Dragon Parade: Lunar New Year Festival

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On February 10th, I went to the Mills 50 District to sketch the Dragon Parade Lunar New Year Festival. The Lunar New Year is the most important festival celebrated in Asia.  In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, although Chinese New Year is not an official holiday, many Asian organizations hold large celebrations and parades to share the culture. I parked on a suburban street behind Sam Flax and walked towards the sound of firecrackers exploding. A woman gardening in her front yard looked down the street to see what the ruckus was about.

In a parking lot behind a Chinese restaurant a crowd was gathered to participate in the parade. There were martial arts groups, Taiko Dojo Dancers, girls Demonstrating Chinese YoYos and a long dragon boat.  The second I sat down to start sketching, the parade started moving onto the street. I panicked sketching as fast as I could. I was still sketching long after the last parade participants had left. The dragon itself was animated by a crew of puppeteers who each held a stick that was attached to a section of the dragon. As they waved the sticks left and right, the dragon slithered in a sinuous dance down the street.

2013 is the Year of the Snake. The Snake, also called the Junior Dragon,  is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs.  The Snake is the enigmatic,  intuitive,

introspective, and refined.  Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.  People born in the Year of the Snake are keen and cunning, quite intelligent and wise.  They are great mediators and good at doing business.  Therefore, you should have good luck if you were born in the Year of the Snake. When I finished my sketch I went to Sam Flax to get some new brushes. I met former Disney background painter Xinlin Fan. He still lives in Orlando and he teaches painting at Guangzhou University in China part of the year. His English is rusty and broken but it was wonderful to see him.

Artists Process

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Each month Urban Rethink (625 E Central Blvd • Orlando, FL), invites artists to show their work, and discuss their process. A computer was set up s that the first artist, Bob Snead, could share his work with us from New Orleans via a Google + video chat. The computer screen was projected on a screen so everyone in the room could see. The problem was that no one knew how to get the Google chat to work. Pat Greene started asking everyone who entered the event if they knew how to work the program. Finally someone did mess with the settings and Bob’s face filled the screen. Bob does representational that is autobiographical and often funny. For instance one self portrait had, “My father gave my mother syphilis.” written on it. Bob couldn’t see all of us as he showed his work and if we weren’t laughing, he couldn’t be sure we were still there.

Some of Bob’s art is performance oriented. He once staged a “Pro Wall mart” demonstration. With Clark Allen, he set up a toilet paper roll assembly line in which everything was made from cardboard. A cardboard pickup truck was displayed in a gallery. He later had to abandon the truck leaving in in a public space. A week later it was mangled beyond recognition.

 The second artist was Kevin Paul Giordano,  who is a writer, journalist, musician, photographer, and filmmaker. He began his career as a writer in New York City, publishing in the New York Times, New York Post, New York Sun, Salon.com, among others. He also worked as an editor at such magazines as Vanity Fair, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, Spin, among others. His musical-play “It Must Be Love” appeared on Off-Off Broadway in 2002. He has received grants from Glenville State College, West Virginia for research on a book on the American Rust Belt. The grant offered him a car and a camera, so he set out to document an abandoned part of US history.

He screened a half hour documentary that explained the history of Rust Belt cities like Paterson, New Jersey. My father worked in Paterson, New Jersey his whole career, so I was fascinated to learn the city’s unique history. The city was founded by Alexander Hamilton, and his Society of Useful Manufacturers, to be a manufacturing mecca. Steam locomotives were built here as the nation pushed west. Then the city turned to silk weaving using the power generated by water from the Paterson falls. An intricate system of canals moved water to all of the manufacturing plants. In the 1960’s Rayon eliminated the need for silk. Much of this countries deindustrialization happened in the 1970s. Today all those plants sit empty and abandoned. More than 25% of the people in such abandoned cities are below the poverty line. The story is much the same for each Rust Belt city Kevin photographed.

