Mark Baratelli of theDailyCity.com organized the first annual Orlando Improv Festival. I know he has been organizing the event for months so I had to stop by the Winter Park Playhouse and see how the inaugural night played out. When I arrived Mark seemed a little harried but from the start I could see that the event was a success. The lobby of the playhouse is warm and inviting. There are comfortable couches and a full service bar. It has what I consider a Parisian flair. I sketched the box office where Dina Peterson and Ileana “Blue” Johns, were greeting people as they entered. Dina would chime in with, “So, are you here to see a show?” The lobby quickly filled up. Hannah Miller who was also a volunteer sat with her handmade high heeled bunny slippers, working diligently at sidoku on her cell phone. Rabbits that resembled Betsy Die’s wonderful quirky creations were everywhere. I texted Betsy and she explained that Mark had asked her to create rabbits as improv mascots. She didn’t want to spend the 2 hours needed to sew each rabbit. Mark recruited the mom of a friend who ended up sewing the lookalikes. Betsy did have final approval of the final product but some of the demonic charm was lost.
I heard a woman seated at the bar say to her friend, “I think that is Thor.” Since it is a small lobby, I heard her and walked over to say hello. Terry stopped in after work, but she had to get up early the next morning so she didn’t stick around for a show . Hannah and Mike Maples sat at my table and we talked and laughed for the longest time while I finished my sketch. Hannah and Mike went to get some sandwiches and we had dinner before finally heading in to see a show. when we entered the theater, it was pitch dark. I got my iPhone out to use as a flashlight and Hannah shouted out, “Hey help guide us in with your cell phones! ” I believe Sultana or Brian guided us to some seats in the third row.
Mark bounded on the stage and the crowd hooted and hollered . He introduced Boston Improv and everyone cheered. They had me laughing out loud from the start. Scenes changed quickly and the fast pace never slackened. 0ne scene was at a dating service where one woman was training another on how to act when first meeting her date. Someone was pulled from the audience and he was seated next to her. She pushed up right next to him and rubbed her head on his chest like a cat. when she was reprimanded she clutched his knee refusing to give him any space. When she was prompted to say something about herself she said, “I like to drug people while they are asleep.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
The second act I went to see was Droll Academy from Orlando. I was told they perform every week at “The Funky Monkey”. They started with musical improv which had me bopping my head to the beat while I laughed . They too pulled an audience member on the stage. They chose a beautiful Asian woman who they serenaded gently till the lyrics showed the truth, that they wanted to make love to her. As she stood embarrassed one actor writhed on the ground as he continued to sing.
Both performances I went to were packed and people lingered in the lobby between shows. I hope this festival grows and returns bigger and better each year.
ColORLANDO an Arts Community Mural
During the Sonesta Hotel’s ColORLANDO event benefiting the Downtown Arts District, I didn’t have a single moment to sketch. All night I danced an exhausting ballet trying to keep everyone who wanted to paint busy while also doing enough of the painting myself to give the huge canvas a unified look. I was like an alchemist quickly pouring acrylic paints into plastic cups and searching for the right colors. I had to use a transparent glazing medium to make the paint act like the watercolors I use every day. With so many guests approaching the canvas at once, I couldn’t always advise people, and sometimes paint was glopped on with abandon, hiding and weakening the sketch. Most of my time was devoted to reworking spots which drew attention to themselves. My attention was constantly being pulled in many directions at once.
A friend who offered to show up early and help, didn’t show. Two interns who were going to assist me never showed. Terry offered to watch the prints and T-shirts that were for sale. She ended up abandoning the table to party upstairs. With sunlight streaming through the lobby windows, the canvas was translucent. By the time we were painting, the sun had set. While some friends fell to the wayside, others quickly recognized the need and stepped in to help, sometimes for hours at a time. I am blessed to have such amazing friends. Doug Rhodehamel painted a tree to make it look like a mushroom.
The party going on upstairs offered free drinks and plenty of food. Later in the evening, guests would stop down who had definitely had a few drinks. Keeping their work on task was the greatest challenge of the evening. It is a fine line trying to allow some individual expression as long as it worked with the whole piece. Only once did I have to grab a paint brush to stop someone who seemed to be thickly painting a whole building deep purple. Sultana, the event organizer, groaned and turned to me saying, “Stop her!” I rushed in and made changes before the paint dried.
