It’s the second Saturday of the month, which means Second Saturday Art Walk in St. Pete.
This art walk I rode my bike down to Craftman House Gallery to see Grant Peeple‘s Poetic License art/poetry show. Grant is a formidable musician who has forayed into the world of poetry and visual arts. His songs are incredibly witty, so it’s no surprise that his poetry is evocative and powerful.
*I apologize for the crappy iPhone pictures. You can read the text in the poems if you zoom.*
As soon as I walked into the gallery I was greeted by Grant’s art. The poetry was complemented and accentuated by the visual component of the art pieces. Many of the visual art pieces he created himself, but he did do some collaborations with other artists.
The visuals grabbed my eye, but the words written on or embedded in the different media pulled me in even more. He covered a variety of topics, from religion and politics to matters of the heart.
This piece talks about how love isn’t the most practical of things. Maybe if Romeo realized this he would have lived to the ripe, old age of 44. But he concedes that even though it might not be the most practical, how can we think that we know better than our own hearts.
Not meaning to be punny, but the poem pulled on my heart strings. I’ve been single for quite a long time. My heart has been beat up in quite a few different ways. Yet my heart keeps telling me to keep looking for my complement, for the person who will fight for love as hard as me. That’s the only thing that keeps me going in the realm of dating…
I also really liked this poem too. I’m not exactly what it pulled up for me. Something about the desperation that leads to some people thinking that Trump will somehow come to save their day…
After the show I biked over to 3 Daughter’s Brewing for a beer. While I was drinking my coffee blonde, three guys who were also at Grant’s show arrived. We talked for a bit before parting ways. We talked about how fantastic the different pieces in Craftsman House Gallery were. There were so many beautiful clay pieces: bowls, plates, salt shakers, goblets. There were fantastic leather purses, that I looked at to gain ideas for my own leather crafts. There were fantastic collages of Jerry Garcia and the Beatles, made from teensy tiny strips of paper gained from magazines and whatnot. There were beautiful glass pieces. It’s a really wonderful space.
Once we parted ways, I started biking back home. Central Avenue traffic was a bit slow, so I was able to bike past most of the cars. I get an immense sense of satisfaction being able to cruise by cars stuck in traffic while I’m biking. Singing “Bicycle Race” by Queen on the way home further added to my sense of satisfaction.
I’ve never seen that video before. I can’t imagine riding a bicycle naked would be at all comfortable…
It’s been a good night. I was going to stay in and grade papers. I’ll have to do that tomorrow, but I’m glad I went out and met new people.
And I invite you, no matter where you live, to support local art and artists (and musicians). Unfortunately I’m able to purchase Grant’s art, since it’s out of my price range right now. Even though I wasn’t able to support Grant monetarily tonight, he seemed genuinely pleased that I was there to specifically see his art. So I’m glad I was able to support him in spirit. And I do support Grant’s music, so there’s that… But I want Grant to keep making more art in all of the forms that he does. For that to happen, he has to make a living.
We’ve got to support the people who move our souls…