FAVO Blackmore Studio

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Set in a former motel, Faith Arts Village Orlando (FAVO) at 221 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, Florida 32801 features 36 Studios of amazing original art. On the first Friday of each month the artists open their studios to the public for an open house. I stop out periodically to see what is new in the Orlando visual arts scene.

On this trip I was so pleased to find that Kathy and Eric Blackmore had a studio set up. Kathy uses the space as a classroom for her private art lessons with young students. She is a children’s book illustrator and creates gorgeous delicate watercolor paintings for the books. She began this career when I worked with her at Full Sail University. Her husband Eric is a wildlife and environmental photographer and some of his landscapes were on the studio walls. He is also an amazing woodworker who creates custom furniture. Because of this the small studio space is magnificently designed with storage spaces and modular shelving and table tops that can be folded into place.

It is a sweet little set up and it must bustle when Kathy’s students are busy creating. Eric is also a professor and each year he escorts students to exotic locations around the world. He and Kathy therefor get to explore and be inspired by someplace new each year. While Pam and Eric talked, I scribbled as fast as I could to document and memorialize the studio. We explored the rest of the studios, but spent most of our time in the Blackmore studio which exemplifies what is great about FAVO.

The Future of Arts and Culture in Orange County: Mayoral Candidate Forum

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I went to a Mayoral Candidate Forum at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (445 South Magnolia Avenue Orlando, FL).

The Citizens for Cultural Vitality hosted the evening with the candidates for Orange County Mayor.

Arts leaders and those who care about the future of Central Florida’s arts and culture were invited to attend.

Conversation with the Candidates took  place in the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater.

The Citizens for Cultural Vitality are an informal group of arts leaders and organizations who are committed to cultivating a thriving arts community in Orange County, the State of Florida, and beyond.

This forum was well organized because members of the arts community seated in the audience each had questions that had been carefully thought out before hand ready to ask each candidate. The candidates were Pete Clarke, Jerry Demings and Rob Panapinto.

I sketched candidate Jerry Demings who went on to become the Orange County Mayor. Since Jerry is our mayor I will print his responses to each question posed hoping that he stays true to his word.

Question: Will you support the creation of a public sector, ongoing dedicated funding stream for the arts that generates at minimum, an additional $5 million per year in funding for arts and culture beyond existing sources?

Demings:  In committing to a dedicated funding source for the arts, I would assemble arts and cultural groups along with the business community to discuss the best return on investment strategy for taxpayers. It is important to note that this is not my sole decision and there would need to be broader conversation with the Orange County Board of Commissioners. However, I support the continuance of the current rate of 3% of the first 4 cents (2% of the total) revenues from Tourist Development Taxes (TDT) currently collected and I would commit to increasing funding for the arts by $5 million from other revenue sources within my discretion as mayor. 

Question: In past years,the county dedicated $1 per capita from the General Fund for arts and culture in Orange County. That has dwindled to nearly .50 per capita in the past decade. Would you support the reinstatement of the $1 per capita in 2019 from the General Fund for arts support?

Demings: Yes, I would commit to funding a total of $1 per capita from any combination of County revenue sources.

Question: Orange County has invested excess TDT funding to recruit and support sporting events. The fund was seeded with $5 million and will be funded annually with an additional $2 million. Would you support an equivalent fund for arts and culture events?

Demings: As you are aware, the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners appointed a Review Committee that will meet this summer during the Budget Work Sessions to make recommendations on a spending plan for excess fees collected through TDT. Monies will be eligible for capital projects. If collections continue to outpace budgeted projections, I would support equivalency funds for the Arts with the Sports Commission.

Demings said that if arts groups can raise money on
their own, then he feels they should get tourism dollars to go with it.
Demings wants to give the arts and cultural affairs $2 million more
tourism tax dollars on top of the $5.6 million it already gets. Demings
said $500,000 of it would go to a facility rental and event fund. In May of 2019 he earmarking $42 million for arts and cultural projects.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

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My favorite site that we visited in Nevada wasn’t the Las Vegas Strip but instead, The Valley of Fire located about 50 miles north east of Las Vegas. Cynthia Sanford the curator at the Clark County Museum took us on a road trip to the Valley of Fire. World-renowned for its 40,000 acres of bright red Aztec sandstone
outcrops nestled in gray and tan limestone, the Park
contains ancient, petrified trees and petroglyphs dating back more than
2,000 years.

