In the East Village of NYC.

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I was asked to teach an Urban Sketching Workshop in NYC. The hotel was located in the East Village which has changed quite a bit since I lived in NYC close to 25 years ago. Hip new bars and eateries proliferate the neighborhood. When I got to this street corner of Clinton and Houston the age old feeling of the city returned. I took the time to sit on a bench in the middle of the intersection and sketch the neighborhood. I  imagined myself living in that cylinder shaped corner tower on the corner on the top floor. From there I could see the bustling city life as I painted in the studio.

I went to college in the city and wish I had the patience and perseverance to sketch the scene as I can today. A homeless man on the far corner to my left was begging the entire time I sketches. His mantra for a dime became the soundtrack for the scene as I worked. It was a rather crisp day which I am not used to, so I had to put on my gloves to keep sketching. Direct sunlight helped when it struck  my hands.

The sketch workshop went well. We did quick studies while e were gathered in a dance studio which had mirrors on the walls. Mirrored walls are perfect for showing where a vanishing point is in a scene. For the second part of the workshop, we went to Grand Central Station. I wanted my crew of artists to see the main floor from the second level. We walked up the steps and overlooked the expanse. The amazing this is that the second floor of Grand Central Station is now exclusively an Apple Store. Phones and iPads were everywhere. The store staff didn’t seem to mind us leaning against the marble railings and sketching. After sketching at Grand Central, we all went to a German pub for drinks and to share sketches. The New York City Urban Sketching community is vibrant and exciting. I kind of miss being in the city that never sleeps.

Leaving Vietnam: Building a New Life in Central Florida

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Coinciding with WUCF TV’s September presentation of The Vietnam War, the new 17 hour documentary series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, this retrospective exhibition at the Orange County Regional History Center (65 East Central Boulevard Orlando FL 32801) uses oral histories to explore the war’s impact on Central Florida. Learn about the parts local veterans played on the front lines and how the experience shaped them. Discover the roots of Central Florida’s Vietnamese community and its impact on leadership, local commerce, and Orlando’s food scene.

I attended and sketched the opening reception for the exhibit. Veterans and members of Orlando’s Vietnamese community came out to see the exhibit in which their words and artifacts were assembled. As I sketched, a Vietnamese woman took a keen interest in my work. She wanted to know all about the ink I was using and my brush with the water in the handle. She said she needed a sketch done, so I gave her a card. A veteran in a wheel chair also stopped to chat. He was shooting video on his iPad. He is a documentary film maker and told me about the footage he shot on a parachuting mission.

I have become a binge watcher of the Ken Burns Vietnam series. Though I don’t have a TV, the series can be viewed online. There ar some amazing audio tapes that point out the reservations, fears and frustrations of several presidents who couldn’t see a way out of the war. Some of the footage brings back childhood memories of burning hutches and graphic violence that aired on TV at the time. On display in the exhibit were hand-made incendiary devices made from soda cans designed to blow off a soldiers hand. The text panels in the entire exhibit are bilingual, in English and Vietnamese. A letter home from Vietnam that had likely been unread for over 50 years, had one viewer in tears when she read it in the exhibit.

Active-duty and retired U.S. military personnel (including National Guard members) will receive a $2 discount from History Center general admission prices ($8) during this exhibit. Disabled veterans will be admitted at no charge. The exhibition runs through November 5.

The 15th Anniversary Sunburst Convention Of Celebrity Impersonators

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The Sunburst Convention of Celebrity Impersonators fell on the same day as one of my Orlando 10 x 10 Urban Sketch classes, so I arranged for our group of artists to go to the convention as sketch journalists. Ilene Lieber of Passion PR granted us all press passes. The event took place at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center located at The Florida Mall (1500 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, 32809). Artists met in the lobby of the hotel and then went in to sketch the celebrity showcase.

Imagine Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Neil Diamond, Elvis, Cher, Michael
Jackson, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Joan Rivers, Robin Williams,
Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand, Tiger Woods, Tim McGraw, Kenny Rogers,
Frank Sinatra, and numerous other icons of the past and present all
gathered together to perform and be seen. No, it’s not another reality
show, it is The Sunburst Convention of Celebrity Impersonators returning
to Orlando for its 15th anniversary year.

