Mudita Musical Meet-Up, Mixer and Jam: India Baseline

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Terry Olson organizes international music meetups at restaurants. This Mudita Mixer was held at the New Punjab Indian Restaurant (7451 International Drive Orlando, FL). When I arrived the restaurant was pretty empty buy it quickly filled before the music began. Terry arrived in full Indian attire.

I ordered a delicious appetizer called Dal Makhani which was sweet and flavorful. Most of the items on the menu are vegetarian and gluten free. Looking back, I now want to find the recipe for what I had and make it at home.

The Mudita Musical Meet-Up, Mixer and Jam offered good times, tunes, and a chill vibe. The music was hypnotic. There was some explanation as to how the vocals and extended notes were structured so the evening was also educational. The woman was playing an Indian Harmonium, or samvadini, peti (“box”), or vaja. It is a small and portable hand-pumped reed organ where notes changed based on the buttons pushed. The drummer kept the beat on his Indian Tabala drum while the singer let his voice oscillate and flow.

Later a member of the audience set up his instrument which sounded like a sci-fi movie soundtrack. His instrument blended in perfectly with the jam happening on stage. This was a relaxing and very entertaining night with delicious food and inspiring music.

Wrapping Bundles

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Stella Arbeláez Tascón had a commission to create table coverings for a fundraiser dinner at the Orlando Museum of Art. The table arrangement at the museum was based on a 1979 art installation by Judy Chicago called The Dinner Party. In that installation there were 39 elaborate place settings that represented famous and historical women. The messaging of the Dinner Party was to end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of history.

Stella decided to use the tablecloth commission to create Eco-prints. With the Eco-printing process, the fabrics had to be soaked and treated allowing them to pick up organic prints from leaves placed on them.

Stella gathered leaves from her yard. She picked leaves from the many plants that were on her property. I volunteered to shoot video of her gathering the leaves which she placed in a wicker basket and I used my iPhone to shoot the footage. When we went back to look at the video, we discovered that I had just shot still photos of her gathering the leaves. Damn, I had done such fluid and careful cinematic camera work. Whoops. I should stick to sketching. Still the photos are nice of her reaching and gathering bundles of leaves.

When the fabric was ready, Stella would arrange the leaves on the cloth surface in a pattern that made the most sense. Besides the Eco-prints there were some block prints of leaves that had been carved onto linoleum. I enjoyed helping with the carving of the linoleum as well and I am proud to say I never stabbed my hand.

Most of the leaves were at the outer edges of the tablecloth and the central area was left clear for the intricate place settings which other artists were commissioned to create. To make the prints, Stella rolled up the fabric tightly with the leaves inside. When the sketch was done, I helped her with the rolling process since 4 hands made the job easier than 2.

With the bundle rolled, it was then tied tight with thin strips of fabric and placed in a large pot where they would all be steamed. Stella had no idea how the printing would turn out. She had researched every step but there were so many variables that she couldn’t be sure the prints would work properly.

After steaming the rolled-up fabrics overnight, the moment of truth came in the morning. As Stella unrolled the first rolled up bundle, I began to ooh and ahh as the leaves were removed, each left a distinct mark behind on the fabric. It is a bit like watching fire works. The most rewarding moment of the process was removing the leaves, and I loved helping. Some leaves left district and clear prints while others were ghostly and faint. When all the fabrics were hung on her clothesline illumined by the sun, there was a glorious variety of prints as the cloths waved in the breeze. I loved the variety and Stella was just happy that the process was working.

Renninger’s Military Show

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While living and working at the Yalaha Florida Studio, I drove over to Mount Dora for the Renninger’s Military Show. When I was married, I used to go to the Renninger’s Antiques Show once a year and stay at the Mount Dora Lakeside Inn after a long day of seeing hundreds of vendors set up on the rolling hills around Renninger’s. I always lived in the hope of finding a working vintage fountain pen that would change the way I draw, but I never did.

The Military show wasn’t quite as large as the Antiques Show but there was an impressive display of military vehicles and collectables inside the vendors booth areas. The next-door neighbor at the Yalaha studio and I shared an interest in the military. We would stand at the fence and talk about WWII often. I therefore shouldn’t have been surprised when I bumped into him at Renninger’s. He was shocked at how the prices had jumped. He asked what I was looking for, and realistically I was just looking for a sketch but if I found an old WWII era watch, that would have made me happy. I didn’t find the watch but later I ordered a 24-hour watch that resembles the watches issued in WWII. I love being able to glance down and see the day of the week and date along with the time in AM and PM and 24-hour military time. Europeans use the 24-hour clock more often than Americans. Having the watch saves me from having to dig for my iPhone to get the date every time I write the date on my sketch.

