On July 4th I went with Terry down to Gaston Edwards Park on Lake Ivanhoe to see what 4th Fest was all about. For $5 you could hang out in the park and see about 20 bands as they performed all day long. I sat down and sketched Dirt McCoy & the Trailer Park Refugees. The harmonica player had on a tie died red white and blue shirt. The music had a hard hitting southern flair. The set lasted just 20 minutes and then Mumpsy took to the stage. I debated about starting a second sketch but something told me I shouldn’t. To the left of the stage a group of girls set up with Hulla Hoops. When the music started they danced to the music while Hulla Hooping the whole time. A definite future sketch opportunity. I noticed that the drummer from The trailer Park Refugees was the lead singer of Mumpsy.
The sky turned gray and then it opened up with a torrential downpour. To Mumpsy’s credit they kept right on playing. The audience ran right up to the stage to get under the edge of the tent structure. Everyone continued to dance and the crowd grew much more intimate. Amanda and Matt stood face to face their red and yellow umbrellas overlapping. I had a very torn and tattered umbrella that was a joke. Some spokes were broken and the fabric was torn away from the spoke tips. Terry and I decided to head back to her car. As it turns out my cell phone got soaked on the trip to the car and it no longer allowed me to enter numbers or look at texts. From here Terry and I drove down to Celebration where we planned to watch the free fireworks.
July 4th – Celebration
Terry and I drove down to Celebration to catch the fireworks display. When we first entered the complex, there was a parking lot where we could then catch a bus to the downtown festivities. The place was packed and there was a huge crowd surrounding the main stage where an Elvis impersonator was singing and a group of 1950’s dancers were performing. I didn’t feel like sketching the huge crowd or the ever changing dancers so I wandered until I found a nice relaxing spot next to this Chinese food concession stand. The meals were prepared to order so the cook was in constant motion trying to keep up with the demand. Right next to the Chinese food was a beer tent which had just as much of a demand.
Several times mothers stopped to point out the artist to their children. I never stopped working and in time they wandered off. On little girl kept watch for close to half an hour before being dragged off to find a perfect fireworks viewing spot. Terry wandered around and found us a spot behind the hotel where she wanted to go to view the display. When the sketch was finished we went over to the hotel. There was now a guard at the door who told us we had to be guests of the hotel in order to get in. Terry was furious since she had gotten in earlier. We finally sat down on a grassy knoll and relaxed. There was a dramatic count down from ten but it was a false alarm. When the fireworks finally lit up the sky they were dramatic and well timed to the music. I saw some explosions that were new to me. Some mortars had secondary sparks which then buzzed away like bees. Terry and I muscled our way out of the crowd before the last of the mortars lit up the sky. Our bus was the first to leave the crowded downtown area.
Public Feeding Ordinance
In September I sketched the organization, Food Not Bombs as they feed the homeless at Lake Eola. At the time they were allowed to serve food because of a September 2008 court victory which stated that denying this group the right to feed people would be a violation of the groups first amendment rights. On July 6, 2010 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal reversed that opinion and there is once again an ordinance against feeding people in the park. The city attorney claimed that the feeding of people in the park was considered ” an abusive use” of the park.
I went down to the park right after hearing about the ruling to see if Food Not Bombs would still offer food even when there was an ordinance that restricted such an act. When I arrived there was a small line of people waiting for clothing. A channel 13 news van was on site and video cameras and photographers were wandering around. I passed one angry man who didn’t want to be on camera. He shouted, “Why do they consider this so news worthy now? What is so interesting about a bunch of people trying to get something to eat?” A woman next to him said, “I don’t care if they take my picture so long as I get something to eat.”
Someone shouted out that if people wanted clothes they should get in line. People sorted through the clothing for well over an hour. I started to think that maybe Food Not Bombs was going to get around the new ordinance by simply focusing just on clothing needs for now. But then I caught a whiff of some food being cooked behind me. A news helicopter hoovered above the small crowd. The loud sound was unnerving but I tend to gravitate to events where helicopters are needed.
In the picnic area with a nice wrought iron fence around it was now crowded with people having dinner conversations and sharing stories. Huge trees spiral up in this corner of the park, their thick trunks showing signs of hundreds of years of growth. A large white banner was hung on the fence that said “We will not stop till every stomach if full.” It was obvious that Food Not Bombs was not about to cower away from their humanitarian mission because of some new legislation. This issue of public feeding had been bounced around the courts like a ping pong ball. The day may still come again when it is perfectly legal to help feed the people around you in need.