This year, the public was invited to attend special talent showcases where impersonators performed, delighted, and entertained the
masses. Plus, guests could get their picture taken with
their favorite “celebrity” during intermission and following the
showcases.

The goal of the workshop was to encourage artists to populate their sketches with multiple celebrities. I wanted them to focus on the gestures and costuming while the face was just secondary icing. Once we were inside the showcase theater, I couldn’t offer any more advice, so I let the students just focus on sketching, while I did the same. I decided to sketch Lady Gaga since I couldn’t resist the bra that looked like two hands cupping her breasts. She had red lipstick smeared beyond her lips and blue eye shadow defined her eyes. There were some impressive presidential impersonators and the acts ranged from excellent singers to muddled lip sync attempts. The guy taking notes in both of my sketches is a talent scout.

During an intermission, all the artists gathered back in the hotel lobby and we shared notes. I encouraged them to change the scene as needed to suit the sketch. For instance if someone’s head is blocking a view of the performers feet, I suggested they get rid of the offending head. I honestly don’t know what celebrity was seated next to me in the gorgeous black had and bold white dress. Anyone care to venture a guess?

Dueling Dragons at the Global Peace Film Festival.

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I went to Rollins College to sketch a piano recital. As I walked past the Bush Auditorium, I heard my name shouted out. It was journalist Michael McLeod. He pointed out that it was the last day of the Global Peace Film Festival. He had just seen a film he loved called Accidental Courtesy, about Daryl Davis, a black musician, actor, author, and lecturer who befriends white supremacists and because of that friendship, they left the Ku Klux Klan. How can you hate someone you haven’t met? Rather than sketch the recital, I decided to blindly see a film at the Global Peace Film Festival. The film about to screen was called Dueling Dragons.

The Global Peace Film Festival, established in 2003, uses the power of the moving image to further the cause of peace on earth. From the outset, the GPFF envisioned “peace” not as the absence of conflict but as a framework for channeling, processing and resolving conflict through respectful and non-violent means. People of good faith have real differences that deserve to be discussed, debated and contested. The film festival works to connect expression – artistic, political, social and personal – to positive, respectful vehicles for action and change. The festival program is carefully curated to create a place for open dialogue, using the films as catalysts for change.

Michael had told me that because of Hurricane Irma, the film festival has had very low attendance this year. I decided to sketch the close to empty theater but people kept arriving to populate my sketch. The theater probably became close to half full. I didn’t have enough time to sketch everyone before the lights went out for the screening. The front row filled up with the musicians whose music was used in the film.



Dueling Dragons directed by Brett Gerking runs 65 minutes. Orlando police officers and inner-city
children form a dragon boat racing team and reveal their emotional
journeys as the program grows. This ancient sport is rooted in Chinese
culture, and is introduced at a critical time in the lives of both cops
and kids in some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods. Success in dragon
boating comes only when all 20 paddlers are in complete synchrony. Told
from their straightforward perspectives, these cops and kids, they are transformed from wary participants to steadfast
teammates. Along the way, they build trust and mutual respect, compete
for gold medals and deal with the tragic loss of one of their mentors,
Orlando Police Department Officer Lt. Debra Clayton. 

I had sketched a makeshift memorial for Debra at Walmart but seeing this film finally hit home for me how beautiful a person she was and how much of a loss her being shot in the line of duty was. She appeared throughout the film, smiling and beaming her love and support for the youth who became a team and each time I saw her my heart sank, because I knew what was to come. Life is so short and precious. Don’t waste a moment. The Orlando Dueling Dragons team is the only rowing team in the country that has police and youth working together. I am intent now to find a dueling dragons race and shout for their victory.

Little Orphan Annie at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford.