There is a beauty in the way the rusting decay is being taken over by nature. Railroad lines lead nowhere with weeds and grass disguising the rails. Pealing paint creates intricate patterns and some tools remain where they were last used decades ago. Today we live in a computer society that fosters the free exchange of ideas. This free exchange doesn’t always make people money. By looking back, Kevin helps us look forward so we all can change and adapt.

Patriot Garden

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I went to the home of Jennifer and Jason Helvenston in College Park on a small dead end road that stops at I-4. Walking through the suburban neighborhood, I saw many blue yard signs that promote “Patriot Gardens“. I was at City Hall the day before at a demonstration where people demanded the right to keep their vegetable gardens. The Helvenston’s grow dozens of vegetables organically in their front yard in Orlando. But in November, the city—which aspires to be the “Greenest City in America”, notified them that their harmless garden violates city code, and they have to tear it up and replace it with grass or face fines of $500 a day.

I looked up their home with a Google map street view and the photos showed a barren yard before the lush garden was planted. The garden is now bursting with an abundance of vegetables and herbs. Jennifer backed her car out of the driveway as I was sketching. She recognized me from the protest at City Hall and she explained that many of the citizens that went to the City Counsel Meeting got up and spoke eloquently for the right to grow food. She felt the meeting went well but the battle wasn’t yet won. City government is a slow moving beast upholding decades old landscaping codes drafted before homeowners recognized the advantages of using native plants, creating natural habitats for butterflies and birds and sustainable organic gardens that put food on the table.

Sketching, I was surprised by the deep trenches between rows of vegetables. I assumed this was extreme raised bed gardening. Jason came out and explained that the soil had developed plant parasitic nematodes, or round worms. They had dug the ditches extra deep to try and eliminate this garden pest. Next week the garden will be completely overturned and replanted, He plans to plant the rows in rainbow arcs radiating away from the home so that the rows will no longer be noticed from the street.

All the Helvenston’s want to do is use their property peacefully to grow their own food. Their front yard garden has become a battleground in a national debate.  Planting the garden changed the couples life because they now interact regularly with their neighbors. They spend most of their time in the garden stopping to talk to
all the people coming by, which they love.  Who stops to talk to someone
mowing a lawn? Having sketched the lush garden, I can say it is far more interesting than a lawn of grass. Americans spend an estimated $30 billion annually on lawn care with huge amounts of water and fertilizer wasted. If you have a sunny spot on your front lawn, consider planting your own Patriot Garden. Plant a seed, change the law.

As of September 2013, the couple has won the lawsuit and can keep their front yard garden.

Let Them Grow

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Jennifer and Jason Helvenston planted a lush vegetable garden organically in their front yard in Orlando.  
But in November, the city, which aspires to be the “Greenest City in
America”, notified them that their harmless garden violates city code, and they
have to tear it up and replace it with grass, or face fines of $500 a
day.

On January 8th of 2013 a new City Vegetable Garden Proposal was written. Most of the garden would have to be eliminated and now the city started regulating the back and side yards as well.

 This is a summary of the restrictions of the City’s Proposal.

1.  The government shouldn’t be telling gardeners what they can or can’t do with
the land they own as long as there are no quantifiable impacts.

2.  The Proposal is a conviction
against edible annuals while all other annuals are unrestricted.

3.  The Proposal is a clear strategy against edible gardens by pushing
them under the roof line of the building or in its shadow while at the same
time requiring year round success.

4.  The Proposal is an assault against the financially less fortunate that
cannot afford expensive fences and raised bed structures by pushing their
edible gardens even further into the shadows of the building.

5.  The Proposal is discriminating against ALL edible plants by requiring
higher standards and special definitions than any other plant in the City’s
Landscape Code.  By discriminating against the plants that we eat, they are
discriminating against gardeners.

6.  The Proposal is a discredit against sustainability.  The City’s
code will allow max. 60% environment crushing grass but only max. 25% edible
annuals with no impacts. 

