The Orlando International Fringe Festival Begins!

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I finally had a chance to go to Lock Haven Park to experience the Fringe Festival. In all my years in Orlando I have never been to the Fringe. I am a true Fringe virgin. When you enter Lock Haven Park the first thing you see is the sculpture titled “The Rocket Thrower” by Donald DeLue. For the Fringe he has a sporty Fringe tee shirt around his neck. Behind him on the green lawn of fabulousness are all the colorful tents of the food vendors, and an outdoor stage. The first impression is of entering a carnival.

The first thing I did was check out the Visual Fringe which is located in a round room inside the Shakespeare theater. A small sketch I did of Wayburn Sassy at a Fringe preview was on display. I am astounded by the talented artists that had work in the show. I am hoping that over time I will get to meet some of these artists and sketch them at work so I can share there work here. Anna McCambridge who runs the Visual Fringe welcomed me with a warm hug. I immediately felt at home at the Fringe.

While I did this sketch a young blond girl sat down next to the statue in the blazing sun probably waiting for a friend. She lasted a full 15 minutes in the sun before she then moved over to a shady spot and started using her cell phone. I sketched her in both locations so I had more of the human drama. As I was working on the details of the tents and food stations, I glanced up to find she was gone. I am not sure if she met her friend or not.

Magic Playoff Game

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At the last minute Terry got two tickets to the game 6 of the playoff games between the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics. A client of hers works for ESPN and we met him in the huge trailer that is used to quickly edit together all the footage being shot of the game. I would have liked to have watched the crew at work as they edited the show live on dozens and dozens of small TV screens, perhaps next time. We had some difficulty getting to our seats and a nice usher told us to follow him. He lead us to a hallway that lead to court side. As we walked in the Magic players started to run past with a huge fanfare. A man next to me reached out and gave a player a high five. He shouted “I am never going to wash this hand!” My dreams of sitting court side were shattered as we started walking up an endless staircase until we reached the very top row of seats in out section. The beginning of the game was punctuated by huge flame throwers and a large T.G. Lee blimp made its rounds flying above the crowd. The National Anthem was sung by a seven year old and the crowd went wild when she finished.
At halftime the Magic dancers performed and trampolines were set up in front of the baskets. Girls would run with basketballs jump on the trampolines and make spectacular slam dunks. One girl did a full forward flip and still slam dunked the ball. A fight broke out in our section between a fan wearing a green Celtics jersey and a Magic fan seated directly behind him. The magic fan was shouting and took off his shirt I guess to show off his chest muscles or so the shirt would not get ripped in the fight. The two girlfriends were trying to calm the guys down and security showed up just in time and dragged the fans away.
I finished the sketch with only a few minutes to go in the game. The crowd was standing and going wild. I figured it was time to start paying attention to the score. With 3:40 minutes to go the score was 75 to 75. The magic made a huge final push and ended up winning 83 to 75. The crowd was so loud Terry had to cover her ears. There were fireworks and streamers. The guy seated in front of me gave me a high five. That was the most exciting 3 minutes ever!

Philharmonic After Party

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After the performance of the Orlando Philharmonic, Board members, donors and friends of the Philharmonic are allowed to go back stage for a meet and greet. Champagne is served along with fruit punch and deserts. Terry and I always attend these gatherings and since Terry is a true social butterfly, we are almost always the last to leave. This time I walked up two steps on the stairway to the dressing rooms to get a good overall view of the crowd. This sketch was certainly a challenge since people were constantly milling about and moving from group to group. I am pleased with the result since I can pick out individuals I know and it gives a good feeling of what this crowded event s like.
The time just flew by, and several children became curious and wanted to see what I was up to. The featured pianist Joyce Yang even wanted to see what I was up to so I got to talk to her, which I usually would not do since the featured performer is almost always surrounded by a crowd of admirers. This sketching at social events has turned out to be a great way to meet talented and interesting people.

Orlando Philharmonic Performance

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Terry and I attended the concert that the Philharmonic had been rehearsing for. The concert was entitled “Mozart and Mendelssohn”. Joyce Yang was the featured performer and she played piano for the Mozart Piano Concerto number 24. For the first half of the concert we sat up in the balcony and when I got my sketchbook out I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to bring my eye glasses. The glasses allow me to see objects at a distance clearly. I let out a huge guttural scream and everyone in the audience turned to look. No that didn’t happen, I just resigned myself to my blindness. Looking at the stage I could barely make out dark and light blurry shapes. When the house lights dimmed I also could not see the sketchbook. I put the book away and closed my eyes and enjoyed the music instead.
When intermission came, Terry and I moved down to the front row. We had the front row entirely to ourselves. For whatever reason people do not sit that close. From this vantage point I could see all the performers and the stage lighting allowed me to see what I was drawing.

The Orlando Philharmonic

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The Philharmonic offered the Board of Directors a chance to experience the music up close and personal. After a small sit down dinner in the atrium of the theater, Christopher Wilkins, the conductor, explained that in these hard economic times the Orchestra has had to cut back on the number of performances but the organization still stands on solid ground. He said the Orchestra is starting to reach out and involve the community in new and creative ways.
The Orchestra had to rehearse for the final performance of the season. The members of the Board were offered a chance to sit next to their favorite instrument. A Magic game was also going on that night and Christopher said “The Magic never offers it’s fans the chance to go right down to the court and experience the game next to the players.”
Since my wife plays French Horn, I decided to sketch the brass players. I was sitting right in front of the Timpani drums and a Cello player suggested I get some ear plugs from stage right, which I did. The orchestra rehearsed Dances of Galanta by Kodaly. There were many stops and starts but I must say it was exhilarating! Sitting among the players surrounds you with sound in a way even the best stereo can not duplicate. The Timpani was indeed very loud but I didn’t want to dull the experience by using the ear plugs. I have known many of the players for years so sketching them came second hand. I hope Christopher Wilkins will consider letting me sketch during rehearsals more often because this is a great subject to observe and draw.

