Whirly Dome

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Jessica Mariko, the founder of Drip, invited the entire cast and crew to an evening at the Whirly Dome, 6464 International Dr, Orlando, Fl. Terry and I tagged along. Jessica had game tokens for everyone, so once we entered, the game was on. There was a formula one racing simulator with three screens creating an immersive panoramic view. If the car went up an embankment, the chassis would tilt. Melissa Kasper and Brigette Frias tossed basketballs into a hoop which moved back and forth. They had excellent eye hand coordination, landing shot after shot. I tried playing along with Terry and I didn’t do half as good.

There was a mini bowling alley, but it was broken. It took Terry’s token and didn’t spit out the bowling ball. Then everyone went up to the second floor to play laser tag. We were suited up like storm troopers and given a laser gun. If you were hit, a light would blink on the vest and the gun wouldn’t fire anymore. We were split into two teams based on the vest colors. The first team entered the maze to find cover and then the second team entered. The adrenalin immediately kicked in as we blasted our way towards the far end of the maze. I worked up a sweat trying to avoid laser blasts. Frustratingly I allowed myself to be caught in cross fire, often being killed from behind. A computer kept track of each persons kills. I was never in the top ranks.

Finally everyone made it to the main attraction, a heated game of Whirly Ball. There were five bumper cars per team. Besides driving recklessly, contestants held a lacrosse scoop which was used to toss a wiffle ball towards a hole in a basketball backboard. For the first match, I sketched, watching the dancers laugh and compete. Of course, Yellow, Jessie Sander, piled into a yellow bumber car. For a second match, I got into a bumper car myself. You would think there would be little physical exertion, but I worked up a sweat. I’d love to see octogenarians from a retirement home play this game. Your killer instinct immediately kicks in as you ram the other bumper cars at top speed. Also, tossing and catching that ball with the scoop was a real challenge. Once two cars smashed the ball flat in a head on collision. After the game, Jessica gave everyone a beer wrapped in a nice gift bag. Everyone had worked up a thirst from screaming, laughing and ramming each other. Oh, and if you haven’t seen Drip on International Drive yet,  you are missing the hotter ticket in town.

Weekend Top 6 Picks

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Saturday February 8, 2014

10am to 5pm Free. Saturday and Sunday. Orlando Folk Festival. The Mennello Museum of American Art 900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL. Art, crafts, music and dancing. http://orlandofolkfestival.wordpress.com/

7pm to 9pm Free. Swingout Saturday. 644 Florida Central Parkway, Longwood, Fl. The music is hot and the dance floor will rock!  Beginner dance lesson at 7pm. Dancing from 8 to 11pm. http://www.facebook.com/events/155347454601985/    More info: http://www.SwingoutSaturday.com/

8pm to 10pm $20 at the door.  Untold Stories Emotions Dance. Orlando Repertory Theatre Blackbox 1001 E. Princeton St. Orlando FL. Emotions Dance looks at the depth of the human condition in Untold Stories. From topics such as grief and addiction, to connection and hope, the company brings to light some of the deepest of human emotions and experiences in their fourth installment of this celebrated performance.

Sunday February 9, 2014

10am to 9pm Free. Gallery Fresh Art Markets. Orlando Fashion Square 3201 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando, Fl. On the 2nd Sunday of every month Gallery Fresh Art Markets and Orlando Fashion Square proudly present “Show Your Art.” This free to the public, indoor, non-juried art event showcases 60 to 90 local artists and fine crafts persons and is located throughout Orlando Fashion Square.

1pm to 3pm $5 Film Slam. Enzian Theater, South Orlando Avenue, Maitland, FL. Originally a project of University of Central Florida’s Downtown Media Arts Center, Enzian became the home of FilmSlam when DMAC closed in 2006. Now in its fifth year at Enzian, FilmSlam continues to be a popular outlet for indie and student filmmakers throughout the State of Florida. FilmSlam will usually be held on the second Sunday of each month at 1PM at Enzian.

9pm to 11pm Free Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee: 929 W Fairbanks Ave Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out & laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Dr. Phillips House

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On December 13th I went to sketch the Doctor Phillips House built in 1893. It is located at the courtyard at Lake Lucerne, 211 N. Lucerne Circle, Orlando FL, just south of the New Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts downtown. It is dwarfed by the ramps and overpasses of the East West Expressway at the end of a dead end street. It seems out of place, a refuge among the urban sprawl all around it.