Blend
Blend was a live painting event held at Taste (717 West Smith Street in College Park). Frankie Messina and Tracy Burke helped organize this unique collaborative event. Blend bought together artists from a wide variety of disciplines and had them all work on a series of canvases together. When I arrived with Terry, we made our way back to the red room where the lights were blazing and we could hear the conversations of all the artists at work. Jeremy Seghers and Amanda Chadwick were in the restaurant and I suggested Terry join them as I finished up a sketch. Plastic was draped over the walls and floor to avoid paint getting everywhere. Even with these precautions, someone stepped on a palette and stomped red paint everywhere. The mess was quickly cleaned up. The art styles were varied and in some ways disjointed when placed side by side on a single canvas. It took some time and effort to see some of the canvases find a unified vision. A man wearing a Viking helmet had horns which had diodes inside that would light up and move up and down to the beat of the music. After the event, I learned that the artist in the foreground of the sketch is Maisy May Marrs. She did a fun quirky painting of a serious redheaded girl in the cornet of the canvas she was working on. She stares up at a stick figure girl on top of her head. the image is strangely unsettling.
Since I hadn’t been invited to join the effort, I just concentrated on my sketch. I later found out that both Terry and Amanda had contributed to a piece so I suppose I should have made a contribution. Louise Bova whose work is expressionistic and representational, decided to just add swirling brush strokes which added to the pattern of a painting. Once I finished my sketch I joined Jeremy Amanda and Terry out in the restaurant. I ordered some tater tots and a drink. The dinner conversation was lively and well greased with some drinks. Jeremy and Amanda had to get to an 11 o’clock SAK comedy club show so they took off. Terry and I stayed behind and waited for the band to start playing in the red room as many of the artists packed up and left.
Kundalini Yoga at Baba Siri Chad Ashram
Teresa White Raduazzok invited me to join her on a trip to the Baba Siri Chad Ashram to experience Kundalini Yoga. The Ashram is located at 404 East Center Street Altamonte Springs. When we arrived Teresa showed me around the meditation garden. The garden was gorgeous with tall bamboo making it feel like an exotic secluded forest. Ancient statues covered in moss were found is quiet corners of the garden and a small gazebo housed a place where two people could sit facing one another on pillows. Also in the structure was a large bronze statue of a muscular man named Baba Siri Chand who was a farmer in India who became enlightened. Instead of secluding himself on a mountain top , he continued farming and helped bring enlightenment to the people.
I had bought a yoga mat but was very self conscious about it because it was foam and bright pink. Teresa had a beautiful old quilt and I suspected I might stand out. At the entry way there was a place to put your shoes before entering the building. The interior is amazing. The room was filled with golden light from the huge windows facing the garden. Every wall was covered with intricate murals with images of snakes coiling around cylinders and shapes that mirrored one another and seemed to spiral up the walls in organic and flowing patterns.
Teresa mentioned to the instructor that I would be doing a sketch. The instructor said to me, “This isn’t a spectator sport, I expect you to do some of the exercises.” This left me feeling nervous, I was certain I would get kicked out of the Ashram. I worked with extra speed to get as much of the sketch finished as I could before I was given the boot. I did the breathing exercises, called rapid breath of fire, and some of the upper body work. I would close my eyes on occasion to fully experience the flow of energy but soon I would open them and continue my sketch which is my way of merging with the universe around me. Breathing consisted of fast staccato inhales and exhales for an extended period of time. The movements were more relaxed and gentle that yoga I had taken in the past. Kundalini in Sanskrit means “That which is coiled”, it is conceptualized as a snake that is coiled three and a half times at the base of the spine. When Kundalini is awakened it brings the person pure joy, knowledge and love.
When everyone lay down for meditation, I decided my sketch was finished and I joined them. The instructor got out large bronze and glass bowls. She took a wooden mallet and used it to rub along the outer lip of the bowls. A warm humming note was generated which could be felt right down to the spine. She sang a series of vowels along with the resonant note. Everyone’s breathing grew heavy and relaxed. A man in front of me was snoring. The instructor recited verses which told us we should shine out light out into the world, that our influence should extend beyond Orlando, Beyond Florida and we should envision the whole world engulfed in this loving light.
Longtime Sun Song:
May the longtime sun shine upon you:
All love surround you
and the pure light within you
guide your way on.
Mellow Mushroom
Every Monday night at about 8:30PM the Mellow Mushroom (11680 East Colonial Drive), holds an event called Drink & Draw. I heard there was prize money for the best sketch, so I couldn’t resist going out for a pizza in the name of art. A waitress seated me at a booth at the edge of the room. I didn’t notice any sort of staging area so I asked her about the event. She pointed to the sound system set up on the opposite side of the room. She said a DJ would announce the contest and then a model would pose on some chairs for 3 five minute poses. The prizes were as follows:
1st place would be a $25 Mellow Mushroom gift certificate.
