Shopping with the Locals at the Banff Farmers Market

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Banff‘s park near the Bow River was the site of a Farmer’s Market on the weekend. Terry and I stayed in the town long enough to start discovering the spots where locals tend to hang out. A farmer’s Market is the perfect spot to meet locals as they shop for locally grown produce.  Locally hunted meat was packaged as sausages and they was an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables.A photographer had a tent set up and he took some interest in what I was doing. He is a wildlife photographer and there is no shortage of subjects in the Canadian Rockies.

One day Terry and I stopped at a lakeside resort to stretch our legs. It had been raining all day but it had finally cleared up a bit. We found a spot on a small wooden bridge that offered a clear view across the lake. We noticed a couple hiking along the far shore. Then above them in a clearing maybe 5o yards up the hillside, we saw a grizzly bear. The bear was foraging for food. Just as the couple entered the clearing, the bear disappeared form view back into the woods. Someone standing next to us said, “They better have bear mace.” The couple kept walking around the lake towards us. When they were close, we walked up to them to let them know how close they cad come to a grizzly bear. They hadn’t noticed the bear and didn’t have any protection. Most hikers were small bells that make noise constantly warning any bears that they are approaching.

At a highway rest stop, a bear walked right through the parking lot. Terry drove up to the crowd of tourists taking pictures and got out to get a shot herself. Tourists stood within 10 yards of the bear taking selfies. The bear then walked towards the crowd and they scattered. He walked right past my passenger door so by staying in the car, I got extremely close to the bear. All this took place in a very short time span. I didn’t even think to sketch. I just watched in amazement. Some roads right outside of Banff were closed down because several grizzly bears were competing for territory. Driving down the parkway there were many “Bear Jams” which are crowds of cars pulled of the road so tourists could take photos of bears seen from the road. We stopped at every bear jam. I however didn’t sketch because bear jams can be momentary and break up the second a bear wanders away.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 27 and 28

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Saturday September 27, 2014

8:30am to 1:30pm $5, $10 for parking. American Mud Race Orlando 2014. 19400 East Colonial Drive Orlando FL. Mud, mud, and MORE MUD! American Mud Race is the muddiest adventure race you’ll ever encounter, and it’s coming soon! Our designers put together a 3-4 mile course packed with crazy obstacles that will test your mettle, challenge your strength, and leave you covered from head to toe. If you’re tough enough to cross the finish line, a serious after party awaits. Fun is the name of the game, but we’ve also got a greater purpose. American Mud Race will benefit wounded veterans through the Home at Last Project by Habitat for Humanity. americanmudrace.com

11am to 5pm $5 Kids  Free. Artlando. Lockhaven Park E Princeton St, Orlando, FL. Family Friendly Eveny Performing Arts Showcase, Outdoor Art Walk, Live Painting, Food Truck Bazaar, free admission to the Orlando Museum of Art, Beer wine cocktails. ALL DAY. ALL ART. I’ll have an Analog Artist Digital World tent set up, so stop by and say hello. www.artlando.com

Live performances by Orlando Ballet, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Central Florida Community Arts, Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, Phantasmagoria, Emotions Dance Company, Orlando Science Center and more!

Outdoor art walk, live painting, installations and more!

Beer & cocktails by The Hammered Lamb

7pm to 9pm $50 Lady Raven’s Second Annual Cotillion. Audubon Park Garden District 3201 Corrine Dr, Orlando, Florida. Lady Evangeline Raven cordially invites you to her Second Annual Cotillion, a pop up cabaret with entertainment by Phantasmagoria, gourmet food, fine drinks, and dessert. It will be a lovely evening of fire breathers, dancers, fortune telling, mysteries and delights. Not to be missed.

