The second rehearsal I attended was with the core drama group. Aradhana, the director, got things started by having the actors walk on a grid inside the taped off area that outlined the dimensions of the stage. She said “Stop thinking, let things happen naturally in the moment.” I find myself looking to stop thinking and analyzing as I try and loose myself in a sketch. She then asked the actors to “explore gesture, and think of the space you are moving through.” “What are the spaces you explore?” My sketches of this show are suddenly exploring larger and more grand vistas. She then asked them to adjust their tempo. She didn’t want anyone moving at a medium tempo she wanted to see the extremes. Some actors moved imperceptibly while others were close to a run, actually Rachael was running.
The director said “find something about someone else to copy and make your own.” Then she asked the actors to gradually over time to discover one movement where everyone moved as one organism. This is the aspect of the exercise that always amazes me. after a while the whole group was holding hands and moving side to side. Hands went up and down in a wavelike undulating pattern around the circle. The actors were then given the cure to break away from the group when they felt like it. Music was added into the mix and soon actors were snapping fingers and moving with the grace of dancers. As the music built in tempo the actors were jumping and swaying to the beat.
The director had everyone sit down in a circle. She pointed out that everything in theater is created to build tension between characters. She said that the largest motivating factors are always about love, war or spiritual concerns.
The actors were separated into 8 groups. Each group was given a scenario to act out. The actors were given free reign to act the scenes out as they saw fit. The room bustled with creative energy. They were given some time to discuss how they might build their scenes. Then one by one the scenes were staged with the remaining actors seated around the director to enjoy the show. There was loud applause and often laughter after the director ended each scene. She then offered suggestions on how to pace the scenes faster with more motivation. On the second run through the scenes were almost always clearer and more entertaining. This was a pure joyous game of inspiration and motivation. The director pointed out that notes are not a bad thing. She asked that once a note was given that the actor say thank you and repeat the note so she knew they had heard it.
The scenes were, City People, Airport scene, a loving couple, fighting family, diva desert, decorators and carolers. Once all the scenes had been rehearsed individually, the director asked that they overlap the actions on the stage just as they had in viewpoints. She would cue the next scene when she wanted them on the stage. This was tried a number of times and then the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” was added. Suddenly the scenes flowed with the music choreographed by pure instinct.
The director shouted out “Alright everybody one more time, Restore!” The actors all shouted back “Thank you Restore!”
Frames Forever and Art Gallery
I have been offering people who purchase sketches from me the opportunity to have the art framed by Katie Windish at Frames Forever & Art Gallery 941 Orange Avenue in Winter Park. Katie has made her shop available for several of Brian Feldman’s performances such as “Sleepwalk“, and “The End of Television: PartIII“. Since she supports the arts in this way, I have decided to use her services exclusively.
On my second trip to the shop, I asked Katie if she would mind me sketching her at work. If you look in the mat she is placing, you will see one of my theater audition sketches. Katie works fast. She had the mat cut within minutes and then went on to build the custom frame. She cut lengths of the black wooden frames on a table saw with a vacuum sucking up the dust automatically. The cuts were then sanded perfectly flat and everything was set to assemble. She glued the wood frames together and held it tight with an adjustable strap. When the glue was set, she nailed the frame together for added support. Her dog, Lucy, checked up on me several times as I sketched but since I didn’t lavish any attention on her, she wandered to the back of the work room and watched me for a while. Lucy is Katie’s security dog and I am sure she was devising some way to get me kicked out of the shop but her eyes got droopy and she fell asleep.
Katie is a whirlwind using every corner of the shop as she assembles a frame so I drew her 3 separate times in 3 different locations before I decided to lock her into the position she holds in the sketch. Katie’s small intimate shop is always a pleasure to visit. If you are looking to frame anything, I highly recommend heading down to Frames Forever.
Poet Patricia Smith at Rollins
Patricia Smith, four time winner of the National Poetry Slam, gave a talk at Bush Auditorium at Rollins college. She began her reading with the poem Building Nicole’s Mama. Listen to the audio clip on the link. Patricia stressed the any aspiring poet or anyone who loves poetry should spend as much time as possible listening to the authors of the poems reading their own words. It offers a chance to hear firsthand the authors intent and meaning in tone and pacing. The child’s hunger to recover from loss is primal and hit me in the gut waiting to recover my breath.