The petroglyphs were etched into desert varnish, a layer of dark rock on
top of the sandstone. With the black layer carved away, the petroglyphs
reveal the orange rock underneath. The desert varnish is a patina of
iron and manganese that leached from the rock and evaporated over the
course of thousands of years.  The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, passed through the Valley of Fire in prehistoric times. Their approximate span of occupation has been dated from 300 BC to 1150 AD. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited their stay.

A Visitor Center provides exhibits on the geology, ecology,
prehistory and history of the park and nearby region. Open year round, the park has
numerous campsites equipped with shaded tables, grills and water, as
well as many intriguing trails to tempt hikers.

I started hiking up a steep incline with Pam but she scrambled inside a cave and up through a gap in a series of rocks which I did not feel confident navigating. Instead of climbing up, I stayed in the shade of the cave and did this sketch. I placed a pencil on the ground at the edge of the cave shadow to see what direction the sun was moving. About 15 minutes into the sketch I could see that I would be safely in the shade for the duration of the sketch. Ive started using this trick more often since this trip to see what direction the sun is moving when I sketch outdoors.

People came and went walking along the trail at the base of the giant sandstone outcrop. At sunset this place must light up a glorious orange. The rocks are already a vibrant shade of orange.

Las Vegas

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With sketchbook in hand I walked down the Las Vegas Strip towards the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Across the street a large Statue of Liberty wore a Golden Nights sports jersey and I had to sketch. The jersey took 4 straight days to make, weighs 600 pounds and is 28 feet tall. It took six hours to get her dressed. The back dons the number 17 and the name Budweiser. It is a bit sad that she has been turned into an advertising billboard for beer.

Also in the scene was Ellis Island and the Empire State Building. I used to work in the Empire State building and the large windows could be opened and I liked to sit on the ledge of the window looking out and straight down. I liked to watch the window washers at work. They would snap a restraining harness to a latch on the outside of the window frame and then lean out to squeegee the window. No that is a job that took some real guts.

This replica decorates the New York, New York Casino. The United States Post Office decided to print a postage stamp using the face of the statue of Liberty. In stead of using the face of the statue in New York, they used the face of this Las Vegas statue created by artist Robert S Davidson.

Davidson, born and raised in Las Vegas, completed the Statue of Liberty replica in 1996 for MGM Resorts International, when the casino operator opened its latest theme casino New York-New York. Davidson said in court documents that he
wanted to give his replica a face that was “a little more modern, a
little more feminine” and looked for inspiration from a photograph of
his mother-in-law, Lucille Schwartz.

 

Davidson sued the post office for copyright infringement. The stamp was first issued in December of 2010. About 4 billion copies of the stamp were printed by USPS.  The post office mistook
the face for the statue that has stood in New York Harbor since 1886. Getty images was paid $1200 for the right to use the photo on the stamp. The stamp generated about $2.1 billion in sales for the Postal Service, according to court filings. The artist was awarded nearly $3.6 million in 2018 by a federal
court that ruled the U.S. Postal Service infringed his copyright when it
mistakenly used an image of his statue on the stamp.

The only thing that keeps this scene from looking like it could be NYC is that large palm tree to the right of Lady Liberty. The tree looks about as tall as she is. This statue is about half the size of the original in New York Harbor. This replica took 11 months to complete. Hopefully I will be safe for having turned my eye towards Lady Liberty. To date I have made $0 for having sketched her.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for January 18 and 19, 2020

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Saturday January 18, 2020

10am to 6pm Art Deco Weekend 1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Fl 33139. Free. A free community cultural festival with more than 85 events during “the best 3 days on Ocean Drive” each year. Come sketch with us! For those who enjoy sketching or would like to learn how. All skill levels are welcome! We
are thrilled to include for the first time the Urban Sketchers in our
Art Deco Weekend program with a series of Sketchwalks, urban sketching
demonstrations and “drink and draw” events. Join
us as we draw the architectural gems of the Miami Beach Historic Art
Deco District and the essence of the 1920s Art Deco Weekend Festival
Events.

