On the first night of FRESH, I started to sketch people getting free massages. When the sketch was half finished, I decided to try a neck massage for myself. My neck always tenses up when I am sketching. I figured getting the massage was a form of research. How else could I understand how the clients felt? Naomi Bourassa worked on my neck while Denise Lefebvre worked on another client. Naomi did a great job focusing on my neck. I became disoriented at one point and lost track of where she was standing. I don’t know why that was on my mind, I was trying to visualize the massage with my eyes closed. As I said, this was research. when my shoulders were loose, Naomi rolled my head, and stretched it side to side. She finished up just as the first of the audience members started to enter the theater. I felt great.
On night two I asked her to work the kinks out again . The sketch is probably more expressive since I did my homework by fully living the experience.
Nude Nite – Fuschia Foxxx
Kelly Stevens the founder and mastermind of Nude Nite asked me to stop in to the event to do some sketches each night. If you missed Nude Nite which ran from February 11-13th you missed an amazing experience. I would suggest you look up the event coming up in Tampa on March 4-6th. You really shouldn’t miss it. When I arrived at the warehouse I walked in a side door and was stopped by a bouncer, I guess I had walked in the exit. Getting my hand stamped and getting checked off the list took a few minutes. The open warehouse space where the event was staged was packed. Art was to be found in every nook and cranny of the place. I wandered in a daze wondering what I should sketch first. There were live nude picture installations with nude models voguing behind gilded frames. In one corner, artists were sketching a nude model. Wandering the floor were many dancers moving provocatively and stealthily. Suddenly loud music blared from a corner stage with red and blue curtains and a gilded offset fame defining the stage.
Fuschia Foxxx a burlesque performer from Seattle took to the stage. Fuschia moved like a sensuous belly dancer. A large red skull with glowing rind stones covered her crotch. When she raised her arms, six other arms followed making her look like an Indian Goddess. Slowly and with some flair, the elements of her costume fell away and the crowd cheered as the music grew louder.
After her act was over, I started splashing color on the sketch as fast as I could so I could move on and explore some more.
As I wandered the room people I had never met before started introducing themselves to me. Getting to meet so many new people was fun and unexpected. It made me want to return again. I had come this first night after FRESH had completed its night of performances. That meant I really only had time for this one sketch and I was desperately wanting to sketch some more.
Voci Dance – iMove_2.0: iCandy Rehearsal
iMove_2.0: iCandy was built around the theme of love. Naomi Rhema and McClaine Timmeran started writing love notes on long strips of paper and envelopes as they waited for the dance rehearsal to start. The long strips of paper were used to construct a paper chandelier which hung in the center of the performance space much like an upside down wedding cake. Full Sail students were busy hanging lights and setting up a second installation with light bulbs hanging from long wires and flexible PVC zip tied to the rafters. 
Actually, a female student was at the top of the ladder the whole time doing all the work while the male student stood at the bottom of the ladder checking instant messages on his cell phone. The Full Sail students all volunteered their time to get all the lighting and high tech projections in place. They may have worked several all-nighters to get this show up in time for ArtsFest.
Genevieve Bernard explained that this installation was all about technology and how it affects romance. I loved an act between dances when McClaine acted like a high school girl talking on a Touch-Tone phone. She danced around excitedly stepping over the cord and then wrapping herself up in the cords embrace. This was lighthearted fun in keeping with much of the show. There were also cell phones hung with care and some very old computers and video games.
The dancers went through a routine in which they all wear LED-head lamps. There was something haunting and tribal about this performance. Periodically, I would be blinded by a dancer,s high beam if she turned her head in my direction. When the warehouse is dark, this dance should looked amazing.
In the several rehearsals I sat in on, I only saw a small fraction of the final show. This keeps me hungry, always wanting to stick around for one more sketch as the drama in motion unfolds. This was one of my favorite ArtsFest events, and it required a whole lot of love and commitment to bring it to life.
37th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
A pro choice meeting was held at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando(1901 East Robinson Street) to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the supreme court decision to legalize abortion in America. There were finger sandwiches and plenty of cake and cookies before the meeting. I must have downed about a dozen girl scout cookies. A sweet old lady names Shirley came up to me and introduced herself. She asked if I was a member of the church and she was warm and welcoming. A crowd of perhaps 30 or 40 people gathered and sat to listen to what speakers had to say. I found it interesting that there was a sign that read, “Republicans for Choice”. When a speaker asked how many Republicans were in the room, the blond woman directly in front of me was the only person to raise a hand.