All of her poetry hit with the same force. She read several poems about Hurricane Katrina in which she personified the storm and then in another poem she gave voices to the 34 nursing home residents who were left to die in Saint Bernard’s Parish in New Orleans. The poem had 34 stanzas which bought to light each residents thoughts and hopes as the storm approached.
In a question and answer session afterward Patricia stressed the importance of getting at the truth. She said authors should not write around issues or conflicts but be honest with themselves facing the truth head on. She stressed that you don’t want to get to the end of your life and realize that you had not taken every chance to be completely honest in your writing.
Can a sketch ever have the emotional impact of poetry like Patricia’s? I am not sure but it is certainly something to aspire towards.
DRIP
I first met Jessica Mariko the Executive Producer and Creative Director of Orlando’s Drip Dance and Visual Arts Performance Group at an event called Ignite Orlando. She performed an amazing dance piece with music and narration that shed light on the creative process. The dance company is about to begin performing at the New Contemporary Art Lounge which is right across from the Orlando Public Library. Performances will be on the third Thursday, Friday and Saturday of each month. This photo shoot is for a huge billboard image that they will install on the front of the building.
The shoot was in a quiet suburban neighborhood. When I walked up to the address I wasn’t sure I was in the right place, but there was a crowd of people in the garage so I walked in.
People were hanging plastic drop cloths everywhere and the floor was also covered in plastic. As the photographer, Tisse Mallon, got the lights and background scrim ready, the art directors, Evan Miga and Christie Bock cut up swaths of fabric into drip rags which would be used by the dancers to cover their hair.
The shoot started slow enough with shots taken of the dancers without any paint involved. Then things got fun when the dancers dipped their hands into the cans of latex house paint. The paint was bright blue and bright orange. The dancers posed separately at first and then they posed together. As they worked they got more and more covered with paint. The poses that seemed to work best for the horizontal format of the final image involved the dancers intertwined and reaching as if struggling to grasp something. The male dancer said “What if I bent back on my knees and she was almost flying?” All suggestions were tried. The shoot was a constant collaboration between the photographer, Mariko and the dancers themselves. Mariko said ” I like the idea of the two of you throwing paint together.” The female dancer had an expression on her face that Mariko tried to define, she finally decided “Keep that look, it is an artsy confident look.”
When the dancers were drenched in blue and orange paint, the art director decided to add black paint into the mix. When paint was poured on the dancers they would scream since the paint was rather cold. It would drip down under their skin colored leotards and settle in uncomfortable places. As the paint started to dry on the dancers skin, it began to peal away like a bad sunburn.
My sketching became more frantic as the shoot progressed. I started slinging down washes and dripping paint on the page. I was inspired my all the activity and dripping paint which was splashing everywhere. Everyone was laughing the whole time. I am sure that sense of fun and play will shine through in the final billboard image. When the dancers were finished, the art director and designer started just splashing paint around to get shots of paint flying through the air. I hope to sketch rehearsals by this dance company whose performances are sure to inspire.
Kicked out of the Holy Land
Holy land has been locked in a dispute with Orange County property appraiser Bill Donegan over whether it deserves to be tax exempt. Since it is a “Church” they are required by the government to provide one day a year free admission to the park. In the past the free admission day was never publicized. For those who might not know, Holy Land is an Orlando Christan Theme Park where you can watch singing and dancing Israelis, see Christ drag a cross through the streets of Jerusalem then even watch him get crucified. Having never gone, I figured it might offer some interesting sketch opportunities and for free!
As I drove up to the park I was shocked to see a long line of cars perhaps a quarter of a mile long snaking out of the theme parks entrance and over the I4 overpass blocking traffic. I only had a two hour window in which to sketch so I didn’t want to wait in that insane line. I drove around the block approaching the park from another angle.I saw cars parking in an empty lot across the street from the park and I figured this must be overflow parking.
When I walked through the gates I passed a man handing out park tickets but didn’t pick one up since I only planned to sketch the long line of people waiting in line. The crowd inched forward at a steady pace with the end of the line nowhere in sight. The Star Spangled Banner was being sung inside the park and all the excited activity made me feel like I was at a baseball game. A woman walked past me and said to her son, “Look he drawin!” A familiar song caught my ear “This little light of mine I’m gonna let it shine” I drew to its beat and it inspired me to draw faster.
