St. Petersburg native and live abstract expressionist Alfredo “Freddy” Dane Llana embodied the poet’s description of an artist’s soul. Llana, 42, was struck and killed Aug. 31 while crossing U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor. Days passed before family and friends were notified.
Named after his highly accomplished Panamanian grandfather, Alfredo, a scientist and scholar of everything related to the sea, Llana followed in his footsteps, always questioning the unknown.
Described by many as “other-worldly” and “not of this earth,” Llana is considered a pioneer in Tampa Bay’s live art scene. Llana called his work “live vibe art” and would often partner with fellow artist and good friend Nick Scalise to paint alongside DJs and musicians.
Llana’s description of his medium was the “now effect,” capturing the energy vibe of the moment based on sound vibration. Unscripted and spontaneous, Llana and Scalise used oil paints and large canvas to channel the energy in the room and translate it into bold, colorful interpretations.
The pair amassed a collection of more than 150 paintings, many created in their year-long tenure at Yeoman’s Pub on Davis Islands, where they hosted a Monday night event titled “Evolution of Art and Music.”
Llana’s success is well-documented with a long list of shows throughout the bay area and the country, including New York City, where Llana considered moving. In recent years, he moved to Denver, Colorado but returned home for business. Llana’s art is in several private collections. Murals can be found in local businesses including Ybor City’s El Puerto Argentinian Restaurant, mesmerizing customers with its rich, vibrant colors.
As is often common in niche groups of people, Llana and his fellow Tampa Bay artists formed an unspoken brotherhood, with Freddy as the obvious, unspoken leader.
But it is Llana’s human relationships that speak even louder than his art.
“Although I come from a family of artists, Freddy is the one that put the brush in my hand,” Scalise said. “He was my Davis Island neighbor and I would sit and watch him outside with an easel as he painted. He finally asked that instead of watching him, why don’t I paint? From that day on, my life changed.”
Joining neighbor Chad McColgin, the three called themselves "The Trinity” and continued to explore the depths and tangents of music, art and consciousness.
“Freddy did some live art before we met,” Scalise said. “But over time, our brotherhood developed as did the evolution of the medium.”
Often short on supply funds, they would scrounge the alleys and dumpsters of Davis Island for discarded two-by-four pieces of wood.
One of Llana’s solo pieces of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia was constructed of scavenger wood. With no money for canvas and a gig to fulfill at Yeoman’s Pub, Scalise contributed his queen-size bedsheet.
“It’s basically about five-feet-by-seven feet or whatever a queen-size sheet is,” Scalise said. “Fredo was always pushing things — making things happen.”
Curating art shows and benefits throughout the Tampa Bay area, Llana constantly sought worthy recipients for each show’s proceeds and created benefits to address a worthy cause.
In retrospect, younger brother Luis Llana, the second of Panamanian natives Esther and Dane Llana’s four children (including the late Leonardo and sister, Jessica) recognizes the spirituality and depth of Alfredo.
“Growing up, my two brothers, sister and I did all the usual kid things — skateboarding, surfing and we had tons of animals,” Llana said. “We were very much tuned in with nature, especially Freddy. It’s like he knew something we didn’t.”
“We were always doodling on everything, including murals on each other’s backs,” Luis said. “Art was second nature in our home.”
Esther, a professional makeup artist, said that like herself, her children couldn’t stay still.
“They were always exploring ideas, especially Alfredo,” she said. “Just really curious.”
Leaving home at age 16 and eventually joined by Luis, Alfredo initiated a career in the culinary field.
“He was the assistant cook at a Clearwater Beach seafood restaurant and he got me a job as the prep cook,” Luis said. “He was always looking out for me and one of those brothers that was always a real friend.”
Two years behind his older brother at Largo High, Luis said Alfredo “made me cool in school.”
At the encouragement of his grandmother, Mary, Alfredo entered art contests and eventually found a niche creating ceramics in middle school. By his senior year at Largo High, Alfredo embraced the world of color, experimenting with acrylics, oil paints and watercolors.
“I was a couple of years behind Fredo at Largo High and when I would finish my art assignments, I would just sit in and watch him,” Stephen Barry, co-creator of Tampa’s “Art After Dark” said. “Even back then, he was using big canvas to work with. He was mesmerizing.”
Longtime companion and jewelry designer Amy Jean Smith said that every endeavor Llana participated in, he strived to achieve the highest caliber of accomplishment.
“Everything — plants, food, art, relationships with people — Fredo did it in an amazing way and everything he touched turned to gold,” Smith said. “His work represented what was inside him – what he couldn’t always tell you.”
"He just made everything better, including myself."
Smith said that Freddy understood things that most "normal humans" could not. Obsessed with other life forms, including aliens, she would limit conversations to an hour daily "as it was all that most of our brains could handle."
Executive Chef Darlene Herrick hired Llana for the now-defunct Tampa tapas restaurant “Passports”when Llana was 17.
“Freddy was very creative and respectful and one of the most gentle, sensitive souls I’ve ever met,” Herrick said.
Though Llana’s deep passion was art, he would revisit the culinary field, especially during lean times in the art world.
“He would call me up and ask if I needed any help,” Herrick said. “I didn’t but I told him I would always make room for him. Freddy is just someone that you wanted in your life.”
Numerous families, including Smith’s and Scalise’s called Llana “one of our own.”
“My parents (Ed and Sharon) and sister (Carolynn) considered him like a son and brother,” Smith said. “He was just so kind and caring and he wanted everyone to be okay.”
Scalise's parents, Yvonne and John, called him "son" also.
And then there were Llana’s trademark hugs.
“My brother would just pull you in like one of those grandma things where they pinch your cheeks,” Luis said. “You didn’t have a choice and it wasn’t just a regular hug but a long one that had a deep meaning to it.”
Fellow Tampa artist and “Art After Dark” co-creator Tony Lima recalls Llana hosting an impromptu show and sale set up by the Hillsborough River several years ago.
Assuming Llana needed some quick sales and curious as to the myriad of customers carrying away the priceless, large canvases, Lima asked the artist his selling price.
“A hundred bucks and a hug,” Llana responded. “If they don’t hug me, they don’t get the sale.”
Lima thinks the hug meant more to Llana than the money.
“In our society, men aren’t always as comfortable with a hug,” Lima said. “Freddy was just himself and his hug was his statement.”
Luis believes that as a spiritual being, his brother always knew something a little more than everyone else and through his art, he tried to explain it.
“He influenced and touched every person he met and his concepts were mind-blowing,” Luis said. “He was like a musician with his art and he evolved as life around him did.”
“He was a real hippie of 2015 in that Freddy was all about love and acting from his heart and soul.”
Llana’s influence was apparent Sunday evening at Ybor City’s New World Brewery where family, friends and fellow artists gathered to pay tribute and celebrate the life of a man they continued to say was “not of this earth.”
Lima, Barry and fellow artist Jason Boone painted live art and Llana’s favorite band, Sunset Bridge Band, played into the night.
"This is so Freddy," Smith said of the collaboration of art, music, family and friends. "I know he's looking down, knowing that we're all O.K."
Friends and family have coordinated to keep Llana's legacy alive with his website alredodanellana.com and FineArtAmerica.com. Legacy donations can be made at PayPal.com, Select “send” and enter the email address: luisllana@me.com.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2015.