Famous Green Tampa Artist . Updated 12/17/2024

Reuse Became the way of life. To read the story from the inception of the Name Hong Kong Willie. Famed, by the humble statements from the Key West Citizen, viable art from reuse has found its time. To Live a life in the art world and be so blessed to make a social impact. Artists are to give back, talent is to tell a story, to make change. Reuse is a life experience  .

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   HONG KONG WILLIE.    

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Famous artist raised on Tampa city dump,like living in the Penthouse in the upper east side. A brand meant for this time. Can you see the picture.

Dorado The Dolphin - Original Hong Kong Wilie Art

$4600.00 

To purchase Contact Hongkongwillie

Watching the Paint ,a Great exploding of Colors from the truck hit the pit. What a memory. Was this the beginnings of Green for i.

Eye of Toucan

Hong Kong WIllie Original Art

$8100.00 

To purchase contact Hongkongwillie

Hong Kong Willie "Eye of Toucan"

Authentic Key West influenced art. What once would have been sawdust spread to the wind, is now what you see here.

Superior reuse of materials.

Wood Source: Aged Sawmill Stock
Copper Hanger Source: Reclaimed Wire
Backing Screw Source: Reclaimed Brass Screw
Key West Fisherman ID Tag Referenced in Artists Log
Hong Kong Willie Artist: .

Black Bird of Key Largo 

$98,000 

To purchase contact Hongkongwillie

"Black Bird of Key Largo"

The allurement of the winds blowing in the palm trees and the moon shining through and the "Black Bird of Key Largo" looking upon.
Hong Kong Willie



**HONG KONG WILLIE artist Kim Brown, chose aged Florida sawmill stock as canvas. Recovered Brass Hanger: Key West lobster trap rigging. Originally connects and suspends rigging of spiny lobster traps in Key West waters. Candy-like appearance due to multiple protective layers. Assigned number in artist register by Fisherman ID tag, corresponding burn-etched # rear of piece. Key recovered by Robert Jordan, acclaimed treasure hunter: also in identification of piece and artist.

This is a excerpt from a study of the landfill,{county dump} Hong Kong Willie,{joe brown } lived on.

Gunn Highway Landfill
The Gunn Highway Landfill is located off Gunn Highway in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida. The county operated the landfill as a trench-type facility for the disposal of MSW from 1958 to 1962. The landfill disposal areas occupied approximately fifteen acres. After the landfill was closed, the property was subdivided and developed. A total of thirteen apartment buildings and a clubhouse were constructed over the waste-filled areas of the landfill. According to an investigation report by a consulting firm, see Geraghty & Miller (1996), the foundations for these structures were built as follows:
The complex is founded on timber piles and post-tensioned concrete structural slab systems due to the subsurface conditions. The construction drawings approved by Hillsborough County for the apartment complex indicate that a synthetic membrane was to be installed beneath the slabs to block and disperse the migration of methane gas, generated by the decomposition of solid waste.
Even though efforts were made during construction to prevent methane gas generated by the waste from seeping into the structures, problems were discovered in the late 1980's. In addition, differential settlement of the waste has resulted in cracks in the overlying structures in spite of the attempt to establish an adequate pile foundation system for those structures.
Numerous investigations have been conducted at the property evaluating whether methane gas has migrated into the on-site structures and evaluating the potential for the gas to migrate off-site through utility trenches containing electrical conduits, sanitary sewers and stormwater pipes. Some gas monitoring data report methane gas concentrations in the soils at levels significantly higher than 100 percent of the lower explosive limit (LEL) for methane. Methane gas has consistently been detected under the slabs at the clubhouse and at many of the apartment buildings. Fortunately, methane gas has not been detected in the first floor apartments. Additional ventilation has been added to on-site structures and concrete floors have been resealed to try and minimize the risks from methane gas accumulation. While investigators now believe that the levels of methane gas are decreasing at the site, indicating that the Gunn Highway Landfill may have passed its peak methane generation rate, gas monitoring is still continuing and is likely to be required for many more years.