Sunday September 28, 2014

Noon to 3pm Free. Music at the Casa. Violinist Lisa Ferrigno has been Concertmaster of the Brevard Symphony in Melbourne, Florida since 19 99.  A native of New England, she received her musical training at the New  England Conservatory in Boston, the Eastman School of Music in  New York, and Florida State University. Ms. Ferrigno has appeared as soloist with Trujillo’s Orquesta Sinfónica and Orquesta Camara del Festival Internacional Bach as well as the Florida Symphony and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestras.

1pm to 3pm Free Yoga. East lawn of Lake Eola Park, 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, FL. Weekly.

5:30 to ? $7 Cover Including BBQ Dinner. $5 Cover with Orlando Indie Comedy Weekend Pass. Southern Fried Sunday as Part of The Orlando Indie Comedy Fest with The Dealers, Sabals and Johnny Knuckles. Southern Fried Sunday returns to Will’s Pub and is teaming up with The Orlando Indie Comedy Festival to bring you an evening of music, comedy and home cooked, southern style dinner. Check out performances by The Dealers Band, Sabals and Johnny Knuckles Music plus live comedy sets! 5:30pm Doors.  6:30pm Show & Dinner. 18+

Les Miserables is a stellar production.

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The Orlando Shakespeare Theater hit a home run by bringing Les Miserables to Orlando. Based on a book by Alain Boublil with Music by Claude-Michael Schönberg and Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. It is adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo. It was masterfully directed by DJ Salisbury with musical direction by Ken Clifton. It was raining like a typhoon on the evening I went to see the show. I must have seen a dozen ambulances on the dive to the theater and traffic was backed up on every major artery. That however didn’t keep people from coming to the show. It was a sold out house. The woman seated next to me in t in the Loge told me that this was her second time seeing the show. She wanted to share it with her husband who was with her for this performance.

Set in the early 19th-century, a French peasant named
Jean Valjean (Michael Hunsaker) is on a quest for redemption after serving nineteen years
in jail for for stealing a loaf of bread. When a compassionate bishop inspires him
with a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean decides to start his life anew,
but is relentlessly tracked down by Police Inspector Javert (Davis Gaines). Along the
way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into France’s
revolution, where a group of young visionaries make their last stand at a
street barricade.

Several times during the performance I was lifted and move close to tears by the power of the show music and performances. Despite being set in the crucible of a revolution, it is the stories of love that set the show ablaze. As Fantine‘s (Lianne Marie Dobbs) life spirals out of control, she sang of the love she knew for one glorious summer. It is one of the most beautiful and sad songs to ever hit the stage. Davis gains brought the role of inspector Javert to life with his incredible voice. Éponine (Caitlyn Caughell) sang a beautiful song of unrequited love for Marius’. She does everything he asks, even arranging for him to meet Cosette whom he loved at first sight. She ends up getting shot as she struggles to bring the couple together and she finally discovers what it is like to be held in his arms as she dies having been shot in the revolution while trying to get to him.


This show packs an incredible emotional punch. Michael Hunsaker’s performance had me fully emotionally invested in every scene. The show succeeded on every imaginable level. The thunderous applause should never stop. As the new Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center nears completion, this production proved that Broadway quality productions are already being produced in town. Show continue through October 11th. Many shows are already sold out and for good reason. Don’t miss Les Mis!

A Phantasmagoria Photoshoot Fires off the Halloween Horror

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On Sunday September 7th, I went to a photographers studio in Winter Park to sketch a Phantasmagoria photo shoot. The studio space was impressive with an upper balcony that allowed Kristen Wheeler to take photos of the cast from above. John DiDonna explained to the cast that they needed to express resolve and resolution as they faced certain death. Josh Geohagen shouted back, “Like in Toy Story 3?!” Everyone laughed, but even toys can express a solemn resolve before they face their fate.

Phantasmagoria features a unique and spectacular blend of storytelling, dance, large scale
puppetry and aerial work. It has been wowing critics and
audiences alike since its premier in 2010. Created and envisioned by
playwright, director John DiDonna, each production offers new stories
taken from the diverse centuries old literature of horror and the
macabre!