2nd place would be a $10 Mellow Mushroom gift certificate.
3rd place would be a Wild Garlic Ball appetizer.
I ordered a vegetarian pizza with the works and a Mountain Dew. The announcer walked around to all the tables and handed out paper and pencils. I took a sheet of paper to be polite but I had already started the sketch in my sketchbook. The model, dressed as Bat Girl stood on a couple of chairs and took heroic poses. The lighting left her in the darkness and with so many tables in front of me I seldom had a clear view of her. I finally had to get up and walk to the front of the room. I leaned up against a 10 foot tall fiberglass mushroom and quickly jotted down her pose. When it came time to judge I of course was still adding watercolor washes. I didn’t win anything since I was still at work.
KC arrived and joined me for a second round of sketching. She ordered a soda and I offered her some of my pizza which I couldn’t finish. The second model was dressed as a rock and roll musician and she held a guitar. I was still working on the color washes but this time I took perhaps a minute each to jot down the poses. I wasn’t inspired by the stiff poses and the drawings sucked. KC moved to a closer table and worked diligently while I went back to my sketchbook. When the prizes were announces for the second set of poses, KC was the grand prize winner. She used the certificate to pay for the pizza and drinks so my sketching adventure that night cost me nothing!
Margret Sleeps
Mary Hill has been caring for her ailing mother for the last five years. Her mother has pulmonary fibrosis, among many other problems. Margaret Hill is at home, bedridden and under the constant care of her daughter along with private duty help. Recently, she is also under the medical direction of a local Hospice. I met Mary at a writing workshop and it was with a refreshing openness, curiosity and acceptance of the beauty of this thing we call life and death that Mary told me about her mother. I expressed an interest and love of sketching people in diverse scenarios. It was then with a tremendous leap of faith and generosity that Mary invited me to her mother’s home to meet and sketch her Mom. When I was introduced to Margaret, she clutched my hand with a surprisingly firm grip the whole time we talked. A CD was playing soothing Christian music by Ruth Fazal and when we weren’t talking Margaret would close her eyes and hum to the songs. She falls asleep every night to this same music and at her request listens to these same songs many times a day. “They are my favorites,” she shares with a smile. I asked her if I could sketch and she gladly agreed. A rocking chair, and a great source of pride, as it is the same rocking chair that Margaret had rocked all 5 of her children and many grandchildren to sleep in, sat at the foot of her bed. I sat down in the seat of honor and quietly blocked in the scene and before long Margaret was fast asleep. Mary felt my presence and attention had a soothing affect on Margaret. Mary left the room to afford me quiet, focused time to sketch. Her mother breathed evenly with fresh oxygen being supplied by a noisy oxygen concentrator that was down the hallway in the living room. The machine made a constant sound much like a scuba diving apparatus.
From where I sat at the foot of the bed, I could see Mary down the hall at the kitchen table writing in her journal. I thought she might be curious about my drawing so once I had the features of Margaret’s face set down in ink, I got up and quietly walked down the hall to show her. I tapped her on the shoulder and showed her the early stages of the drawing. She was moved to tears at the startling reality and solemn beauty of her mother. She said I had captured the essence and expression of her mother right down to the slight worry lines that often furrow her brow. I had never had someone cry when they saw my work before. I felt I was doing something important by documenting this fleeting moment. When I returned to work I proceeded with quiet deliberateness. Drawing and listening to Margaret’s breath left me with a sense of peace and a certainty that this was an important drawing.
Unity
I was invited By Sultana Fatima Ali to attend Unity Church of Christianity (4801 Clarcona – Ocoee Road). She was going to be singing two solos this Sunday and I was looking forward to the performance. The church was modest in size set back a way from the road. I pulled into the dirt parking lot up front and made my way to the sanctuary. I felt a little trepidation as I entered but those thoughts were quickly set aside. Unity is not your average church. Their Christianity embraces ideas from Buddhism, Native American Culture and Metaphysics. This more open minded approach is unexpected and illuminating.
The sermon by Robert Marshall was inspiring in ways I didn’t expect. His whole sermon centered around the idea of light. As an artist this is one thing I am thinking about all the time, and his sermon offered up the subject with creativity. I liked the idea that we are beings of light, that we radiate light into the world and affect others. He stressed that light is all about motion while darkness is stagnant. Darkness is a manifestation of the world’s physical limitations that bind us and hold us back, whereas light brings us peace, joy and illuminates our pure creative potential. When we are filled with light we can experience enthusiasm and we discover and embrace our unlimited potential. He touched on the idea that light can act as a sort of armor that casts away fears and the inevitable thoughts of “I can’t”. There is an unlimited part to our inner being that just needs to be illuminated. When the sermon was over, I was fired up and ready to unleash my full creative potential. I was of course sketching the whole time he spoke and I worked with a renewed sense of energy and urgency.