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Pam Schwartz and I went to the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center
(201 S. Magnolia Ave
Sanford, FL 32771) to see  dress rehearsal for the musical, Annie directed by Cynthea Fuoco. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage that is run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s (Amy Hughs) evil machinations… and even befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt! She finds a new home and family in billionaire, Oliver Warbucks (Stephen McPherson), his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

I have never seen the play although I have seen examples of several of the comic strips. We approached the theater, walking down a narrow alley way to the stage door. We walked right into the dressing room and had to make our way back into the house. The first order of business was the sound checks for each actor. Everyone had on a microphone. Clearly the number, “Its a hard knock Life” had been rehearsed often. The kids scrubbed the floor while singing the song, and they would bang down the buckets to the beat of the music.

There were some rough transitions but this was a rehearsal so I am sure any kinks will get worked out before the show opens. My favorite scene was when Annie and Sandy, the dog (Olive Garvey) she had just found, confront a cop (Rob Dove). He pulls the dog aside and tells Annie to call the dog by name. If he doesn’t go to her than clearly it was not her dog. She whistled and called Sandy and the dog took off towards her. But then he ran right past her and down the stage steps into the audience. The police man stayed in character and said, “See that is most certainly not your dog.” It was a hilarious moment and I hope the dog continues to stray from his mark.

The play is clearly a wish fulfillment for a country that was suffering from the great depression. It seems a bit far fetched that Annie singing, “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow” would help inspire Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (Russell Trahan)  New Deal. The young actress playing Annie (Lily Dove) did a great job. One little, Molly (Irelyn Silvestro) also stood out as she joked and played with Mrs Hannigan.

Tickets

When: Remaining show dates, September 30, 7:30-9 p.m., Sundays, 3-4:30 p.m., Oct.
6-7, 7:30-9 p.m. and Sat., Oct. 7, 2-3:30 p.m. Continues through Oct. 8

Phone: 407-321-8111

Email: info@wdpac.com

Price: $20-$27

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 30th and October 1st.

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Saturday September 30, 2017

8:00 AM to 10:30 PM – Free. Day 2 of Indie Galactic Space Jam. The DAVE School (2500 Universal Studios Plaza, Soundstage #25, Orlando, Florida). What is Indie Galactic Space Jam?

 1. It’s an annual space-themed game jam hosted by Indienomicon,
Orlando’s independent game development association.

2. It’s a collaborative event that’s great for creatives of all sorts.
Artists, animators, developers, writers, designers, and others are all
welcome to participate.

3. It’s a good way to flex your game-making skills, find new people to
work with, and learn how to rapid- prototype a game idea.

This will be the 4th Indie Galactic Space Jam. This year they’re providing additional fun challenges, better resources, and greater
opportunity for talent exposure. They also plan to kick things off with
an amazing crop of speakers from both the space and video game
industries. This is your chance to build something extraordinary with
talented peers from all over Central Florida. Become part of a team or
stay a lone (space) wolf charting a course to fun and excitement.

 Everyone is welcome to participate throughout the 48-hour Jam. They’re
looking for artists, programmers, game designers, UI and UX designers,
sound designers, writers, poets, interpretive dancers, people excited
about games, people excited about space, people who like to eat pizza,
and people like you. Register today and get ready to jam!

SATURDAY – SEPT 30TH – THE GRIND CONTINUES

The non-stop game building action remains non-stop, except for the times you have to stop for food and ask for help.

8:00 AM – Doors Open, Breakfast/Coffee

12:30 PM – Lunch / Status Updates / Call for Help

6:30 PM – Dinner
11:00pm- Go Home!

7 PM to 9 PM – Free. Ybor City Art Walk (7th Ave, Ybor, Tampa, Florida 33605). Featuring a number of arts organizations and artsy businesses. Participating locations:

The Bricks of Ybor

Bloodline Tattoo

Ybor Arts Colony

Hot Wax

Wandering Eye Art Gallery

Dysfunctional Grace

Moon Over Havana Arts Gallery

Live Arts Labs

There will be other businesses joining the lineup so stay tuned! For
any questions please feel free to contact the Ybor Art Alliance
through Facebook.

Expect to be wowed!

9 PM to Midnight – Free but get a drink or 2. Oranga Tanga. Live music at The Dog and Bone British Pub, (9 Stone St, Cocoa, Florida 32922).

