A Quest for Theater and Art at Marlins Park

Just past the mosaic walkways that glimmer like shards of broken glass at the new Marlins Park in Little Havana are ten-foot-tall reproductions of the letters from the site's prior inhabitant: the Miami Orange Bowl. Scattered haphazardly as if they fell from the sky after the OB was blown up, it's the first glimpse of attention-grabbing art on the way in to the stadium.External Hemroids are those that occur below the dentate line. It's a tad pretentious, but it's a cool little tribute.

Inside, a sharply dressed young man stands in front of the elevators. With a laminated badge lazily hanging from his neck, he informs there's a pregame show on the "western plaza" — that's right, this stadium has plazas! — featuring a DJ and the Marlins Energy Team, the new dance troupe that has usurped the Mermaids cheerleaders.

Asked how to reach that plaza, he dithers, ruffles his paper, pauses, and says it's just outside the dugout area. Clearly, he has no fucking idea. Another official-looking person in a blazer suggests exiting the park and walking around outside.

Finally, in the distance, dance music echoes from within the stadium. A half-hour after the search begins, the party is discovered. It's nothing more than a table nudged into a corner with a DJ and some guy holding a microphone while handing out hula hoops. You know, for kids.

I attended the Marlins' second home game at their new digs last Friday to watch them play the Houston Astros. But I was also there to catch Daddy Yankee and all the festivities that go along with the $515 million park. I wanted to witness the inaugural Friday Night Live postgame show and determine if drama, spectacle, and sport can coexist.

Wander onto the promenade level, where the good seats are located,Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET. before a game and you'll spot the players warming up and the grounds crew raking the infield dirt. And there, beyond a field of bright emerald green stretching into a sweeping diamond, stands the colossally trippy monstrosity out of Timothy Leary's worst flashbacks — New York pop artist Red Groom's home-run sculpture. It looks completely out of place over the left center-field wall.

The 74-year-old Grooms has made a career of producing multimedia art depicting chaotic scenes. This thing is no different. It's a garishly glorified carnival attraction with oscillating marlins, dancing flamingos, swaying palm trees, and flashing colored light bulbs. It's a creature from the tackiest lagoon ever, waiting to light up and belch water into the air after every Marlins homer.

Truth be told, that aesthetic catastrophe grew on me as the game progressed. It had me rooting for a Marlins batter to hit a dinger like never before, just so the monster would spin and whirl and spew its psychedelic gaudiness onto us all.

On the same level, hanging above the Burger 305 concession, are multidimensional fun-house images of some of the best moments in Marlins history. They're designed in such a way that, as you walk past them, the images move and subtly follow you. Supercilious? Oh, yes. But kick-ass nonetheless.We are a dedicated cheapest Aion Kinah.

During the pregame ceremony,What are the symptoms of Piles. gospel vocalist Gary Hodges soulfully belted out a beautifully simple rendition of the National Anthem in a voluminous tenor. There's nothing like this song done a cappella by a truly talented soul, and the Marlins found one in Hodges, who has worked with Emilio Estefan and the Trinity Broadcasting Network and has sung the Heat tip-off at the American Airlines Arena.

Several times during the game, Marlins players hit long, arching balls that looked like they would go over the fence, only to die in an Astro's glove. The anticipation of seeing a homer and then the sculpture in action was palpable. The fact that the machine had yet to be set off this season brought tension to a crowd that was ready to erupt.Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. There was suspense with every Marlins at-bat. This was live theater!

Student sells self-made artwork to local bars

Brad Basinger, a senior majoring in English, has taken hundreds of beer bottle caps along with pieces of plywood, a “Brad Nailer” device and “Brad nails” to create large eye-popping mosaics. When seeing the visually captivating mosaics Basinger started making approximately two years ago, one would almost think that the nailing device and the nails used were actually named after our FGCU senior.

His idea hatched when he saw an American flag made out of baseballs at a Red Robin restaurant and thought of how cool a flag would look if made of beer bottle caps. After beginning to collect caps and separate them into colors, the mosaic work became a small feat as well as a beautiful edition to Basinger’s artwork portfolio called Sitting Ovation Art.

