Flower Essence Yoga

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Kristine Iverson a founder of Crow Practice, invited me to sketch her Flower Essence and Yoga Class at Bloom Florist (325 West Gore Street Orlando FL). Crow Practice stands for Coordinated Response On Wellness. The focus is on Stress Management Workshops and yoga. (CROW)
practices the art of bringing unique experience to their
clients’ needs, while adhering to authentic traditions and practices.

Participants at this workshop got free water donated by Body Armor. Pam Schwartz joined me for  this invite only wellness workout. She did the yoga while I sketched. This was a very relaxing yoga practice session. Between yoga postures participants could pass around essences of floral scents in perfume bottles. They would rub the scent between their palms warming it up, and then inhale deeply. All the yoga mats were lines up in the back of the florist shop warehouse. Some areas of the warehouse were refrigerated rooms where thousands of blooms were stored. The building already had an enticing scent.

Since moving to Florida my sense of small has been dulled by allergies and the humidity. From where I was sketching, I could not catch the scent off the essences as they were passed around. I have taken yoga before so I was familiar with the yoga poses. I stretched a bit as I sketched in my artist’s stool. In my mind I was doing a very limited form a yoga as I sketched.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for February 16 and 17, 2019

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Saturday February 16, 2019

All day. Free. Tampa Bay Fresh Fest.  1721 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602. also at 903 17th ave Tampa FL 33605. Twenty or more of the most talented artists from Tampa bay and beyond will create murals at at least 5 different locations around Tampa heights, Ybor, and downtown.

Artists
will be starting as early as the 8th so make sure you get out there and
see the art come alive before your very eyes, but the focus is the
weekend and Saturday the 16 being the main event.

8am to 1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. The east side of the Orlando City Stadium, across from City View. Purchase quality, fresh and healthy food grown in your own
neighborhood by local farmers, including Fleet Farming, Growing Orlando,
and other community growers.

10am to 4pm Free. Commander’s Call. Museum of Military History 5210 West Irlo Bronson Hwy Kissimmee FL 34746. This ongoing program is held on the 3rd Sat of each month is designed to
appeal to families, military memorabilia collectors, history buffs,
re-enactors and others interested in military history. In addition,
persons interested in displaying, trading or selling their military
items such as honor coins, swords, photographs, military buttons, scale
model boats & planes, military art, uniforms or other equipment
register in advance by calling the museum to reserve a spot. Re-enactors
& veterans are welcome to come in uniform to add to the history
& authenticity of the military experience. Non-military booths such
as health care providers, home improvement, local attractions or other
businesses are invited to be vendors for minimal donation.
INFO and Register: 407-507-3894 or to register your table space.

Sunday February 17, 2019

10am to 4pm Lake Eola Farmer’s Market. Lake Eola Park Orlando FL. Produce, food vendors and crafts tents.

Noon to 3pm Donation based. Music at the Casa. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Listen to Opera Singer Shirley Wang and take a tour
of our historic home museum and the James Gamble Rogers II Studio by
trained docents.

3:15pm to 5:15pm Free. Life Screenings International Film Festival. Winter Park Library 460 E New England Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Selected films are chosen on the basis that they show a world we love to live in. Each film is a one-minute gem.

Rules & Terms

● Life Screenings is a festival that showcases inspiring, uplifting, and thought-provoking short films.

● Selected films will need to be provided in digital format via dropbox or google drive.

● Films submitted in languages other than English must include English Subtitles.

●
While the work submitted remains the property of the creating artist,
Life Screenings reserves the right to use submitted footage or stills to
promote the festival. Filmmaker also permits use of images or video
taken of them at the festival.

● All filmmakers will be notified regarding acceptance into the festival by email.

● We are looking for films under 61 second.

● Films are chosen on the basis that they show a world we love to live in.

Lake Mary Historical Museum

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I dropped off a painting for exhibit at the Lake Mary Historical Museum, (158 N Country Club Rd, Lake Mary, FL 32746) for the 6th Annual Local Artists Exhibit which featured original  paintings, sculptures and mixed media works on display, from emerging to well
established local artists. Rather than rush right back to the studio, I decided to settle in and complete a sketch.

The
Lake Mary Historical Museum exists to preserve and promote the history
of the city and the surrounding area. Efforts to maintain and enhance
the museum are accomplished by members of the Lake Mary Historical
Society and other volunteers.

