Stella’s OMA Commission

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I helped Stella Arbeláez Tascón, a fellow artist and friend, when she got a commission from the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) to create tablecloths for a fundraiser event. Her idea was to eco-print leaves on the tablecloths along with woodblock prints. The fundraiser concept was built around the 1979 art installation by Judy Chicago called The Dinner Party. With that installation there were 39 elaborate place settings on a triangular table arrangement for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Including Kali, Sacajawea, Virginia Wolf, Susan B. Anthony and Georgia O’Keefe to name a few. The messaging goal of the Dinner Party was to end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record.

Stella had never eco-printed before, but she researched the process voraciously. After the fabric bolts were cut and hemmed, they were soaked in fresh water, dried, folded and stacked on a table set up outside. The next step was to boil water and soak the fabrics in chemicals that would allow the natural leaves to make impressions on the fabric. Since there were so many table clothes there were many boiling sessions.

I went with Stella when she purchased the old rusty butane stove for a song on Facebook Marketplace. When we picked it up there was a whole corrugated warehouse full of old abandoned equipment. A cow from the nearby field managed to get over the fence and had to be chased down to be put back in her field. That was all a sketch opportunity, but we were in and out rather fast to pick up the stove.

The water and fabrics frothed up in the huge metal pot and bubbled over the edge. When Stella finished stirring the pot, she went off to complete another task, and I sat and watched the pot while I sketched. I lowered the fuel nozzle a few times to keep the mix from boiling over. Once the boil was complete all the fabric was taken out and hung on outdoor clothes lines to dry in the breeze. Having this outdoor space to work on the project was critical since this was a messy process. The whole point of the eco-printing process was to celebrate the natural beauty of the outdoors.

In the background of this sketch is a hydroponics tower that was absolutely thriving. The edible lettuce was growing so fast that the tower was getting top heavy. The lettuce at the top was getting the most sunlight and it grew to the point that it broke the plastic tower in which the plant pots had been positioned. I patched the broken tower with plastic wrap because the water was leaking out of the tower and onto the ground. My fast, sloppy engineering fix seemed to work at least for the short term. I harvested the plants which were then drooping down unsupported and put them in bags in the refrigerator. The root system inside the tower was so huge that it would have to be cut out when all the plants were harvested. The greens lasted a long time in the refrigerator. I do believe some of them were eco-printed.

Fringe: The Breakfast Reunion

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Grinning Cat Theater Company from Orlando Florida presented The Breakfast Reunion at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The show revisits the cast of The Breakfast Club movie only now it is 25 years later and they meet the night before their High School reunion. One of the kids hit it big in the tech boom becoming a tech billionaire while others found local hometown jobs including becoming a teacher in the school where they were once held in detention.

Each character in turn unveiled their middle-aged angst. A marriage was on the rocks and jobs were not exactly gratifying. I kept trying to figure out who was Molly Ringwald all grown up. In general, I never married the older characters to who they were in high school. The show did keep me engaged. Like the movie, the characters were locked in the library for the duration. It is possible that the lock failing might have been intentional to force the former high school deviants to spend the time needed to rehash old times and show their new lives of normalcy.

Vulnerabilities from high school remained with each adult. The same fears and concerns just resurfaced in each new decade. Were friendships forged leading into the future? It seemed rather that these former students who exposed their weaknesses in detention 25 years prior were just ships passing in the night. When the doors locks were opened they each rushed out to the routines they had forged as adults.

I watched this show on my birthday which was a special treat. 1980s nostalgia drew me in. The years are passing for me so I felt it would be good to see how the high school princess, bad boy and weirdo had grown.

World Cup Final

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While teaching my Crealde School of Art, Travel Sketching Course on Sunday morning, one of my students mentioned that she would be going to the World Cup Final at Point Orlando on International Drive. This was clearly an awesome sketch opportunity so I suggested that any students that were up to the challenge should sketch the World Cup. No one including myself, was really looking forward to going to International Drive but I suggested they document the game wherever they were.

I looked online and found that there were several bars in downtown Orlando that were showing the game. I walked downtown from my art studio and decided to walk to City Arts Factory. I knew they had a very large screen TV in the outdoor area. The TV was impressive when I got there but the crowd was small and forced to sit with their backs against a wall. The energy wasn’t right.

Up the road a Wall street there were more big screens set up outside. This is where I decided to settle. There were big screen TVs at either end of the street, but I opted to sketch inside a bar where three TVs were showing the game above the bar. There was something tribal and communal about everyone crowded around the bar and looking up at the big screens. I was offered a beer from one of the folks who looked at my sketch but my hands were full of pencils and pens and I had no place to put the drink down, so I declined.

