Arts

Dozens of St. John businesses took top honors in the annual Virgin Islands Daily News reader poll to pick the best the Virgin Islands has to offer.  More than 300,000 ballots were distributed by the newspaper. There were 365 categories, with winners on each island and a grand winner for the Territory. Three community organizations, including the Love City Pan Dragons of St. John, counted the votes over a number of weeks. 

Coral Bay’s Rose Apollon Adams at Sweet Plantains won the blue ribbon as the "Top Chef" on the three islands.  Asolare won the grand prize for "Romantic Dining," the Balcony at Wharfside for "Ambiance," Chilly Billy’s for "Family Restaurant," and Cafe Roma for "Italian Food."

The Beach Bar was a blue ribbon winner in two categories, "Beach Bar" and "Bar," while Woody’s won for "Bartending Staff."  Baked in the Sun at the Marketplace won honors for being the best bakery and having the best veggie burgers, while the Deli Grotto was voted the best deli in the VI’s.

The full list is at the Virgin Islands Daily News Web site.

Steve was shooting all night at the 5th annual Blues Festivals’ big concert Saturday night at the Coral Bay ball field. He’s posted a gallery and slide show with dozens of images.  Great stuff.

In a second segment of our conversation with the Sloop Jones, he  explains his favorite art is "incidental."  Visit the studio on East End, and you’ll see that cardboard boxes that once held cans of paint or a table on which he brushed smocks have become pieces of art, too, thanks to the drips and spills.

Jones also talked about his different take when home owners ask him to make signs for their properties. He prefers to be creative, doing sculptures, rather than just applying words to a board.  He describes a few examples in this podcast. (Pictured at left is "21st Century Flag," one of Jones’ original pieces.)

Click the play button below.

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Frank Langley says this week’s art, music, and craft events are the only such festival in the Caribbean.  “You see them all over Europe, but not here," the president of the festival said in an interview in Franklin Powell Park. 
The park is also a buffet of food and crafts. (I bought some very very hot sauce from Sonia.) The Festival continues through Friday.

Click on photos for bigger images.

Highlights of this year’s effort include a film which traces the origins of the island’s indigenous music, known as quelbe.  A play about a former Danish Governor and his freed-slave mistress was also offered at the St. John School of the Arts.

As part of the festival, at many restaurants each night, local musicians are tuning up and playing.  We heard Rich Greengold’s Sambacomo at La Tapa
last night … both the food and the music were sensational. Our dinner started
with a fantastic combination of three olive oils and fresh
bread for dipping. I grazed with three appetizers: Josephine’s Greens
salad (grown in Coral Bay), spicy beef kabobs, and gazpacho. Mrs. Inquiring Iguana had wonderful tuna.
Price: $93, very reasonable for upscale St. John.

Listen to Frank Langley, founder of the St. John Arts Festival. Click the play button below.

You can download or hear the file by clicking here.

You can also subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast by
going to the Apple iTunes Music Store and searching for "news of st. john,"
or you can copy the words feeds.feedburner.com.stjohn and paste them into the
subscribe field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab.  You can also use
that Feedburner link to subscribe in other podcatching software.  If you’re having
a problem, e-mail: [email protected].

Seascapes and landscapes by Bob Lefferts will be on display at the Maho Bay Art Camp Wednesday afternoon, 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., the St. John Sun Times reported (www.stjohnsuntimes.com)  This will be Maho’s second photography show.

Lefferts calls his collection MotionScapes.  "The pure beauty of the environment is captured by intentionally blurring the detail of the scene by moving the camera.  His work can also be seen on island at the St. John Artists Association gallery on the second floor of the Marketplace.

Meanwhile, Bajo el Sol Gallery is continuing its new exhibitions.  They include metal sculpture by Larry Lipsky and paintings by John Holub.  The gallery is at Mongoose Junction. www.bajoelsolgallery.com

Michael Banzhaf plans an artist reception and exhibition opening this Friday night. Oils by Tom Gardner, a frequent visitor to the island, will be on display.

"Gardner sometimes fears these images may one day be all that’s left of an endangered environment," Banzhaf wrote on his gallery Web site. "But he prefers to hope that given half a chance, the environment will fight back and survive."

Dozens of St. John artists have been ‘channeling the masters’ and put their inspired creations on sale over the weekend.  Some pieces are still available.

The St. John Artists Association’s latest show drew about a hundred people to the group’s gallery on the second floor of the Marketplace.  There were dozens of paintings, jewelry pieces, and sculptures on display. 

Elaine Estern’s watercolor, "The Mermaid," was done in the style of Howard Pyle.  Lisa Etre’s "Purple Robe with Anemones," in oil, paid tribute to Henry Matisse, and Kristen Maize took inspiration from Edgar Degas for her oil, "Two Bathers on the Grass."

Items sold at auction included Deborah Macfarlane’s "Bather With Outstretched Arms,” in the spirit of Paul Cezanne, National Park Service archaeologist Ken Wild offered "Reclining Venus," an oil inspired by Turner, while Robert Howle showed three fine silver pieces in the spirit of the Tiano Indians.   The Marketplace’s marketing manager, Jennifer Dale, provided the photographs.