The first official Phantasmagoria photo shoot of the 2014 Season had Kristen Wheeler the official photographer taking our picks, with help from Ryan McKenzie the company’s artist,  and a
videographer and photographer there filming the process for articles.
This was a perfect storm of creativity. Images will be released soon from this two hour
shoot including all poster shots, publicity shots, and shots done
specifically for a Phantasmagoria themed Art Gallery show running in October. 

The photo studio was incredibly crowded with the whole cast on hand. Kristen shot the cast in small groups for use in show posters and promotional materials. The rest of the cast would wait on the sidelines when they weren’t in the shot.  Kristen seemed to love coaching the actors. as she said, “It is easy to teach an actor how to model, but it is impossible to teach a model how to act. Dion Leonhard was close to tears for every photo. She would shut her eyes and rest between shots. This cast is always in character.

Mark Your Calendar! As we roll into October, Phantasmagoria seems to be everywhere. On September 27th, the steam punk group will make two appearances at Artlando from 11am to 5pm,  happening in Lock Haven park. the $5 Artlando event features, live performances by Orlando Ballet, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Central Florida Community Arts, Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival, Phantasmagoria, Emotions Dance Company, Orlando Science Center and more! The Orlando Museum of Art is FREE to all attendees. There will be an outdoor art walk, live painting, installations and more! Beer and cocktails will be provided by The Hammered Lamb. Food from The Food Truck Bazaar. They will also appear at Lady Raven’s Second Annual Cotillion in the Audubon Park Garden District (3201 Corrine Dr, Orlando, Florida) the same day starting at 7pm. The and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center!  Now
entering its fourth year, Orlando’s original Victorian Steam
punk Circus troupe offers Macabre and Delicious Halloween tricks and
treats. On October 3-11 artwork featuring The Art and Horror of Phantasmagoria will be featured at Valencia’s East Campus in the Anita S. Wooton Gallery. My sketches from past shows will be on display, so come to the opening and say hi.

Walking on a Glacier

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On a third trip to the Columbia Glacier, Terry and I decided to go to the lodge at the base of the Glacier to sign up for a Glacier Adventure. Brewster, the company that runs these glacier adventures has been taking tourists onto the ice since before the area was made into a National Park. Inside the lodge was chaos as busloads of tourists purchased tickets for several adventure packages. Several miles up the road, a large glass overhang was built on the edge of an overlook which gave tourists a panoramic view while seeming to be standing on air above a steep drop. Terry and I didn’t see the point of that view when there are amazing views and vistas anywhere you look.

The $55 Glacier Adventure involved a bus ride from the lodge across the highway to another parking lot at the base of the Ice. Here, everyone switched over to the huge Ice Rover which had immense tires worthy of a monster truck. Actually the tire were much larger than any monster trucks tires. This rover moved very slowly going uphill or downhill. The drive to get onto the ice field was perhaps half an hour. We drove to a spot on the ice that had been mechanically leveled. There we were allowed to get out and take photos for about 5 minutes. You heard me right, we were given just 5 minutes to take a few photos and then pile back on the bus.

The leveled ice filed clearing was perhaps 50 yards square. The edges of the field had the piles of blue shaved ice in 5 foot high piles. Walking on the ice field unsupervised is advisable since there are deep hidden caves and chasms that can kill an inexperienced hiker. Terry said she spotted several hikers wandering across the ice field as we were being driven back to the lodge. Guided hikes could be arranged with guides. Terry had hiked to the base of the glacier twice, so I’m sure she would have liked to climb up and wander across the expansive ice field. We both agreed that the Brewster adventure tour wasn’t worth the money but it did get us up on the ice field for a quick glance around.