The
museum houses a collection of artifacts, photographs, documents and
other materials related to the history of Lake Mary and the surrounding
communities. The artifacts housed in the museum have either been donated
or are on permanent or temporary loan.

Mark your calendars, from February 23 to March 23, 2019 the museum will exhibit Scouting in America, which will celebrate
more than 10 years of the organization that has brought so much to
central Florida. he exhibit will share the values and all
programs that Girl Scouts organizations offers to the world. An exhibit
of uniforms, artifacts and materials related to history and legacy.

Hamlet

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I went to the opening night performance of Hamlet by William Shakespeare at The  Orlando Shakes, (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803). My memory of the play was limited to the notion that at some point, Hamlet talks to a skull. The plot is rather simple. The ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to Hamlet and demands revenge against the uncle who killed him. Hamlet talks endlessly about revenging his father’s death, and then follows through. His every monologue conveys how unhinged he is about the need to avenge his father’s death. I was a bit frustrated that Hamlet had a perfect chance to revenge his father and decided it was too easy so he waited. So many passages have become a part of popular culture.

This play was one of Shakespeare’s most popular works during his lifetime, and still ranks among his most performed. It is also Shakespeare’s longest play with this production running three hours with a 15 minute intermission. I completed most of the sketch in the first act and did most of the watercolor washes during the intermission. This production had actors rushing off and on the stage in quick succession. The cast was on the large side with 17 actors. A huge puff of stage smoke engulfed the audience where I sat when Hamlets ghost appeared.

The play was produced in the round with extra bleachers added to the Margeson Theater. I sat in the added bleachers and unfortunately that meant most of the actors faced away from me directing their performance the audience opposite my position. Junior Nyong’O from Nairobi  performed the title role. He brought a frenetic energy to the production focusing on Hamlet’s more twisted, disturbed and sinister motives. Ophelia (Susan Maris) also became completely unhinged when experiencing grief. A pestle with poison, sword play and misfortune plague everyone in the final act. Tragedy wiped the stage clean.

Illegal Art in Winter Park

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I went to the The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (445 N Park Ave, Winter Park, Florida 32789) for Spring Friday Nights. The Museum’s annual Rites of Spring Celebration included free
admission, live music, tours, and more.

Of  interest to me was, The Domes of the Yosemite, the largest
existing painting by Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902), which was making its
post-conservation debut at the Morse through a special loan from the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum
in Vermont. The monumental 1867 painting, which had not been seen
outside the Athenaeum since its installation there in 1873. The huge painting was created in the context of the Hudson River School. These
loosely affiliated landscape artists produced grand, romantic images of
New York’s countryside. In this genre, no artist’s work was more luminous, theatrical,
or better loved. The painting was commissioned for $25,000.

I settled into a seat and started sketching the monumental painting along with a round Tiffany stained glass window that dominated the gallery. I had finished the line work and was blocking in some color when a guard stopped me. She was concerned for  the wood floors and asked me to stop. I have never spilled a drop of color doing my tiny watercolors, but she must have considered me an anarchist and or a slob. I added a few color notes like, Grey, Ochre, Orange, etc to let me know what my plan had been when I started painting. I then went outside the museum and sat on a bench to block in the colors there. That was an act of civil disobedience since sketching on Park Avenue is illegal in Winter Park. I walked back into the museum one more time to check the color scheme and went out to paint again. Outside it grew dark as the sun set. I grew discouraged and left. I haven’t returned to the museum since.

The Bierstadt is no longer at the Morse. Winter Park has an crazy back woods ordinance that prohibits the creation of art in it’s downtown streets. It seems the Morse also considers sketching, an illegal act. Sketching on the public bench outside the Morse could have been punishable with a $500 fine and or 30 days in jail. Welcome to the Central Florida arts scene.

No Borders Art Competition 2

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I went to The Geek Easy (114 S Semoran Blvd, Ste 6, Winter Park,Fl) to see what No Borders Art Competition was all about. It is a great concept involving two artists competing head to head with 30 minutes to complete a canvas.

No Borders Art Competition began in April 2015 with two competitions
every 3 months. One competition was on a 4ft x 4ft canvas with a 30
minute time limit the other was on a 6ft x 6ft canvas for 1hour. Each artist was  equipped with enough tools to complete their pieces while
also challenging their creativeness.

