Jennifer Ring

The Gabber — There's a new Mexican restaurant in Madeira Beach, and just in time for National Guacamole Day (Fri., Sept. 16). Mad Beach Cantina opened mid-June in the old Mad Beach Fish House location, hovering over Madeira Bay Marina. Confused residents still stroll in on occasion looking for seafood.

The Gabber — 'Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West' is a trailblazing art exhibit about African-American trailblazers. If you've ever been afraid to try something new, take a moment to look at these quilts; let them show you how it's done. Maybe they'll inspire you to do a little trailblazing of your own.

The Gabber — The hardest part of doing a restaurant review is deciding what to order. This is especially true for a place like Coco Wood Grill, where menu items include seafood enchiladas, soft shell crab tacos, macadamia-crusted swordfish, three unique riffs on an old fashioned, house-made red sangria, and many a martini to choose from.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — When I first visited Fairgrounds St. Pete in April 2021, scenic painter Chloe Castillo was painting an ocean on the floor. Nearby, Joshua Hall, aka Baghead, mapped out a post-apocalyptic Everglades in painter's tape next to a gator's gaping jaws.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — If you're a regular CL reader, then you know I'm usually writing about gallery shows. Video doesn't often come to play at these shows, but things are changing in 2020. It began with Amanda Poss's mini-retrospective of Kalup Linzy's work -much of which is video and still on view at HCC Dale Mabry's Gallery 221 until March 5-where Poss brought out four television sets for the event.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — Jennifer Ring Haitian Vodou flags aren't like any flags I've ever seen. They're more square-shaped than rectangular, and they're covered in beads and sequins. We're talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000-20,000 beads and sequins per flag. They sparkle under the gallery lights.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — When St. Petersburg artist Steven Kenny replied to a U.S. Mint call for artists, he half-expected to be ignored. That's how these things usually go, Kenny tells me. "You respond to a bunch of calls and most of them don't reply back."

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — When I think of origami, I don't normally think of fine art. I imagine palm-sized paper frogs and cranes made by small children. One of the things I love about being an art writer in the Tampa Bay area is how our local cultural institutions continue to surprise me.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — Can you spot Lincoln in "Gala Contemplating"? Do you know who the woman is in the top left-hand corner of "The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus"? Do you know why Dalí loved cauliflower so much? What inspired his mustache? Why there are so many flies in his paintings? These are the types of questions the Dalí Museum’s new augmented reality experience answers.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — piñata by Angela's piñatas; photo by Jennifer Ring When you walk into The Studio@620 in St. Pete, a red-and-black piñata greets you with a single, three-letter word written in cursive: Yes. It's The Studio@620's mission statement, made into art by Angela's Piñatas.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — Jennifer Ring Creativity is a fickle beast. At times powerful and at times elusive, it comes and goes with no regard for your personal needs or wants. Like a bad partner, it often makes demands at the most inconvenient times and then disappears when you need it most.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — When does food become art? It depends on who you ask. "If you ask a chef, they'll tell you that food becomes art the moment they plate it," says Ken Hannon, vice president of the Dunedin Fine Art Center. If you ask Gail Gamble, DFAC board member and former home economics teacher, there are many moments when food becomes art.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay — When I arrive at Fairmount Park Elementary Tuesday morning, Ya La'Ford's hands are already covered in paint. She's surrounded by a cluster of rather well-behaved small children. All of them are black. This isn't unusual for south St. Petersburg, which historically funneled African Americans into neighborhoods south of Central Avenue via housing discrimination.