Aeling landscapes and more weekend art openings

It is, to coin a phrase, that time of the month again. For the Second Saturday ArtWalk, that is, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance’s self-guided tour of 40 or so artist studios and galleries, covering six city districts, from the downtown waterfront to the Warehouse Arts District.

At Soft Water Gallery, next to the ArtsXChange building on the main campus of the Warehouse Arts District, Jeff Aeling – Florida Landscapes opens during Saturday’s ArtWalk with an artist reception from 6 to 9 p.m.

Star Trolleys operate a free service during Second Saturday Artwalk. Photo provided.

Soft Water is also adjacent to the studio, workshop and offices of MGA Sculpture Studios, which is where you’ll (pretty much always) find prominent St. Pete creative Mark Aeling.

St. Louis-based Jeff Aeling is Mark’s older brother, and he is a nationally-known landscape artist whose work – “a sort of visual meditation” – has hung in museums from Santa Fe to Chicago, from Denver to New York City.

King Galleries, in Arizona and New Mexico, described his work thusly: “Jeff Aeling’s universal landscapes possess a stunning intimacy that conveys unexpected power and emotion. His paintings draw upon a vastness that gives you a sense of wonder and awe about the universe.”

He created the oil paintings in this exhibit from memories, sketches and photographs of a 2021 vacation in Florida, visiting his brother and his sister-in-law, artist Carrie Jadus.

Jeff Aeling – Florida Landscapes will stay at Soft Water through May 6.

Click here to view or download this month’s map of participating Artwalk destinations.

Also opening

At thestudio@620, an exhibition of paintings by Amabel Riverón opens with a 6-8 p.m. reception Friday, and will of course be part of the Second Saturday ArtWalk. Ancient Warriors runs through March 31. Also new on the 620 walls: B?Te Noire: The Migrant And The Mendicant, the thesis exhibition by Dr. Dallas Jackson, MFA candidate at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Making its debut Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, but not a part of the Second Saturday ArtWalk, is Shashin: Japanese Photographs from the Meiji era, 1870–1900. It’s comprised of almost 50 works from the MFA Collection – most of which have never been on view to the public

Here at the Catalyst, Friday’s Arts Alive! podcast features the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance’s Tracy Kennard, one of the founders of the Second Saturday ArtWalk.

“Sunset on the Gulf,” oil by Jeff Aeling.