The best and fare solution for the City is the
simplest.  Edible plants meet the same standards and requirements as all
other plants.  An edible ground cover gets treated the same as any other
ground cover, an edible annual gets treated the same as any other annual. 
Each yard in the City of Orlando must be “kept and maintained” to the
same levels as any other yard.  There should be no higher standards for food. 

 On February 28th there was a crucial City Counsel meeting on the proposal. I went to City Hall where there was a peaceful demonstration for the right to have a garden. Many protesters wore green as a sign of solidarity. Ryan Price was there holding a yellow pepper from his garden. He has a small garden in his front yard and luckily he has not yet been bothered. College students Jonathan, Adam and Troy were with Ryan. The college students are studying the medical benefits of plants. Jennifer Helvenston showed up with a basket full of vegetables from her garden. Protesters talked about their gardens with pride. Julie Norris was their with her daughter Maya holding a sign that said, Mommy, why can’t we grow vegetables? She has a gorgeous garden on her Thornton Park property.

A spokesman said that the City Proposal had once again been rewritten so the meeting would just consist of a reading of the new proposal with no vote. All the protesters went inside city hall to watch their city government at work. The Helveston’s small home garden has suddenly become the flash point for a national debate. Orlando leaders moved closer at the February 26th meeting to allow residents to plant
vegetables in their front yards, but gardeners remain worried that City
Hall’s benevolence will come with too many rules.

Audabon Market

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Every Monday from 6-10PM the Audubon Market sets up in the parking lot of Stardust Video and Coffee (l842 East Winter Park Road Orlando FL). Some vendors offer locally grown fruits and vegetables while others have local crafts. Flowers and plants sit beside homemade pillows. The variety changes from week to week. On top of all that there is often free music. There is a warm communal feel as friends meet hug and talk. A mom carried her child on her hip as she spoke to a vendor. A poet with a grey beard and staff wandered offering poems for a price.

When I finished my sketch I went to a food tent and ordered the least holistic item at the market, a hot dog with sauerkraut and mustard.  When I turned to go back to my table, I bumped into Mark Baratelli and his friend Tom. I was a bit embarrassed that the hot dog I just ordered looked puny compared to the size of the bun. When I was finished eating, a woman offered me some free Wild Flower Saint John’s River Honey because she liked the sketch. If you go to the market, be sure to get some local honey from the Bee Lady. On the drive home, I popped open the yellow lid and sucked on the nipple to taste the sweet nectar.

Oscars at the Enzian

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The Enzian Theater held a “Red Carpet, Bright Lights Oscar Watch Party.” Terry got dressed up in high heals that structurally resemble the Eiffel Tower. I decided to dress up with a suit and black shirt. Although the Enzian parking lot was close to full, there were only a few people at the Eden Bar. Terry had read somewhere that the theater wouldn’t open till 7:30PM so we had a half hour to kill. The bartender didn’t notice us waiting to order a drink but he did notice a 20 something pair of college girls who sauntered up to the bar after us. I wanted a beer but all the beer taps were out. The bartender was very apologetic. I settled on a white wine. Dina Peterson greeted us at the bar. She was meeting friends who were saving her a seat inside.

It turned out that the Enzian was already packed. I wanted to sit on the sides of the theater so I could sketch the audience. All those seats were reserved for members.  There were only a few seats in the far back corner of the theater where I would have only been able to sketch the backs of peoples heads. I decided to stand at the front of the theater to sketch the patrons in the pit. When the Oscars officially began, the theater went black. I fished a book light out of my bag and continued working. About the time Brave won as the best animated feature film, my sketch was done.

I joined Terry at the back of the theater. We were sharing the table with another artist named Dan Tilstra. He does watercolor certificate borders for Florida Hospital. The intricate work is a market I had never considered. His son wants to someday become a Disney Animator so he asked me to show him my sketchbook. His son seemed to think that working for Disney was an impossible dream. I assured him that anything is possible if you work hard enough.