The police man I was sketching walked up to me and I braced myself, he said, “Look at me, I made your sketch better.” As he walked away he said, “Hey you want some water?” I said I was fine. I probably should have accepted his offer since I was sweating like a wet sponge. I was sitting directly in the scorching Florida sun.
Then suddenly the park gates were closed. The parks capacity was 1,700 people and they were full. Outside the gates the gathering and ever growing crowd pressed forward. Police whistles were blowing constantly as officers tried to get the cars to keep from blocking traffic. A news helicopter swooped in and started shooting footage of the growing crowd. It was starting to sound like a war zone. The officers started shouting that the park was full and there was no point in waiting at the gate. I started to imagine that the pearly gates of heaven might offer a similar scene of confusion.
Later a parks person drove up blocking my view with his huge SUV. He advised that park tickets be offered to the people outside the gate for any day in the rest of October. For some reason the people were then allowed in the gate and then told to exit through another gate. Many people given tickets didn’t speak English, so they started walking toward the parks turnstiles. Park workers had to shout out that the tickets were not good for today, but since the guests didn’t understand, they continued on their merry way. The scene was constant chaos.
When the crowd was finally dispersed and the scene returned to normal, a new Lieutenant was posted at the gates and his first order of business was to get the female officer to tell me to stop sketching and leave the park. I was just about finished with the sketch and I asked her if I could have just 5 more minutes, as I talked to her I continued to sketch. She said, “I like the sketch and if it was up to me I would let you stay here as long as you want, but I have my orders.” I quietly packed up my things. I am starting to feel that I haven’t covered an event until someone forces me to leave. As I was exiting the female officer thanked me and I said “Have a good day.” Inside of course I was fuming. I had a job to do as well.
When I got back to my truck, I found a parks person taking photos of the license plate of the car parked next to me. As I drove off I hoped he hadn’t taken a photo of my license plate and now I am wondering if I will get an expensive ticket on top of getting kicked out of Holy Land! I doubt I will ever want to return to these pearly gates.
Dawn Schreiner – Oodles of Doodles
Dawn is an illustrator and mother of 2 children. When her youngest went to school Dawn decided she wanted to get back into doing more illustration work. She had been away from illustration for years and wanted to get back in.
Her father was an early adopter of high tech gadgets and he got her interested in Twitter. This introduced her to the new world of Social Networking. Twitter however didn’t satisfy all her needs. Mark Zuckerburg turned her on to Facebook and helped her set up a the Dawn Schreiner Illustration Group page. This is where the art for this show began to be created. A member of the group named Debbie suggested Dawn sketch all the members of the group.
Dawn started doing doodles of the members with the goal of doing one doodle a day. When Dawn started creating these sketches, she had maybe 20 members on the page. As the project progressed, that number grew to 50 then 100 and now it is at about 200 plus members. As the number of Doodles grew so did the number of members so that Dawn may never complete the task.
All of the doodles are done on recycled materials. One piece was on a brownie box and another on a Cheerios box. I found myself wandering through the show checking the backs of each piece to see what art supplies I might be throwing away each day. The show is an absolute delight with bright acrylic colors thickly applied and expert draftsmanship in every piece. Many doodles are fun and quirky with flowing and spontaneous use of line. The show was simply hung on wires with each doodle secured with a clip. Work was flying off the walls at the opening, it is very affordable. I myself am considering going back to get a doodle with my name on it. Having just attended a Social Networking conference I am inspired with how Dawn used Facebook to market her work to an exciting new network of friends. The show had a web cam set up for the duration of the opening so it could be shared with out of state members.
I called my wife and told her she had to come down to see this show and I will tell you the same. Head on over to Seven Sisters Coffee House at 911 North Mills Avenue a few blocks north of Colonial. The coffee is delicious and the relaxed setting is a great place to sit back and read or surf the web. Tell Alisha that I sent you!
IZEA fest – The Influencer
I just have to write another post about IZEA fest. This sketch is of a panel discussion with Sarah Austin and Julia Roy. Sarah who has just moved to LA is an online life caster who interviews tech-oriented developers and Julia hosts a Twitter news show called Tweet Week on YouTube.
However what I want to share is the inspiring comments from Aaron Brazell, founder of technosailor, the keynote speaker at the event. Aaron offered his insights in short concise tweet like bursts. His primary point was that bloggers have the ability and responsibility to help change a community and affect people in a positive way. He particularly wanted to point out that this influence is much different than celebrity. He said some bloggers have a Rock-star mentality that attracts attention for a short span but a true influencer gets attention for the long term.
