Arte Americas: The Latin American Art Fair

Last night I went to Arte Americas at the Miami Beach Convention Center. There were only 40 participating galleries from Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Peru and Spain compared to 70 galleries from last year, but still an impressive collection of paintings, sculpture and multimedia art.

I usually don't get a special invitation to the pre-opening events, but because I donated a painting for the Haitian Art Relief Fund, they let me in. I met a lot of people who were guests of sponsors who probably would not have gone if they were not invited to this special opening. Sponsoring art events is exactly what companies need to do. I saw a lot of people networking and talking about the art, whether they liked (or understood) it or not it provided a venue for people to gather and see something new. It was an opportunity not only to meet new people, but a place to get to know their clients better.

Arte Americas Helps Haitian Artists

Arte Americas is this weekend at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Check out the art donated by artists to help Haitian Artisits. 100% of the proceeds will go to Haiti.

This is the painting I donated called, "The Sea Tamer". When I created this piece, I thought about how much I wished I could send someone to tame the earth and the sea. It is made in encaustic (wax) and is 23.5" by 24". If you can't make it to the show, all of the works are also available online.

Meet My Favorite Key Biscayne Art Festival Artists

Today I went to the Key Biscayne Art Festival with my daughter, Grace. Whenever I go to a festival I always play a game with whomever accompanies me where if we could purchase any piece at the show without any financial constraints what would we buy. Here are the results...

Jill Streitwiesser from Michigan who creates sculptures out of clay and reclaimed materials. These pieces can even be placed outdoors in your garden. The base is a metal rod that all the individual pieces fit on.

I have been a fan of Gregory Hubbard for a while now and it was great to see him at the fair. His work encapsulates all the things I love: color, detail, design, pattern and energy.

Krys Lieffers, shown here with my daughter, dyes her own cotton mop cloth and then hand weaves it into beautiful array of colorful rugs and purses. Go to her website and check out the photo of her studio. It looks like a place I would really like to visit, pull up a chair and stay awhile.

Inspired by his father's clock collection, Vince Pomei creates clocks out of reclaimed flatware. The piece behind him is a beautiful clock adorned with patinaed spoons.

And lastly, Laszlo and Anna Boros showed us how to make cinnamon horns. Check out their website and you can see a video of how they make them too.... yum!

Nancy Martini

Caribbean Contemporary... In Little Haiti

I went to see "The Global Caribbean: Focus on Caribbean Contemporary Visual Art Landscape" at the Little Haiti Cultural Center curated by Edouard Duval Carrié. The exhibit presents 24 artists from the Caribbean region and will be on display through the end of March and then it will travel to France.

See works by Hew Locke who creates complex sculptural collages with eclectic objects.

Cuban artist Roberto Diago's work in mixed media on metal.

Jamican artist Arthur Simms creates woven sculptures made from reclaimed materials and everyday objects.

Courtyard of the Little Haiti Cultural Center

The Little Haiti Cultural Center is really an incredibly beautiful space, but unfortunately is very underutilized. The exhibits are fabulous, but the crowds are few. I love Haitian art and the energy that accompanies it and I look forward to many more exhibits.

Artists Helping Artists In Haiti

Artist Edouard Duval Carrié and Martine Buissart

I dropped off my painting today to donate to the Haitian Relief Fund and I was happy to find Edouard Duval Carrié and Martine Busissart hard at work among the fabulous paintings donated to help Haiti. The Haitian Relief Fund is an incredible project with 100% of the sale going to help artists in Haiti. The art will be displayed at ArteAmericas at the Miami Beach Convention Center March 26th through the 29. You can also check out some of the art online.