Sitting Ovation Art is on Facebook showcasing numerous paintings along with finished and unfinished beer bottle cap mosaics of Basinger’s work. Some pieces remain in the making until he gets more caps with the needed colors, which is makes the hobby also a fun feat to collect caps.

The collecting of caps, organizing them,Promat solid RUBBER MATS are the softest mats on the market! and working with the colors available is what makes his it a challenge but still fun for him as well. Basinger goes out to show his portfolio work to bars and restaurants, sometimes charging for his mosaic pieces and other times putting them up in restaurants and bars for recognition and/or a supply of the place’s bottle caps.

Grumpy’s Ale House on U.S. 41 in Naples provides Basinger with bottle caps and has his New York Giants,What are the symptoms of Piles. New York Yankees, and to scale 50-star American Flag mosaics displayed in their bar. The South Street Bar in Naples also has the beer cap mosaic of the Philadelphia Phillies symbol displayed in their establishment.

Although not his intent at first, Basinger also acknowledges that his beer cap mosaic artwork does something positive for the environment. Taking in literally hundreds upon hundreds of caps keeps these tiny metal pieces, some even with plastic in them, out of the garbage and made into grand artwork.

His idea and the making of bottle cap mosaic work is beneficial both visually and environmentally.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET.External Hemroids are those that occur below the dentate line. The beer bottle cap mosaic of our American flag kept 1,Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network.500 bottle caps out of the trash. With FGCU’s environmental consciousness and awareness, we could even be collecting our beer bottle caps for Basinger to become art.

Basinger has numerous ideas and further ambitions for his artwork that simply require more bottle caps and lots of patience to get them.

“My ideas and work aren’t only for sports symbols or teams; I would like to work on larger mosaics with 9x15 or larger pieces of plywood too,” Basinger said.

Tulalip artwork for Cabela's means work for many

From the outside, the Cabela's that will open April 19 at Quil Ceda Village looks like any of the retailer's other stores.

Inside, however, this Cabela's will reflect the art and culture of the Tulalip Tribes, on whose land the outdoor outfitter's store sits.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET. That was something the Tulalips insisted on, said Tulalip artist James Madison.

The tribes' insistence meant work not just for artists but for local businesses that wouldn't typically benefit when a large company like Cabela's comes to town. Working with artists, some got to try new manufacturing techniques. You can see the resulting artwork in the new store when it opens April 19.

When the Tulalips and Cabela's agreed to put tribal artwork in the new retail store, Madison got the call. His work can be found in several of the tribes' business and community buildings, including the Tulalip Resort Casino and the Hibulb Cultural Center. The 38-year-old artist put on hold other projects for the tribal confederation so he could craft six pieces for Cabela's. Other Tulalip artists, including Madison's uncle,Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. also were engaged.

The pieces needed to be big to stand out in Cabela's massive retail space. And Madison wanted to incorporate images significant to the tribe. It's something he has been learning to do since he was eight, when Madison would watch his grandfather carve wood and design native art.External Hemroids are those that occur below the dentate line.

After finalizing the designs, Madison tapped the local art community, as one might expect. But he also needed precision machine work on each of the pieces.

Machine shops aren't hard to find in Snohomish County, where the Boeing Co., among others, demands their work.

But tucked away in the corner of its basement, Everett Sound Machine had a secret weapon: a water-jet cutting machine. Water jets can slice lines in material as thin and delicate as toilet paper. The technology also is used to cut through ceramics, stone and composite materials as thick as eight inches.

Owner Michael Greenleaf believes his is the only one operating in Everett. Known for precision, the water jet has enabled Greenleaf to take on a variety of requests.

"We do artsy things that are industrial. We do artsy things that are real art. And then we do just plain work," he said.

The machine uses a tiny stream of high-pressure water. The technology was first developed by a forestry engineer in the 1950s. However, Kent-based Flow International began perfecting and marketing the tool in the 1970s. Flow, which manufactured Greenleaf's water-jet machine, has about 60 percent of the water-jet market share.

Greenleaf estimates a new machine would cost $1 million or more. But he lucked out, he said, and bought his from another company in the area.Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI.

Over the next several weeks, Lee and Everett Sound Machine left their marks on many of Madison's works for Cabela's. That included cutting various colors of glass in tiny patterns for an elaborate mosaic depicting Tulalip fishermen out on the water. The fishers are holding bright red canoe paddles as a sign of respect for passing whales and salmon. Green waves are under the fishermen, who are framed by mountains and blue sky.