I hadn’t eaten, and there was no way I could abandon the canvas, but someone finally got me a slice of cake and a beer. I don’t know the brand, but that was the best cup of beer I ever tasted.
After the bar closed upstairs there was a rush of people who wanted to help. Several people were conspiring to put Mickey Mouse ears on the castle and one woman complained that Harry Potter and Universal weren’t displayed. I joked that I had never seen the new attraction. It turns out she works for Universal so I may sketch the new attraction soon. (There is still time f0r me to paint it in, hint.) The mural now on display in the Sonesta Hotel lobby has all the signatures of everyone who helped me that night. Thank you all for this amazing experience similar to Tom Sawyer’s whitewashed fence.
The abandoned merchandise table had two $200 prints mysteriously disappear along with many T-shirts. Three friends who knew me, paid for shirts as I continued to paint. The T-shirt I was wearing was stained with sweat all night.
The next day I had no desire to be around any people. I drove to Cocoa Beach and sat staring at the sandpipers who ran from the oncoming waves then chased the waters edge as the thin film flowed back. Scurry and peck, an active full life. There wasn’t a soul within fifty yards of me all day.
I returned to do this sketch of the mural on display in the lobby the following day. As I sketched, a busload of young models entered the lobby and the place exploded with conversation and girlish laughter. A woman with Kelly written on her name tag asked if I was Thor. She is an artist and she uses the same sketchbook I do. She was in the hotel attending a wisdom seminar and I was invited to sketch the next day’s session. Life and the blog, marches on. Mark Moravec, the hotel’s general manager, saw me sketching and expressed how happy he was with the event. Even with the setbacks, I was proud and satisfied to have been part of such an amazing collaborative experience.
Talk like a Pirate Day.
To celebrate talk like a pirate day, Terry and I drove to Sanford where there was going to be a pirate costume contest. There was a group of unsavory characters gathered around the Visitors borough. Terry had on a black and white striped shirt some mighty fancy studded pirates boots and a real fencing sword. I was dressed up for a Gala reception I planned to draw later that night. A dog walked by with a pirate hat on and there were two other dogs in costume. All told maybe ten people had dressed in their pirate best. I convinced Terry to sign up for the costume contest. The hag announcer with her missing teeth, mispronounced Terry’s name saying Thornpecker. Oh the indignity! Terry got to strut up the walkway past the judges brandishing her sword. Awards were given out in various categories and although I didn’t compete, I was handed a silver piece of eight. Being the first incarnation of this event, it was understandably small but I trust tharrr be morrrre pirates next Yearrr!
Backpack Delivered
Amanda Chadwick introduced me to Elaine Pelletier, a caseworker for the Children’s Home Society. We drove off in Elaine’s car on a mission to deliver a backpack to one of kids she oversees. I can’t say his name so I’ll call him Sam. Sam is now under dependency based care, meaning he has a guardian. He loves to draw and Elaine said he doesn’t get alot of one on one attention. He is highly intelligent and loves to read. They are looking into moving him into accelerated classes for reading. He has had occasional outbursts where he broke things, but hey who hasn’t ? Elaine had never been to the address she had been given before so we had an adventure to find the place. We walked into the waiting room of what appeared to be a doctor’s office. Sam was given his backpack and he looked through its contents for a while. Elaine had explained on the drive over that he doesn’t react with much emotion. He posed calmly for the quick sketch offering suggestions for color and placement of some items. There is a definite fire in his eyes. Elaine’s primary purpose is to see that he gets the mental health resources that he needs and that he follows up with appointments. Sam seemed to enjoy the attention and he wanted a color copy which the receptionist kindly offered to make. His guardian also decided she wanted a copy. It is hard to imagine what Sam must have been through in his short life but I have high hope that he will find his way through this life.
ColORLANDO
On Thursday September 23rd I will be unveiling a 16 and a half foot long mural of the downtown Orlando skyline at an event called ColORLANDO at the Sonesta Hotel Orlando Downtown
(60 South Ivanhoe Boulevard Orlando, FL).
Eat, Paint and Party while benefiting the Downtown Orlando Arts District!
Experience the best of Orlando in food and entertainment as the Sonesta celebrates our vibrant local arts community. You are invited to preview Sonesta’s stylish, newly renovated property and mingle with artists in a whole new way!
