The Importance of Being Earnest

Posted on by Thor

Thanks to a Facebook posting by Tracy Jane, I discovered a hidden gem of a theater up in my neck of the woods. The Hideaway Performing Arts Center (431 Plaza Drive Eustis Florida) is tucked away in a corner of a strip mall, only a half hour drive from my present art studio.

The theater is now owned by the Quinlan and Lucey families. John Lucey gave me a quick rundown of the theaters history when I arrived. Built in 1968, it was once the Eustis Plaza Theater with a large screen and then the theater was cut in half to allow for two much smaller screens that showed 99 cent movies. It was then converted into a live theater with a stage , but that theater did not survive the pandemic.

Eventually his friend Jim Quinlan jokingly said to John that he could help buy the theater. John had been a tech in the early days at the gorgeous 1935  Mediterranean Revival style Winter Garden Theater which has had to close. Unfortunately when it reopens, it will not feature live theater. John couldn’t get the idea out of his head of owning a theater and he and his wife decided to take the plunge. The place is amazing. You should really seek out the Hideaway.

The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde satirizes the hypocrisy and superficiality of British society. Superficial appearances are considered more important that true character. This is even more true in the social media age. Two high society bachelors, John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff (Kyle Meehan, Brandon Boruch) were best friends but Algeron became possessive when his friend became obsessed with the beautiful Gwendolen (Lacy T. Patton). While the two bachelors argued, the servant, Lane (Steven Bechncke) would sneak a nip of the fine vintage wine. The acting was purposefully histrionic to add to the comedic flair of each scene. I felt like I had slipped back in time seeing a play staged in the 1920.

Since Gwendolen had such a preference for the name Earnest, John Worthing decided to let her believe that Earnest was his name. He would do anything to win her love. John had a ward which was the young and refined Cesily (Kayla Meyer). Algernon fell madly in love with her under the guise of also being Earnest. These changed identities and white lies ultimately lead to confusion and dire embarrassing consequences. One of the most comical scenes in the play came when Gwendolen and Cecily faced off over tea and cakes with them both thinking they were engaged to Earnest. Gwendolen tried to act refined but her fangs came out and and the sweet sleek Cecily held her own, but she initiated a food fight to great comic effect. Secrets and lies are not the bedrock for a strong relationship, but love finds a way.

There are only 2 performances left, get your tickets today.

Cupcake House, Saratoga Springs

Posted on by Thor

I was staying with KC and Bob in their Saratoga Springs apartment while I looked for homes in New York State. KC suggested a home that she called the Wedding Cake House. Since I have PTSD war time stress reactions from my own wedding, I jokes and called it the Cupcake House.

When I got to the house, I looked around for a spot to sketch from. Conveniently there was a cement bench on the far corner of the intersection with a perfect view.

The roof of the tower of the home does indeed resemble a cupcake that has been turned upside down and shoved in the tower tube. There is so much decorative filigree that it could have taken hours to draw accurately, but I simplified the details and took short cuts.

I thought there was another house next to the Cupcake House but it is the same home attached in a U shape. There is also a carriage house which has been renovated and that is the size of studio homes I have been looking at.

This neighborhood is so opulent and beautiful. People al seemed friendly. An old man walked by holding his shopping bag, probably full of a few groceries from downtown.

Exploring Saratoga Springs convinced me that I need to move to upstate New York. I am not searching for such opulence but instead a quiet hamlet removed from the rush and hustle of NYC while being less than a 2 hour bus or train ride from the city. I have done my time in Florida and it is time to return to the North East which is where I grew up.

While growing up in New Jersey, there were snow storms large enough where I could create a big igloo by hollowing out a mountain of snow. Today such large storms are more rare, or so I hope. In Florida I am living in a home without central air conditioning. That has fueled my desire to move to a cooler northern climate. In my old age, I start sweating even if I think about how hot it might be outside.

Sketching each day in Saratoga Springs the weather was perfect. By the time I get there it should be fall and I am a bit apprehensive about living through a winter.