Dr. P. Phillips is a Central Florida legend who was a major force in the development of the Orlando area. His past is seasoned with interesting and controversial tales, but whether he was a saint or a tyrant, all agree he made an enormous impact on The City Beautiful.

In 1912 the Dr. Phillips family moved into the Peckham House. The house was remodeled according to the specifications of the Dr.’s wife, Della, by Philadelphia architect L. Percival Hutton. The work included the removal of a two-story porch which was replaced with a large portico on the outside. The interior was modernized with electricity to replace the gas-burning lights. A cellar and two bathrooms were added to the main house, while a carriage house was built for their two sons. This included a second floor ballroom where live entertainment was featured every few weeks. The carriage house and the ballroom were destroyed over the years when local fraternities were housed there.

Dr. and Mrs. Phillips were prominent supporters of the arts in Central Florida. They formed the Mendelssohn Club, a forerunner of The Florida Symphony Orchestra and the mansion was host to many Sunday afternoon musicales for members of the community. These events featured concerts by celebrated musicians from around the world followed by sumptuous buffet suppers, and were Orlando’s main society events at that time.

Today, Dr. Phillips, Inc. and The Dr. Phillips Foundation continue the work which was started nearly a century ago. The profits realized by Dr. Phillips, Inc. are returned to the community by the Dr. Phillips Foundation in the form of gifts and grants to educational, cultural, and charitable organizations ensuring that Central Florida continues to reap the benefits of “Doc’s” work.  A gift from the Dr. Phillips Foundation provided the seed money to turn the old power plant into Lake Ivanhoe into the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts.

The Buck Stops Here

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I’ve been sketching performances by Gailanne Amundsen for years. She performs with her brothers, Roger and Jeffery , as Jubal’s Kin. These young performers harmonized beautifully. Gailanne met three other female performers at music festivals with the same passion for music. Together they formed, “The Buck Stops Here” which they describe as four does and a buck playing indie-soul-folk-pop-old time music. The idea of forming an all female group with one buck as backup is unique.

Julie Norris is the host of Front Porch Radio on WPRK, and she invited the girls in to perform their first live radio broadcast. The radio station has just renovated the music library and it now can be used for live performances. Rebecca Branson Jones, Julie Chiles and Shona Carr were driving in from North Carolina. Gailanne and Jeffery hail from Orlando. The band literally arrived minutes before going on the air, and there was a mad scramble to get ready. The studio buzzed with excitement.

From the other radio booth, the stage manager raised three fingers then two then one. Julie went live and introduced the group. This was her first time in the new recording studio and the microphone wasn’t on. The problem was fixed quickly and she interviewed the band. Gailanne is like a big sister to Julie’s daughter Maya, so there is plenty of love there. Of course the music speaks for itself. They performed some beautiful traditional folk songs and then some originals. The all female harmonies are pitch perfect. The group performed at a Cake Walk Party while they were in town. A cake walk is sort of like musical chairs, only home made cakes are the prizes. In most photos and videos of the group, it is funny to see Jeffery hidden in the background. He is fine with stepping back to let the ladies shine. It is exciting to see local talent as part of a group that shines so bright. I hope they come back soon.

Monday Night Jazz Jam

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Monday Night Jazz Jam was founded by the late pianist Billy Hall. This event has provided Great entertainment and supported numerous charities since 2008. The event happens on Monday nights at the New Mingo’s Restaurant, 100 South Eola Avenue Orlando FL, in Downtown Orlando.
Networking happens between 7 and 8pm and the Jam runs from 8 to 11pm. Several TOP Musicians and Vocalists including
Joseph Jevanni on the keys, Don Black on the Sax,
Jacqueline Jones-on vocals. The evening is hosted by Yvonne Coleman of Jazzy103.com

I arrived early and got a table near where the performers would set up.  The drums were piled in and set up. The drummer asked if he could borrow my table for a second. He rolled his drum sticks on the table I assume to get a feel for their balance. Yvonne welcomed me. When the music fired up, the place came alive.  I ordered a drink and settled into the sketch.

I sketched through the first set and finished up during the second set. Different musicians rotated in throughout the evening. There were plenty of singers who rotated in as well. There is an undeniable energy to these Monday night Jams. I didn’t stay until the end. Once the sketch was finished, I headed home.