Instagram: @urbansketchers @urbansketchersorlando @uskmiami

10am to 4pm Free. Camellia Show. Orlando Garden Club Clubhouse at Loch Haven Park 710 E. Rollins St., Orlando, FL (between Advent Health and US 17).

7am – 10 a.m. Enter camellia blooms (ANYONE)!  Volunteers available to assist with registration. (Location: Orlando Garden Club)

10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Camellias plants for sale.  (Location: Clubhouse Area)

10 a.m. – 11 a.m. Camellia 101 Class – Robert Bowden, director of the City of Orlando’s Harry P. Leu Gardens (Locations: in Clubhouse Library)

1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Camellia Show is officially OPEN to the public.  See thousands of competition blooms up close! (Location: Orlando Garden Club

4 p.m. Camellia Show closes

6pm to 9pm Free. Chair-ity Auction. Wayne G Sanborn Activity Center, 815 S Alabama Ave, DeLand, FL 32724. Bid on one-of-a-kind chairs creatively altered by local artists to
benefit the Art in Public Places Program. Join us for music, silent
auction, beer and wine tastings, food and fun! Tickets can be purchased at City Hall/ 3rd Floor or online.  For more information call 386/626-7112

Sunday January 19, 2020

10am to 5pm $18 to $21. Otronicon Interactive Tech Expo. Orlando Science Center 777 E. Princeton St. Orlando, Florida 32803. Otronicon is a celebration of the intersection between science and
technology and shines a light on innovative technology being developed
in Central Florida. Otronicon highlights resources available through a
collaboration between educational institutions, the tech and
manufacturing communities and their impact on our lives and their
potential to drive the future, individually, regionally and globally.

10am to 4pm Free. Lake Eola Farmers Market. Lake Eola Park 512 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801.  Local produce and goods. A great start to the morning downtown.

1pm to 3pm $9 FREE for Enzian Members! Film Slam. Enzian Theater, 1300 Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL 32751. Central Florida Film Slam (CFFS) is a program designed to provide
filmmakers in the Central Florida region an opportunity to showcase
their work on the big screen at Enzian Theater! Held six times a year, the Central Florida Film Slam is an unrated,
independent film showcase and competition open to all regional
filmmakers and students.

Visual Fringe

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The Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest is January 9-12, 2020 inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center at Orlando’s Loch Haven Park.  I saw several Facebook posts about the Visual Fringe tent and had to head out to see it for myself. The Visual Fringe is headed up by the incomparable actress, Melanie Leon whose comedic prowess has livened up several of the shows I have sketched at Fringe and around town. In front of the Visual Fringe tent were about a dozen orange lawn chairs so that an audience could sit of they liked to watch all the at happening.  I was happy to sit in a chair (theater seat) and started sketching. Melanie and George Cudo were seated in front of me. She joked with me and made me feel very much welcome.

I sketched Warren Hart (Famous After Death) who was working on a bold robotic image painted on a board covered in newspaper clippings. I loved the Famous After Death tag an wish I had thought of it. Also working was Osha Awesome who was doing a mixed media piece with melted crayons. Famed beside her were several framed Yin and Yang symbols with rainbows of melted wax.

After sketching Famous After Death, I checked out his portfolio on the table. It was a thick book full of gorgeous bold poster imaged from movies and other themes. I heard that he produces the work in Illustrator but he also explained that the iPad and Procreate have changed the way he works. He is desperately hoping that Procreate eventually gets vector based features which means images created could be blown up to any size. Since I have fallen in love with the program as well, we had much in common. It was awesome to meet another artist who is embracing technology in their everyday creative process.

Tonight is the last night of the Fringe Winter Mini Fest. To see a show you need to buy a $3 Mini Fest Button. Show tickets are separate and prices vary. Some shows I had sketched before during the 2019 Fringe.

The remaining shows…

12:45am Staged Reading Series: Gertrude Stein’s Do Let Us Go Away, a play.

