This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

In this edition of WEDU Arts Plus, before sunrise, two chefs begin creating more than just food.

Yes, we're making great pastries and coffee and food every day.

But these businesses about being in the service of others.

A weavers guild.

Our primary purpose is education.

We would like to teach weaving, spinning to those folks who are interested in learning.

The artistic process.

I just was so enamored with the French Quarter, because I grew up going to the French Quarter as a child and as a young person, and I saw the architecture and I just loved the whole ambiance of it.

And a window cartoonist.

My best signs usually turn out when they go, just do whatever.

Those usually turn out really well because I have no boundaries and I can get real creative.

It's all coming up next on WEDU Arts Plus.

[uptempo music] Hello.

I'm Gabe Ortiz and this is WEDU Arts Plus.

Chef Rosanna and Chef Ricardo are a celebrated culinary duo known for blending tradition with imagination.

From Food Network and Disney Plus to the heart of Tampa Bay, they've turned their passion into an edible art form, one rooted in culture, creativity, and connection.

[light music] I come from a long line of cooks.

My two great grandmothers, my both of my grandmothers, and then my mom was just amazing cook.

So my earliest memory of cooking with her was her holding me and me trying to stir the pot.

So being in the kitchen with them was it's second nature to me.

I remember seeing Jacques Pepin in Great Chefs of America.

I was a big show on PBS.

I loved it.

And I would literally just be in awe watching all these chefs making stuff.

And he just made a simple omelet.

And I knew back then, I'm like, this, this.

I love doing this.

That's that's what we all want.

We want to please people.

We want to make sure people eat right and that they have joy when you're actually eating what we create.

Yeah.

[upbeat music] Yes.

We're making great pastries and coffee and food every day.

But these businesses about being in the service of others, and that's the real definition of hospitality, as we give so much of ourselves for everybody to have a good experience, to have a good day, to change their day, to make it a little bit better.

So that's how I see our careers, is we're in the service of others.

When you look at a city like Tampa, this is like a melting pot of all these different cultures.

And I think my job as a photographer is to capture that culture on a plate.

I just want to capture it.

When you look at these chefs and business owners, they spend a lifetime honing in their craft and perfecting their their art.

And what they do is art.

It's just like any other artist.

They're in the kitchen every day, just perfecting their dish until it's ready to present to the world.

And if that doesn't say art, I don't know what does.

[light music] I do think, you know food is at the same level as art or music, because it's the fabric of culture and culture that transcends, you know, food is is you create memories of food because it's something that you enjoy.

I think what is different now, just like art and music, is that it's global.

We don't have to go to China to experience authentic Chinese food, or to bring in Korean flavors to something that you do, because now we're so globalized, so we are have access to more of food culture, but we can trace food history the same way we can trace music history and art history, as you know, in our civilization.

So it's it's that powerful.

Everything is important.

Senses are important for us.

We attack every single sense.

I would say that as chefs, you always have your artistic side.

And I say this to staff as well.

We wear our emotions on our sleeve because it is a very artistic career, but we cannot forget the science.

I think a really good technical chef understands the chemistry of food because then you can control it.

You can adapt to it.

I think I changed from scientist to artist on a constant basis.

Yeah, I agree with that.

So I go to the science of the sugar in the bread, for example, or in the croissant.

How is that going to interact?

Is it a dry product.

Is it a wet product.

So those are the things that I'm always like thinking, you know.

I guess constant back and forth with me.

I know for her it's a creative juices.

Oh my gosh, she can go crazy.

And well, we should do this kind of flavors that I'm like, oh yeah, we should do that.

That's pretty cool.

When I'm teaching classes, I say, I ask, it's a trick question.

What what is the most important ingredient in in a kitchen?

And they all say oil, butter, salt.

Now I say it's time, patience and heat.

You control those three things.

You can cook.

We're go getters, so we're always pushing ourselves to do more.

Yes, there there is more.

I...I can achieve anything with her for sure.

She knows it.

We just it's just a matter of the opportunity and that's it all we're looking for opportunities.

To me, food is everything.

It's how we show love, how we show happiness, grief, how we entertain others, how we.

It's really love language.

It's an extension of my heart.

And it's it makes me think of my mom.

Because it's it brings so many memories.

But at the end of the day, to me, food is about showing love for others.

Those are my earliest memories and it's my passion.

What drives me as a chef is to provide that for others, whether it's in our business or whether we're going to someone's home through catering.

But it's it's providing that experience, intimate experience of being together at the table.

I feel responsibility because, um, of those moments that your customers entrust you with, you know, as an artist, right?

You want people to validate your work to like what you do.

So every single moment that they like it, It's it's a perfect moment.

It makes our heart full.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

We love seeing that.

The feeling of making food for others that they will remember for a lifetime.

It's pure happiness.

Priceless.

To learn more about chefs Rosanna and Ricardo, visit chefandthebaker.com.

In Ohio, the Weavers Guild of Miami Valley is a nonprofit organization that embraces handweaving, handspinning, and the textile arts.