Brook Trail, Greenwood NY

Posted on by Thor

From the Greenwood Lake Episcopal Church I thought I could walk over to see an open house at a home worth almost $700,00. It was above my budget but I was meeting a broker there to show me the home I desperately wanted to see. On Google Maps it looked like it would be about a 1/4 mile hike.I started walking inn that direction rather than hiking back to my rental car.

A road winds all along the edge of the lake. As I hiked out of downtown I realized that any sidewalks disappeared. I had to hike on the shoulder of the road.

The road hooked left and there was a deadly blind spot where cars ripped into town at high speeds. Hedges forced me onto the road itself. I decided to take the chance and tun across the road to navigate the blind curve.

After that curve the rocks and high hillsides made the trek even more treacherous. I decided it was crazy to continue. I turned around and hiked back into town an then back to my rental car. Greenwood Lake is clearly not a walker friendly town.

The home was gorgeous and built for entertaining. From the living room which I would use as a studio the 3 large windows overlooked the lake. There were smaller homes across the street with viscous barking dogs, but the high vantage point allowed an unobstructed view. The owner had done so many renovations to the home. The front “lawn” must be a nightmare to take care of since it on such a steep slope. Luckily it had natural tall grasses and was covered with stone and some mulch.

After I finished this sketch, it started to rain, so I ran up the steep driveway and went inside. I had a hour to sit and talk to Zelma Rivera about properties in the area. She was the one broker on my trip who I felt comfortable with. Greenwood lake seems to have absolute mansions and then tiny homes. I have not seen a place that feels just right for a studio space yet. The big advantage of this little town is the one hour bus ride into New York City.

Now that America has gone to war with Iran, I am seeing American flags everywhere I sketch.

 

Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church

Posted on by Thor

When the real estate broker didn’t show up to the home I was considering buying in Greenwood Lake, New York, I walked through the little downtown area and decided to sketch the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.

At first I sat on a stone wall but when it came time to add watercolor washes, I sat inside the churchyard and used the stone wall to lean against. Street side of the wall were four porto potties. They must have been left over from some street fair.

As the sketch neared completion, I stated making more phone calls to try and arrange to see the home I wanted to see. I refused to work with the broker who had given me the run around and didn’t communicate.

I was given a new broker to work with whose name was Zilma Rivera. She was having an pen house at a very expensive home up on a hill  that overlooked the lake. I am hoping Zilma will continue to help me as I continue my search. I will need to be local to the lower New York State area to continue the search, so I plan to find a rental in this area while I search.

At that property we had a nice relaxed talk since no one showed up to the open house other than me. Surprisingly she let me know that home prices were slowly dropping, which is great for me.

The Saratoga Springs Studio

Posted on by Thor

KC and Bob moved to Saratoga Springs two months ago. KCs sister scouted out the rental property before hand by walking through and shooting a detailed video. The place is beautiful with old wooden floors and four huge skylights in the upstairs studio area.

KC is an oil painter and she set up her large easel across from the skylights and she illuminates the ceiling with bright LED lights set up in movie style lights with shutters.

While I was doing this sketch she was taking care of all the tasks that come after a move to let businesses know the new address. Frankie their adorable English Terrier rested on the floor. I can only dream about finding a studio as gorgeous as this.

After a crazy week of looking at New York homes, I now realize that I will have to find a rental like this as a home base and keep looking for the perfect studio. to buy

One of the doors at the back of the studio leads to an outdoor patio, which was a great spot for dinner and watching the sunset. From the patio, Frankie, the terrier has a view overlooking the next door lot. She tensed up and locks on anytime she sees a rabbit. One time, she broke free from her leash and she darted down the wooden steps to chase the rabbit. By the time she got to the ground the rabbit was gone. The next door neighbor however is the wicked witch of the west and she complains any time someone steps foot on her property including the puppy. She should really live way off in the woods, where the next neighbor is a mile away. She is a yoga instructor, but evil.