The Feldman Dynamic

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When performance artist Brian Feldman lived in Orlando, I tried to sketch as many of his performances as I could. Nearly two years ago he moved to Washington, D.C where he has only done one performance piece, a “friend building” experience called “BFF” for the Capital Fringe Festival. I lost all contact with him after the move since my primary interest was always in sketching and writing about his performance concepts. Orlando lost an unusual and unique artist when Brian left, and I lost a major source of inspiration.

“The Feldman Dynamic” was first performed in 2003 and started Brian on the road to becoming a performance artist. I didn’t start following Brian until 2009 when I started this blog. I knew about the Dynamic, but had never seen the original performance which was part of the New York International Fringe Festival. The members of his family have since moved in different directions. His parents are divorced. His mother is a breast cancer survivor and his sister has been married and now lives south of Orlando. Nearly a thousand miles separate the family’s daily lives.

When I got to the Jewish Community Center in Maitland, I had to have my drivers license scanned at the security desk in order to enter. Outside the Harriet and Hymen Lake Cultural Auditorium I saw Brian putting fliers on a table outside the auditorium entrance. He was a nervous ball of energy. I was pleased to see signs that announced “No Google Glass allowed inside the Theater!” No aspect of the performance was permitted to be filmed, but sketching was strongly encouraged during the pre-show announcement. I laughed out loud.

On stage the dining table was being set up and Brian’s mom, Marilyn Wattman-Feldman, was at the back of the auditorium warming up dishes in the kitchen.  Brian’s dad, Edward Feldman, was busy trying to get connected to the internet. He had me flip through a large portfolio full of his art work.  Adrienne McIntosh, Brian’s sister, was trying to get the internet password from JCC security. Brian helped me set up a crude barrier that would keep the audience from noticing me as I sketched from stage left. The resulting structure was rickety and I was afraid the whole time that it might collapse into the audience. Luckily it held up. An old radio was found backstage and placed on Edward’s computer table. Brian let me know that it was the same one from the last show he had performed there, a JCC production of Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs”15 years earlier.  Both he and Adrienne were child performers.

At 7:15pm the house opened and the audience entered. The family walked on stage together and sat down for dinner. Edward spent much of the time standing and serving food. A bottle of sparkling cider couldn’t be opened since no one had a bottle opener. Edward put the bottle on the edge of the stage and said, “I bet the bottle will magically open itself.” Sure enough, Carl from the audience got up and opened the bottle with his utility knife. For some reason Brian was wearing a tuxedo he had rented for Amanda and Matt Simantov‘s wedding. I knew this because he had e-mailed me and asked if I wanted to rent the same tux for the wedding. I stuck with my suit which I discovered had paint stains on the pant legs. I don’t think anyone at the wedding noticed.

Brian is a very private person. For one of his recent performances,he stayed off Facebook for an entire year. It looks like that performance lasted for four months. Then Brian explained that Facebook
only lets events last for four months. Since he didn’t log on to
the site for the entire year, he couldn’t keep changing the start and end
dates to cover the full 12 months. Yet another hangup with the site. I had no idea what life in D.C. has been like for him. The family chatted about films they had seen. Brian has seen tons of films and his mother has seen maybe 2 in the last year. He stood up midway through the meal feeling he needed to make an announcement to is family. His father asked, “Are you getting married?” “Wow, that makes sense”, I thought. Brian let them know that he had been fired from his job. He showed them the letter of termination. They read it in silence but Edward felt Brian should write a letter of apology and maybe he would be taken back. Brian had fallen asleep at a security job at 2am. “Well, they have to understand, maybe you were tired!” his father consoled. The audience laughed. Brian let them know that he wasn’t asking to move back. He is getting unemployment and actively looking for another job. Performance art would have to wait until he got a full-time job. Adrienne had an announcement as well. She got a promotion at Disney moving from one department to another. She was even getting a raise. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!

I had a strange dream last night. Brian and I were seated on the ground floor of a parking garage that had been converted into a women’s prison. A woman in an orange jumpsuit had ankle cuffs with a noisy chain and was being escorted up a ramp by an armed guard. Brian was smiling broadly and giving me advice. “You should get a job,” he said. “I work at Full Sail,” I replied. “No, you need to get a full-time job. It has been too long.” It was an odd dream. I have no idea what it means.