Near the beginning of the service people were invited to stand and greet their neighbors. Everyone was hugging and I soon found myself hugging strangers as if I had known them for years. The first song Sultana performed was “Coming out of the Dark” by Gloria Estefan. This tied in perfectly with the days theme of light, joy, enthusiasm and infinite possibilities. After her performance the congregation gave her a standing ovation. This sort of excited outburst was unheard of in the Methodist church of my youth. Sultana’s second song, “Just Around the River Bend” from Pocahontas came about from a conversation I had with her once where I pointed out that life can present you with a crossroads and she concurred. She knew also knew that I worked on that film.
At the end of the service everyone joined hands and sang together. I left feeling a warm glow of fellowship. In a back room of the church food had been prepared and I was invited to have some lunch. The amazing scents filled the hallway as I went back. My spirit and body were recharged and ready to take on the world. I actually stayed for the second service since I needed more time to finish my sketch. I had just enough time to finish up.
Spring Awakening
Jerehmy Seghers directed Spring Awakening, a Children’s Tragedy at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. I sketched a reading of Spring Awakening many months ago in the Broadway Across America offices. Much of the cast had changed since those initial readings. Sarah Villegas who had read the roll of Wendla Bergman, now had a roll in “9 Parts of Desire.” I am sure this conflict was the reason she no longer played this lead roll in Spring Awakening. At this rehearsal she sat right under the large oval shaped theater light. She laughed and applauded the work of her fellow actors.
There is now a musical version of this play but Jeremy went back to the original German translated script for this show. All of the sexual repression and the difficult transition from child to adult have strong relevance today. The play was written back in 1891 but remains very much relevant today. A scene where Melchior rapes Wendla in a hay loft is brutal and unexpected. In another scene Wendla asks a friend to hit her with a stick since her parents never beat her. I am reminded of a Eurythmics song that shots out “Some of them want to use you, some of them want to get used by you.”
Unrequited love and uncertainty about sexual identity causes major tragic events to unfold with authority figures flapping their lips about moral order. Children are expected to discover their sexuality while blind folded.
Third Annual Job Fair
Congresswoman Corrine Brown from the third Congressional District of Florida, helped organize this much needed job fair for Central Floridians. A job fair is an opportunity for participants to meet and possibly interview with potential employers from a broad range of industries. This year there were over 63 employers participating. This fair was held at the Amway Arena (600 West Amelia Street.)
When I arrived I was handed a slip of paper that required me to fill out all my personal information. Since I wasn’t actually participating in the fair, I decided to write in typos for every bit of information to avoid getting inundated with political mailers. Once the form was filled out I was given an orange armband and I was ushered into the arena along with everyone else arriving. The ushers filled up an entire section of the stadium seating. I started a sketch from this vantage point but then more people started marching in, blocking my view and leaving me no elbow room. I moved to am empty section to the left but then that started filling up as well and an usher told me I would have to squeeze up front. I got up and started walking back up the stadium steps. Ushers kept shouting at me telling me to sit in my assigned area. I finally found a manager at the top of the stadium level. He told me that to sketch I would need not an orange arm band but a yellow arm band. He pointed me in some direction and I started to wander.
I finally picked a spot to sit on the opposite side of the stadium away from ushers and job seekers. I never bothered to get my yellow arm band but I did cut off the Orange arm band since it gave the ushers an excuse to tell me where I could and could not sit.
The Star Spangled Banner started to play and there was a long pause before the participants realized they should stand. This was followed by the pledge of allegiance. A woman took to the podium and shouted out OK everyone go get them! Everyone in the section I had been seated in stood up and started to move towards the ramp to the stadium floor. Ushers started to shout out, “You can’t go down right now. Have a seat!” A participant shouted back, “But she said go get them!” The usher had to explain that only one section at a time was going to be allowed on the floor. There were about 5 sections filled up at this point and another section was filling up as well. Many hundreds of people if not thousands were waiting for their chance to show their strengths to prospective employees.
Directly in front of where I was seated, Aflac and the Social Security Administration were busy talking to people. Forms were being filled out frantically at a table in the foreground. Each of the theme parks were represented as was the major branches of the military and police departments. Most of the participants wandering the floor were dressed in their Sunday best but I was also surprised to see some people dressed in tee shirts and shorts. From my quick glimpse of this event it seems obvious that the recession is far from over.