Brandon League of Fine Arts

Welcome

The Brandon League of Fine Arts (BLFA) is a not-for-profit arts organization that has been serving the Greater Brandon, Florida community since 1959. Brandon League of Fine Arts is the perfect organization for artists and lovers of art who want to help promote and advocate for the arts.

Our next Membership Meeting will be on Monday, May 19, 2025, 6:30 pm at Creative Junk Therapy. The address is 772 West Lumsden Road, Brandon, FL 33511.

Members please bring an early art work along with a more recent piece for a special 'GUESS THE ARTIST' feature of our May meeting. There are no rules except please mask your signature to make guessing harder!

We will also hold a vote to amend the BLFA Standing Rules and Bylaws, (Pages 12-14 of the May newsletter) now combined into one document.

2025 Board of Directors

President: David Bodo

Vice President: Guy Learn

Secretary: Carol Stebbins

Treasurer: Karen Koseck

Monthly Meetings

General Membership:

Third Monday of every month - 6:30 pm to approximately 9:00 pm, located at Creative Junk Therapy.

President’s Message

Failures = sometimes magically transform into surprising success. I’ve had my share of misfortunes, some of which almost seemed brewed up from The Land of Supernatural Bad Luck. Amazingly I’ve seen this same mysterious force produce the exact opposite.

EXHIBIT A: As a High School student I worked for months on the required NINE artworks for a scholarship to a prestigious Art School. The day before it was due to be submitted, I found out it was TEN artworks! I quickly put together a watercolor (which I had never done and had a dirty shoe print on the back, no kidding) to fulfill the requirements. Well, I didn't get the scholarship- but the watercolor I did in 20 minutes got Honorable Mention.

EXHIBIT B: Years ago I found out about the popularity of adult coloring books, and prepped up sketches for what I thought were sure-fire winners. Someone suggested I also send a discarded, silly little sketch, hesitated, then relented. The silly sketch was chosen, ending up being the genesis of a top seller online and in Bookshops.

EXHIBIT C: A friend told me of a Butterfly Festival with an art contest as the central feature. I thought "Butterflies?" I’ve never done butterflies... I don’t think that’s my thing=. After much pestering I gave in and did it. It won an award and to this day is a favored art print that inspired other such creations.

EXHIBIT D: An idea popped in my head of an unusual artwork for an exhibit. A fellow artist didn’t see the possibilities that I did, but remembering all the times I second-guessed myself, I surged ahead getting it submitted just in time...you guessed it... got an award.

There are, in fact, no failures...just an infinite number of tries and with that, chances of success. Put it all out there and let The Land of Supernatural Luck decide! You never know where it will go.

David Bodo, BLFA President