The Orlando Philharmonic Series Program 1 Featured Music Director Finalist Alondra de la Parra

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I went to a rehearsal at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Music Director Alondra de la Parra was conducting. I sat a few rows back from the stage and started sketching. As the orchestra warmed up with the usual cacophony of unrelated instrumentation, I blocked in the stage and seating arrangement. Since Conductor Christopher Wilkins left, the orchestra has been looking for a new conductor. Apparently it is a buyers market since so many orchestras have had to fold or cut back after the financial crisis in 2008. Ten people make up the selection panel. Half of the panel are musicians from the Orchestra and half are civilians. There were many applicants for the conductor’s position. If any one person on the selection committee voted no, then that conductor was removed from the list. Five conductors remain after that process.

Alondra is in her 30’s and brought an undeniable energy to the rehearsal. The first piece rehearsed was Symphony Number 1 by Gustav Mahler. The music moved along lyrically and then built in energy and drive. There were moments of absolute magic that could lift you up to defy gravity.  Because it was a rehearsal, there were moments where the music stopped and Allondra asked a single section of the orchestra to perform their part and she helped them become more unified or crisp in their parts. “It’s all about placement and color.” she said. She could have been talking about a sketch.

The next piece was Danzon Number 2 by Arturo Manquez from her native Mexico. At times the music was brash with a high spirited exuberance. My foot was tapping to the off beat and I couldn’t stop my body from moving to the beat. This had to be the first time I felt like I should get up and dance in the isles as the orchestra performed. “Keep it fresh and spirited.” Alondra said. Then suddenly much of the orchestra grew quiet as a core group of players performed with a slow authority. She explained that these were the old timers who knew how to keep a performance simple and real. When the piece was over, Alondra complimented the soloist saying, “Great solo, you may not know it, but you are part Cuban.” She brought an amazing new energy to the orchestra and Orlando would be lucky to have her if she is selected as the new Music Director. She has a few commitments with an orchestra in Mexico and Japan, but hopefully that wouldn’t interfere if she were to be selected as the orchestra’s new Music Director. Each of the four other finalists will be featured conductors in the coming months. I hope to watch to see what each brings to the table.

Melbourne Civic Theatre

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One June 20th I got an invitation to sketch at the Melbourne Civic Theatre (817 E Strawbridge Ave, Melbourne, FL). The Theatre is Bevard County’s longest running arts organization. I was invited by actress Nellie Brannan who is also an artist and she found out about my work from the Urban Sketcher’s site. It was an adventurous drive to the East coast to catch the show which was Edward Albee‘s “A Delicate Balance.”

The sky opened up and it poured for the entire trip East.  Thankfully as I arrived in Melbourne, the rain stopped. The Theatre has recently been renovated and expanded. The front lobby was recently purchased from another establishment. La Galerie is a walkway lined with stores. The Theatre entrance used to be in the back but now there is a large lobby where patrons can mingle before finding their seats.

I arrived early, got my ticket at the box office and then sat across the street in front of City Hall to sketch the Theatre. The building to the right was all boarded up. As I noticed people entering the Theatre, I started sketching faster, because I knew it was show time…

World Cup at Hollerbach’s

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On June 17th, I went up to Sanford to visit Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Deli to watch the World Cup. Hollerbach’s is a traditional German restaurant with the goal of providing you with a memorable meal and to experience German Gemuetlichkeit, which is a sense of
well-being and happiness that comes from enjoying the company of friends
and family while savoring good food and drink. Claudia Mundlos who runs a blog called Sanford 365 gave me a tip that the restaurant is a popular meeting place to watch World Cup Soccer. Apparently the place goes crazy when the German team is playing. Unfortunately I couldn’t get to Hollerbach’s on the day Germany was playing. 

Brazil was playing Mexico and the game resulted in not a single goal being scored. I’m used to watching basketball where hundreds of points are scores. In comparison, soccer seems slow but I’ve played and know it is damn fun when you are on the field. Hollerbach’s was only mildly full. Most patrons didn’t even notice the game. They focused on good food instead. I ordered some schnitzel and it was an amazing meal washed down with a cold beer.