I dragged a bar stool into the corner of the room near the entrance. I probably looked like a security guard taking notes. Actually, one of the security guards checked in with me several times to see the progress and he gave me a fist bump when the sketch was nearing completion.

I haven’t followed the world cup games at all. I didn’t even know which team was which until the bitter end of the game when Spain scored a point. The crowd went wild. I finished the sketch before the game was over and decided to walk back to my art studio. I stopped off at a pizza shop to grab a bite on the way. The place was crowded and the game was on two large TVs on either end of the restaurant. I got a booth right in front of one of the big screens. Since I was so close I could now see the players as they got tripped and injured. I couldn’t figure out when the game might end. Rather than a clock counting down the clock was counting upwards. I figured out that the game was about to end by the excitement in the announcers voices. Everyone in the pizza joint cheered when the final buzzer sounded. Spain was victorious. They were the team in the red jerseys.

Fringe: Greek Food

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No, Greek Food is not the name of a show at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Besides running from show to show, there are moments when it is good to stop out on the Green Lawn of Fabulousness for a drink and food with friends. I could do a whole series of sketches of all the food trucks on the lawn and the endless dramas that play out as people wait in line.

For instance, I wanted to get an ice cream and to do so you are given a beeper after you pay. As I was waiting, Zelda Grey who is the powerhouse singer from Liquid Sunshine 2, stopped to say hello. I am a huge fan of her singing prowess and I was shocked and pleased that she knew about my theater sketch habit. Just as we started talking, the buzzer started going off in my pocket. Should I ignore it? I really wanted to find out what was happening in Zelda’s life. Her show is part concert and part a joyful exploration of what it takes to find meaning and balance in life. There is no better subject for conversation.  The buzzing continued. She must have heard the tell-tale buzzing from my pocket. Is that a buzzer in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? I finally excused myself and rushed to the counter to get my 2 scoops of ice cream. When I rushed back Zelda was gone. I must have seemed so rude, a fan who chose ice cream over conversation.

I settled in under a tree to enjoy my treat and then set up do this sketch of the Greek Food booth. I did order Greek food on another day at the Fringe. I had a lamb Gyro and wrestled with the large pita sandwich with Tzatziki flowing down my finger into my palms as my friend confided that there were huge changes occurring in life. I licked my fingers and slurped the sauce out of my palm as I listened. One napkin wasn’t enough for the mess I was making. I have been through similar seismic shifts, so there was plenty to talk about.

I have settled into my art studio rental, just north of Lake Eola and go through each day in complete silence. I don’t have a radio or TV set up. I do have a TV room which only has a TV which has never been plugged in or used. I was given the TV by a past roommate who was given a huge wide screen by a sibling. I will have to get a couch if I ever want to use that space as a normal Living room.

The point is, that I have grown accustomed to the quiet. I am learning how to switch over to a plant-based diet which should improve my health. I am also scrambling around each day shopping to find things that will get my studio space up and running. It is strange to be nesting after traveling and living out of a back pack for so long. I don’t even have an easel or lights for the painter’s studio room. I ordered three sets of curtains for three windows. I picked up the curtain order from Home Depot and found I only got 3 curtains which is only good for one and a half windows. I was very clear that I had 3 windows that needed 3 SETS of curtains. No one seems to listen when I communicate.  Better to just keep painting and writing, casting thoughts into the void with the hope that someone will eventually hear.

Fringe: Haunting Co. A Live Ghost Investigation

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the Crisis Collection from Orlando Florida presented Haunting Co. A Live Ghost Investigation. Ed and Liz (Andrew Sandoval and Lex Bentley) from a small local paranormal company introduced themselves with video promotional materials. They had built a name for themselves on a popular YouTube channel. The footage was shot around Lock Haven Park where the Fringe is located. At one

point they tentatively approached an electrical box which I recognized since it has appeared in some of my sketches. There was trepidation that the box might be haunted, it most certainly was a shock hazard.

In theaters there is a tradition of placing a single light center stage at night to ward off ghosts. The intrepid Haunting Co. investigators used some high-tech gear to contact any spirits in the room. The young investigators awakened two very pointy ghosts who were once performers on the stage.

Perhaps because I was so focused on sketching in the dark, I wasn’t too frightened by the apparitions. When the lights dimmed or when out, I was simply anxious that I was loosing precious sketching time. Sketching what I could in the dark, the audience appeared ghostly as a frantic wash of color. Detail could only be deciphered in small isolated spots.

I am a big fan of late-night ghost investigation TV shows. My hope is to catch a glimpse of some subtle figure as it appears briefly or causes some object to move. Subtlety and mystery is what I felt the ghosts in this investigation were missing. The makeup and costumes were spectacular, but the ghosts were very much flesh and blood and bound by gravity.

