Category: Art & Entertainment

A handful of white flags blow in the breeze against the blue of the skies.  Two cherry blossom trees and a sprinkling of yellow daffodils set the stage as pianist Murray Hidary, 53, dressed all in white, sits down at a grand piano set up in the sand on the beach last April in Deerfield Beach as part of his MindTravel series.

A few hundred people sat on towels and blankets in the sand or reclined in chairs; many brought coolers of food and drink with them.

MindTravel, an immersive, “silent” musical journey created by Hidary is designed to stimulate inspiration and awakening and foster connection to ourselves, to nature and to others.  Participants wear headphones to hear the music and are free to roam around the beach, dip their toes in the water or sit back on the sand and relax.

“Welcome to a continuous, uninterrupted musical journey and a real-time improvisation at the piano,” Hidary says through the headphones.

“Every time is different,” he says.  “Isn’t the seeing different? Isn’t the sky different?  Aren’t the waves different?  We are continually evolving and shifting.”

“I invite you into this conversation,” he says.  “All we have to do is take a moment to listen.”

Taking that moment to listen is something Hidary knows firsthand.

A multi-disciplinary artist, award winning photographer and tech pioneer, Hidary grew up in a large Sephardic Jewish family in Brooklyn, N.Y. where music was omnipresent.

“I always knew I wanted to be composer,” he says.  “I had my own thing to say.”

He studied music and composition at NYU and went on to perform at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Finding music both meaningful and meditative, Hidary says music became a portal into creating deeper connections and a way for him to deal with the stress of everyday life and of running a company.

During his 20s and 30s, Hidary kept a piano in his office and at the end of every day would play to de-stress and reset.

In 2006, after the unexpected death of his sister Mariel, a dancer, at the age of 23, Hidary turned more to music to help him deal with the loss.

“Music opened me up in a beautiful way and allowed me to connect to the love for my sister,” he says.  Steering him in a new direction, he says he saw how the power of music can be used for healing and to create deeper connection and decided to make this his life’s work.

After reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse as a teen, Hidary incorporated the practices of Zen Buddhism into his music.

“When we don’t have the words to express our feelings, we turn to music,” he says.  “Music can give expression to the feelings that are hard to communicate and can help us navigate these circumstances in life.”

As Hidary’s relationship with music deepened, he began to see it not just as a tool for his own healing, but as a way to help others in their healing journey.

This realization led him to share his classical, jazz and musical improvisations beyond himself, bringing the experience to others who seeking solace, reflection and connection — thus, MindTravel was born.”

The first MindTravel took place 10 years ago on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif.

Hidary says he was the first to pioneer this communal way to experience music and nature and to bring people together for healing and community.

“I founded MindTravel,” he says on his website, “to create transformational experiences using music to share the wisdom and tools that helped me to achieve greater personal fulfillment, healing, and deeper connection with all things.”

Since then, MindTravel has performed in more than 100 cities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Deerfield Beaches.  He performs approximately 150 concerts each year, including in Austin, TX, Southern California and in Central Park in New York City.

He has performed in such disparate areas, from the deserts of the Middle East to the continent of Antarctica.

“I haven’t looked back,” he says about his musical journey.   Part of his goal is to create a community where ever he plays and to do repeat performances in those cities.

“I want to make a space for reflection; a space people can just ‘be,’” he says.

In each of his concerts, Hidary creates a theme, such as courage, joy or love.

In Deerfield Beach, the theme was “wild.”

After an hour into the music, Hidary began a spoken word meditation on that theme.

“Imagine a place in you that was never meant to be tamed,” he says softly.  “They told us to be good – not wild.”

“To be wild is to be dangerous,” he says.   “To be wild means that you belong to something larger.  What if wildness was never the enemy?”

He talks about “a silence so complete, your breathe forgets it’s rhythm.”

One of Hidary’s favorite parts of the evening is the open mic section at the end of the concert where people get up and express how they’re feeling.

“People share the most heartwarming and fulfilling stories and emotions,” he says.  “It’s so human.”

