Famous Artist . Updated 2/17/2026

Every piece of art will find a home.”

 

Miriosity To A Good Home
$176,000

 Artists are to give back, talent is to tell a story, to make change. Reuse is a life experience .
 It all started on a Tampa Landfill. 

 

  Reuse Became the way of life.

 To Live a life in the art world and be so blessed to make a social impact. 

Artists are to give back, Hongkongwillie Art
MYSTERIOSITY .

Many artists don’t produce more than one great, great, great piece. And Miriosity, she just has all of those elements… Miriosity has a great future.”
Miriosity To A Good Home
$176,000



Hongkongwillie's personal history significantly influences his art through several key experiences and relationships:

Early Exposure to Landfills and Discarded Materials: Growing up near a landfill instilled in him an early appreciation and understanding of the potential in discarded objects, which others might consider junk.

He views these items not as trash but as artifacts of their time, .

His father, a generous man, even donated land for a landfill in Hillsborough County,

This early immersion in the world of discarded objects profoundly impacted his artistic journey, inspiring him to use these materials in his work. Influence of an Art Teacher:

At eight, Hongkongwillie's art teacher introduced him to the tradition of turning discarded items into art, a practice she observed while volunteering in Hiroshima ,

This resonated with him and significantly impacted his creative path.

The teacher also shared that she left Asia from Hong Kong, a tidbit that later inspired him to adopt the name "Hong Kong Willie".

Family Values and Life Lessons: His father emphasized the importance of understanding one's purpose in life, a lesson he believes is missing in today's society,

This upbringing, with its focus on giving back and exemplifying one's purpose, likely fuels his artistic drive and charitable endeavors.

He sees his artistic talent as a means to tell stories and inspire positive change.

Charitable Approach:

Hongkongwillie's commitment to donating a significant portion of his art sales to social initiatives, integrates social responsibility into his artistic practice.



This philanthropic approach is likely connected to his background and values, aiming to encourage others to repurpose materials and support the community.

These elements of his personal history have shaped Hongkongwillie's unique artistic vision, his passion for reuse, and his desire to make a positive impact through his art.

 

 

“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.

A short moment of time Hong Kong Willie . Updated 10/ 2 / 2025

 

Famous Key West Green Artist 

 

 A short moment of time Hong Kong Willie

The first time i can remember, The Florida Keys. The long road , narrow water on both sides. Beach, not to my understanding. Key West, Duval St, only what tourists see, was my first impression. WOW, that would change

 i received a phone call from Al in Ramrod Key, a Florida Key. A Key that is about 27 miles from Key West. Al: a rocker, drummer, out there kind a guy. Al and i met in a funny way. Al living near some small town in Massachusetts also having this cool place in the Florida Keys.
Artist have this draw to the Keys, Why, Well it took this road to discover. Al now living in Ramrod, calling to tell what had happen in the Isle of Ramrod. Not to mention Cat, oh i forgot, Cat is how i met Al.

Al, someone that, well to say what a friend. Some nights sleeping on his pool table. and not far is No Name Pub, well there you go, pub, by any other name spells trouble. Well contrary to your disbelief, what a place of history. This is where it begins.or When its begins.

This once remote Key, NO NAME KEY,NO NAME PUB, remote, to say the
least, pub , when seeing the place, everything you can believe, and more,
just from the appearance. Now no matter what you have heard second
thoughts still occur.. Its still time turn around, not to night. The
Rainbow Trail by Zane Grey, was spoken here, my first exposure to the
days of Zane Grey, oh I'm getting ahead of myself. No Name Pub, a Zayne
Grey second office in the Keys, later to be one of mine. No Name Pub,
the history, the wild west, well, great writers, why they come here, No
Name Pub. Real artist, Real Treasure hunters, Fisherman, and the trade no
one saw, all came. No one made a big deal who came or left.

It was part of the beginning for the art support. A meeting place for the who's who in the world of the Keys.
Egos left a the door.
Appreciating that you did not get lost in that world .
Artist that had made it and willing to give you support. .
This was a place that I will always remember for the time I sharpen my artist skills..

It all started on a landfill in Tampa
It,(was the dump) that had all this media, and a young enterprising mind. Not enough time to capture it all. 