The most moving talk was given by Reverend Roberta of the First Unitarian Church. She relived an experience she had when she was in college. A friend of hers who had never taken a sex education class, ended up getting pregnant. The woman was devastated and decided she had to abort the baby. Back then abortion was illegal but was still being practiced in back alleys. She was told to wait for a car to pick her up at a specific location and she would be dropped off at the same place an hour later. Roberta was in the group of woman who picked the poor woman up. She had been told to only seek medical help if the bleeding became excessive. She was bleeding, but certainly didn’t know how to define excessive. She also didn’t want to go to doctors who would almost certainly figure out what had happened. Everyone in the car finally decided they had to get her to an emergency room. By this time there was no question that the woman was bleeding excessively. The friend lived but could have easily died that day.
Sue Idtensohn from Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando spoke about how right to life advocates keep chipping away at Roe v. Wade in any way they can. She said one way they found to deal with demonstrators was to have a lawn sprinkler system installed. She said the town tried to limit the days that the sprinklers are turned on. But if demonstrators are on the property, she still plans to turn on the sprinklers regardless. She feels women are entitled to proper sexual health care and advice and they should not have to walk through demonstrators to get it.
Two Hearts: One Love
The ride from Hannah Miller’s home to the Orange County Courthouse was a bit nerve-wracking, since the rain just wouldn’t let up. Hannah’s roommate, Caeley, drove Hannah to the courthouse. When they arrived, Caeley didn’t want to leave the car since it was raining so hard. She never did get out of the car, remaining there through the whole wedding ceremony. When I got to the courthouse steps, Hannah was standing in the front entry with a small crowd of men surrounding her, admiring her dress. It was cold, so she said we should all get inside. As she made her way through security, a man complimented her on her dress and asked, “Who is the lucky man?” Hannah replied, “I honestly don’t know him.” She wasn’t lying.
Upstairs in the Marriage License office there was a huge crowd of people all waiting for her arrival. People applauded when she entered. Then we all waited for the groom; notoriously late to his own performances. Couples were escorted periodically into the small room where the wedding ceremonies take place. With everyone talking excitedly, one of the court clerks finally shouted out, “Would you all please quiet down? We are trying to perform some REAL marriages in the next room!” I was wedged up in a tight spot, sketching right next to the door to the ceremony room. Every time the door was opened, I would have to lean to one side since my sketch bag would be hit by the opening door. Whenever a new couple exited the room, our group clapped and cheered. When a new couple would walk into the room, however, everyone was silent. Hannah said, “That is because we were all judging them.” I started to get worried that Hannah might be left at the altar without a groom, but about a half hour late, Brian finally showed up. He apologized saying traffic had been crazy because of the rain. The waiting continued.
Finally, the court clerk called out the names of Hannah and Brian. About 30 people squeezed into the small ceremony room while others crowded in the doorway trying to peek in. I stood on a chair so I could see the couple and sketch.
Logan Donahoo gave away the bride and from this point on it was a traditional ceremony. Hannah struggled with her veil during the beginning of the ceremony and apologized to the clerk. When Brian was asked if he would “Take this woman” he hesitated for the longest time. He finally decided to simply say, “I do.” Jeremy Seghers held the ring which was fashioned from a marriage license that had been denied to a same- sex couple earlier that afternoon. Brian said that the bouquet should be for the same sex couple who were standing at the foreground of all the action. When the ceremony was over, Brian stomped on a plastic cup and people shouted out, “Mazel tov!” Then, Brian and Hannah shook hands and went their separate ways. Hannah of course, returned to her boyfriend Jack Fields, while Brian faced an increasing barrage of interviews from local and national media. Perhaps, someday, love, will be the only criterion for people to join their hearts in marriage.
An Orlando Cinderella Story
On the morning of Hannah Miller‘s wedding to Brian Feldman, a man she barely knows, I decided to go to Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater to watch her work. She is shown in this sketch high up on the puppeteer platform with Jack Fields. Appropriately, I thought, they were performing Cinderella. Cinderella is, of course, unjustly oppressed and in the end offered a triumphant reward. Her hard work goes unrecognized, until one day she achieves recognition and notoriety, thanks to a handsome Prince.