Someone who is an influencer is hungry all the time they always want to learn more. He told a short story about a hermit in ancient Greece who had a thirst for knowledge. He was socially awkward but studied constantly. He ended up teaching at the Great Library of Alexandria and went on to invent Geometry which is the cornerstone for most every modern advancement. His name was Euclid. The point being that hungry people change the world. Whatever your area of expertise, dive in and dig deep to find its inner workings. Always stay hungry.
He said that an influencer should offer information in an environment that makes people want to come back every day to find out more. They should always be consistent they should offer thoughtful responses not knee jerk reactions. Their is no point to divisive arguments. To many people today are always ready to pick a fight. They should instead offer quality insights.
An influencer needs and should seek out allies. They should find people who are supportive of the same cause and issues.
An influencer needs to do what they say and say what they do. People need to trust what is said. The primary function of a blog is to interact, make friends and influence people. They should create something for the community bringing others into the spotlight. The point being to build others up and inspire them to bring out their best qualities.
An influencer is often unsung. They believe in what they are doing, they love doing it and they just do it. Often they doesn’t even know they are influencing others.
Liz Strauss gave a talk that was just as inspiring. She said that with all the digital discussions going on, that we are more connected than ever and yet all so alone. She said that when you feel alone you should reach out and help someone else. She also pointed out that a blogger should encourage the followers of a blog to comment. A blog should not be a one way conversation. The early followers of a blog are very much a part its growth and development. They are part of the barn raising of the blog.
My head is spinning from from all the insights and inspiration offered. I seem to be experiencing what Liz called the euphoric enthusiasm of the beginner. She said that phase in a bloggers development usually fades after 5 or 6 months. I am at 10 months now and the enthusiasm just seems to keep growing. She claims that every blogger then experiences a period of disillusionment. I hope to coast past that road block with hard work but now I am braced for the inevitable fall. I hope she is wrong.
The Trees – First Rehearsal, Full Comapany
When I entered the First Baptist Worship Center, Aradhana, the director, had everyone doing a rather fun exercise. On one side of the large room individuals were holding 4 signs , Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, and Disagree. She asked simple questions and everyone was asked to run to the sign that matched their answer. For instance she asked ” Is Christmas your favorite holiday?” Most of the crowd of actors ran toward “Strongly Agree” with the children running the fastest. After a long list of questions people were getting tired. She explained that the exercise was used to point out how we are all individuals from different backgrounds but as a group the core values are very similar.
A large staging area was then set up in the middle of the room with 4 chairs marking the corners. What followed was a viewpoints session exploring time, space, shapes, tempo and pacing. The actors were asked to walk the space in a relaxed neutral pace. Then the director would make suggestions which affected how people walked. For instance she said ” Imagine you are walking to work to quit your job.” “You are walking in the airport to be reunited with the love of your life.” She advised everyone to be aware of the space around them. She wanted then to fill the space as a group. Then she asked the actors to either walk very fast of very slow.
She then told everyone that “You are going to meet the Messiah.” At this point an actress came to the corner of the space where I happened to be sketching and she knelt down in front of me. Others joined her and soon there was a crowd of worshipers before me. They were all looking at a point just above my left shoulder. I had to turn to look. There was nothing there. It was as if they all saw someone standing right behind me and I just didn’t notice him. If he was looking over my shoulder, I hope he liked my sketch.
Next the actors were asked to only walk in a grid pattern. She asked “How do others movements affect your own.” “Discover gestures or shapes as you explore the grid.” “Get addicted to copying something about someone else.” Soon pairs and then small groups were imitating each others movements. She asked the group to gradually find a group leader. Over time the group started to move as a whole like a flock of birds. Slowly everyone formed themselves in kneeling fetal positions. Then one woman rose up and started snapping her fingers. the energy of the group built with everyone snapping their fingers and joyously dancing around the space. The fact that professional dancers were in the group made the groups movements fluid and beautiful. Something choked me up about this unrehearsed spontaneous expression of joy.
When the exercise was over she explained the viewpoints helps actors look at the bigger picture rather than focusing on the self. For long periods she was silent. She explained that during those times the actors are forced to stop thinking and just be. As a group the exercise helped build trust among the actors even though they had never worked together before.