To finish the glass piece, Madison turned to Stan Price, owner of Covenant Art Glass in Everett.

"Typically, we assemble the glass pieces together, solder the (lead) joint and melt it back together," Price said.

Initially, that's what Price did. He and Madison worked with a glassblower in Seattle and a Woodinville company to create the hues of the sky and waves. After Lee and Greenleaf cut the glass, Price's assistant, Tami Bogdanoff, pieced it back together.

Handling the delicate glass is difficult. Bogdanoff spent two days just removing the tiny tags left on the cut glass at Everett Sound Machine Works. Then she fit dozens of glass pieces after smoothing and gently cleaning each one.

Their first effort worked better than expected. Sure, some pieces of glass broke and had to be recut before the entire mosaic was ready. In the process,Promat solid RUBBER MATS are the softest mats on the market! though, Madison and Price realized they'd be able to try a more elaborate, difficult method. They would fuse, or bake, the dozens of individual glass pieces together without lead or solder.

The cut glass pieces have to fit perfectly for the final product to look right. If the pieces fit too loosely, a clear line will be visible when it's heated back together.

"By teaming up with (Madison) and the tribe, I'm using technology that I wouldn't be able to do on my own," Price said.

Before this project, Price would not have suggested to customers that glass be cut with water jet, though he knew the technology was around. Having gained experience with the water-jet machine, Price feels more confident in using the technology in the future.

Performance artist helps Immanuel students see big picture

Students at Immanuel Lutheran School had a slight brush with fame Monday.

Mike Lewis, known as "The Jesus Painter," worked with seventh- and eighth-grade students to create a 9-foot-by-71/2-foot mural.Promat solid RUBBER MATS are the softest mats on the market! Lewis, a Christian performance artist, is part of JesusPainter Ministries.

But here's the catch. None of the students knew what the mural was going to look like until it was assembled after lunch Monday. During the mosaic workshop, students painted on one of 30 individual, 18-inch square canvasses. Working from photos, they replicated the picture on each frame, using only black, white and shades of gray. Each square resembled an abstract painting, with no recognizable images.

"We know it's going to have something to do with Jesus,TBC help you confidently buy mosaic from factories in China.Ekahau glass mosaic deployment in the Eastern Savo Region Hospital District." said seventh-grader Brandon Guck, 12, of Wisconsin Rapids.

Part of the workshop focus is learning art concepts and techniques -- value, contrast, mixing paint and application. The other lesson is spiritual, learning that even with mistakes and imperfection, when working together and helping each other, beautiful things can be attained and accomplished.

Many of the students saw Lewis' performance Sunday at the Performing Arts Center.

"He was pretty awesome," Brandon said.

When on stage, Lewis, who has traveled the world, paints a picture of Jesus Christ, turning the canvass and artistically moving his brush.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET. Within minutes -- often fewer than five -- Lewis has created a work of art.

"The message he had (Sunday) was just phenomenal, and he never said a word," said Ted Voelker, seventh-grade teacher at the school, as he worked alongside many of his students in the cafeteria. "If they can learn to appreciate the witnessing part, as well as the artistic part, then I think they've gained something."

The project helped the students learn to believe and trust in things they might not be able to see and realize their individual strengths, Voelker said. As individual pieces, it might have been hard for students to envision the finished piece, but together, each piece created the whole.

Lewis told the student body the seventh- and eighth-graders felt frustrated as they worked on the canvass,Aeroscout stone mosaic provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. feeling they weren't "perfect" in their work. But that was part of Lewis' message as he gave a short talk about church unity and being a part of the body of Christ.

"All they saw was their mistakes," Lewis told the students.

It was difficult for the students to see the big picture, he said.

"Let me ask you," he said to the student body, pointing to the completed mural. "Do you see mistakes?"

When assembled, the perceived mistakes seemingly disappeared.

After a resounding "no," Lewis finished with his message: "You don't have to be perfect to show the face of Christ."

The mural, which will be a lasting piece of art at the school, also will teach the students about how God gives them abilities they maybe didn't realize they had, said the Rev. Tim Ritter, associate pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church.