Started in 1949, the Guild brings together individuals to practice their craft.

[light music] The Weavers Guild of Miami Valley encompasses any person who is interested in weaving.

Interested in spinning.

Most of our members are weavers, but not all.

We have people that are involved in knitting, Quilting, fiber arts in general.

You name it, they do it.

This is our 70th anniversary, and so we have been celebrating by having displays at various libraries and historical societies in the area.

They've put exhibits in all of the libraries to give people a chance to know the guild is here and thriving.

And then, of course, we'll be at the wool gathering.

The Guild sponsored the wool gathering originally, and Young's Jersey dairy took it over.

But the guild started that and it just grew.

The wool gathering is my favorite because of all the vendors that attend the wool gathering.

Bring your pocketbook.

I guess if you asked each member, they'd have a different answer as to what they get from being a member of the Weavers Guild.

But our primary purpose is education.

We would like to teach weaving, spinning to those folks who are interested in learning.

In addition to that, I believe personally that it is a way to preserve a craft that is not predominant today as it was once in the past.

The days of learning from your mom, your grandma, aunt Sally, those days are gone and we're not raised with it right next to us.

So an organization like the Guild allows us to get the instruction, get the support, and keep the love of weaving going.

People who think it's really simple and fast, quick, easy to do.

It's not.

So I tell people it is a time consuming craft hobby endeavor, and so they need to be made aware of that.

The weaving part is not that time consuming.

What is time consuming is planning.

Planning your colors, what fibers you're going to use.

The advantage of weaving is the way you juxtapose the fibers creates a particular hand in a cloth, and that's where all the difference is in a hand woven piece, as opposed to a machine woven piece.

And there's nothing wrong with machine woven pieces either.

It's just there's a difference in the hand and the design and the creativity and it all goes in to how a weaver uses the fibers.

I enjoy working with cotton or cotton blend.

I have worked with other fibers such as wool and synthetics.

The items I like to weave are scarves and household items.

Towels.

Placemats.

Table runners.

My goal eventually is to weave a coverlet and maybe I'll get there one day.

Most of my weaving when I worked was yardage that I would then make into clothes.

So a lot of my inspiration would be things you saw in stores, in magazines, and you would say, oh, well, they did this and this.

I could do that and then try it from there.

The scarf I did at a workshop several years ago, a new theme came out that was called Iridescent Weaving, and that was using yarns that if you move the item, they would show different colors.

They would iridescent.

It's a very simple weave structure.

It's just that the colors play with each other against each other, and that's the finished effect.

The weaving I do is primarily for the wall or collages, so it's a different process.

I will work with any fiber in a collage.

You can use any material that you find lovely.

For me, it's a way to express myself with the spinning.

It's a way to just relax.

Craft making is very relaxing.

It regenerates your spirit, and there's something very musical about just doing the same thing over and over, and it just it calms you down.

We do have a monthly meeting, and at each monthly meeting there is a program presented.

Someone will come and discuss weaving, dying, some topic that has to do with fiber.

People attending the meeting will bring something that they've just finished and show and talk about what they did and yarns they used and that sort of thing.

Is this my first weave without doing it here?

The show and tell is primarily to encourage the guild members to keep working.

Sometimes that will be followed with a workshop in conjunction with the presentation.

There are probably 5 or 6 different workshops during the year.

I think it's amazing that this guild has lasted as long as it has.

I've been members in other groups and organizations and they kind of come and go.

People chose different interests, avenues, paths.

Life interferes and they don't have the longevity that the weavers guild has.

I think the thing to remember from all of this is the weavers Guild, while being 70, is still very young at heart, is still doing new and challenging things.

We stay on the cutting edge and we're constantly bringing new ideas, inventive ideas to the guild.

And age is just a number.

It's how you feel young at heart, and I think this group is very young at heart.

[light music] To find out more, head to wgmv.org.

Kathryn Rutledge is inspired by Louisiana, with paint she captures the architecture, waterways, and landscapes that make her state unique.

In this segment, meet the artist and learn more about her artistic process.

[uptempo music] I just was so enamored with the French Quarter because I grew up going to the French Quarter as a child and as a young person, and I saw the architecture and I just loved the whole ambiance of it.

And I was able to capture that in paintings, and it made me very happy.

These are historic photographs by Eugene Delacroix that my dad had in his living room forever.

That is a brulatour courtyard that I've painted many, many times.

And that's how it looked in 1930.

I loved it.

I just pictured it and wanted to be there.

I painted the fountain one because I thought that that was just lovely.

The reflections in the water and all the exotic plants that you find in the French Quarter.

And one thing I've really loved too, is painting the architecture of the French Quarter.

So that has architecture, the plants, water and the sun.

The sun is so integral with every painting.

How the sun comes in and lights things.

That's a martian patio.

You see so many arches because it's all Spanish design.

Many of them are during the Spanish era.

I collect old books of French Quarter architecture, and the pictures may have been from the turn of the of a century.

