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Seattle artist captures floral spirit
Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS
The Suncoast Animal League has recently been involved in two rescues. This dog was one of over 100 small dogs taken from from an alllged puppy mill in Tarpon Springs. The continuous open mouth indicates an unhealthy medical condition.
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Published: May 10, 2008
Words may fail, but art does not.
Or so says Seattle artist Robert Blehert, who will paint mothers' "essence" using flowers at the Art on the Docks art gallery in Tarpon Springs today and tomorrow, May 10 and May 11. This will mark Blehert's second time doing the portraits at the gallery after appearing there on Mother's Day 2007.
"I think the essence of a person is beyond words," Blehert said in a telephone interview from his home in Seattle. "Art is a way of communicating that."
He speaks with his subject for only a couple of minutes and then does an acrylic portrait of flowers expressing her essence.
Others can describe a subject, and he can pick up the essence through their words, he explained.
He lets his intuition guide him. "If I try to figure it out, it doesn't work as well," he said.
The floral essence portraits are only one aspect of Blehert's work. He usually paints more conventional portraits of human and animal likenesses and has chalked up big name clients.
According to his Web site, Blehert's high-profile subjects have included: the LA Lakers owner, Dr. Jerry Buss; William J. McDonough, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and "RoboCop" director Paul Verhoeven.
He has recently concentrated on sports art.
His portrait of New York Met pitcher Johan Santana was featured on 15,000 posters when Santana played with the Minnesota Twins.
The Mother's Day portraits will run from $69 to $89, depending on size.
Art on the Docks is at 735 Dodecanese Blvd., Tarpons Springs. Portrait hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information on Blehert's work, go to
Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 or at cbentley@suncoastnews.com.
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