Next weekend, the 43rd Annual Mainsail Art Festival arrives in St. Petersburg’s Vinoy Park. This free event runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 21 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 22. Art lovers of all ages will find plenty to do with art across 13 different medium categories, including glass, sculpture, fiber, wood, ceramic and jewelry. The festival also offers a kids’ art activity craft tent, scrumptious dishes from local favorites served at the Culinary Arts Food Court and live entertainment playing throughout the weekend.
Over 250 fine art and craft artists from around the nation will take part in this juried art competition, as well as several local artists. Sana Doumet (sanadoumet.com) is a jewelry artist from Clearwater who returns to the Festival having participated for many years. Her jewelry, a combination of gold and silver, involves a heavy use of hammering and texturing to create the soft metallic feel as with her Lines in Motion Cuff, part of a series made from 18kt gold and sterling silver. “It is forged, hammered, textured and soldered, its beauty in the simplicity of the lines and visual movements,” Doumet says. “My work is contemporary and the techniques I use are ancient.”
Robert Herbenick of Safety Harbor (robertherbenick.com) makes his first appearance at this year’s Festival for the Oil/Acrylics category with his painting “Golden Hour,” celebrating the arrival of seagulls during sunset along Honeymoon Island Beach. Herbenick is a retired businessman who turned to painting and has been exploring it full-time for the past five years. “Being accepted by the jurors is encouraging and supports my passion to be a good painter,” he says. Herbenick participates later this year as Rotary Centennial Nature Center’s exhibiting artist at Honeymoon Island State Park Sept. 21, 2018 through Jan. 17, 2019.
By Chris Kuhn for Destination Tampa Bay