IZEA fest at Sea World
I got an e-mail from Bob Kodzis founder of Flight of Ideas about IZEAFest which is a a conference by bloggers about blogging. Bob went out of his way to get me a ticket to get in and I am eternally grateful. I found myself in a huge room full of people who love blogging as much and perhaps even more than I do. I felt a little out of place since I didn’t have a laptop, just my paper, pen and watercolors. But when all was said and done I had to rush home in order to share the joy and excitement of the event thanks to the miracle of blogging!
During the presentations two screens had a constant stream of Tweets scrolling by in real time. This was at times distracting and yet very humerus since candid remarks have a tendency to sometimes get out of hand. Lets face it bloggers are a fun group to hang around with!
One concept thrown out that intrigued me was the need to write up and define a “Hedgehog Concept” this should be the one thing that you are the best at in the world. It is also important to know who you want to communicate with. A common theme throughout the day was to give before you expect anything in return.
At lunch time Sea World gave a presentation explaining how they market their theme parks. I didn’t pay very close attention since I was sketching but near the end of the presentation I heard a trainer shouting out “Come on Clyde this is your chance to shine!” Down the side isle I saw a huge Sea Lion ambling his way up to the stage following his trainer. However when he got to the stage he decided he had had enough of the bright lights and crowded room and he turned and started heading back to the exit. The trainer tried to convince him to go on stage but the sea lion outweighed the trainer by at least 500 pounds so he got his way. He still got a standing ovation.
The final panel of the day was very insightful. Warren Whitlock pointed out that the main function of a blog is often to promote other people. This goes to the heart of what a blog is all about. Blogging is all about giving. It is only when you are truly giving that the tools become important. Chris Heuer tried to sum up blogging with this simple series of words… look, listen, learn, join, lead. Whereas Warren summed it up more concisely… listen, love. He said blogging is all about wanting to be a better person and caring. The next century is about listening. How can I help people and how do I connect them? As Sarah Evans said ” Social Media is a conversation, maybe we should talk.”
This inspiring conference suddenly made me feel like I am part of a much bigger online community and that blogging might be about much more that just sharing a sketch a day. On the drive home James Taylor was singing “Shower the people you love with love.” I suddenly realized what blogging is all about.
Avalon Art Opening – Dresses
On Thursday I went downtown to see the opening for an art show titled “Dresses” as Avalon Gallery on Magnolia. This show produced by Donna Dowless featured paintings sculptures and mixed media from a number of contemporary women artists. I arrived early and wandered the exhibit in a relaxed setting prior to the crush of the crowds. The exhibit had paintings of dresses, welded metal sculptures of dresses, and of course actual dresses. I like one piece that had a shadow box with a crumpled napkin inside, and on the glass surface of the box a dress was drawn inspired by the abstraction of the napkin.
I was pleased to find work from Dina Mack and artist whose work I have come to admire from sketches I did of “A Confluence” and her magical journaling workshop. Her work had tiny 2 by 3 inch panels with butterfly wings glazed into them. Cellophane and other materials were also layered into the pieces.
I picked out a comfortable chair at the back of the gallery and started to sketch out the perspective of the space. I was right in front of a false wall that art work was hanging off of. As the gallery started to fill up, members of Voci dance showed up and went into the women’s room to change into their costumes for the night.They came out and dances elegantly around the space until the room became to crowded to move around in.
This sketch was a major challenge. I found I would barley have time to see a person then they would disappear behind someone crossing in the foreground, never to be seen again. Several artists and friends I had sketched introduced themselves to me. 
A waitress from the Social Chameleon introduced herself to me and after a second I recognized her since I had sketched her a few nights ago when I sat alone at the Chameleon taking in the ambiance. My attention was constantly being fractured and re focused. People must truly think I am rude as I keep sketching even when in a conversation. Halfway through, I almost gave up , but a fellow artist who sat in the chair next to mine asked to see the sketch book and she pointed out the aspects of the sketch that were working. When she handed the book back, I decided to keep forging ahead despite the constant flow of humanity. I am glad I stuck it out. This is rougher than I usually work and the evident struggle adds I think to the sketches character.
When I finally finished this sketch, I picked up shop and went to watch a harpist and guitar player in the next room. It was past 9 PM when the event was officially supposed to end, but I decided to sit down and do another. This sketch came effortlessly. Then I put the sketchbooks away and talked to friends who stopped over to say hello. I’ve never enjoyed an opening more.