Wynwood Green: A Day of Firsts

Wynwood known for Saturday night art walks now has a new bold green happening taking place the last Sunday of every month to bring people to Wynwood in the daytime by hosting a family friendly monthly outdoor green festival from 12pm to 7pm.

Mary Keel of 305 Green invited me to display my eco art and talk about upcycling and art as eco activism. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I thought it was a wonderful idea, so off I went.

Yesterday, after I unloaded and set up all of my art, my daughter and I were hungry. As vegetarians, it is usually hard to find food that we can eat. We met Ryan and Mike from Bocaditos who noticed us struggling with their menu and asked if they could help. When we told them that we were vegetarians they announced that anything on the menu could be made vegetarian without our food touching any pans that were touched by the meat that they were preparing. Wow! I was so impressed. They were happy to accommodate us. Not only that, when we ordered one order of fries they paid attention to the argument my daughter and I were having. I wanted spicy fries and she wanted plain. Because I was only going to have a few, I ordered the plain. When I went to pick up my order they split my single order in half, one spicy and one plain without even asking me!

To my delight, my whole day continued on the same happy path. Everyone I met was kind, gracious and willing to share their love of environment. Wynwood Green is definitely a place to check out next month.

I wish Wynwood Green continued success. Taking charge of our neighborhoods and making them healthy, green and safe takes a community of caring people. I hope you join Wynwood Green next month to be part of the solution. It starts with one voice and one single action.

Nancy Martini

Here are a few of the amazing people I met yesterday...

Ryan and Mike from Bocaditos Food Truck

Meadow and her daughter

Daniel Wills from The Armory Miami who shared
his fabulous studio and space for the event. Thanks Daniel!

Jeff Lillie (center) with his team from Marathon Bio-Diesel

Me with Mary Keel on the right

Art Friedrich (center) of Urban Oasis Project

Contenti Cupcakes

Cooking Classes for kids

Dean on the Right (one of the organizers)

Rafael Calvo of Calvo Design

Saira Jacobs from Vintaj Mahal

Onsite installation of a skateboard ramp

Cool balloon artist. 

Demonstration on how to correctly position
 your body while gardening yoga style.

Speaking Sunday at 2:00

New GREEN event coming to Wynwood, Sunday, January 29th from 12 to 7pm

I am so excited about Wynwood Green! I will be speaking at 2:00 about upcycling and will be exhibiting a few of my paintings in a workshop, conversation setting.

Please join me on the green adjacent to Armory Studios in the heart of Wynwood (572 NW 23rd Street, Miami) for  music, demonstrations, workshops, food and fitness.

Bike, pet and recycle-friendly!

For more information visit wynwoodgreen.org

My work

The ocean and the coral reef have been the focus of the few paintings below. I have chosen two techniques to create the work. Both techniques use encaustics (beeswax, damar crystals and pigment.) However, one technique uses the wax applied directly on wood and the other is where wax is manipulated on a heated surface and then a paper print is taken from the image and reworked with pencil.

The Largo Release

34" x 48" Encaustic on Wood

December 10, 2011 I watched by best friend’s son release his parents ashes into the sea just off Key Largo. He walked proudly down the dock, wearing his father’s hat. I decided to think of that day as a beginning, not an ending. That life is forever renewing and reinventing itself just waiting for us to live it.

Seafood or Sea Life?

34" x 48" Encaustic on 

Wood

Seafood is printed proudly on most menus. I wish it would read sea life instead of seafood. By choosing plant base dinners we can make a difference in the depletion of our oceans one plate at a time.

Worth Restoring

23” x 17” beeswax, pigment and pencil on paper

I am sure car dealerships would love to see everyone purchase a new car this year. We look at old cars and see all the work that is involved in keeping them in good working condition. My son, Alex, drives an old, very used, 1979 Firebird. It needs a lot of work, but he loves his car and doesn’t see all of its imperfections. 

The day when he went to get his car painted after weeks of sanding and preparing the surface, I realized that in order to restore anything first, you have to love what you are restoring whether it is an old car, a relationship or the Coral Reef.