Walking the aisles I noticed several boys dressed all in WWII era uniforms. Military reenactments were popular in France and Belgium when I was there. The first one I sought out and I was embraced into the American camp. The second reenactment in Belgium I stumbles across by mistake and once again I was embraced since I was the son or an American WWII Vet and I kept sketching the scenes as they unfolded. In Belgium I wasn’t sure there the battlefield was and I ended up getting a ride in an American Jeep to the front lines. It rained lightly at the battlefield, but I managed to get a sketch.

Crealde Travel Sketch Class

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My first Travel Sketch Class at Crealde School of Art (600 St. Andrews Blvd. Winter Park, FL) had 10 students to start. Since it was during the heat of the summer, we spent much of our time inside the air-conditioned classroom. My goal however, is to get the students out of the classroom eventually to explore the would using sketches. I structured the class so we discussed a premise and did some exercises to explore the drawing skills in the class and then at the end of class we would work outside.

One lesson was in perspective, and I mentioned to the students that I used to put my index finger on the page to remind myself where the vanishing point was in the scene. I would then just point a bunch of lines towards my finger. I was pleased to see one of my students applying the finger lesson on the sketch she did outside. The vanishing point principle is hard to grasp for many students at first. Some think that the vanishing point is always straight in front of them, but it’s position can vary depending on the man-made object like buildings or a tent that is being drawn.

We would cover many principles, but pesky perspective would be returned to again and again until it started to become second nature. One student made it an ongoing joke about how mush she despised perspective, but we worked together diligently to help bring the concept into focus. It became a fun challenge to find new creative ways to help her grasp the principle. She was super fun to work with. It is impossible to cover every principle in just 6 Sunday classes but we have a fun time trying.

Two of my students went on vacation before the last class. One went on a cruise and the other to visit family in her home state. Both took those trips as excuses to apply the travel sketch principles we covered in class. One student set up a social media group chat, and it was fun to see the travel sketches being shared among the students. They were all so gloriously supportive of each other. I do think several of the students caught the bug and will continue sketching to document their travels.

007 Tank at Dezerland

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I joined the Orlando Urban Sketchers for a sketch out at Dezerland Park (5250 International Drive Orlando FL). Though there are thousands of cars om display, my eyes were immediately drawn to the 007 Tank from the movie Golden Eye. Red dice and playing cards with silhouettes of characters holding guns also hint at a casino angle to the movie. I made sure to check out the tank chase scene online, but I haven’t seen the whole movie.

To get this angle for the sketch, I had to sit in the middle of a wide walkway with dual yellow lines running down the center like a roadway. I was a little concerned that tanks might rumble down this roadway often but only groups of tourists walked by. Very few people noticed what I was doing even siting in the middle of the road.

In the movie Golden Eye. This tank moves insanely fast chasing a small European car. The tank swerved and did a 180 and somehow kept right up with the car. In real life, most tanks do not go faster than 18 miles per hour. I was sketching this tank because I was so caught up in a time when patriotic generations of Americans were shipped over to Germany to fight fascism.

After all the Orlando Urban Sketchers met near the clown car and did a throw down along with several group photos, we then went to the 007 Themed Restaurant for lunch. In the room behind the 007 themed restaurant there was an entire plane from a James bond film along with other vehicles which I assume were from the movie. An intrepid short film maker could shoot an entire movie using the movie props at hand.

There were few vegetarian options. The choices all seemed to be meat and caffeine. I ordered a loaded potato which seemed like a reasonable vegetarian option. The menu didn’t say what it was loaded with. It turns out it was loaded with thick sticky Velveeta cheese and crumpled bacon bits. I had just started a plant-based diet but this was my first week, so I let the Bacon and artery clogging cheese slip past my lips.

It felt so good to gather with fellow artists at the theme park. Not many stayed for the “food” but it was still awesome to meet artists I had not seen before and see their work. One fellow did a really fun sketch of Fred Flintstone’s Yabba Dabba Doo Car that I really liked. Other artists focused on the carousel, the arcade games and the insane collection of autos. This was a great sketch opportunity.

Dezerland

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I joined the Orlando Urban Sketchers on a sketch out to Dezerland Park (5250 International Drive Orlando Florida). Dezerland is an eclectic adventure park. There are go carts, arcade games, and a huge classic and movie car collection. There is also an auto museum for a small fee but I didn’t venture inside.

Perhaps about a dozen Orlando Urban Sketchers were gathered at the entrance in the morning before the park opened. There are some classic cares outside including one of the cars from the Pixar move Cars, so there were already sketch options before entering the doors.