John Rife and his wife Kamrin were in the crowd. He stopped over to say hello. They were on a date night and they stopped at Hollerbach’s as a rest stop. Such a small world. My work was on display at John’s, East End Market for many months. I just took down the show yesterday. The proprietor of the restaurant recognized my style because an illustration I did for Orlando Life, has been hanging on the wall near the restrooms for several years. The waitress in traditional garb also stopped by several times to check on my progress. I found out that there is one of those drink and paint events at Hollerbach’s once a week. For the price of admission people get a canvas and paint and they are walked through every step of creating a painting. I might return to sketch that someday. Even better are the German musicians who rock the place with German music. Check the restaurant’s calendar and get out to experience Glemuchlichkeit  for yourself.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 20 and 21

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Saturday September 20, 2013

9am to 7pm FLBlogCon 2014. Last chance tickets $85. Full Sail University, 3300 University Blvd, Winter Park, FL. Educating and Empowering Bloggers Across the State of Florida. http://www.flblogcon.com/ 

 7:30pm to 11pm Free. Potluck Kerouac House. 1418 Clouser Ave, Orlando, FL. Meet Kerouak Project resident writer, Ann Marie Ni Chureain.

8:30pm to 10:30pm $9.43 Global Peace Film Festival screening, Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard.  Bush Auditorium Rollins College. A collection of
surprisingly joyful drawings created by school children living among the
ruins of Hiroshima in 1947 becomes the heart and soul of this true,
inspiring story about an exchange of gifts between Americans and
Japanese after a devastating war. This powerful documentary about
reconciliation and the power of gift, introduces the children artists
(now in their late 70s) who reflect on their early lives amidst the
rubble of their decimated city and the hope they shared through their
art. In 2010, the newly restored drawings, buried for decades deep
inside a church in Washington DC, are taken back to Japan where they are
reunited with the artists and exhibited in the very building where they
were created.

Sunday September 21, 2014

10am to Noon Free. Ciciovia. E Robinson St, Orlando, FL. Robinson street is shut down to feature all things cycle related.  rethinkyourcommute.com

 Noon to 5pm Free but get a drink or two. Sunday’s with Smiling Dan. The Falcon Bar & Gallery, 819 East Washington Street, Orlando, FL. DJ Smiling Dan will liven up your Sunday.

6pm to Midnight Free. Full screening of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Cloak and Dagger 875 Woodbury Road  Orlando FL. Costumes encouraged.  Cloak and Dagger.com Get out and meet some Hobbits and Dwarfs.


The Orlando Shakespeare Theater Presents Les Miserables

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 I went to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater to sketch work being done on the set for Les Miserables. The key element of this stage is a large rotating lazy Susan that will allow different stage sets to rotate into view. A second level is where some of the fighting will be staged. Stage hands joked that the raw backdrop looked a bit like a Koala. To me it looks like a loudmouthed carved pumpkin. I’m sure that when the set is complete that it will look like the squalid streets of Paris at the turn of the century. For some reason the rotating stage required quite a few stage hands to turn. They worked to remove the friction. New gels had to be added to all the lights in the theater, so a ladder and moving scaffolding were used to get up high enough to reach the lights.

WHAT:

Les Misérables

Book by Alain Boublil | Music by Claude-Michel Schӧnberg | Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer

Directed by DJ Salisbury | Musical Direction by Ken Clifton 

SUMMARY:

Set in the early 19th-century, a French peasant named Jean Valjean (played by Michael Hunsaker) is on a quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread. When a compassionate bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean decides to start his life anew, but is relentlessly tracked down by Police Inspector Javert (played by Davis Gaines). Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into France’s revolution, where a group of young visionaries make their last stand at a street barricade.

WHEN:

September 10 – October 12, 2014

Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE:

Orlando Shakespeare Theater in the Margeson Theater

John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 East Rollins Street, Orlando, FL 32803

TICKET INFORMATION: Previews and Senior Matinees $27, $22, $15

All other Performances $55, $45, $30

Many performances are already sold out, so act fast.