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Current Exhibit
Etchings by John Costin Dates: July 20, 2008 - Location: Harry P. Leu Gardens, Garden House Gallery Admission: No charge.
A resident of Ybor City (Tampa), FL, John pursues an interest capturing in visual form the rich and diverse bird life of his home state. With a background in contemporary art, he creates life size images of birds that explore nuances indigenous to that species.
"Through my art I strive to capture and personify birds, enriching the viewer’s perception of this particular form of wildlife which they may rarely have an opportunity to intimately experience. The birds are presented in such a way that they are aware of the viewer’s presence and react to that confrontation. Their reaction reveals unique traits to the viewer, adding another level of understanding. Ultimately one’s sensitivity and awareness of these natural wonders could lead to a more profound perception of the world we all share.”
While attending the University of South Florida he studied Intaglio art that piqued his interest in etching and continues to this day. It is a way of combining graphics, painting, sculpture, and engineering into one art form. The medium has an extremely large range of possibilities, giving many directions for his imagination to explore. The visual qualities are very enticing: colors ranging from subtle to intense, black tones going from delicate to velvety black, textures that are limited only by one’s imagination, and lines that range from needle thin to broad and bold.
Etching is a complex process combining skills of painting sculpture, printmaking and engineering. Starting with a polished plate of copper, the image is directly etched by hand on the plate as if it were a canvas.
John has been a professional artist since 1979, exhibiting in numerous shows and winning awards throughout the south. His work can be found in collections at the Ferman Motor Car Company, General Motors Corporation, Yellow Freight, Eckerd College, U.S.A.A. Insurance, State Library of Florida, University of Miami, Raymond James Financial, Inc., Tampa Museum of Art, and the Polk Museum of Art to name a few. Currently he is creating a book of etchings depicting large birds of Florida, which is registered with the Library of Congress.
Permanent Collections at Leu Gardens
Otfinoski Sculpture for new Home Demonstration Gardens
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With the
financial support from the Friends of Leu Gardens, Inc., seven metal
sculptures were commissioned for the Leu Gardens’ Home Demonstration Gardens.
Leu Gardens’ Director Robert Bowden discovered Peter Otfinoski and his
pioneering and innovative work at the Maitland Art Festival in 1999. The City
of Orlando’s Public Art Coordinator Frank Holt and Mr. Bowden visited Mr.
Otfinoski’s studio in West Palm Beach to see more of his handiwork. 
landscape design and sculpture as art forms. Both have their own definition of
color, form and texture and when placed together within the context of a large
garden ‘room,’ the individual characteristics of each enhance the other.” | A self trained naturalist he traveled throughout Mexico, discovering 200 new species of bromeliads in addition to species of amaryllis, cacti, palms and peperomia. His discoveries include Aechmea fosteriana (bearing his name) and Aechmea orlandiana, named after the city of Orlando. |  |
Mulford Foster
Aracae (Ariod Family)
1992
Oil on canvas
Gift of the Foster Estate
Mr. Foster introduced the Tabeuia tree to Orlando and their large yellow blooms can be seen blossoming around many Orlando city lakes. He was awarded the Herbert Medal in 1951 for his work in promoting amaryllids.
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He published articles in National Geographic, The Smithsonian Annual Report, and The Journal of the Bromeliad Society. He published a book with his wife Racine, on their plant collecting travels to Brazil. He was the leading figure of the formation of the Bromeliad Society in 1948. He served as its president for twelve years and edited its bi-monthly bulletin. He died at the age of 89 as the "father of Bromeliads" and a world-renowned horticulturalist. |
Mulford Foster
Cactaceae (Cactus Family)
1992
Oil on canvas
Gift of the Foster Estate
These abstract works of M.B. Foster earned him the name "passionate plant philosopher" and have been on display at the Maitland Art Center, and shows in New York and Pennsylvania before finding its permanent home at Harry P. Leu Gardens. The Foster Estate presented the paintings as a gift to the City of Orlando in 1992.
Frank Farmer
Flowers For Janette
Enamel and Aluminum
Rose Room
Flowers For Janette is a six-foot buy ten-foot piece by artist Frank Farmer in 1995. Frank Farmer’s pieces are well known in Miami, Philadelphia and New York. Created by painting enamel flowers on aluminum, this piece resembles an impressionistic rendering of flower groupings, yet the colors are strong and bold.
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Frank Farmer was quoted as saying he is "so happy to have the painting in such a splendid location- the room, the building and the garden. I hope visitors will enjoy it …and that the painting will become not only a focal point but, part of the fabric of a pleasant and civilized setting.
Claire Garret
Dreaming Trees IV
Ficus benjamina and mixed media
Claire Garret graduated form Cornell University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts In Boston. Her three dimensional pieces have been described recreations of sculptural forms as they once related to nature.
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Garrets primary medium is the aerial roots from the Ficus benjamina, a tree indigenous to Florida. She also uses other natural mixed media. Her uses of natural fibers cause us to examine their relationship to the manufactured space the piece is being shown in. Not only concerned in the relationships the piece conjures, Garret also focuses with the emotional or spiritual resonance of nature. Dreaming Trees was purchased by the City of Orlando for Harry P. Leu Gardens in 1992
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Garry Mealor
Palm Halves
Watercolor
Palm Halves was purchased by the city in 1992 from Gary Mealor. It is a representational image of the well-known Florida Palm. Mealor is a water-colorist from Tampa. In the past twenty years he has been selected in numerous juried exhibitions, winning awards in over half.
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He has received commissions for two sets of limited prints, one of 90 and the other of 50. Some recipients of the prints are Sears, Abbot Laboratories and GTE. His work can be seen in the permanent collection of Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, WI and the Tampa Public Art Collection. He is a transparent watercolorist so he does not use white or opaque color in his palette. He uses sable as well as airbrush in his application of transparent wash. |
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Richard Carner
Evidence of Organsity
Wooden Vessel
Carner became interested in art and the development of craft related skills while pursuing his Ph. D. in Counselor Education from the University of Florida.
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Carner moved to North Carolina in 1978 and established a cabinet making business that specialized in restoration, where he first began working with lathe wood. In 1987, his work in the Mental Health community brought him to St. Augustine where for the past several years he has been perfecting his technical skills. Working with logs that can initially weigh 800 pounds he transforms them into wooden vessels with walls sometimes less than a ¼ inch thick. |
Carner likens this transformation from log to form to a "chrysalis". He "cherishes the moments in which his clarity of vision is successfully translated into concrete action."
Bill Rollo
Camellias
Watercolor
John Catterall, Grove Diptych
Chrissie Mervine, Tree of Life
Mosaic
Sarah Owens, Cillia-Pod
Stoneware
Why are we given a mouth if we are
not to taste? Why are we blessed with skin if we were not to feel? If we are
to enjoy anything out of life, it should begin with a celebration of the
sensual.
These forms began with nothing but the intentions of showing the sensuality
of the clay body in its raw honesty. This included incorporating elements
such as the stoneware's rough texture, the naturally deep warm-orange color,
and the way the clay lends itself to twisting, turning, bulging, and
curving. The appreciation for these elements is directly related to my own
experience with nature and a desire to appeal to our truest, uninhibited
state of being.
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