ColORLANDO is your chance to be a part of creating a community masterpiece with award-winning sketch artist Thomas Thorspecken that will adorn the walls of the Sonesta Hotel while enjoying local entertainment at its finest including:
– Music by the Olga Feroni Jazz Trio
– Live DJ
– Celebrity lookalikes
– Live dance performances
– Opportunities to win great prizes, including a Cruise on the Nile in Egypt.
– Much, much more!
This will be an event you don’t want to miss, featuring an exclusive Silent Auction benefiting the Downtown Orlando Arts District! The party starts at 5:30pm .
For this event I needed to enlarge a sketch I did of downtown Orlando. I considered doing this at Full Sail using an overhead projector to project the sketch on canvas duck taped to the classroom white board. The setup worked but I was suddenly shocked at the size of the mural. I would need a large ladder in order to sketch the top half of the image. I quickly realized that would be a painful process. Two different people suggested I take the sketch to Triangle Reprograhics. When I went in to drop off the sketch, David Magagni walked me through the printing plant back to an area where I could compare various canvases. I immediately wanted to sketch. After checking a proof later in the week, I asked about sketching the mural when it went to press. At first the request was turned down by the foreman, but someone suggested I call Reg Garner, the VP of sales,and he loved the idea.
The 16 foot long mural was to be printed on the Vutek 5330 EC press. Eli Melendez wearing his New York Yankees baseball cap showed me how the press works. The canvas is threaded through a series of rollers and then flows over the top of the machine. A large box moves back and forth adding the inks to the canvas. I arrived at Triangle Repro shortly after 5pm. The night crew works till 11pm. Unfortunately the operator who set up my job wasn’t in, so the press sat silent. My nerves grew raw as I sketched knowing the mural was just a button push away from being finished, and the grand fund raising party at the Sonesta hotel was fast approaching.
So please come out tonight and help me add acrylic color washes to help finish up this huge canvas. Tonight promises to be an amazing party!
Moving School Supplies
Amanda Chadwick and Sarah Dillon had to move donated school supplies from a storage unit back to the Children’s Home Society offices. A ground floor office space had been donated by the landlord specifically for the back to school drive. An Enterprise moving truck had to be rented for the task. We all piled into Sarah’s huge pickup truck with the country music wailing and headed to the truck rental place. After a few minutes of paperwork, we all climbed up into the cab of the rental truck. There wasn’t a third seat, so I crouched behind the stick shift. There was a sliding door which gave access to the back of the truck so I forced that open and climbed back , giving me plenty of leg room. The back of the truck was rickety and noisy.
Sarah had some tight maneuvering to do since space was tight around the entry gates to the storage facility. When we found unit K-10 the hard work started. The unit was stuffed full of cardboard boxes full of school supplies. Much of the time Amanda lifted boxes and carried them to the truck where Sarah then arranged them in the truck. It was blazing hot. The transfer took just long enough for me to get the sketch one. When we got back to the Children’s Home Society, the truck had to be unloaded . Amanda called for some help and three or four women came from the upstairs offices to help. Not a single man was on hand to help out. I of course was busy sketching. I don’t think many people think about the hours of backbreaking work that goes along with the simple act of giving children the supplies they need to be successful in school.
Appeal Letters
I visited the offices of the Children’s Home Society as the organization geared up to give away 800 backpacks to children in need as part of their back to school drive. Amanda Chadwick and Sarah Dillon were in a tiny corner office stuffing envelopes. This first step in the process involved sending appeal letters asking for donations for the cause. Past back to school drives had been a huge success thanks to the many kind donations from all over Central Florida. Many children all over the state are faced with starting school without the basic school supplies needed for success. People who donated a backpack this year were given a ticket to see Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 on ice.
Many of the children in the care of the Children’s Home Society have suffered from abuse and neglect and they need support to succeed both emotionally and academically. These backpacks full of school supplies can make a difference. Here are the supplies that are given away in each elementary student’s backpack. 1 dozen #2 pencils, 1 rectangular pink eraser, 1 box of colored pencils, 3 folders with 2 prongs and 3 pockets, 1 pack wide rule loose-leaf notebook paper, 2 glue sticks, 1 ruler with inches and centimeters, 1 pair Fiskars brand scissors, 1 plastic pencil box, and a new backpack.
All of these supplies are donated by people who open their hearts, giving whatever they can to help. Should you want to help with next years drive, contact the Children’s Home Society at 321 397-3000.
