Hong Kong Willie: tampa tourist attractions

Showing posts with label tampa tourist attractions. Show all posts

Monday

TAMPA ARTIST ON FOX 13 TAMPA

LOOKING FOR THINGS TO DO IN TAMPA, STOP BY THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION HONG KONG WILLIE. I 75 EXIT 266 IN TAMPA. LOOK FOR THE BUOY TREE. HONG KONG WILLIE SAY HELLO

TV STATION IN TAMPA FOX 13 LOOKS AT HONG KONG WILLIE

HONG KONG WILLIE ON YOUTUBE

A LANDMARK IN TAMPA. THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION HONG KONG WILLIE AN ART GROUP OUT OF TAMPA AND KEY WEST. ARTIST BELIEVING IN PRESERVATION ART. THE WORLD RECORD BUOY TREE, MADE FROM KEY WEST LOBSTER FLOATS SHOW THEIR COMMITMENT TO PRESERVATION. LOCATED ON I-75 EXIT 266 IN TAMPA. APROXIMATELY 2 MILES FROM THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, CALLED MOSI. DOWN THE STREET IS BUSCH GARDENS AND ADVENTURE ISLAND. LOWRY PARK IS A SHORT ROAD TRIP. THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION IS FUNKY LAIDBACK,SCENIC OLD FASHION PLACE WHERE A TOURIST WOULD BUY A TRUE ONE OF A KIND FLORIDA SOUVENIR STOP BY HONG KONG WILLIE.Past days have seen famed Conch artists after destruction from devastating hurricanes collect ship wreckage, building parts, car doors, any mass which could evolve itselfinto a canvas for expression. HONG KONG WILLIE, renowned Key's Artist Collective, gained notoriety only from the blatant choice of medium, and the artists' yearning to remain honest to originality. Every Original HONG KONG WILLIE piece is truly “One of a Kind", no piece is ever reproduced. Along with Burn-Etched Signature, SpinyLobster Trap ID Tag, and Hand Signature, any validation of an ORIGINAL HONG KONG WILLIE piece is definite. Visit HONG KONG WILLIE STUDIOS located in Tampa, Florida for a true insight into the work. Contact the Artists for appointment @ (813)770-4794

HONG KONG WILLIE ON YOUTUBE

"KEY WEST" ART WITH HONG KONG WILLIE. THE FLORIDA KEYS ART ABOUNDS. HONG KONG WILLIE THE ARTIST FROM TAMPA TO "KEY WEST" what a place. hong kong willie will be there. hong kong willie

KEY WEST ARTIST ON TV TAMPA TV STATION ON HONG KONG WILLIE KEY WEST ARTIST. FOX 13

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

TAKE A LOOK, FOX 13 ON HONG KONG WILLIE ARTIST OF KEY WEST

TURTLE TAKING A DIVE ON YOUTUBE

TAMPA TV ON HONG KONG WILLIE. FOX 13

ARTIST CAR

WHO WILL SEE THE HONG KONG WILLIE CAR NEXT. THE HONG KONG WILLIE CAR IS IN TAMPA, OR KEY WEST. HONG KONG WILLIE THE KEY WEST ARTIST, OR IS THE ARTIST IN TAMPA. THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION, HAS A GREAT DEAL OF ART.

LOOK ON TV IN TAMPA ON FOX 13

FOX 13 TAMPA

Walk softly This is KEY WEST net. Watch that is KEY WEST rope. Remember the pirates.

HONG KONG WILLIE

YOU TUBE ON FOX 13 TAMPA ON HONG KONG WILLIE

ARTIST KEY WEST

He is here ,HONG KONG WILLIE, THE WAY OF A KEY WEST ARTIST, WAITING, WATCHING, LOOKING ROR NEW ART.