Today, Hannah would marry a man she doesn’t love to point out the absurdity of laws that prohibit same-sex couples from marrying. In the Cinderella tale, the Prince invites all the young ladies in the land to a ball so he can choose a bride. Brian Feldman invited all the young ladies of Orlando, via Facebook, to the Orange County Courthouse so he could do the same. Hannah was picked to be Brian’s bride thanks to the spinning of an Aquafina water bottle which, if you think about it, really does resemble a glass slipper. As the bottle spun, the light from the dull florescent lights overhead in the marriage license office refracted and shimmered in the multiple facets of the bottle’s tight-waisted form. After the bottle settled on Hannah, she took a sip from the bottle of Aquafina but then hesitated wondering if it might break the spell.
The evil stepmother and the vain and haughty daughters in this modern day fairy tale of course are the legislators and lawyers who allow a law to be on the books that would deny loving same-sex couples from being able to marry. I hope that Brian and Hannah’s brave gesture will bring the issues of equal marriage rights to the all the people in the land.
After the performance of Cinderella was complete, I saw Hannah and Jack embrace for a long time in the dim light on the opposite side of the stage. This was actually the first time I realized they were a couple. Hannah came over and said hello and we talked for a while. She said she never actually manipulates the Cinderella puppet herself. She tends to work the “heavies”, since she is one of the tallest puppeteers in the troupe. She told me all about the fabulous wedding dress she had made from a $12 thrift store purchase. She hot glued pearls and other exotic items to the dress to make it something that even her fairy godmother would have had trouble creating. The bouquet itself was a work of art with rainbow colored flowers emblazoned with colorful gems and a handle of pearls. After finishing my sketch, I thought I would go downtown to listen to Shakespeare’s Sonnets being read. As I exited the Altamonte Mall, The Beatles were singing, “Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, lives in a dream. Waits at a window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, who is it for? All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people where do they all belong?”
Outside it was raining, gray, and cold. So, as I sat in my truck, I called Hannah from my cell phone, and asked if she would mind if I sketched her as she got ready for the wedding. She agreed, and I drove over to her place. I knocked on Hannah’s door and her roommate, Caeley Batten, let me in. She apologized because the heating unit had broken and she was trying to keep the place warm by turning on the electric oven and leaving the door open. I stood by the oven and warmed my hands. When Hannah arrived she asked me to make myself comfortable while she took a shower. She didn’t have much time to get ready, so when I got back to her room, I immediately got to work. I love the fact that she had a garland of hearts hanging from her air conditioning unit. She collects quirky creatures, and as she got dressed they seemed to be looking on in surprise and bewilderment. Hannah’s roommate helped zip her into the dress. It was time to face the music.
Mobile Art Show
TheDailyCity.com hosts the Mobile Art Show every month parked outside the City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue) during “Third Thursdays.” On Third Thursdays, the downtown art galleries all open new shows allowing for a solid night of gallery hopping. In February Mark Baratelli of the Daily City decided to fill the truck with the posters of LURE Design. This was a simple show to hand since all the posters were about the same size and they could be hung with bull clips zip tied to the existing rubber bumpers inside the truck. January 21st is when this show of posters took place.
Mark drove the rental U_Haul to Frames Forever where Katie Windish had promised to help hang the show. Mark started taping huge sheets of brown paper on the side of the truck that was going to face the City Arts Factory, while Katie was hanging the posters inside the truck. As I sketched it started to rain. Katie told me I could borrow an umbrella from inside her show so I ran in and got it. So part of this sketch was done in the pouring rain while I hunkered under her umbrella. Then the wind started to pick up causing to rain horizontally and I dashed inside the truck. The windy deluge didn’t last too long and I soon went back out to finish up the sketch.
That night I went downtown to see the Mobile Art Show in action for the first time. Brian Feldman was outside the City Arts Factory doing his latest performance which involved charging peoples cell phones. Because of the pending rain, I decided against sketching that night. This sketch would have to do for the day. Mark had decorated the inside of the U-Haul with white Christmas lights and it was really festive. I am trying to convince Mark to allow me to plaster the side of the truck with ink jet prints all 365 sketches from last year and then have the 2009 sketchbooks and some matted prints inside the truck. At the FRESH performances this month I have figured out how to offer any print from the sketchbooks by using a tablet PC and an ink jet printer. As Mark said when he say this set up, “That is bad ass!” So keep your eyes open downtown on the Third Thursday of March!
Sunday Karaoke at the Parliament House
There are many people who have known me for years who will never believe what I am about to tell you. But these events did unfold, on a quiet Superbowl Sunday, just as written . Amanda Chadwick put out an invitation to go to the Parliament House for Sunday morning Karaoke at the piano bar. Only the night before, actress, Lindsay Cohen had told me that she had once worked as a waitress at the Parliament House. I have never been, so I was curious. This sounded like a perfect sketching opportunity.