I don't use current photographs.

I use the old ones.

And the particular spiral staircase was unique for that one.

I had a client who wanted that, but she lived there when she was renting, and she rented the apartment behind that green door, so she wanted me to put the number of the apartment on, and I said, sure, that really personalizes it.

And of course, you would think that there'd be wine bottles and oysters and a lamp and little greenery and slate.

And so I've learned to know what is in these old places.

Every artist is different in how they pull together a painting.

Mine is I get the feel for it.

And the first thing I've got to start off with the architecture of the painting, the underpinning of it.

That is number one.

And then I start going in with the lights and darks and start working toward a feeling of it.

And that's what I have done with these.

I've always enjoyed the marsh lands of Louisiana.

I've always enjoyed the Gulf, the Mississippi sound, Wrigley's.

And when I was growing up, my father would take us most weekends out and explore the water.

And all those memories stayed with me.

And I call upon them.

When I'm doing those.

I call upon the remembrance of the sun hitting the water and the marshes and is very close to me.

And so that's what I've started doing.

I really thought, I can do these landscapes, these vast fields with old ancestral oaks I loved.

So I started doing that and I started doing water scenes.

What I've had to do is study the birds in motion and do a lot of pen sketches of them to see how the air gets under their wings and what they do.

And I have a lot of drafts of that.

So when I go to paint something in a marsh, I'll go, this bird needs to be this or that.

You can see the escalation of the birds.

One.

Two.

Three.

One in full flight.

And I may add one up in the sky that you just can barely see.

And so that's what I do.

When you're painting a vista, it's a wide range.

But eventually that's got to be some little center of interest.

And as I learned about the golden section in a painting, there is a mathematical formula for your putting exactly where it should be.

And I know I was trained to do that.

[light music] Trey Valentine, a window cartoonist in Reno, Nevada for various businesses.

He creates painted window displays full of color and imagination.

I was always getting into something as a kid trying to finger paint on the refrigerator.

This is the fun part of my job, is I get to just kind of be a kid and make a mess on the back of my truck.

[upbeat music] My name is Trey Valentine and I'm from Reno, Nevada.

I am a window cartoonist.

I paint signs on windows.

I, um, paint windows for any and all occasions.

Lots of restaurants, tire places, car dealerships.

I've done flower shops.

You name it, I've done it.

[rock music] My best signs usually turn out when they go.

Just do whatever.

Those usually turn out really well because I have no boundaries and I can get real creative.

I take a crayon and just kind of get like an idea of what I want to put on there.

Um, if it was warmer, I would do it with a paintbrush, but it'll take too long to dry, so I'll just do it in crayon, and then I'll come back with my paint and I'll start painting it.

And then with my fingernail, I'll etch out where my reference lines are and you'll get kind of a weird, uh, silhouette looking thing on the window, and then I can go from there.

[rock music] This is a gymnasium that I'm painting today, and the client wanted all the characters to be in shape.

So I put a weight in this guy's hand and, uh, gave him a little bit of muscle tone.

She said she wanted a really fit Santa, so I'm going to make them all buff.

I always do the white because the the paint.

If you just put colors on here, you kind of see right through it and it wouldn't look really good.

This kind of attaches the color to the window, gives it that nice opaque awesomeness.

[guitar music] So most of my characters get a white outline around them to really make them jump off the window.

So you see how I've kind of like, left a little bit of white.

I'll do a black outline inside the white, so there'll be a definite edge to him.

And then, like a little aura around him, which will make him really pop off the window.

[rock music] When I first started doing this, everything was just one color.

Like, I didn't do any highlights or shadows or anything.

And within the last couple of years, I really started to dig the whole highlights and shadows and different colors.

It's very subtle difference, but there's definitely a difference.

[guitar music] I like signs like these because they're just quick.

They're fun, they're easy.

You don't have to really measure anything.

Just kind of go for it.

My favorite part about painting signs on windows is the fact that it's an instant gratification.

You get an idea.

In my head, it goes on the window pretty quickly, and I get to see it come to fruition, or I see it come to life within the afternoon.

I've been doing this my whole life.

I was a musician back in the day, back in the 80s, and I go out and play clubs all night.

No one made money back in the 80s.

Being a musician.

So, uh, I'd go out.

I learned how to paint window sign.

And then after a while, I learned how to do it right.

[uptempo music] I did the office thing, you know.

I was in radio for a little while, and that's all indoors.

And right now, it's a little tough because it's 22 degrees outside, and I can't feel my fingers all the time.

And I get home, and I'm pretty worn out, um, just from the weather.

But the other side of that coin is in the summertime.

I'm running around in a tank top and shorts, working on my tan and having a blast listening to music and paint can.

See more of Trey Valentine's work on instagram.com/sign_b_trey.

And that wraps it up for this edition of WEDU Arts Plus.

To view more, visit wedu.org/artsplus, or follow us on social.

Until next time, I'm Gabe Ortiz.

Thanks for watching.