Sunday October 1, 2017 

8 AM to 9 PM – Free. Day 3 of Indie Galactic Space Jam. The DAVE School (2500 Universal Studios Plaza, Soundstage #25, Orlando, Florida). PROJECT WRAP UP + FINAL SHOWCASE

The hard work hopefully looks like it is forming into something
recognizable as fun. Success or failure, hopefully you learned
something. Participants will present their team’s game concept for
everyone to enjoy!

8:00 AM – Doors Open, Breakfast/Coffee

12:00 PM – Lunch and Status Updates / Call for Help

4:30 PM– Complete Game Projects, Begin Project Uploads

5:30 PM – Dinner & Technical Check with presentations over the
projector

6:30 PM – Team Presentations Begin
9:00pm – Go Home!

10 AM to Noon – Free. Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation Class. (University, 5200 Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32811). The Method of Heartfulness A simple and practical way to experience the heart’s unlimited resources.

4:30 PM to 6:30 PM – Free. Market2Park. Shady Park, (Hannibal Square New England and Pennsylvania Ave. Winter Park FL).

Story Club at the Abbey.

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Orlando Story Club gatherings are every other month at The Abbey (100 S Eola Dr, Orlando, Florida 32801) in
downtown Orlando. Anyone with a story can put their name in the hat for a chance to
share. Ten names are drawn at random. Judges
are picked at random in the audience, preferably those people who are
new to story club. Judges are given a chalk board and piece of chalk to rate each story from 1 to 10. First, Second, and Third place winners
receive a prize!

The theme for the March event was “Bodies”. Like it or lump it we are all born with our bodies. It seems much of our life is spent just taking care of them. Storytellers explored our topsy-turvey relationship with them. Every body part was explored. Mike Scottie‘s story, was about trying to gain 40 pounds. He was a thin rail as a child with stork like legs. He pushed the notion that you are what you eat. When he discovered that all his pants no longer fit He decided to slim down, but then realized it is even harder to loose weight than to gain weight.

The evening was moderated by special guest story teller, host television personality and stroke survivor Mark McEwen. Orlando Story Club gives anyone the chance to showcase their story
telling for the enrichment of the local community. The benefiting charity was The Assistance Fund. Every day, The Assistance Fund walks alongside thousands of patients and helps break down
their financial barriers to medical treatment by providing direct
financial assistance

Mark Your Calendar, the next Orlando Story Club with the theme, “A Promise” will be on Wednesday, November 1 at 7 PM – 9:30 PM at The Abbey. Tales will relate a time when you were trusted with A PROMISE.

All proceeds will support Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida
Admission: $5 (additional donations encouraged)
Doors open @ 6:30pm. Show starts @ 7pm.

Laugh, listen, drink, and help build our community!

Spotlight Cabaret Series featuring Janine Klein.

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 Janine Klein returns to the Winter Park Playhouse Spotlight Cabaret Series
premiering her latest solo cabaret, “Nobody Does It Better.” From “Dr.
No” to “Spectre,” James Bond films have given us some of the most iconic
movie themes of the past 50 years. Janine takes her audience through an
evening of popular Bond theme songs and stories that will definitely cause some laughs.

Pam Schwartz and I went to a rehearsal. It turned out that it was Janine Klein’s birthday. She put on a gorgeous sequin gown and had Christopher Leavy, the musical director at Playhouse Theater, zip her up. He was wearing an orange t-shirt and asked me to sketch him in a dress shirt. He then discovered that he had a dress shirt in his office. In theater you always have to be ready with a change of costume.

Janine gave a hilarious and irreverent performance. She gave a hilarious list of some of the Bond Girls, like Pussy Galore, Plenty O’Toole, Holly Goodhead, Xenia Onatopp and her favorite Octo Pussy. She was at ease and the show became largely a comedy as she lambasted the Bond mystique. She might reign in the irreverent jokes when there is a full house, but I hope not. The microphone was only a prop. It wasn’t live, so for some numbers she spared her voice. Even as she glossed over the difficult passages she was always entertaining. She was even more entertaining as she growled out some lyrics and held the microphone provocatively.