Except for rain the day I arrived, and rain the day I left, the weather in Saratoga Springs was beautiful. The grass was soft to the touch and there was always a cool breeze. The homes were beautiful and the people I met while sketching were friendly. The only reason I would not consider living there is that it is north of Albany and therefor much too far from New York City. KC gave me a book to keep track of all the properties I would be seeing during the week. She was shocked that I was just carrying around a few scraps of paper with notes. She wrote on the back page the things I should consider as I looked at properties

  1. In budget.
  2. Within an hour if possible from NYC.
  3. Reasonable size. About 1,000 to 2,000 square feet.
  4. Place should be in reasonable/good condition.
  5. Decent neighborhood.

Several met all the criteria, but one had asbestos and the other sold before I could look at it. That last property was built for sculptor Dudley Pratt and I honestly think I would have made an offer has I seen it in person. Realtors simply didn’t show up and were quite frankly rude and unhelpful. My hope is that I can find one honest buyers realtor who truly has my interests at heart. That I understand now, is a rare breed in the New York metro area. Sigh.

Greenwood Lake 1

Posted on by Thor

I fought tooth and nail all day long to see this property in Greenwood Lake, New York. Greenwood Lake is a large lake that cuts across the northern border of New Jersey into New York State.

My financial advisor had hooked me up with a firm that set up a pre-approvel form. In Florida that form hasn’t been needed. But in New York, the real estate brokers will not even talk to you until you send them the form.

I found the PDF among all my saved home buying documents and sent it to the broker who was going to show me this house. She didn’t get back to me for several days. Since I was only in New York State for a week, I called her back.

It turns out there is fine print on the bottom of the document that points out that the letter is only good for 3 months. It had expired. I then had my financial advisor write a letter that confirms that I have the funds needed. I thought the issue was settled so I drove the 135 miles to this home. The broker didn’t show up. When I called her she said she didn’t get the letter from my financial advisor. The form he sent was in my email inbox and needed my signature. I was tired of all the red tape.

After I finished this sketch, I wandered of and got a New York Style pizza and a pizza parlor around the block. It was a taco style pizza and it was delicious. After that I wandered through the downtown district and settled down to sketch a historic church. I insisted that another broker show me the home I had waited all day to see. Zulma Rivera let me know that she had an open house at a $700,000 house way up on a hill. That was more home than I need but I met her there. We had a long talk and literally no one showed up to the open house other than her husband and child.

We met back at this property and she showed me around. It tuns out the place was smaller that I needed. It took all day to see it but it was too small to be a working studio. I had to pass. Zulma was the only broker I met who was responsible and communicated. She might help me as I continue my search.

Callicoon Barn Studio

Posted on by Thor

I took a trip up to New York State for a week to search for an artist studio to buy. I gave myself a week to search for places within a one hundred mile radius of NYC.

The drive to this property from further upstate was absolutely spectacular. Side roads wound their way down the Delaware river and a large lake. For one long stretch, I never had to hit the gas pedal since the car coasted down the mountain valley for about half an hour. My ears would pop as I descended or gained elevation.

This converted barn in Callicoon, New York was the first property I looked at. The barn sits on 3 acres that slope away towards the woods on none side and multiple sloping fields on the other. It must be amazing to watch a sunset form this elevated property.

My broker was a bit late, so I started the sketch. The property owner is an artist and seemed to be a single woman occupying all this space. She shouted at me from the doorway, “Hey, why not come sit up on the deck is is much more comfortable?” I was sitting on a low moss covered slate wall as I sketched. I shouted back, “I am an artist doing a sketch.” I shouted out that I loved the huge skylights. She let me know that the skylights were for her studio. The conversation ended after that since she had to cart off a mattress to a local dump using her Prius.

She left the front door open and when the agent arrived we walked around inside. The place really is perfect, although it is far larger than I need. The upstairs studio is huge. An amazing feature which I have never seen before was a false wall that was set up for the entire length of the room, covering the skylights. The walls were set up with large paneled doors which could be opened in front of the skylights that she wanted to open. Another great feature of the false walls is that they offered tons of art storage space.