In Deerfield Beach, a young man named Pedro got up to express his happiness at meeting his girlfriend, Amanda, and told her he loved her and was grateful for their two years together.  Another couple expressed their love for each other, while another participant who said they were in the military and leaving for Korea, expressed appreciation to Hidary for the special evening.

“Offering ways to destress and find deeper connections and healing makes me happy,” says Hidary, who now lives in Miami.

He’s motivated by the Jewish concept of “tikkun olam,” or, repairing the world.

“We can each bring a bit of “tikkun olam” in our own lives,” he says.  “As long as my fingers still work and people show up, I’ll do this until I’m 100 years of age.”

Visit mindtravel.com

Hidary will perform in Deerfield Beach on July 13.  Visit Eventbrite for tickets.

John Bowen started with watercolor when his art teacher introduced it to him in high school, and he’s been painting with it ever since.

Art is a “labor of love,” says Bowen, whose extensive artistic career has taken him from artist apprentice right out of high school at an ad agency, and on through to the U.S. Air Force. But it doesn’t stop there. This month we recognize Bowen’s longstanding career as we honor National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Saturday, March 29.

Bowen was hired as the only illustrator (technician), graphically responsible for documenting work for about 200 soldiers in the 834th Air Division Headquarters Unit. Stationed in Tansonhert Airbase during the Vietnam War, near the city of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in southern Vietnam, Bowen at times was able to go out into the countryside and document the war in sketches. Otherwise, his job was to document actual operations in action on-site. He served eight years in the Air Force, from 1961 to 1969, and in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968, using mainly pencil (or pen) on paper as his medium for documentation.

Vietnam experiences. In 2013, Bowen was published by Middle River Press in Oakland Park, which recorded his physical and emotional experiences in the Vietnam War. The book is titled “Eleven Months and Nineteen Days,” and it is complemented with 43 black and white drawings made specifically for the work. The image here is a recreation of Bowen’s experience in one of his instances as he drew then. This time he was drawing from a life model as he recreated the memory. Bowen’s book could’ve been augmented with up to 60 of his original drawings; however, 43 was the magic number where he had chosen to stop. The medium was used for the purpose of keeping its authenticity as he recreated his experiences from the war.

Scratching the surface. Bowen was born in the Bronx and then grew up in Irvington, N.J., during his adolescent years. However, with his family having relocated to South Florida when Bowen left the war in December 1969, he also chose to settle in Florida, where he found a job with the Miami Herald. Some years down the road, he then worked for the Sun Sentinel. Bowen retired in 2009.

The years of painting, however, did not stop before or after the war. His work has been exhibited in major shows and has won several awards over the course of his lifetime. Bowen, from 1988, is a lifetime member of the Gold Coast Watercolor Society. He is a distinguished signature member of the Florida Watercolor Society, and his proudest accomplishment yet has been for him to be honored with signature status from the American Society of Marine Artists, more recently.

Realistic expressionism. Bowen’s creations with watercolor may seem mastered, but according to him, he is always learning and evolving (FYI, they are pretty mastered). However, he is not a purist. He admits to the use of gouache at times, predominantly zinc white, he mentions, in combinational transparency that creates a texture, such as with his trees or foliage. His ability to bring light colors over dark to increment to some extent is an evolution to depth development. He does this by using more paints and little water, which suggests a paste-like medium applied over its primary layer. Bowen’s reversed topical application assigns dualism to his expression by the concept of light.

Viscaya. The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, or simply Vizcaya, is a lovely historic estate in Miami. It was built between 1914 and 1922. Bowen’s beautiful paintings of Viscaya can be found in prints and notecards in its gift shop, while some of his originals can be viewed in the cafe.

Chosen subjects. Bowen’s favorite subjects to paint are old homes, in detail, and of wicker, for example, a theme of one of his favorite artworks on the front porch of an old house. “Dove & Blackbird” (not pictured) is just one of many examples of the fine detail to that of interpretation, which extends from the door, amplifying the presence of that detail. Moreover, there are his “shoots”—what Bowen calls them—as he brings photographs of his subjects back home to his studio, where he then recreates the art. His work, inspired by the historical city of Charleston, S.C., was formed from some of his shoots, as he grasps moments of history and shares them through watercolor by hand.