ARTIST IN TAMPA FOX 13

FOX TV AND TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION

HONG KONG WILLIE saw this chopper in the FLORIDA KEYS. What a view. HONG KONG WILLIE

KEY WEST ART AND HONG KONG WILLIE

The many faces of a Hong Kong Willie. Looking forward to tell the story. Will it be about Doug and the palm trees, enough said. HONG KONG WILLIE

TAMPA FOX 13 TAMPA AND HONG KONG WILLIE ON YOUTUBE

HELICOPTER ON YOU TUBE LANDING ON TRUCK

ART AND KEY WEST ARTIST

It's all Key West creativity. I think it's the giraffe. Hong Kong Willie

ON YOUTUBE FOX 13 TAMPA AND HONG KONG WILLIE

LIGNUMITAE

What a wood. Hong Kong Willie

FOX 13 TAMPA

ONE OF THE TWO RICO'S IN KEY WEST WITH

Rico found anchor in Key West chanal Trap was wrapped around top shaft Stories of him comming from Cuba talked about. He is one of the two Rico's Pat and I met .Stock Island and shrimp row are places to remember. Hong Kong Willie

FOX 13 TAMPA TV

TRUCK

This weekend in Boot Key cleanup Joe from the radio station, Mark "the most organized fisherman I've met", and Bob "one of the treasure hunters of the Florida Keys accomplished a daughting task. I've had the pleasure to be on one of these cleanups before. I wish Kim and I could have been there. This is part of the treasure of the Florida Keys. The Hong Kong Willie Google truck feels very much at home on Boot Key. Where in the World is "The Hong Kong Willie Google Truck" now???

TV FOX LOOK

Wednesday

KEY WEST NET, KEY WEST SHELLS

KEY WEST SHELLS KEY WEST NET, HONG KONG WILLIE ART

HONG KONG WILLIE A TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION, THE OLD TYPE TOURIST ATTRACTION. HIPPIE WAY OF ART. LOOKING FOR THINGS TO DO IN TAMPA, STOP BY HONG KONG WILLIE ON YOUR NEXT ROAD TRIP. HONG KONG WILLIE A PLACE ONE CAN BY A REAL SOUVENIER FROM TAMPA FLORIDA. WHAT A EXPERINCE, NOT TO SEE SOME THAT WAS AT ALL THE OTHER TOURIST ATTRACTIONS. MADE IN FLORIDA, MADE IN AMERICA. NEXT TIME YOU ARE IN TAMPA LOOK FOR HONG KONG WILLIE, I 75 EXIT 266 IN TAMPA. HONG KONG WILLIE WOULD LOVE TO SHOW THE ART.

Monday

HIPPIE TOURIST ATTRACTION IN TAMPA

ODD TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION HONG KONG WILLIE

HIPPIE PLACE HONG KONG WILLIE. ARTIST OF KEY WEST AND TAMPA. STOP BY THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION. HIPPIE ART.

Tuesday

ROAD TRIP AT JOHN PENNEKAMP KEY LARGO FLORIDA KEYS

HONG KONG WILLIE ON A ROAD TRIP IN KEY LARGO. HONG KONG WILLIE LOOKING FOR FOUND OBJECTS FOR ART. THE FLORIDA KEYS KNOWN FOR ART, ARTIST, MOST OF ALL PRESERVATION. FROM KEY LARGO TO KEY WEST LIFE IS ART. ROAD TRIPS IN THE FLORIDA KEYS OPEN AN ARTIST MIND. THE GOOGLE CAR HAS SEEN MANY CHANGES IN THE FLORIDA KEYS FOR THE GOOD. ART IS MOST IMPORTANT IN THE KEYS. IN KEY WEST YOUR ART EXPERIENCE CAN BE VAST. HONG KONG WILLIE THE KEY WEST ARTIST UNDERSTANDS PRESERVATION HAS TO BE. THE KEY WEST FISHERMAN AND THE KEY WEST LOBSTER FLOATS HAS SHOWN MANY ARTIST THAT WHAT CAN BE A BUOY CAN MAKE A WORLD FLOAT. KEY WEST FISHERMAN HAVE GIVEN HONG KONG WILLIE AN UNDERSTANDING ABOUT GIVING BACK TO THE ENVIRONMENT. THE FLORIDA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FISHERMANS PLACE. THE FLORIDA KEYS A REAL PLACE TO PRESERVE. HONG KONG WILLIE AND THE GOOGLE CAR WILL BE ON MORE ROAD TRIPS IN FLORIDA COMING UP. UNTIL NEXT TIME, HONG KONG WILLIE SAY HELLO.

