If you ask John Allinson what he’s working on these days, you’re as likely to hear about a new novel or plans to innovate modern-day submarine design as you are to hear about his next painting. A man of ceaseless energy, Allinson is always searching for the next project, and when he approached three of the area’s premier dining establishments, Sandbar Restaurant in Anna Maria, Beachhouse Restaurant in Bradenton and Mar Vista Dockside on Longboat Key, offering his services, they jumped at the chance. Now each has an original Allinson interpretation of their venue hanging on their walls.

“They’re beautiful – his use of brushstrokes and the way he captures light is very different than the art we’ve seen and we thought it would be a great addition to our restaurants,” said Ashley Chiles, retail manager for Chiles Restaurant Group, which is considering using Allinson’s paintings as a jumping off point to creating a living gallery on the walls of Chiles restaurants. “There has been good reaction and we’re very excited to have him.”

Welsh by birth, Allinson now divides his time between the UK and a place on Anna Maria. A world-renowned artist, Allinson is known locally for his murals, which can be found on Pine Avenue and in Hurricane Hanks, Lobstahs and Soma Creekside, but his most famous piece is likely a commission from Lord Richard Attenborough, House of Dreams, a 240-foot-long mural commemorating the history of cinema.

Responding as to why he wanted this project, a set of three acrylic paintings depicting the three restaurants, Allinson’s answer is simple - money. And he’s only half-joking. Or maybe not at all. Allinson is a tradesman, it just so happens that his trade is beautiful art. Sometimes it’s done for art’s sake and sometimes it’s done to support his other many endeavors.

But that doesn’t mean Allinson isn’t passionate about the craft. His signature style, emphasizing light and color over form, is always present to dramatic and singular effect.

“It’s all about light. That’s all an artist should be concerned with – putting light onto canvas. So that’s what I do, I chase the light,” said Allinson. “You can either illustrate it, and illustrations look what they are, or you put some passionate drama into it and you do it through light.

Given his fixation on light, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Allinson has grown fond of our little corner of the Sunshine State, but Allinson says a big part of it is the vibrant cultural community that he’s grown to love.

“If I wasn’t living on Anna Maria Island, I would want to live in Sarasota,” said Allinson. “It’s full of culture. Whereas Key West is full of transient culture, here it’s more a permanent thing.”

Next up for Allinson – a painting of Bradenton’s city icon, Snooty the manatee. 

Florida Studio Theatre closes its Summer Sidekicks Series with the return of crowd favorite actress Kathy Halenda and her one-woman cabaret show Somewhere Over the Rose: The Songs and Stories of Judy Garland and Bette Midler, celebrating the lives of two of the most prominent and forceful female presences in musical stage and film of the 20th century.

For Halenda, a veteran performer with over 200 productions and 18 national tours under her belt (including a year where she “ran away to join the circus” and sang with the Big Apple Circus in New York), this was an opportunity to pay tribute to two of her personal inspirations.

“I love the way they sing,” said Halenda. “They both sing from their heart and they know how to really feel a song. A lot of singers today have no clue how to feel a song. Judy Garland and Bette Midler had the passion and the pain behind their voices and I responded to that all my life.”

Although this is not the first time Somewhere Over the Rose has been performed, it will be the debut run of this version, newly written and constructed by Halenda, blending the formerly separate acts focusing on Midler and Garland into one continuous show.

Combining storytelling and singing, Halenda will perform both hits and lesser-known titles from Garland and Midler, including “Old Devil Moon,” “Johnny One-Note,” “Hurricane” and “Big Noise from Winnetka,” between regaling the audience with anecdotes from their lives.

“I have always had a wonderful time here,” said Halenda, who first came to perform at FST in 1987, when facilities were restricted to only the Keating Theatre and a tractor-trailer parked out back filled with costumes. “Over the years I have watched this thing become a conglomerate. Richard [Hopkins] has an incredible, amazing vision.”

Having performed previously at FST in productions of Sophie Tucker, Red Hot Mamas and Brassy Broads, Halenda is no stranger to Sarasota, a place in which she said she will always enjoy performing.

“The people in this town are so culturally aware and so supportive of the arts that the theater has done very well, and I just love the audience for that,” said Halenda. “It’s really a collaboration between the theater and the audiences and that’s somewhat rare.”