When I arrived maybe an hour late, I could hear the loud singing from the street. When I walked in it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the dark interior. The room was filled with men all sitting at the bar and in folding chairs facing the piano player. At the front table sat the only three women in the room and Amanda was one of them. She saw me and came over to say hello. The proprietor of the bar offered me a folding chair so I could sit with the 3 ladies, but I rather liked the view from my bar stool. I got out my sketchbook and started to sketch. The first person to take the stage after I started working was Dina Peterson who was one of Amanda’s friends. She sang Elton John’s “Your Song” and she bought down the house. All the men joined her singing the chorus and they all swayed to the music. I found myself singing along myself as I sketched, the lines flowing along with the words. To myself I sang , “I know its not much, but it’s the best I can do… My gift is my sketch, and this ones for you….”
There was long break after Dina sang because the foot pedal to the piano was stuck causing too much reverberation. Leslie Lormann, another friend of Amanda’s got on her hands and knees and worked on the pedal by wedging a book under it or something. One of the guys at the bar shouted out “Nice Ass, and that is some compliment coming from a gay guy!” She took it in stride and laughed it off. However it was done, the piano came back to life.
Mark Baratelli entered the bar and was greeted much like Norm from Cheers. He then got on the stage and sang “Somewhere over the Rainbow” everyone went wild. Mark added humor to the song by pushing the notes in new and unexpected ways. This was pure comic genius. By this time I had one white wine and when Mark gave the word, we all joined in the chorus. This was a side of Mark I had never seen before, and it was pure comic fun.
When his performance was over Amanda came over to see how my sketch was going. I was just about done. She asked, “Are you going to sing?” I said, “I haven’t seen YOU sing yet.” She said “No one wants to see me sing, trust me.” Offhandedly, figuring I was safe, I said “OK if you sing, I will join you.” She said, “OK, lets sing a duet.” In my mind I was thinking, “What have I done?” She bought over the play list and we started pouring over all the choices. She suggested a song from “Beauty and the Beast but I said, “No Disney, I will not sing a Disney song, that might cause flashbacks.” She finally chose the song, “Somewhere out There” from “An American Tail.” She hesitated a second saying, “Isn’t that a Disney movie?” I had to confirm that it wasn’t, so I agreed.
When we got on stage, my heart was in my throat. Luckily the duet starts with the female lead singing alone. Amanda missed the first cue but then she began, her voice quavering just a bit. The good thing about this song is that it is sung by mice in the movie. Thus any tightness in the throat or nervousness might sound like we were trying to sing the song in a mouse like manner. When I started singing, I was surprised by the sound of my voice on the speakers, I moved the microphone towards and away from my mouth trying to find the sweet spot where I sounded human again. I thought we did a fine job leaning towards each other and glancing up when the moment seemed right. When we sang together we actually harmonized, in our own way. To my untrained ears, Amanda sounded great. When the chorus came around again everyone in the bar was singing along drowning out our humble efforts. It is impossible not to have your heart warmed by a room full of people singing this song. It was a glorious moment which apparently Mark Baratelli decided to record on his little video camera. Luckily his camera has the worst microphone ever made, so you will not be subjected to my singing efforts. What ever it sounded like, it felt great! Thank you Amanda for the experience!
This Sunday Karaoke Singing Session happens every Sunday from 1PM to 4PM at the Parliament House (410 North Orange Blossom Trail). This is a unique Orlando experience! Happy Valentines Day!
Woman Playwrights’ Initiative
Sarah Lockhart told about a performance of the Women Playwright’s Initiative that was going to happen at Stardust Video and Coffee as part of Arts Fest. I had another commitment at the time of the actual performance, but the director, Aradhana Tiwari told me I could stop in when the cast first got to Stardust and rehearsed just before the nights performance. I arrived early because I had gotten out of class at Full Sail a bit early. I ordered a Coke and sat in the room facing the tiny stage with its red metal streamers and red Christmas lights for illumination. Although not planned, this small stage with it’s red atmosphere offered a womb like feeling of intimacy and enclosure. The play, or monologues, I had been told, was about women and how they faced pregnancy.
When the whole cast arrived, they went in the other room with the bar and large tables made from doors, to go over lines. The tables and chairs were then moved to make room for an audience. I started a sketch lightly in pencil of the cast going over lines at the table, but I couldn’t bring myself to commit to the sketch. Aradhana only had the cast go over lines for maybe 15 minutes and then she moved everybody back to the stage. I was thankful I had held back on this first sketch. It is always hardest to know when to strike. Aradhana was constantly using the camera she got for Christmas to document this intimate show.