“Antique Ford” (not pictured) is another exquisite artwork reconstructed from history. The work is of an old-time Ford with old-time luggage sitting in the back of its trunk. This work demonstrates quite vividly Bowen’s use of light and color dynamics as he exerts influence on already visually favorable subjects. He brings not only the past into a unique visual, but also the joy and tranquility of his subjects fluently through his artistic hand to life. They are fun to see.

The Florida Keys. The Keys is where viewers can find those wicker chairs, in his series of the area, ranging from his experiences at the Main Street Kennedy Gallery on Duval Street to those on West Atlantic Avenue.

Every little detail. Bowen’s ability to capture every little detail is indeed impressive, unveiling his acuity to vision. His unique Marine collection is no different. The use of light trickles down right to the most rustic authenticity. Dynamics in visual draws of color highlight each context unsparingly. It is easy to see how much his work exercises his bravery.

Currently, Bowen’s work aspires to the BRiC, Boca Raton’s Innovation Campus, expected to launch in May 2025, where three of his artworks will be able to be viewed. He currently resides in Tamarac. We extend a warm thanks for his service.

For more information or to contact John Bowen, go to johnbowenwatercolorist.com.

The annual Florida Renaissance Festival in Quiet Waters Park kicked off on Feb. 1, and it’s scheduled to conclude on March 23. It is a great opportunity to enjoy a glimpse of what life might have been back in the 16th century.

Renaissance festivals have become more and more popular since first coming onto the U.S. scene 50 years ago. These events went from a small niche in New York and California, growing through the decades, to extravagant festivals in recent years. The festivals typically feature a setting during the English Renaissance period.

These events also serve as an educational tool for many. It inspires a deeper passion for history and the arts, and it showcases fashion and music from a different era. For some, the shows spark a deeper interest to learn more about the 16th century, and how the Renaissance period impacted the world.

The modern Renaissance festival was started in California in 1963 by Phyllis Patterson, a schoolteacher. It was initially created as a fundraiser for a radio station, with the vision of blending historical reenactment with performative art. For Patterson, there was a local talent pool of performers that she was able to draw upon in the Hollywood Hills community.

Since then, these cultural events have spread across the country. You typically will find both entertainers and attendees in full costume from that time period, along with music and theatrical performance acts of that era. The outfits you see can be simple, or extravagant. Many attendees and performers go out of their way to reenact every element of the outfit to be as realistic as possible.

You also will find vendors selling outfits at the festival, if you want to check them out in person. The Florida Renaissance Festival boasts more than 100 vendors to supply you with provisions. They will also provide you with a wide range of food and beverage—from turkey legs to desserts, and from cold ale to mead.

Nowadays, you will also find a large online community to help with preparing your outfit. A quick search on online store Etsy.com shows many options for historical dresses, gadgets, and accessories, including full sets of plate armor and weapons.

Typically, the festivals will have a theme, and the Florida Renaissance Festival has a theme each weekend. This year the festival is introducing a new concept—the weekend of March 8 and 9 features “Gears and Gadgets–The Lost Inventions of DaVinci,” which celebrates the retro-futuristic subgenre of science fiction. So, expect to see many creations and outfits featuring gears and spectacles if you visit that weekend.

According to one person who attends these festivals, attendees “enjoy the fact it’s historically inspired, and might require a lot of research, and build on year after year.” It’s not like when you are dressing as a character from a book or movie, such as for Comic-Con; for Renaissance festivals, it’s a character you’ve created. This person cherishes the festivals as “a creation of an agreed-upon environment.”

So if you have a weekend free this month, don’t miss out on the final days of the annual Florida Renaissance Festival. It’s on every weekend at Quiet Waters Park. But be warned, expect long lines—the park often reaches capacity by the afternoon—so get there early if you want to partake in the festivities.