Seven Seas Aquarium

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Chad a longtime reader of this blog, suggested I sketch at the fish store he works in called Seven Seas. The store had just recently moved into this smaller space since the fish and corals sold could no longer cover the rent in the the much larger space next door in the same store complex. I arrived in the mid afternoon and for the longest time I simply drew the room since there were no costumers to sketch.

After well over an hour of sketching nothing but the room, a couple finally walked in. They were expecting a child and from my experience with fellow reefers, once the baby hits the scene suddenly the fish tank gets neglected. This might be one of there last trips to the fish store. Chad can be seen feeding the fish. When he finished he quickly helped the couple pick what they needed. Chad had some amazing stories to tell about truly crazy costumers like a woman from a local institution who could not make eye contact or socialize in any way, she dropped her money on the floor and ran out the door with a fish in a bag, or the guy who arrived at the store with pants with holes cut in them so that had his butt cheeks were hanging out. Sounds like running a fish store offers a glimpse at a wide variety of Orlando’s unique individuals.

The Ring

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Months ago I lost my wedding ring. I noticed it was missing while I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Earlier that day, I had been fiddling with the ring, pushing it up past the knuckle and spinning it while I waited for a computer anti virus program to finish its work. The ring had to be between the computer room and the kitchen and I searched for it relentlessly.
The day I lost the ring the financial markets began to collapse. I am certain that these two events at linked. If I could find the ring then the markets might stabilize. At various festivals I had tried on mood rings and artsy wood and silver rings but none fit. Also Terry didn’t approve of my choices.
I decided for Terry’s birthday to finally go to P.J. Abramson, Inc. a good jewelry store in Winter Park and get a traditional gold band. The first ring the sales lady showed me was 24 carrot gold and it cost $2000. I almost had a heart attack, thank god it didn’t fit. The second ring was a bit more reasonable and it slipped right on, a perfect fit. After the purchase I explained that I would like to sketch the store. The manager was concerned that I might sketch the security system but reluctantly let me proceed. Notice no video cameras or even wires were drawn in the making of this picture.

Visual Fringe Artist Dropoff

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The Fringe Festival is a 12 day festival that is founded on the concept of offering 100% unjuried, 100% uncensored, 100% accessible theater. music, dance, art and madness of all types and ages where 100% of the box office ticket sales go directly back to the artists within the Fringe. The Orlando Fringe is the longest running US Fringe festival.
At the last minute I found out about Visual Fringe which is a showcase for local artists during the Fringe Festival. On hand to accept artist entries were, Visual Fringe Producer Anna McCambridge and her mom as well as Director of Development Kristina Goetz. After I filled out the paperwork and finalized my submission, I sat back and started my first Fringe sketch. These three dedicated souls sat at this table from 12 noon till 6pm accepting art.
While I was sketching one artist came in and entered paintings for his girlfriend. He explained his trials and tribulations of the morning and Anna agreed to make a phone call to his girlfriend explaining the sacrifices he had made and that on behalf of the Fringe he deserved extra special treatment that night such as a back rub or nice dinner. To her credit, Anna actually made that call and she had never met the girlfriend or artist before. Now that is someone who is going the extra mile for the arts.

Wine Quest

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Last night Terry managed to get a hold of some $75 tickets to Wine Quest. Wine Quest is a fund raising event for the disability community. The event was held at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes. The room was cavernous and reminded me for some reason of a Las Vegas casino. Scattered about the room were 30 or so tables with over 200 different brands of wine. Terry and I started by just going to the food stations and sampling the variety of foods. I decided I wasn’t going to have a sip of wine until I got a sketch done.
Terry started sampling the wines as I watched. The people manning the tables were very knowledgeable. For instance Terry wanted a strong flavored red wine to go with some blue cheese and the server offered the perfect wine. I started to get antsy since I knew the event would end at 9 and I knew it would take about an hour to finish a sketch. When I told Terry I needed to sketch she told me she would go check out the silent auction and that she would mingle while I sketched. I finished right as the event was ending. I got the usual comments from tipsy socialites and the cook told me how to spell his name. I had to walk around the huge room several times to find Terry and when I did, she said she was ready to go. I could tell she wasn’t in a great mood. Although she told me to sketch, she really wanted me to be social. This urge to draw keeps causing friction. I never did taste any wine.

Central Florida Fair

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A Fringe Preview was held at the Central Florida Fair. I gave myself plenty of time to wander the midway and soak in the sights, sounds and smells of the fair. At the entry ticket booth the computer had died so I spent some time at the entrance watching the pigs being prepared for a showing. The thick barnyard smell was overwhelming for a city slicker like myself. When the computer was back up, I got my ticket and started to wander. I stopped under the only shady tree in sight and sketched the Ferris Wheel. I was off the main drag near a tent where rosters where making a ruckus. It is rather relaxing working to the chorus of clucking and crowing.