Who Is Hongkongwillie

BY Casper Yen

 

During my 4 years of attending USF I've gotten to venture around a decent amount of local spots in the surrounding Tampa Bay area. These ranged from restaurants, cafes, parks, bars, and other places of interest. Recently I got to check out this particular spot that has always been on mind. If you're frequently in the Temple Terrace area then there's a pretty big chance you probably been down East Fletcher Avenue before. If that's the case, then you definitely have seen this spot I'm talking about. Go east onto Fletcher Avenue and as soon as you're about to hit Highway I-75, look to your right and you'll see an establishment with some very interesting art installments around its vicinity. Just by looking at the photo above, you can see why its hard to miss. Once again, I had my good friend, Nick, tag along with me to check out what this place was all about.

 

 

Hong Kong Willie

When we pulled up onto the property, there were no other cars there besides mine. It made me wonder if there was even anyone around . The first thing you'll immediately notice is that the majority of the property was covered in ocean like paraphernalia such as vibrantly colored buoys to coconuts. It makes you feel like you're walking around a dock for boats. 

We proceeded to walk towards what appeared to be the main building since it had "open" signs posted around it. The signs led us to a door on the right side that had a wooden sign with the words, "WE ARE OPEN CALL 813-770-4794". I called the number and before anyone could answer, a man comes out of nowhere right behind us and asks, "You want to view the gallery?". He then unlocked the door for us and behind it was a room completely filled with artwork made by him. These ranged from paintings, wood carvings, more buoys, and so much more. It was pretty overwhelming. As we kept looking around, the man introduced himself as Joe Brown, aka "Hong Kong Willie"

 

From Hong Kong to Willie

Born and raised in Tampa, Joe's passion for art started when he attended an art class at the age of 8. Through it he learned the importance of volunteerism, reusing, recycling, and giving back to the community. With deep admiration for his teacher's past work in Hiroshima, the "Hong Kong" part of his name came from the fact that his teacher was from there. Later on "Willie" was added to form the catchphrase "Hong Kong Willie". As time progressed, the young artist unfortunately decided to leave his interests in art behind with the thought that it wasn't going to be able to support him in the future. . Now this the part of the story where things for Joe start to get REALLY interesting. Right after graduating college, Joe became involved with a project that helped bring UPC codes to the grocery stores. (UPC codes are those bar codes you see on products). Sounds crazy right? Who would of known that some random artist in Tampa played a big role in something like that? However, he wasn't content with what he was doing with his life; this led him to move back to Tampa where he spent 5 years living in a beat down trailer in a forest across the street from where we were standing. He recalled the trailer days when he would always piss off the locals by blasting loud music at night and dealing with 20 something cops showing up; surprisingly, he never got kicked out. Soon it was finally time for the man to make his comeback as an artist.

 

 So how successful has the artist been since? Well, the highest value he's ever sold one of his pieces for was $200,000... Holy crap... If you're able to sell one of your pieces for that much then you're definitely doing something right. Many of his clients have ranged from businesses wanting to place something in their stores to individuals who just want unique artwork in their home. But putting aside the art talk, the artist gave us personal wisdom about his outlook on life.

 

 Hongkongwillie Art
MYSTERIOSITY   $176,000 U.S. Dollars

 

 

Willie Wisdom

Joe believes that one of the biggest issues we currently face is people being too absorbed by the lifestyle of riches, straying them from being themselves. It's no surprise that when you live in a society that glamorizes wealth that you become tempted to throw aside your genuine interests to find ways to get rich instead. I've personally had friends who've stopped pursuing their passions because it seemed to them a waste of time since it didn't hold any potential to make them money. A majority of these passions were related to art, music, and dance. It's sad to think about but as a photographer myself I understand where they're coming from. Luckily there are still people out there like Joe who still follow their passions with zero care about wealth. I've always believed that if you truly loved doing something then you'll find a way to pursue it regardless where life takes you. If you find that too hard to do, then you never loved it in the first place. Joe also weighed in on the issues of race that have been recently prevalent in media by describing his personal experiences with it. He acknowledges that as an individual who physically appears to be white, that it gives him a bigger social advantage as compared to "minority" races. As a man of Spanish, White, and Jewish descent, he's had a mild taste of these social tensions when he once lived in a community of English people. 