With so much horror appearing in the news cycle every day in America, I felt hard pressed to get worked up about several lost souls.

Fringe: Once Upon a Traitor: Faithfully Ever After

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Sista Steph Productions from Orlando Florida presented Once Upon a Traitor: Faithfully Ever After at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s a traitor after all? Co-written by Derick Taylor-White and Danielle Ziss, this show featured classic Disney animated heroes and villains who competed against one another for a grand prize of pressed pennies.

Alexander Mrazek as the Magic Mirror, hosted the chaotic proceedings. Teams of “faithfuls” and “traitors” were assembled at a green cartoon castle. The Disney characters had to call out each other in a cut throat bid to win the prize. This is similar to a TV show called Traitors hosted by Alan Cumming. I have never seen that show so any inside jokes were lost on me.

The sage was constantly full of 12 or more characters, so individual performances had to be caricatured to stand out in the crowd. At one pint dark hooded monks held a somber séance. Danelle Ziss performed as Alice in Wonderland and Teresa Levin Smith made for a very evil queen. I was a little confused about how and why the two camps of characters were pitted against one another, but that might be because I never say the TV show. I thought Disney World was supposed to be the happiest place on earth, but it seems more like the land of discontent where a turkey leg would cost an arm and a leg.

All in all it was campy fun and the show held a long run of sold-out shows. I can vouch for the fact that the show was hard to get into. In one show I tried to see, there was only 1 seat left in the theater and I didn’t sprint fast enough to get to it.

Alexander Mrazek as the Magic Mirror Host won a Fringe Award for Individual Performance in Comedy for his role in Once Upon a Traitor: Faithfully Ever After. The Orlando weekly noted that he was, “by far the best reason to see” this “pixie-dusted spoof of both theme parks and reality television.”

I sometimes forget that I live in a theme park town, but so many of the actors I love to sketch have worked at the theme parks which helped inspire this fun parody.

Fringe: Heated Ribaldry: An Opera of Musical Proportions

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Opera Del Sol from Orlando Florida presented Heated Ribaldry: An Opera of Musical Proportions at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The director of the show, Eric Pinder was seated in my row, so I got to see his reactions to the hilarious moments on stage. The opera was introduced by a playful video of Eric who introduced the premise as if he was enticing us all to an exotic vacation retreat.

Heated Rivalry is a TV show which was the inspiration for this opera. I haven’t seen the TV show, but I don’t think I missed many inside jokes. The opera stands well on it’s own. It was about a hockey team which had a new superstar player join it’s ranks. Two of the players became attracted to one another in a series of musical numbers. Heated Ribaldry also delivered with very strong vocals from all the performers who belted out the numbers with absolute clarity and class.

A musical dance number featured the hockey team dancing a finely tunes choreography with their hockey sticks. Jokes kept coming so fast it was hard to catch a breath between laughs. The two men who fell in love also had trophy girlfriends which would seem a necessity for the hockey club PR. Both girls knew that their men had unique passions. When the two player finally embraced and had a long passionate kiss at center stage, the theater audience went wild hooting and hollering. I love that a show that celebrates passion can be so warmly embraced in Orlando.

In short, I had a wonderful time. As Lauren Michaels said at the 2026 Tony Awards acceptance speech for Schmigadoon, “So another musical comedy, “Sometimes singing, dancing, a lot of jokes, and a happy ending is really all you need.”  Heated Ribaldry delivered everything Lauren was talking about and more. Ribaldry isn’t a show for the kids, with nudity, and plenty of sexual innuendo, but the message of following your heart is universal whether it is on the ice rink or on the stage. I give Heated Ribaldry 10 very stiff hockey sticks.

Fringe: Fool of Grace

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Andrea Barello from Los Angeles California presented Fool of Grace a the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The premise was pretty straight forward, Fringe patrons could enter this sanctuary for a less than traditional religious experience.

Father Andrea walked on stage while crossing himself in a random pattern. I believe a Catholic will cross their heart from top down left then right to mark a cross on their chest. The father crossed himself in all manner of random patterns. He took a particular delight in sprinkling holy water on the audience. Being in the second row, I was in the splash zone. I leaned forward and shielded the sketch with my body. Working in watercolor was risky in this Fringe parish.

The whole show left me laughing. I am not Catholic, but I have seen enough services to understand how the father was twisting and mocking the service for our entertainment. As the father started, he wrestled a music stand to hilarious comic effect. It seemed that the father wanted to conduct a holy and sacred service but things kept going wrong. Holy water was held in a sacred Darth Vader cup. When conducting blessings for an audience member, the father was playing a tic tac toe game with his hand gestures.

