact to which he attributes his love of bold color. While he creates in a variety of styles, including Painterly and Geometric Abstractions, Latin Pop paintings are his signature. He affectionately coined the style “Latin Pop” after years of development. The series combines elements of Pop, Cubism and Folk and is often flavored with a Latin/Global sensibility. John’s Latin Pop paintings combine various global influences in contemporary narratives, blurring cultural lines which divide us. The figures in his works are often large and curvaceous. Their mass speaks more about strength and presence than actual size. He strives to create art that is accessible and promotes diversity while simultaneously celebrating and challenging social and gender roles dictated by various cultures. His work is in various collections across the US and Europe.
What has changed and/or inspired you since your work was previously featured in The Dalí Dozen Event at The Dalí?
I have executed several large-scale public artworks throughout St. Petersburg and into Dunedin, including a socially conscious interactive “Diversity in Democracy” mural. I founded Diversity Arts, Inc. a nonprofit which creates safe environments and provides materials and instruction for self-expressive workshops. It serves underserved, disenfranchised, and at-risk youth and communities.