After dinner the family stood around the computer looking at family pictures and shots of Adrienne’s dachshund. Before I knew it, they were taking a bow. The audience was maybe a quarter full with most of them being friends and local media. There were plenty of left overs. Edward served me some salad and beef brisket, which was delicious. I topped it off with some apple pie and got back to the sketch. Stage manager Sharli’ Ward was having an animated conversation about Israel with Marilyn. If you didn’t know about The Feldman Dynamic, you missed a personal, unplanned slice of life and some great food! It was theater as life.

Wynwood Block

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During Art Basel week, (December 5-8), graffiti artists from around the globe converge on the Wynwood Arts District to cover buildings. Some buildings are completely covered. Wynwood is Miami’s gallery district and every time I have gone the place was hopping. I go to sketch the artists at work.

The artist on the right is named Bruno, or “BR” for short. His wall portrayed a vibrant inter planetary scene. Characters were covered in vibrant Mexican fabric patterns, and sinister green clouds floated overhead in a purple universe. The other artist was likely painting a portrait of a rap or hip hop artist. The face was cut up into a grid and each panel was a different color. Even the van parked in the street was covered in dripping ice cream graffiti lettering. I never did figure out what the lettering spelled.

Terry and a friend went to one of the many Art Fair tents and when my sketch was done, I walked towards them. My college, The School of Visual Arts, was exhibiting student work. Terry introduced me to the SVA Faculty who were supervising the show and I shared one of my sketchbooks with them. There was some really good art in this tent. One memorable wall was covered with paintings on small panels of Obama. Each panel was painted in a different way creating an amazing variety all of the same face.

The Pérez Art Museum just opened in Miami and a group of us went to an exclusive preview of the collection in the evening. It is an impressive modern museum. Hanging from the ceiling of the entries were columns covered in foliage. The ground floor had an exhibit of model boats suspended from the ceiling that I liked. Had there been time to draw, that is what I would have focused on. An entire room on the second floor had hundreds of bicycle wheel rims interconnected by a horizontal metal framework. Guards tried to stop people from spinning the rims, but there were too many rims and the compulsion was too strong. People watching was more fascinating than some of the art. High society was out in force and every fashion was strutting on display. I would like to return sometime when it isn’t so crowded.

As we were leaving, we bumped into Patrick and Holly Kahn. Patrick just opened the new Snap Gallery in the renovated Cameo Theater, 1013 E. Colonial Drive Orlando FL. The gallery opened on January 18th and the crowds where overwhelming. It is the first time I’ve been to an exhibit in Orlando where people had to wait to get in. It seems Patrick has managed to bring some of the Miami excitement and exclusivity back to Orlando.

Positions

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All the guests who had gathered in Miami Beach for Elaine Pasekoff‘s birthday went down to the convention center together. There were eight of us packed into two cars. Admission to Art Basel in the convention center is expensive. As we all stood in line for tickets, Terry realized that there was a group rate discount for ten people. The couple behind us in line joined us to get in on the deal. With the discount, the ticket price was $26.

I wasn’t allowed to enter the exhibit hall with my art supply bag. I had to check it. I pulled out one sketchbook and stuffed it in my belt and pulled my shirt over it. My pallet went in my front pocket along with one brush. When we got in, my plan was to immediately settle somewhere and get a sketch done. I quickly was drawn to this astro turf lawn with undulating hills. It came complete with fake trees and there were always people sprawled out and relaxing. This little corner in the vast sea of gallery exhibitors was called “Positions.” This area was a platform for galleries spotlighting a single emerging artist with one existing project. Visitors could discover ambitious new artists from all over the globe.

With the sketch done, I texted Terry and searched the maze of galleries to find her. This year  Art Basel had more Representational art as opposed to abstract art. A New York gallery had a wall full of paintings by Edward Hoppers. Terry had the premise that since the economy is picking up, that galleries are pulling out great art works because they feel they can get the proper price for them. She asked the gallery owner about this but was told,”If you have a Hopper, you sell the Hopper.” I joked that last years show was all about hair and mirrors. Literally every other piece used human hair in some way or a mirror. This year however I was delighted with much of the work that I say. Execution matched concept.

After a few hours of seeing endless art and getting lost, gallery burn out sets in. Elaine and her friends went out to lunch while Terry and I kept looking. We set a time to meet back at the parking garage. Terry and I got there on time, but the rest of the group lingered at lunch. Terry and I decided to get lunch ourselves and then take the bus back to the condo. This gave us a chance to visit another satellite fair that had nothing but prints. We paid close attention to how work was framed since I need to frame work soon.