Adoption
Amanda Chadwick from the Children’s Home Society invited me to the courthouse to sketch an adoption proceeding. When we entered the building we had to get past security. My portable artists stool raised a red flag and the guards got into a discussion as to how lethal a weapon it might be. Amanda’s bag needed a second search and a curling iron was found which was equally lethal. The guards were considering allowing the chair, but to cut the red tape, Amanda and I went back out to the parking lot to get rid of the contraband. When it was discovered that I planned to sketch, guards and lawyers got involved in letting me know how short the proceeding would be and how unlikely it would be that I would get a sketch. A lawyer introduced Amanda and I to the Joma family who would be adopting two children this day. The baby girl was only three days old when the family first began to care for her. The little boy, a toddler, was strutting around the courthouse like he was a lawyer himself. He was dressed in a very corporate looking suit. At one point he walked over and hugged his little sister.
The time spent in the courtroom was indeed brief. The judge quickly announced the completion of all the needed paper work and the family pledged that they loved the children and would raise them in a caring household. I glanced over at Amanda when it was over and she had gotten quite choked up. Even though she had worked for the Children’s Home Society for sometime, this was the first time she had witnessed an adoption firsthand.
The Auction
The seating was assigned, and I was surprised that Terry and I were seated right behind Harriet Lake. This was prime real estate. Tom Yokum from Lowndes, Drosdick, Kantor & Reed was seated next to us with his wife. Terry grabbed my sketchbook and showed it to his wife. The auctioneer for the evening was a no show and Tom was asked to fill in. Harriet Lake had donated a bracelet studded with 173 diamonds. Tom knew many of the patrons in the room and he used this to his advantage to get people to bid. He shouted out, “Come on now, you spend more than that to fuel up your private jet.” The bidding was fast and furious. Congressional contender Bill Segal raised his hand once but didn’t bid aggressively. Melanie Love is the woman who got to show off this amazing jewelry for the rest of the night. She had been joking with us earlier in the evening about how they would build a tower out of Snickers bars every Halloween. The bars would have to be removed gingerly by the kids to keep the tower from collapsing.
A preview of the play “39 Steps” began shortly after the auction. I fired up my book light and kept working. Watercolors were applied in the darkness. 39 Steps was hilarious. It is a tongue in cheek view of a crime drama akin to Hichcock’s “North by Northwest .” A scene in a crowded train had all the actors moving and swaying to the rythem of the train. Brandon Roberts was particularlY funny in a Chaplinesque way. A chase scene on top of the train was made complete as the actors ruffled their waistcoats with their hands. The scenes were overacted and melodramatic to great humorous effect.
After the preview, a trio performed in the lobby. I contemplated doing one more sketch but I knew time was limited. Betsy Die gave me the photo which had been taken of Terry and myself earlier in the evening. I felt like we were being given the VIP treatment. It is the little things that make an evening truly memorable.
Shakespeare Gala
As Terry and I entered the Shakespeare Theater, a woman remarked that there would be no overnight camping allowed. I was confused at first but soon realized she was talking about the camping chair that I had slung over my shoulder. Even though I was wearing a suit, I still wasn’t fully able to blend in with Orlando’s upper crust. Terry had on a solid gold gown and was concerned she might be overdressed. Shannon Lacek was the first person to greet us once we entered the lobby. She directed me to the will call booth to get tickets for a preview performance of “The 39 Steps” later in the evening.
Terry approached Devin Dominguez, who was signing people in for auction bid books. I walked around on my own searching for a spot to do my sketch. The Patron’s Room was packed and I decided against sketching in such a tight space. Instead I wandered through the lobby looking at one food station after another. I settled on the Rosen Centre Hotel’s station which had translucent blue plastic cubes which were all illuminated blue. At the meat station there were lamb shanks which I later tried and they were delicious. There was also an assortment of vegetable platters and raw clams and mussels.
The chefs were rushing to get the food prepped and ready. I stood at one of the circular tables that had been set up in the hall and got to work. Terry joined me with her plate of food. I decided I couldn’t eat until I had finished my sketch. Other couples joined us and the executive director of the Rep, Gene Columbus, was having a conversation about how the Rep needed to apply for all available grants in order to grow. He felt the Rep always did the best they could with the resources available.
When I finished my sketch, I finally got a plate of food. I ate quickly before they opened up the theater.