The bedroom downstairs which was an addition also had sky lights and it too would make a great studio space since there were two other bedrooms to spare. A bathroom was decorated in a Japanese theme and had a bidet. Grape vines covered the outdoor patio. Everything seemed idyllic and perfect but then the broker pointed out the grey panels that were used to cover each end of the barn. Those panels were asbestos.

I was staying with KC Cali and Bob Szafranski, north of this property. They had moved to New York State two months ago from Orlando Florida. Bob worked in construction for years and he pointed out that removing the asbestos was a very  expensive proposition. He also said that if there was asbestos, you could bet that there would be lead paint inside. Another down side to the property was that there was no cell phone service. When I tried to bring up Google maps to find my way back to KC and Bob’s, the signal didn’t kick in again until I had driven a mile away from the property. Another down side is that the drive to NYC is almost 3 hours which is much further than I am hoping for. Although the property seems perfect in so many ways, I had to let it slide.

Flames / Gesture

Posted on by Thor

I did this sketch for a student to demonstrate how gesture might be considered. We were looking at a dancer and I was explaining how gesture isn’t about finding the outside edge of a pose.

I threw linrs on the page that only vaguely relate to the pose we were looking at and encouraged the student to put many lines outside the figure and inside the figure.\

I also encouraged the student to make a mess. I made a mess myself in spades working with wild abandon. Looking at the sketch now, I have no idea what the pose was and that is part of the point.

I often work this way before I tie down or clean up a sketch. I use a pencil to dash off very light lines that are just a suggestion and then I commit to the final line work. My work might seem detailed but it is at first chaotic and fluid.

I do an exercise like this wit every student I am trying to loosen up. being careful and overly concerned with how the final drawing will look kills so many beginning attempts by students. Getting them to work with abandon and then some slower care is my goal.

This approach isn’t always understood. The outside hard edged shape dominates most students mind set. That rock hard perception is difficult for most to abandon.

Nothing about this sketch is accurate. It is vaguely based on what I saw but also wildly different that the outside shape. One limb flows effortlessly into another and the overall form shoots upward from the ground licking outward like a flame. Even if the student isn’t ready to understand. I enjoy demonstrating the idea as best I can.

Fountain Demonstration

Posted on by Thor

One of my online Elite Animation Academy students loves to draw horses. For one class we looked at statues of horses to see how sculptors interpreted the musculature. We had already done anatomical sketches that showed insertion points of muscles and I wanted to show how different artists interpreted the musculature.

I stressed the importance of drawing on the inside of the horse even more that drawing the outside edges. This sculptor used many flowing S Curves which I threw down with quick abandon. My student took longer to put down the line wk, so I played with color and value as well.

I have fun doing these quick studies because they are not part of any important final work. I can just play and hopefully inspire the student to do the same.

What I often see from students are what I call Cookie cutter drawings, which stiffly interpret the outer edge of a subject with a single hard edged line.

I exaggerate the flowing lines in my drawings to try and inspire the students to add more flow to their work as well. This isn’t something that is learned in one lesson, I stress the point over and over until it starts to take root.

First Lesson

Posted on by Thor

My friend Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón, got out a lesson book and started taking piano lessons. First came shaking out the hands and stretching them. Like any creative endeavor, you begin on page one and progress slowly. Being alone allows the freedom to do whatever you want, so why not tickle the ivories.

A metronome was set up to keep the beat. It ticked with mechanical precision and the hope was to play the notes along with the set beat.

Since it was the first lesson there were quite a few hiccups, but in the end there was music. I found it quite thrilling to sit back and hear the progress being made in the first lesson.

All the first lessons were for the right hand. The next set of lessons will be for the left hand and then ultimately both hands. I still type by pecking a the keys with an assortment of fingers. My pinkies are only used to enter passwords by tapping the enter key. If the pinky isn’t used the password is never accepted.

Once I get a home studio of my own, I might want to get a small piano as well. I am learning Spanish slowly with Duolingo so why not also learn to become a concert pianist? I am looking for homes in New York State right now and it would be nice to find a place where I cold park a Steinway and set up a large studio. So far the places feel claustrophobic. I keep hitting my head on light fixtures and top floor ceilings.