The 6ft x 6ft canvas might was a bit of a challenge
for some artists so “The Tournament” was created. It consisted of 8
artists on the 4ft x 4ft canvases that have never competed at our show
before. The winners of that show would then compete against the previous 4
winners on the 4ft x 4ft canvases.

The original rules applied:

4 Black markers with different tips

One color marker

4ft x 4ft Smooth White Canvas

Artists were judged on 5 categories:

1. Creativity and Originality

2. Neatness

3. Time Management

4. Use of Color Marker

5. Overall Balance

The Crowd got to pick The Peoples Champ before the judges ruling is
announced.

The judges were: Chris Rodriguez, Stazo Oner, and Josue Ortiz. Josue was the person who got me interested in the event.

The host for the night was Ozones own, Madd Illz, The house DJ spinning 90’s hip hop was  Cubby (Chris Mendez) and Dean Rod Uno Rodriguez.

The competition was off to a late start. I sketched the stage waiting for the competitors to take the stage. The first competitors were, Nice Darrell and Jessica Butler. Nice’s canvas was more complex and dream like, being hard to read from a distance in certain passages. Jessica’s canvas was more straight forward with a blue whale. My vote was for her piece which had more appeal. I didn’t stay to sketch the other 6 competitors. I  just wanted to get a flavor for the festivities. It is certainly an event I would love to sketch again.

Wild Hogs Roam the Streets of Winter Park

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Pam Schwartz, the head curator at the Orange County Regional History Center needed to do some research for History in a Glass which is a fun event where local craft bartenders compete for bragging rights by creating libations inspired by historical themes and artifacts.

The theme for History in a Glass was going to be about Winter Parks history of having to deal with wild hogs wandering the streets of downtown at the turn of the century. The city had to pass an ordinance banning these wild hogs from the streets.

In 1903, animals were doing a lot of damage, so five-day permits were
issued to
kill squirrels and destructive birds. Permission was also granted to kill
alligators in the town’s lakes. Another ordinance levied a $25 fine
and or 25 days at hard labor for persons found guilty of playing games
on Sunday. At the same time, the sale of intoxicating liquors was
prohibited, except by a physician’s prescription.

In 1905, the Travelers Insurance Company asked town officials to protect
their property from damage by hogs running wild inside the town. A
committee was appointed to look into the matter. The committee learned that state law authorized towns with more than 500 residents
to pass an ordinance that prohibits hogs running wild. As Winter Park
had only 461 residents, it was powerless to stop the problem. (Such and
ordinance successfully passed two years later after a petition drive.)

A recent ordinance prohibits the creation of art on the streets of Winter Park. Sec 70-10 Regulation of Street Performers. “The City Commission finds that street performers in certain  areas of the City defined herein and designated as prohibited public area have interfered with and have a substantial likelihood of interfering with pedestrian and vehicular traffic of the City, including residents, business owners and occupants, and visitors and tourists by, among other things, attracting audiences which congest the prohibited public area, increase the likelihood for conflict and disorderliness, and may impede the ability of emergency personnel to reach various locations. Moreover, such street performers may cause or contribute to pedestrian and vehicular safety risks through increased congestion, sight obstruction, and obfuscation, and obstruction to pedestrian right of ways and crosswalks. The city finds the existence of street performers in the prohibited public area adversely affects the City’s interests in maintaining the aesthetics of the prohibited public area and character of the same in the city with a unique historic downtown district.”

(1) “Perform and performance means to engage in any of the following activities: Acting; singing; playing musical instruments; puppetry; pantomiming; miming; performing or demonstrating magic or acts of illusion; dancing; juggling; or the public display of and composition or creation of crafts, sculpture, artistry,writings, or compositions, including the application of brush, pastel, crayon, pencil, or other similar objects applied to paper, cardboard, canvas, cloth or to other similar medium.”

To celebrate these historic ordinances the History Center shared this strange history while tasting some amazing craft cocktails. Patrons got to laugh at Winter Park’s long history of absurd ordinances which continues today. Winter Park is working hard to keep the streets clear of wild pigs and artists. Bottoms up.