On the stage all 5 actresses paced nervously on a grid each of them lost in thought. A loud ticking of a clock filled the space. I only got to see small sections of the performance but I left wishing I had seem more. In the sketch Sarah Lockhard is coaching a woman, curled up in a fetal position, who has just given birth and refused to hold her new born child. Sarah said,” You just have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Of course nothing Sarah says consoles the woman.
In another scene Lindsay Cohen and Sarah slowly walk to the front of the stage, each stopping in their own corner. Both of them are holding a pregnancy test strips and they kneel down to read them. Sarah’s face lit up with joy when she saw the reading on the strip. She was quietly overjoyed and radiant. Lindsey on the other hand remained stone faced. The finding caused her hand to simply go limp and she dropped the test strip as her world turned black.
There was a mad rush to find a light to help illuminate the stage. Someone went home and grabbed a floor lamp. Then it turns out that the outlets around the stage didn’t work. Finally an outlet was found and the stage was perfectly illuminated. I had to step out just as the performance was about to start. The room was packed. I am certain this was a hell of a show.
Driving Miss Daisy – Cue-to-Cue
I went to the Garden Theater (160 West Plant Street, Winter Garden) to sketch a cue-to- cue of Driving Miss Daisy, written by Alfred Uhry, produced by Beth Marshall and directed by Aradhana Tiwari. The play runs from February 12th to the 28th. Beth Marshall asked me to sketch this rehearsal only days after she and her husband Chris Foster were in a head-on automobile accident with a truck that pulled onto the road without looking. Chris had a fractured wrist and both of Beth’s legs were fractured. As Beth said in a Facebook status update, “We are blessed to be alive, have health care coverage, did not have any kids or animals in the crash and feel your love, energy and prayers. I write for him and he walks for me. True love.”
When I got in the theater things hadn’t gotten started yet. At first, I sat in the front row but then Aradhana said I should sit halfway back in the house so I would not looking up at the set. She IS the director so I obliged. The lighting designer, Amy, had bought in her baby, a small wide-eyed bundle who knowingly checked me out as I walked by. The director spent some time holding and playing with him before the rehearsal got started. Michael Mormon. who plays Hoke, recognized me from when I sketched the auditions and he walked over to shake my hand and flip through a sketch book. It turns out he is the face of Mardi Gras at Universal Studios, and he wouldn’t mind getting more of this still photography work.
When the audience walks in to the theater they will be greeted by a starry night sky above the theater seats. Aradhana leaned back in her theater seat and looked up at the stars and said, “They are magical aren’t they?” The stars then fade as they go to cue 2. A vintage recording of “Pennies from Heaven” filtered through the theater. One of the first scenes had the sound effect of an automobile accident and the sound was for me, jarring and unexpected. This is the scene where Daisy, played by Elizabeth Murff, runs her car off the road and thus the son, Boolie, played by Michael Lane, decides that she needs a driver. I couldn’t hear that sound without thinking of Beth and Chris.
A cue-to-cue is when the actors are asked to go through each scene with lighting and sound being cued up. This is a grueling start and stop process for the actors who are sometimes just asked to stand around like mannequins while the lights are adjusted. Just as the actors get into the flow of a scene, they might be asked to stop while lighting is adjusted. Sometimes, the actors would joke around like when Michael repeatedly slammed the imaginary car door with the sound cue slamming every time. He had me laughing so hard I could not breath. After several hours of standing on stage, Michael Lane asked if there was a local who knew if the pizzeria was open. A booming loud voice came over the speaker system, “I think so.” Michael said quietly, “Thank you, God.” A half an hour later, everyone was enjoying the pizza on a well deserved break.
The house lights were always dark for the cue-to-cue so I had to sketch and paint in the pitch blackness. I discovered a new method of working where I turned on my tablet PC and used it as a light to work by. It is a rather high tech flashlight, but its glow worked wonders. The music that transitions from scene to scene in this show is wonderful. It sets a classic nostalgic feeling like I was experiencing the show in the 1930’s. As I exited the theater with my sketchbook under my arm, Louis Armstrong was singing, “Heaven, I’m in Heaven.” I had to pause before leaving. I sat down in the back row of the theater and leaned on the seat in front of me to let the music wash over me. I really didn’t want to leave the theater’s magic behind. I am going to try and get in opening night. I just hope it doesn’t sell out.