Somewhere Over the Rose: The Songs and Stories of Judy Garland and Bette Midler runs from Aug. 5-31 in Florida Studio Theatre’s Court Cabaret. Tickets are on sale for $32 and can be purchased online at FloridaStudioTheatre.org or by calling 941-366-9000. 

DeSoto Square Mall fetched a bid of $33.75 million at auction on Thursday. Rockwood Real Estate Advisors posted a listing for the mall on Auction.com and held bids over a couple days. 

The listing called for starting bids of no less than $9 million. Past 1:30pm on Thursday, the mall had attracted a bid of $13 million but the price rapidly escalated over the next couple hours, going up in increments of $250,000 or more. Around 3:30pm, a final bid of $33.75 million was put in. That bid went unanswered and the auction was closed with that as the top price. In order to make bids at all, bidders had to place a deposit of $25,000 as part of a vetting process. 

The auction closed the same day Macy's told employees at the DeSoto location that it would close that store as it opened a new location at The Matt at University Town Center, which opens in mid-October.

The mall listing, including a 58.5-acre lot and 580,325 square feet of rentable space, said the mall has a 95-percent occupancy rate and a net operating income of $4,823,208.

Mason Asset Management purchased the mall in 2012 for $25 million from Simon Property Group. 

Owner Liz Bentley’s dream of opening a small boutique in Sarasota’s Towles Court district came true with the creation of Asparagus, a charming home décor and gift shop. Named after Bentley’s grandmother and with a logo designed by her father, Asparagus gives off a vibe that makes you feel right at home. Merchandise includes home accessories—candles, lamps, mirrors, small furniture—as well as a multitude of gourmet gift baskets, but you have not seen all the shop has to offer before experiencing a private class.

Bentley and her staff teach seasonal burlap wreath-making classes in the boutique open to anyone with the desire to create personalized home décor. Aside from leaving with a beautiful burlap wreath for your front door, customers have the opportunity to get to know the personable Asparagus staff and learn the ins and outs to decorating a home or office space successfully. Asparagus is also the perfect place to find gifts for holidays, birthdays, or any other special occasion. Among the most popular items the boutique sells are My Cup of Cake—jars of ingredients containing everything you need to make chocolate soufflés in less than three minutes—and the seaside-inspired collection of necklaces.  

Asparagus, 1938 Adams Lane, Suite 101, Sarasota, 941-365-3900 

Nolan and Drew Peterson (the sons of Sarasota architect Guy Peterson and architectural archivist Cynthia Peterson) have launched Blue Force Tracker, a news outlet and mobile app focused on coverage of the military and foreign affairs. The Peterson brothers, who both graduated from Pine View School in Osprey and the U.S. Air Force Academy, have served overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Blue Force Tracker

Toale Brothers Funeral Homes & Crematory has purchased Ewing Funeral Home at 140 E. Venice Avenue in Venice, Florida, bringing its total number of locations to four in Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice. Previous owner George Kalbfleisch will continue to serve as a Licensed Funeral Director. Toale Brothers is one of Sarasota's oldest continuously running, locally owned businesses. The business is now under the third generation of Toale family management, with brothers Jason and Jeff Toale serving as President/CEO and Vice President, respectively. 

Toale Brothers

Attorney Kevin R. Bruning, a partner of the Sarasota-based law firm Bentley & Bruning P.A., has been named to Florida Trend magazine’s prestigious Legal Elite list. Those named to the Legal Elite list are selected by their peers who are invited to name attorneys for whom they have the highest regard or whom they would recommend to others. Only 1,165 lawyers in Florida were named to the 2014 list, which represents just over one percent of the nearly 98,600 Florida Bar members. 

Bentley and Bruning

On October 4, 2014, the Sarasota Cuban Ballet will join SRQ | The Magzaine as one of the performance partners for our highly anticipated Bal Masqué gala. Of the partnership, SRQ Bal Masqué Event Producer Ashley Ryan said, “We are all looking forward to an elegant evening to enjoy the performances of incredibly talented artists in our community and raise funds for local charities. It is such an honor to have the SCB performing again this year. This is a company that I hold very dear to my heart! I cannot wait to see what they have in store for our guests this year!” 

Watch SRQ Behind The Scenes With SCB