 Kristen Stewart arrived at the Oscars on crutches. Rumor is that she stepped on a glass that cut her heal. Presenting, on stage, she looked completely wasted on pain killers and smiled with disdain. Her hair stylist did a horrible job, making her look like a hot mess. My favorite moment was when

Jennifer Lawrence won the best actress award and then tripped trying to climb the stairs in her Dior Haute Couture dress that billowed out from her hips like a parachute. Hopefully the designer will take note and realize that women do have to be able to move when wearing a gown.

The ceremonies went on agonizingly long and by the end of the evening there were more car commercials than winners. When Ben Affleck accepted his award, he said in a flurry of emotion to Jennifer Garner, his wife in the audience, that, “I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases,” he
said. “It is work but it is the best kind of work, and there’s no one
I’d rather work with.” You just knew he would be sleeping on the couch that night. By the time Argo won as the best picture, I couldn’t wait to escape the theater. My ass was in agony from sitting so long. Dear Academy and advertisers, Argo f*#ck yourself.

Folk Festival

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On Saturday February 9th I went to the Mennello Museum Folk Festival to do a sketch before I went to work. When I arrived bright and early, vendors were still setting up. Two large dog sculptures by Dale Rogers were standing nose to nose in the center of the lawn. Twenty 8-foot-tall, 10-foot-long dog
sculptures made of rusty steel are found all around the museum. The red collars with nametags on the
sculptures indicate those dogs that have been “adopted” to benefit local
animal charities. The Sculpture Garden is always open and dogs on
leashes are welcome. The dogs remain on exhibit through March 3, 2013

Dan Savage at the Sabal Palm Press table was busy selling the Florida environmental books on display. He had a natural knack for small talk and he made a sale as I was sketching.  Highwaymen painters had several tents set up behind me. I noticed a woman starting to do intricate lace work and wished she had been working earlier. She would have made a good sketch. Gordon Spears was walking tent to tent trying to find out which vendors vehicle was blocking traffic in the museum parking lot.

The sound stage had it’s first performers doing children’s songs. As soon as I finished my sketch I had to head off to work. Children in Indian costumes started dancing to a drum beat. They were doing a butterfly dance. The Mennello Museum sent out a heart felt “Thank You” to all the talented people that made the festival possible.

Biloxi Blues

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Walking down Plant Street in Winter Garden, I was surprised to find a Dixieland Band playing in the central gazebo. A few older couples sat in folding chairs watching. I didn’t have enough time to do a sketch, so I kept going. At the Garden Theatre, I asked Sherri Cox, the front house manager, a huge favor because I wanted to sketch the stage from the second floor lighting booth. She was wonderful and made the arrangements. I just had to wait till it was closer to curtain time before she guided me up. I watched everyone enter the theater. It was an older crowd. Some of the men might have served in WWII themselves. Upstairs, I was seated on a tall stool next to a huge black metal spot light and some device that looked like it catches sound waves. This was the first time I saw Biloxi Blues and it was a treat.

Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, Biloxi Blues is the semi-autobiographical comedy-drama by Neil Simon and the second in the trilogy which includes Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound. Biloxi Blues follows
the story of Eugene Jerome as a young army recruit going through basic
training during World War II and the harsh lessons he must face while
stationed at a boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi. Antisemitism among the recruits was a recurring theme throughout the play which is ironic since America was at war with the Germans who were exterminating Jews.

The play is directed by award winning-playwright and acclaimed director Rob
Anderson. This is Anderson’s directorial debut with both the Garden
Theatre and Beth Marshall Presents. The role of Epstein will be played
by C.K. Anderson, the son of Rob Anderson. C.K. starred in the lead role
of the Beth Marshall Presents production of The Diviners last season at just 14 years of age. I must say that the young actor did an amazing job playing Epstein, who questioned the reasoning behind every training method used by the Drill Sargent Toomey, played by Tyler Cravens.