The cabaret
showcases a different professional singer each month up front in the
beautiful lobby bar. A truly “New York-style” cabaret, each performance
is approximately 55 minutes in length with no intermission. Shows are September 27th and 28th at 7:30pm. Doors open
at 6:30pm for General Seating. Tickets are $20 for general seating.

Chuck Archard Electric Bass-Faculty Recital at Rollins College.

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Rollins College Tiedtke Concert Hall (1000 Holt Ave, Winter Park, Florida 32789) The night of music featured new original compositions
dedicated to Keith Wilson, Jay Flippin and Harold Blanchard, as well as
tunes by Smokey Johnson, Wardell Q., Galactic, Jim James (My Morning
Jacket), Alan Parsons and Irving Berlin. 

On stage with Faculty member Chuck Archard were Chris
Rottmayer, Ed Krout, Marc Clermont, Greg Parnell, Per Danielsson Suzy
Park, Michelle Amato and direct from New Orleans the legendary drummer
Allyn Robinson.

This was a fun experimental evening of music with each musician seizing the music and making it their own in lively solos. Rollins college has an ongoing series of free concerts and I like to stop in once in a while to sketch. There is nothing like the inspiration of good live music to help the lines dance on the page with less regard for stifling accuracy.

Mark your calendar. Upcoming free concert include..

September 26  |  7:30 PM

MUSIC FACULTY SHOWCASE

Keene Hall, 1000 Holt Avenue Winter Park, FL

32789This
recital is free and open to the public. Parking is available nearby at
the SunTrust Plaza Garage located on Lyman Avenue. 

September 28  |  7:30 PM

FACULTY RECITAL: Curtis Rayam, tenor

Keene Hall, 1000 Holt Avenue Winter Park, FL 32789

This recital is free and open to the public. Parking is available nearby at the SunTrust Plaza Garage located on Lyman Avenue.

The Ultimate Art Project

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Tamera J. Rogers made me aware of The Ultimate Art Project which was slated to happen days after Hurricane Irma struck Florida. This program was planned for the Square in Downtown Tavares, America’s Sea Plane City.It was an opportunity to catch artists in their moments of creative glory. There were to be actors, painters and singers and potters and poets and
jewelers and dancers, sculptors, and weavers and crafters, musicians and
magicians and libations and food.

I decided to make the event one of the locations for the 10 Urban Sketching Workshops I have been offering. This was the 5th workshop. Progressing from small stories to medium stories and ultimately big stories.  Pam Schwartz and I took the one hour drive to sketch the Ultimate Art Project. The sun was setting as we approached the town square. The event was easy to find because of all the white events tents.

The grassy area was about the size of half a football field surrounded by wrought iron fences. The first tend we saw had kids doing four inch square paintings. In a corner of the field was Karaoke which dominated sound scene. Mixed in was a pan flutist, in the center of the field. One lady stood listening and then chatted with him. I decided he wasn’t a sketch option since she was keeping him from performing. A van was painted black like a chalkboard and people could do chalk drawings on the vehicle. This is a pretty awesome idea and I wouldn’t mind setting up mu Prius as a chalk board. There
was the option to take a selfie in “paintings” of the Mona Lisa, The
Scream, American Gothic, and Girl with a Pearl Earring but we never got around to taking those selfies.

I stopped when I heard this father (James Whitehead) and daughter team singing in the artists tent. They referred to themselves as Southern Roots. She had an amazing voice. They were strictly acoustic so their music had to blend in with the karaoke and Pan pipes across the way. Dad explained to me that his daughter really had to stress her voice to be heard. He was afraid she might not perform her best at next weeks church service. The set abruptly ended when the free movie screening began of Woody Allen’s

Midnight in Paris.

Conversations among the artists were mostly about the recent hurricane. The Tavares marina was destroyed by Irma and all the boats piled up by the high winds. Sections of the park were cordoned off due to hurricane damage. The Ultimate Art Project was a chance for the community to get out after the hurricane and have a relaxing evening on the town green.