Monday

ART OUT OF A WALL AT TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION

OUT OF THE ORDINARY TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION. HONG KONG WILLIE MAKE ART OUT OF UNUSUAL OBJECTS. LOOK AT THE ART OUT OF A WALL. TAMPA LONG LAND MARK HONG KONG WILLIE AN ART GROUP, THAT LIVES THE LIFE OF PRESERVATION. THE KEY WEST STYLE OF ART ,USING KEY WEST LOBSTER FLOATS TO DECORATE THE TIKI LIKE HUT. MOST PEOPLE STOPPING BY LEARN A NEW WAY TO PRESERVE. TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION HONG KONG WILLIE HAS A DIFFERENT SLANT ON LIFE. STOP TAKE THE TIME ON YOUR VACATION. DRIVE UP ,DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE SIZE OR THE PLACE. AS HONG KONG WILLIE WILL SAY, JUST ONE IDEA YOU CAN COPY, IT WILL COUNT FOR YOU.

Thursday

TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION . Updated 9/20/2018

TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION HONG KONG WILLIE IS An EYE STOPPER IN TAMPA. LOOK AT THE HONG KONG WILLIE BUOY TREE OFF I-75 EXIT 266, YOU CAN NOT MISS THIS TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION. HONG KONG WILLIE is An ART GROUP THAT LIVES IN TAMPA, AND KEY WEST. PRESERVATION IS THE KEY. THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION ALL THOUGH THE BUOY TREE FROM KEY WEST IS PROBABLY A WORLD RECORD. HONG KONG WILLIE THE ARTIST FROM KEY WEST AND TAMPA,THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION HAS A MISSION that IS WORLD WIDE. THE HONG KONG WILLIE GOOGLE TRUCK IN THIS PICTURE SHOWS A Form OF Preservation. THE THOUGHT Process of HONG KONG WILLIE AND KEY WEST ARTIST UNDERSTANDING OF ART, PRESERVATION COULD MEAN A Difference FOR NOT JUST TAMPA, BUT ALL OF US. STOP BY THE TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION AND LEAVE WITH An IDEA THAT WILL HELP YOUR WORLD.

Monday

GOOD OLD TAMPA TOURIST ATTRACTION

The zen of junk

BY ALEX PICKETT
Published 12.06.06

A Tampa couple devotes itself to creating something from nothing

Drive south on I-75, look to the right around East Fletcher Avenue, and you can't miss it. The tree appears first, hundreds of buoys wrapped around its branches, resembling a sort of Dr. Seuss-ian Christmas ornament. Then the rest of the 20,000 buoys come into view -- thousands of strands of the multicolored foam balls stretching from the tree to two wooden shacks, hanging from their roofs and walls, and stretched out over the property.

Strewn about the lawn is a menagerie of surfboards, car doors, CB radios, wooden sculptures and painted signs. A 1979 Ford pickup sits in the front driveway, painted with a rainbow of colors, four racks of antlers affixed to its roof. An old stuffed caribou sits in a lawn chair beckoning visitors.

Of the thousands of motorists who pass by this eclectic landmark off Exit 266 every day, few stop in the funky gift shop and Key West-themed folk art gallery that is Hong Kong Willie's. But this is not your typical roadside store selling cheesy Florida magnets and beach T-shirts (although they have those, too). From the moment the owners come out to greet you, it's clear that for them this isn't just a business -- it's a lifestyle.

As I step out of my car, Joe Brown ambles toward me wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. With his disheveled shoulder-length brown hair and strong jaw line, Brown, 56, looks a lot like Mel Gibson in Braveheart. He ends most of his sentences with "Do you follow me?" and stares with wild gray eyes until you nod in agreement. His 46-year-old wife, Kim, who bears a strong resemblance to Grace Slick, sits near the shop's open sign, branding her latest creation. Wearing large sunglasses, she gives a smile, hardly looking up.

Joe and Kim -- Tampa natives -- bought the half-acre property off Fletcher Avenue and Morris Bridge Road in 1985. For the next two decades, the Browns operated A-24 Hour Bait and Tackle, living on the premises and bagging worms for K-Mart and Wal-Mart to make a few extra bucks. But in 2001, they decided to abandon fish food to pursue the fickle business of art, although they will tell you Hong Kong Willie's was always "part of the journey."