Towards the end of the second act, I heard torrential rain pounding on theatre’s roof. Maybe I noticed it more than the audience below since my ears were so close to the ceiling. It distracted me from the romance blossoming between Eugene, Carl Krickmire, and Daisy, Julie Snyder, on stage and I wondered how I would get back to my car without the sketch getting soaked. The rain stopped long enough for me to get to my car and then it poured on the drive home.

 Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon has one last performance today, Sunday February 24th, at 2PM in the Winter Garden Theater (160 West Plant Street).

RAW:Artists Orlando Presented DISCOVERY

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RAW events are multi-faceted artistic showcases. Each event features a film screening, musical performance, fashion show, art gallery, performance art and a featured hairstylist and makeup artist. These artists are all local, hand-picked talent who have been chosen to feature at RAW. RAW’s mission is to provide up-and-coming artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity so that they might be seen, heard and loved. RAW educates, connects and exposes emerging artists in 64 artistic communities nationwide (and counting!) through monthly showcase events.

I was working to 9PM on February 7th and I wet straight to The Abbey, (100 South Eola Drive, Orlando, Florida), from work. When I arrived, the place was packed. This was definitely the most crowded RAW event I had been to. I scouted around to find a spot to sketch from. There was an unoccupied couch and I made a mental note to return to it if I didn’t find a better sketch location. There was a motorcycle behind the sound guy but I didn’t get a great look at it with the crowd pressing in. With so many artists exhibiting their work, there were only narrow isles to move around in.

I returned to the couch only to discover it was art for sale. It was splattered with paint and glitter. I decided to stand next to the “Art Couch” to draw. Parker Sketch was working on several paintings of cocktail glasses. He works in series applying paint thickly. Of course any time someone expressed interest in his work, he would be drawn away to take on the role of salesman. He had a tip jar out full of bills. It’s exciting to see so much interest in art from the night club crowd. Artist Matthew Sutton stopped to talk to me. He said I should set up a booth. Matthew’s work was traditional pencil renderings, pen and ink and marker work of comic book super heroes. He probably does well at Comic Con. Ashley Rolfe one of the RAW promoters noticed me working and said hello. It was the first time I met her in person. I usually check up with her every time a RAW event is coming to  Orlando. As I was packing up to leave, there was a fashion show taking place on the main stage. It was getting late, time to get home.

Parking Lot Blues

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On February 5th after getting off work at 9pm, I decided to go downtown to One Eyed Jacks to sketch Korndog’s Rock Band Karaoke. The Orlando Weekly listed the event as free so I figure it was a fine spot for a late night sketch and a drink. As I walked to the bar, I noticed these two musicians jamming at the entrance to a parking lot. “Darn”, I thought, “Those guys would make a great sketch”. I decided to keep on task and kept walking to One Eyed Jacks.

At the entrance to the bar I was carded even though my salt and pepper hair is a dead give away that I’m over 21. My ancient beat up license, which was probably issued before the bouncer was born, caused him to do a double take.  He called over another bouncer to take a look. I was finally given clearance and as I was walking in he said, “That will be two dollars.” I turned and said, “Your kidding, right?” Well, the Weekly was wrong. I wasn’t about to pay a cover for bad Karaoke, so I left.

I made a bee line back to the parking lot which is right behind the Greek Orthodox Church near Lake Eola (150 East Washington Street). Cole was teaching Kenny new riffs on the guitar. I leaned against a light pole and sketched them. Cole told me that he had been an artist once. He went to Hawaii with a portfolio and left it in a hotel room by mistake. He turned to his second love which is music. Kenny sang a solo at one point and he had a great voice. It in amazing where talent crops up in Orlando. Kenny helps organize the homeless feedings behind the church where there is often music.

Some lady was walking her toy sized dog and it took a crap on the wood chips while Cole and Kenny and myself watched. When she realized she was being watched the women said, “You wouldn’t happen to have a plastic bag would you?” She and her dog slipped away to her luxury condo. Cole and Kenny laughed at her expression afterward. “She never planned to clean up after her dog.” Was their conclusion.