As soo as we entered, I was drawn to the clown car and a tank. I wavered between the two and ultimately decided to set up near the tank which I spent a long-time sketching. After I finished sketching the tank I walked al around the park to see what else was there. The sketching opportunities are endless with the blinking arcade games and even a carousel.

We all decided to meet near the entrance which is where the clown car was located. When I finished the sketch of the tank and my walkabout, I settled in to do a quick sketch of the clown car. This was a rare case where I could have my cake and eat it too.

The little elephant on the car’s windshield looked like dumbo. The clown with the top hat reminded me of a paint by numbers painting of a clown that my brother Art did. It hung in the basement of our little home in Dumont NJ. Bugs Bunny can be seen in the background of the sketch. He is behind the wheel of another car. There are literally hundreds of unique and crazy cars on display. I could sketch in there for a year and not sketch them all.

Answers

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I went to the Casselberry Arts Center (137 Quail Pond Circle Casselberry Florida) for a concert by Lost Noised Office Band. Following that performance Answers took the stage. Answers is known for constructing layered sonic environments that move fluidly between abstraction, rhythm, noise and ambient composition. They use experimental electronics, improvisation and evolving textures. The group transforms live performance into an immersive sensory experience that challenges traditional expectations of music and listening.

This was a rare case where I took a front row seat for the performance. I was pleased to share the experience with a friend I bumped into that night. There were other familiar faces in the audience and for once I was feeling at home again after being alone in Europe sketching for so long. Two of the performers, Chris Belt and Béatriz Ramirez were a married couple that I have seen perform in the past. There was a screen set up behind the performers and a guest artist was using it to project experimental wave patterns. The sound waves were influenced by the  music as it was performed.

On the walls there was art from the UCF Masters Program students. One piece by Abby Frazier used red yarn to represent a woman’s menstrual cycle. My friend, who is also an artist, admired the work saying, “I wish I had thought of that.” We walked through the table of audio wires on stage to get close to the art.

I had no expectations going into the concert and I was swept away by the wave of sound. The performance had a mesmerizing and relaxing effect. I know that the sound was a joy to sketch along with. This was my second sketch for the night. After the set I slipped out pretty fast. My friend was catching up with people and it would have been nice to talk some more, but I was ready to slip out. The opportunity to talk will present itself. Life keeps trowing curve balls.

Lake Eola

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I have been going to Lake Eola each evening since I moved to Lake Eola Heights. Each evening I would find a lakeside spot and do a quick watercolor. Working with transparent washes has lead me to want to work with gouache as well. An opaque medium like gouache allows for layering. Doing these watercolors lead me to also start doing a series of oil paintings.

What I like about these watercolors is that the windows are well defined with pen and ink lines. With the oils I am being a bit more impressionistic and not defining every window. On some of the oil paintings I drew over the dry oil paint with colored pencils to define a window pattern. If I were to do that with a fine brush the lines would still be too thick.Since I plan to do 49 of the oil paintings, I will figure out what works best for me. I am hoping to develop a definite calligraphic way of defining the skyline.

I have just finished a series of gouache paintings done on the Appalachian trail and I hope to post those soon.

Florida Youth Orchestra

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I went to a Florida Youth Orchestra Concert at Valencia College. The first half of the concert was all about jazz. There were saxophonists and I swayed to the hip beat as they performed.  After that the stage was reset and the symphony was set up on stage. The Florida Youth Orchestra is going to perform in NYC at Carnegie Hall. Many of the orchestra students were seated in front of me while I sketched the jazz performance. They got up and  on stage for the orchestra performance.

It was clear that many in the audience were family members since this was a very exuberant audience.

The Orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall on June 21, 2026 at 8:30PM.

Lake Eola Sunset

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I just moved to the North shore of Lake Eola in Eola Heights, Orlando Florida. Each day I take a walk to the lake and often do a sketch. I started with watercolor sketches but now I am doing oil paintings which take about 3 sessions to complete.

This watercolor sketch was done before all the swans were removed from Lake Eola. I managed to sketch one swan swimming across my field of view. The sun  was setting quickly so I tried to capture the light before everything went dark. The fountain lights turned on and the streams billowed up a blood red. It is an effect I am sure I will capture better using oil paint.

There was a crowd of people gathered on the deck that juts out over the water. They were taking pictures and talking. I wonder if they are there every night or if this was a tourist group. Being able to walk to the north shore of Lake Eola any day, morning or night is a thrill and my plan right now is to do 49 paintings all around the circumference of the lake. I have done 5 of those oil paintings so far.

There will also be plenty of small sketches like there. I want to break away from watercolor and start using gouache which can be applied opaque with layers of color overlapping. With the lake as a backdrop subject every day I hope to start experimenting more and taking chances.

Making mistakes and making some honestly ugly paintings is all part of the process.