"We were artists," says Joe. "We were born that way. We had no choice. You follow me?"

The underlying theme of Hong Kong Willie's is creating art out of objects destined for the landfill, and while browsing the items, I get the feeling the Browns are trying to make a point rather than a sale.

"Thirty percent of the gifts given will be in the dumpster by next Christmas," Joe says. "Most Christmas gifts will be given because they think they have to. Very few will have a social impact."

Every item at Hong Kong Willie's is either art made out of an object destined for the landfill or products that other companies were throwing away and the Browns retrieved before they made it to the dumpster. But don't call this recycled art. The Browns prefer "preservation."

Recycling implies the material will be used for the same purpose. "If you get stuck in that word, then you get stuck in that form," Joe explains. Instead, the Browns create a whole new use for an item that would have been otherwise thrown away.

Kim looks up from her painting after Joe finishes his long ramble. "We've always been able to take nothing and make something out of it," she says.

Although most people assume Joe is "Hong Kong Willie," he says the name refers to the origin of junk: Hong Kong produces much of the useless merchandise that Americans buy and quickly throw away, he says. So it's up to the Willies of the world -- i.e. the Browns and other conservationists -- to find new uses for the trash.

"All of us who believe what we believe is Hong Kong Willie," Joe says.

The gift shop is a space not much bigger than a tool shed, cluttered with handmade candles, pottery, ceramic figures and deer skulls painted tie-dye style. Joe, who's not content to allow me to wander by myself, darts from item to item, sharing each one's origins. One of the first objects he shows me is an old scuba tank cut in half, stenciled with yellow and purple spray paint with a weighted rope attached on the inside. What would have been a heavy addition to a landfill or junkyard, the Browns now sell as a nautical-themed bell. Another popular item: a used Starbucks Frappuccino bottle filled with sand and shells, and the words "Florida Beachfront Property" written in paint on it.

"Is it really pragmatic to say this had one life -- to have Frappuccino in it?" he says, holding up the $3 gift. "That's not true. You follow me?"

Joe picks up a droopy glass vase -- the result of an Arizona Ice Tea bottle stuck in a kiln for too long. He says it's a collector's item: Only 300 were made and none look alike.

"People really want something that is one of a kind and something that means something," he says, holding up the vase and pointing to a stack of Beanie Babies. "Which one is the real collectible? The one that cannot be copied or the one that is mass-produced just on a small scale? You follow me?"

Most of the materials the Browns work with come from Key West. Every few months they hop in the pickup, drive the 425 miles to the Keys and start looking for the junk no one else wants: used dive tanks, the lobster trap buoys, burlap bags and even old wooden planks from ships or homes destroyed by storms.

In fact, the latter is one of their biggest sellers. They bring back an imperfect piece of lumber, slap some urethane on it and Kim paints everything from colorful fish and birds to old Key West landmarks on it. Every piece is branded, marked with a lobster cage tag and affixed with brass rings or forks with which to hang them. In the building opposite the gift shop, among stuffed animals and fish (Joe was once a taxidermist), 30 of these painted planks hang from the walls.

Customers are few at Hong Kong Willie's, but the Browns say they're doing well. They never try to push their art on anyone, figuring that if someone stops and buys something, it was meant to be. ("A piece of art is a love affair," Kim says.) They count Gaspar's Patio Bar and Grille in Temple Terrace as one of their best customers. Their other business comes from Tampa residents looking to add a tiki feel to their backyards. Among Joe's most popular creations are old car doors outfitted with waterproof speakers. A few Key West bars bought the unique sound systems to hang from their ceilings.

But the Browns are not just content to sell their art to passersby -- they want to live the ideals that inspire their art. The couple is working on getting their business off the electrical grid and powered completely by solar energy. Kim wants to start a coffee and ice cream shop with free wireless Internet to bring in likeminded people. Joe wants to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for hanging the greatest number of buoys to a structure (it's not a category yet). And they're always trying to find new uses for the trash they see lining area roads.

"We're not just sitting out here being weird," Joe says suddenly. "We're actually taking objects and making these thousands of people say, 'What's that?' We're doing it because it's the right thing to do."

His eyes get wide.

"You follow me?"

THEN FOX TV SAID

Wednesday

KEY WEST ART, STAYS