12:45am Staged Reading Series: Spider Queen.

2:15pm Winnie’s Roch Cauldron Cabaret.

2:30pm 90 Lies an Hour.

2:45pm The Myrtle Sisters – Out of Time.

4:00pm St Kilda

4:20pm Danny Darkly’s California Screaming.

4:30pm The Dissection of a Mixed Heritage Woman.

5:45pm Six Chick Flicks. (SOLD OUT)

6:15pm Eddie Poe.

6:15pm The Lightweight.

7:30pm How to Really, Really, Really Love a Woman.

8:00pm Larry.

8:00 My Left Tit.

9:15pm Becoming Magic Mike: An Action Adventure Comedy.

9:45pm Flori-DUH.

Interview on the Ted Show

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I sketched a Lip Sync Battle at The Abbey and it turned out that one of the celebrities who performed on that night was Ted Bogert who is the host of a podcast called the Ted Bogert Show.  In my sketch Ted was dresses as Tina Turner with an amazing flaming orange wig and tight black dress. He later explained that he had to duck tape that wig on. Anyway, he loved that I documented the evening in my unique and and he invited me on his podcast to learn more about what I do.

He had multiple guests lined up for the day and his website has a streamlines way of getting guests to share their social media profiles and info. He tapes his show in the Citrus Club in the BB and T Building (255 S Orange Ave, Suite 1800, Orlando Fl). His email warned that there can be no ripped jeans of flip flops in the Citrus Club. Since I never wear either I was safe and it was good to know that I didn’t need to wear a dinner jacket. It was however quite cold that morning so I ended up wearing a hoodie. Hoodies wee not directly mentioned as being forbidden so I took my chances to keep my ears warm as I walked downtown.

Ted’s invite said I should just mention to the person at the front desk that I was there to see him. The guard at the front desk in the lobby had no idea what I was talking about when I said, “I am here to meet Ted.” I checked my iPhone to re-read the message and realized that Ted meant I should ask up o the 18th floor. When I arrived at the Citrus Club the woman at the front desk pointed me towards Ted. He was offering wedding venue advice to a woman at his table. After a quick intro, I sat at the table next to theirs and started sketching the view out the window. I  seldom get to see downtown Orlando from this high up so I was excited to sketch. I started the sketch knowing I had at most 15 to 30 minutes to work.

A new skyscraper has just recently been finished across from the Amway Arena so that became my focal point. It has an interesting modular shape with sections of the building being different values and colors a bit like a Rubik’s Cube.

The interview was held in the Wine Room. Ted had his phone on a tripod in front of the floor to ceiling window and a building across the street offered magnificent reflected sunlight. He briefed me and let me know about a couple of questions he might ask towards the end of the interview. We chatted, joked and before I realized it the show was over. At one point we were talking about my nick name Thor and how that became my nickname at Disney, long before the Marvel movies came out. Then we talked about creating and creators and the phrase Creathor was thrown into the mix. It was such a fun show to do. Our missions to promote the arts are so similar. I was preaching to the choir when I was talking to Ted. Afterwards I shared the podcast on  my social media saying it was a fun irreverent time. Ted thought that might have a negative connotation. I suppose that is the danger of quick sound bites on Social Media. The meanings can be confused if the whole story isn’t told. Thanks Ted for the opportunity, It was a fun way to kick off the New Year.

Grand Canyon

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When the bus stopped rolling, it was a short walk from the parking lot to this overlook at the rim of the Grand Canyon. Rather than push forward to the staging area on the rock overlook I was more fascinated with sketching the crowd at the rim. Pam pushed ahead and took some amazing panorama photos. She asked another tourist to take a photo of her alone on a rock outcrop and the photo lakes in a stunning 180 degree vista. Clearly this would be an amazing place to return to to do a series of painting.

When this sketch was done, we took a hike along a trail and found an amazing photographers studio built into the side of the canyon. Built in 1906, it is known as the Kolb Studio. Brothers Elsworth and Emery Kolb got permission to build the studio from the owner of Bright Angel Trail. For the next 112 years the brothers explored the canyon from every conceivable angle with their cameras. They made a living selling their photos in small leather bound books for $3 each.