Life Screenings: One Minute Film Festival

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Banks Helfrich organized the Life Screenings: One Minute Film Festival at the Orange County Library System (101 E Central Blvd, Orlando, Florida 32801). Life Screenings in association with the Orange County Main Public Library looked “Outside the Lines” at what happens when a film festival and library mash-up. The purpose was to create a library beyond a library and a film festival beyond a festival.

Preceded by donuts and coffee, one minute films were screened back to back; post exhibit, filmmakers were be on hand to participate in a lively talk back.

Films were chosen on the basis that they show a world we all would love to live in. Life Screenings is a festival that showcases inspiring, uplifting, and thought-provoking short films. It was a festival that showcased inspiring, uplifting, and thought-provoking short films.

The goal was for each of the films to be less than 60 seconds in length. One film showed a Nazi solder entering a home and conducting a search for Jews. His superior office was hard line, but he was just going through the motions. He actually found a young girl and put his finger to his lips as a universal signal to stay quiet. He shut the door to her hiding spot and told his commander downstairs that all was clear. Even some among the villains want to do the right thing.In this fat paced digital age this festival was short and sweet. Offering a wide variety of uplifting stories. Stories connect us, and we need that more then ever in this fast paced digital age.

Mark your Calendar, the next Life Screenings International Film Festival will be at the Winter Park Library (460 E New England Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789) on Sunday, February 17, 2019 starting at 3:15pm.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for February 9 and 10, 2019

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Saturday February 9, 2019

8am to 1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. The east side of the Orlando City Stadium, across from City View. Purchase quality, fresh and healthy food grown in your own
neighborhood by local farmers, including Fleet Farming, Growing Orlando,
and other community growers.

4pm to 6pm Free. Young Voices. JB Callaman Center 102 North Parramore Ave Orlando FL. Teen Open Mic Every second Saturday of the month.

9pm to 11pm Free. The X-Files Art Show. The Falcon Bar and Gallery, 819 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801. The X-Files Art Exhibit is inspired by the classic television sci-fi
drama where two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully
the skeptic, investigated the strange and unexplained, while hidden
forces worked to impede their efforts.
Artists include:
Aaron Booher
Ashley Joy Hallenbeck
The official BankyArt
Billy Myers III
Christin Keene
David Ussery
Jeff Wilfong
Luce Sky
Mitch Scott
The Art of Plinio Pinto
RachelToxic

Sunday February 10, 2019

10am to Noon Free. Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation Class. University, 5200 Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32811. The Method of Heartfulness A simple and practical way to experience the heart’s unlimited resources.

Noon to 1pm Free. Yoga. Lake Eola park near the red gazebo.  Bring your own mat.

1:30pm to 5pm. Get some food and drink. Florida Gospel Jam. Fish on Fire 7937 Daetwyler Drive Belle Island FL. Non Denominational Gospel open mic Every 2nd and 4th Sunday.

Irish DNA & Genealogy

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Pam Schwartz and I went to a presentation about the use of DNA for genealogists. In humans, each cell normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a
total of 46. Twenty-two of these pairs, called autosomes, look the same
in both males and females. The 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes, differ
between males and females. Females have two copies of the X chromosome, while males have one X and one Y chromosome. Pam has been getting DNA test from all of her oldest living relatives. In particular it is a good idea to get tests from male relatives because they will have both x and Y chromosomes which means the results will be different that a females test.

I have done some family history research and, with the name Thorspecken, I figured that clearly my heritage goes back to Germany. I traveled to Germany and found the Thorspecken home which is now a museum in Wetterburg. A name plate for Jacob Thorspecken was still on an upstairs door. Pam encouraged me to do a DNA test. It involved spitting in a small test tube and sending that off to a lab. The results came back complete with a map that showed where my ancestors immigrated from. The results were surprising. 60% of my ancestors came from Ireland and Scotland with most from Northern Ulster Ireland. 36% came from England, Whales and Northern Europe which included a bit of Western Germany. Only 4% came from Germanic Europe.

Of course I have already proven that the Thorspecken name is from Germany, but this DNA test showed me that that one family name is just a small fraction of the DNA story that defines where I came from. I also see 2nd and 3rd cousins that I didn’t know existed before. DNA clearly sheds a whole new light on family history research.  I now have a far greater reason to celebrate my Irish heritage every Saint Patrick’s day. At a time when our country is trying to wall off our borders, it is good to look back at the ethnic diversity that makes this country great.