Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marqués de Dalí de Pubol. Name ring a bell ? Do you know him ? Yes you do. He goes by Salvador Dali. A man with so much color and eccentricity could never have had a regular name. He basically invented/popularized the surrealism genre in paintings. His pieces both reveal and revolt. To love his work is to constantly agree that you know not what it is you love about it. The colors ? The lighting ? The decay ? Take your pick.

My family and I took a roadtrip to Tampa this past weekend. No visit to the Tampa Bay area is complete without an afternoon spent in the spectacular Dali Museum in St Petersburg,Fl. http://thedali.org/ Dali also dabbled in photography, film and sculptures. Painting is undoubtledly where his legacy lies. He was a showman. Sometimes his eccentric behavior came close to actually detracting from his work. The museum houses some of his most famous pieces. It also hosts various other special exhibits. The current draw is an exhibit of Andy Warhol works. The grounds and the design of the museum itself all reflect Dali’s quirkiness and fascination with spirals. The center spiral staircase is a case in point. They have a great gift shop where you can buy all sorts of items with Dali works embedded on them.The outdoor area has a oversized sculpture of that famous moustache. Out front there is a “fountain of youth “. A nice acknowledgement of that magic water Ponce De Leon searched for in Southwest Florida. There is also a tree where visitors have left thousands of entry paper/plastic wristbands affixed near a tree. An ode to his oft theme of decay. Pictures are forbidden within the galleries themselves so I captured some of the grounds and bright public spaces.What a great way to spend an afternoon. With Dali.

Enjoy the pics from our visit