Besides taking still photos, the brothers decided to also explore the Colorado River filming the adventure using the new medium of motion pictures. The brothers toured the eastern United States presenting a successful
film lecture series. People packed the theaters to hear about their
great adventure. A 1913 lecture tour in Ohio proved unsuccessful and the brothers fought bitterly about the loss. Their already tense relationship grew even more heated, causing them to split
the business. A coin-toss granted Emery the studio and Ellsworth moved
to Los Angeles. Emery stayed in the canyon home with his wife Edith and daughter Edith.

Big business in the form of the Fred Harvey Company, which wanted a monopoly on tourist trade at the canyon, and the National Park Service conspired to close down the Kolb Studio over the years but the enterprising lovers of nature and adventuring spirit which built the studio persevered, overcoming every hardship.  The Kolb family lived in the studio until 1976 when Emery died. After his death, the National Parks Service acquired the home. Today the building is used as an art gallery, bookstore and information center. Sales from the bookstore help renovate the structure.

I am certain that any artist who enters this studio instantly feels the amazement and wonder of what it would be like to create in such an inspiring studio setting. Besides the amazing collection of photos on display, there were also large scale paintings of the canyon. A boat, the brothers used to photograph the Colorado River, some of the original cameras, and other artifacts brought the history alive. The place inspires me to want to find or create my own grand adventure.

Bus to the Grand Canyon

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While in Las Vegas, Pam Schwartz and I decided to take a bus to the Grand Canyon. The drive was about four hours. The driver gave us an epic and comedic account of the history of sites along the way. 46 minutes into the trip we passed the Hoover Dam.

The Hoover Dam has been generating power for the past 80 years. The 5000 man workforce had to reside in the middle of the desert and Bolder City was constructed rather than rely on Sin City 46 minutes away. If all the concrete used to build the dam was instead used to build a full sized highway, that highway could stretch from coast to coast. Work on the dam began in 1931 which was a year of record breaking heat. Daily, the temperatures rose to up to 119 degrees Fahrenheit. For much of the rest of the trip a movie played on the bus’s overhead screens. We couldn’t see the screens from our front row seats, so I kept sketching.

About half way through the trip the entire bus poured out and ate at an all you can eat buffet. The food was not memorable and there was plenty of it. When we poured back into the bus, the restaurant grew dead silent. With a four hour ride I probably had time to do a second sketch, but instead I watched the scenery fly by as we approached the vast Grand Canyon.

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

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My Crealde Urban Sketching Class begins Sunday January 19, 2020 starting at 9:30am. This is a sketch of the classroom. Outside the window you can see one of my students sketching on a sunny day. Inside I was demonstrating to another student how to block in the room quickly in a composition and how to place a figure. The primary reason for this quick sketch was to demonstrate how to leave large shapes on the page pure white and then apply a light wash over the rest of the sketch to make those shapes pop.

Each morning we start by exploring a premise in the classroom and then in the last half or the class we move out into the community to sketch on location. Just getting students to realize that when they draw on location, no one is judging them. I might offer insights, but I don’t judge the work. Each student has their own approach and temperament and the variety we see across the board is part of what makes drawing on location with other artists so exciting.

Last semester I started asking students to share their work on Instagram.  This allows them to share work with each other and possible hear from a much wider community of artists. On Instagram I also share all the rough class notes and composition sketches I do for students. That was students can see what was shared.

The past few weeks I have been pouring over thousands of my early student sketches and it has been an eye opening learning experience. Some of the sketches I did back in my 20s and 30s are bold and daring and it is making me want to experiment more with my work in the next year. I worked much larger in my youth, usually on 18 by 24 inch sketch pads. I scaled down when I started sketching once a day starting back in 2009. Part of the reason was to be sure that I could scan the drawings on my flat bed scanner. I think I might grow much faster as an artist if I return to working larger and find other ways to work around the limits of scanning technology. So here is to a bigger and bolder 2020.

The next 6 week Urban Sketching course has been canceled due to lack of enrollment.