 

 

What started off as a normal visit to Hong Kong Willie, became one of the most enlightening experiences that I've ever had. Just the amount of resilience that this man had maintained throughout his life was impressive. His early struggles really embody the cliché phrase, "When there's a will, there's a way". He owes a lot of his success to the support of the community, God, and other artists. Those humbling words left such a big impact on me. 

If you're ever in the area then I highly recommend that you visit Hong Kong Willie. This definitely beats a visit to a regular art museum for sure. Below I've provided more info on how you can learn more about him. You just never know what story a place might hold for you till you go check it out.  

 

 

 

“My father understood why he was here. And he made that of great importance to his children… My father gave me the understanding of why we were here
And to be determined to find that.”

In today’s fast-paced society, teaching of such life lessons has become rare. People are more motivated to “get famous and get money.

“I’m here just to exemplify and maximize why I’m here. That’s probably the greatest thing that I think is missed in families.

 

 

 

 

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Tampa Artist . UPDATED 5 / 21 / 2024

Sometimes, it’s the smallest experiences that have the biggest impact on a person’s life.
While attending an art class in 1958 at the age of 8,Tampa Artist Hongkongwillie begain his destiny
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   Reuse Became the way of life. To read the story from the inception of the Name Hong Kong Willie. Famed, by the humble statements from the Key West Citizen, viable art from reuse has found its time. To Live a life in the art world and be so blessed to make a social impact. Artists are to give back, talent is to tell a story, to make change. Reuse is a life experience  

Blue Marlin Dream of Key West.

$225,000  Hong Kong Willie Art

 

 

 

John 3:16

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Tampa Artist raised on Tampa city dump,like living in the Penthouse in the upper east side.

Recycling as a Lifestyle and a Business By:
Chris Futrell,
 Have you ever seen the building on the corner of Fletcher and I-75 with a bunch of buoys strung everywhere? This small business that many think is an old bait n’ tackle shop is actually Hong Kong Willie. Derek Brown, 26, and his family own and operate Hong Kong Willie. The little shop specializes in preservation art. The artists don’t take preservation too lightly either. “99 percent of everything that has gone into a piece of art has been recycled and reused,” Brown said. Just as unique as the art is, so is the company’s name. Brown says the name was created by his father, Joe Brown, in the 1950s. “My father being in an art class, being affected by a teacher, they were melting Gerber baby food bottles," Brown said. "The teacher interjected that Hong Kong had a great reuse and recycling program even then.” Brown's father then took that concept and later added the Americanized name Willie to the end. And that's how Hong Kong Willie was born as a location that offers recycling in a different and creative way. Hong Kong Willie artists are what are known as freegans. Freegans are less concerned with materialistic things and more concerned about reducing consumption to lessen the footprint humans leave on this planet. “I’m sure everyone has their own perception of a freegan, possibly jumping into a dumpster or picking up something on the side of the road,” Brown said. “There [are] people who will have excess. There [are] also things that can be trash to one man, but art or a prize to another man.” Brown and his family carry this practice through to their art. It’s his family’s way of life, turning trash, which would otherwise fill up landfills, into an art form. The Brown family gets a lot of their inspiration for their art from the Florida Keys. In fact, this is where the deluge of buoys wrapping around the ‘Buoys Tree’ came from, the fishermen of Key West. “It is Styrofoam, we understand that it does not degrade, but to blame the fishermen for their livelihood wouldn’t be correct, instead we find a usage for those,” Brown said. Brown said there’s a usage for everything, even the hooks to hold the painted driftwood, which are also salvaged, to the wall are old bent forks. Everything’s reused here. Purses made out of old coffee bean sacks to “kitschy,” as Brown described it, jewelry made from old baseballs. “Hong Kong Willie truly believes that a piece, whether it’s a bag or a painted artwork, it’s meant for one person.”

ART FOR SALE MYSTERIOSITY 
HONG KONG WILLIE ART,Famous Tampa Art.

 



$176,000 U.S. Dollars
Call Hong Kong Willie Gallery In Tampa 813 770 4794
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