Friday Forecast: Atomic Studio Harvest

Photo of Carved into Wood ring from Nested Yellow on Etsy
[Charles] There are some benefits to not working every weekend during the Christmas season like we have for the last few years, and this weekend brings one of those to the forefront - holiday shows! Tonight we'll kick off the weekend at the West Tampa Center for the Arts over on Armenia with an open studio at Studio 313 and the Bay Area Art Collective Party. This will be your best opportunity to meet Anna from Nested Yellow and see the gorgeous jewelry she has created this season. Her jewelry is so unique and amazing that it eclipsed everything else we sold last year for Christmas. If you are looking for something special for a loved one, you really can't go wrong with her designs. I'm hoping to see in person some of her men's designs as well that I've only seen in photos so far.

Forecast: 95% chance that something will end up under our Christmas tree after this show.

To keep this weekend from turning into one long shop-a-thon, I'd like to put in a shout out here for the Seminole Heights Community Garden and their work on the first ever - Harvest for the Hungry in our neighborhood. At 9 am on Saturday, you can get down to the lot next to Sherry's Yesterdaze and join up with a roving band of fruit pickers that are going to well... pick fruit and deliver it to Metropolitan Ministries. If you have fruit that needs to be picked, we need your help too - let them know where it is and they'll come get it! Email robin@greenerpixels.com if you want to get involved. Let's make this one a success and a positive event for the neighborhood!

Forecast: 60% chance they'll be having fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit for breakfast at Metropolitan Ministries this week - IF we get it together! C'mon neighbors!!!

After that, we'll have to pop up tomorrow afternoon and head south to the Atomic Holiday Bazaar in Sarasota. Unfortunately interesting craft and art shows are few and far between in Florida. Sure there are plenty of country basket/manatee/dachshunds made from old metal shows, but not many fun, edgy, crochet/scrap/recycle/goth/alterna-shows. I work in Florida and don't go to the beach every weekend and sure as hell have no desire to decorate my house with shells and beachery so I'm really looking forward to it. I'm excited to see what unique screenprint art group Clothesline is up to this year in addition to being one of the sponsors. It'll probably have some "strange goth stuff" as my co-workers say, but it'll also definitely have some really cool and beautiful things. This is exactly where I'm happy to do my Christmas shopping and support great artists that are not just local but include people from all over the country.

Forecast: 65% chance that you'll be rubbing elbows with hipsters, youngsters, and goths alike and having a fantastic time!