BY SOHINI LAHIRI
Growing up in Tampa, I spent a period of time fascinated by a quirky, eye-catching landmark at Fletcher Avenue and Interstate 75. This was also the period of time I spent obsessed with making binoculars out of toilet paper rolls and necklaces out of pop tops. To me, this sight was the epitome of similar creative craziness, and I often found myself looking for it during car journeys, hoping it hadn’t disappeared overnight.
But time passes and so does the urge for pop-top necklaces, and observant eyes don’t notice the same sights. It wasn’t until recently that I once again took note of the scene, with its broken down orange helicopter, a tree made of what seems to be indestructible balloons and a blue-and-white house covered with trash remade into art.
It’s the home of Famous  Florida Artist Hong Kong Willie.
I finally paid a visit to this art gallery after many years of wondering about the story behind it. The pavement leading to the door is painted with handprints and splatters, the store edged with upside down Coke bottles. Streams of lobster buoys hang from the roof and also make up the “tree” I marveled at so often from my car window.
Various shoes, bottles, clocks and signs are glued to the side of the store, and there’s a tribute to Sept. 11 off to the side. No one seemed to be home, so I called the number on the “WE’RE OPEN” sign, which brought a middle-aged man in a bright Hawaiian shirt from behind the store.
After a few basic questions, Joe Brown begins to open up about the history surrounding his art.
Brown, better known as Hong Kong Willie, says he was an artist from the start. “Everyone is born an artist,” he said. “However some are granted the gift of being able to express that art.”
As a young boy, his mother decided to send him to art school, which he says changed the course of his life forever.
At the age of 8, Brown recalls being heavily influenced by the lessons, which included transforming a Gerber baby bottle, something with no real value, into a piece of art. His teacher had spent an enormous amount of time and effort in Hiroshima, Japan, helping those affected by the atomic bombs. Brown learned many lessons about recycling from this teacher, who had come from Hong Kong. Brown added an American name, Willie, to Hong Kong for his nickname Hong Kong Willie.
While Brown grew up to be an artist, he left the world of mainstream art to return to his background in technology.
“But on Nov. 13th, 1981 … on a Friday at 1:30 in the afternoon, I had an epiphany,” Brown says. “I was at a friend’s house right across the street,” pausing to point at a row of apartments across from his store, “and a series of events led me to rejoin the art world.”
With the help of two other artists, Brown set up his business in the Florida Keys in the early 1980s, then moved it to Tampa. Together, they believed that they were predestined for the Green Movement, and have been making art out of recyclables for close to 30 years.
How’s business? He smiles. “It’s pretty wild.”
Inside, Hong Kong Willie’s art includes glossy pieces of driftwood restored and painted with beautiful landscapes and kernels of truth, some of the gorgeous work priced in the six figures. But there’s also a wide collection of handmade bags, wooden sculptures and sassy bracelets for more moderate prices.
A portion of the proceeds go to benefit the Green Movement, Brown says.
With a laid-back swagger, Brown continues. “We live pretty minimally. And all the funds we get from donations and our art sales are delegated to green projects.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I decided to visit Hong Kong Willie. Certainly not the breathtaking art inside, and definitely not the history behind it. I’m feeling thick-headed for not visiting years ago, and say so.
Brown offers a last bit of insight:
“I’m a big believer in predestination and timing. If someone is not ready to view art, the door is closed. Every piece of art that is made, and every project we do is done for a reason. It doesn’t matter if that reason shows up the next day, or walks in six years later; every piece of art will find a home.”

 

 MYSTERIOSITY HONG KONG WILLIE ART, Famous Tampa + Florida Artist ,$176,000

The Castilian .updated 10/15/2022

It was a good Day. Bob working on Boat 

 

Judge.updated 10/15/2022

 The Judge, front page The Miami Herald June 26, 1980. The Treasure, The court case.Did he cross the road . The Hong Kong Willie Google Car did. Hong Kong Willie

 

 

It's all in the view .updated 10/15/2022

 

 

 

 Kim and I leaving Marathon on the Seven Mile Bridge looking at this sunset and knowing it will be a long time.Are we ever forget this moment. We've just left Bob and Pat's and we have it in our hands. You ask what we have in our hands? A manuscript I tell you! It told us everything. Now we get to see the investors, museum curators, historians, and it's coming to be. What a Key West sunset! Hong Kong Willie

Investors are Looking .updated 10/15/2022

Bob Jordan was the discoverer of one of the galleons from the 1733 Spanish Plate fleet, the San Fernando, a British ship that had been bought by Spain. Among the artifacts recovered from the ship that sank in a hurricane in 1733 were 8 rosaries, each one different from the other.

The Greatest Discovery, Marathon Will Ever Have .Updated 6/18/2023

. Federal Judge Grants Lease. To be one of the Greatest shipwrecks ever discovered. Bob Jordan predicts this shipwreck will return 100 times more than the Atocha. Court records and past history has proven that Bob Jordan truly discovered the Atocha.

Bob Jordan, "???WAS IT HE, THAT DISCOVERED THE ATOCHA???" .updated 10/15/2022

DISCOVERY Remember in the future, there are other ships, that will be found, which will mammoth the Margarita and the Atocha! Preserve, Preserve, Preserve!

Hong Kong Willie

Preserving Water

A, Bloggy Hong Kong Willie

HongKongWillie




As we notice every day driving our highways, we do not irrigate the grass growing along side, the use of fertilizers are negated. All vegetation that is growing in our woodlands, uplands and wetlands, are maintenance free. Today, if we started planting these plants in our sundivisions, and our developments, our industrial areas would be maintenance free. This is a strategy that we must implement, what grows wild is not a "weed", non-indigenous species take fertilizer and water, resources much needed. Complaining without a resolution, is like trying to wake a dead man.