The subtle physical comedy just kept coming. To add some musical punch to the service, he didn’t rely on traditional hymns. He chose excerpts from Jesus Christ Superstar to add some inspiring punch to the service. When. it came time to pass the basked among the sheep in the audience, The hit song, Money from the musical Cabaret loosened up the audience pocket books.

For audience participation, the father invited anyone on stage who wanted to confess their sins. The Ten10 Brewing theater space fell silent for the longest time. The father remained silent and soon enough someone got on stage to confess. This seemed a risky moment since the confession was heart felt and honest. The father offered assurances before finding a way to bring comedy back onto the mix.

So many religious services involve call and response and telling the sheep when to stand and when to sit. Since I was sketching I couldn’t keep standing and sitting, it would interrupt the flow of the sketch. When the father insisted that the parish all stand and start doing the Macarena, I had to follow along and swing my hips, sketch be damned. Any service that involves dancing in the aisles along with plenty of laughter is a service worth attending.

Bad Santa and the Angry Elves Blitzkrieg Maxine’s

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Bad Santa and the Angry Elves have been performing their rebellious, punk-rock twist on Christmas tunes around Orlando for some time. These shows were short high octane sets. Bad Santa has been expanded into a 90 minute show that builds on the premise that this Santa aka, Kris Kringle IV, is the son of THE Santa and he is trying to win his fathers respect by promoting the idea that Christmas should not be one day a year but should be celebrated every day of the year with small acts of kindness generosity, joy and giving. This radical idea caused a family rift.

This dress rehearsal was held in a beautiful lake front home in Winter Park. This was actually my old stomping grounds. I lived a few blocks away for a summer and did a series of paintings of the sunsets at the lake. The home owner is an avid art collector and he gave me a tour of his collection. A large flip board display in a bedroom showcased classic pin up art along with pop art from such pop art giants like Roy Lichtenstein. In the living room there was an original Soviet propaganda poster that showed a woman half in darkness with the dark representing the past while the light hinted at a positive future. I loved that I got to sketch amazing art along with the live performance.

Much of the early music in the show is based on one of my favorite bands, Pink Floyd. It was very fun singing along to the new Christmas themed lyrics to very familiar dark and moody Pink Floyd tunes. The eclectic mix of edgy tunes kept coming. If people go to the show expecting a saccharine sweet Christmas show they will not know what hit them. Santa started out the show all decked out in his full hot red suit but as things heated up, the winter suit and hat were pealed off with gusto allowing his jiggling belly ample room to breathe. Santa is very athletic as he acted as the hard core lead singer in this Angry Elves band. One of the microphones was misbehaving but the energy of the show never faltered.

One rather tall elf had on a muscle bound tee shirt that gave him the appearance of washboard abs in contrast to Santa’s belly. This elf in his green suit was all over the stage, sometimes singing back up and sometimes on guitar. I had trouble deciding where I should place him in my sketch. Santa was indeed angry as he sang about brotherly love in a world where conflict out shines compassion.

There is a constant driving energy to the show that had me whooping and hollering. Bad Santa and the Angry Elves with be performing excerpts from the show at at Maxine’s on Shine before they bring the show to Edinburgh Fringe later this year. There is a show on July 20th with doors open at 6PM and show at 6:30PM. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

A rebellious and loud Christmas should indeed be celebrated every day of the year.

Fringe: We Got Got

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Kerry Ipema from Brooklyn New York presented We Got Got at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Kerry Ipema and KK Apple with their black ties and red white and blue business attire opened the show with a peppy business pitch where they pushed every corporate buzz word in their   thirst to bring profit to their theatrical endeavors. With so much enthusiasm how could they go wrong? As a matter of fact they were well on their way to achieving their corporate goals but then their accountant stepped in and ripped them off.

Rather than accepting this injustice they began to plot a complex revenge heist. Police simply shrugged off their complaints so they needed to take matters into their own hands. There is an addictive chemistry between Ipema and Apple that convinced me that they could pull off even the most convoluted attempt at getting their money back.

I felt a certain pleasure in hoping that their revenge fantasy could possibly come true. Perhaps it is a fantasy to think that blue collar thieves might be held accountable for their blatant thefts. The present administration in office makes it seem like theft is the American dream.

The fast-paced banter and at times syncopated delivery is what makes the show tic. It is also inevitable that an audience would want to root for the underdog. These two struggling actresses had been wronged and ther must be some way for justice to prevail. The show itself is proof that being ripped off by (redacted) did not slow the roll of these two creative power houses.

In sketching the show, I could not decide in one pose for each of the actresses. I started to sketch them multiple times since they were all over the stage. The show was an absolute joy to watch, and I got to meet Ipema and Apple multiple times on the green lawn of Fabulousness. They are joyously curious and endlessly funny.