Emily Carr read from her book, “Directions for Flying: A Young Wife’s Almanac” at Cavanagh’s Fine Wines (1215 Edgewater Drive). I rather liked the intimate warmth of Cavanagh’s. There were a few tables nestled between the free standing wine racks. I ordered a house white wine and blocked in the background before Emily started to read. The proprietor bought a bowl of popcorn and placed it on my table. Most of the people who came for the reading were still crowded around the bar located in the far corner of the establishment. Darlyn Finch, an amazing poet in her own right, said hello and joined me at my table.
When Emily stood up on a small step stool to reach the microphone, she seemed small and delicate. Her right arm is decorated with a poem she wrote over time line by line, each line being tattooed in a new color. The upper part of the tattoo has a tree branch and a lone sparrow. This collection of poems she explained tells an ongoing story which changed with the seasons. The book of poems is broken up into months from April to March with three poems per month. One poem involved thoughts behind sitting in an abortion office and realizing that she must follow through. The myriad of thoughts and rationalizations hit a deep human chord. Many of the poems were dark and brooding yet a sparrow seems to light up each unexpectedly. “Directions for Flying” won the 2009 Furniture Press Poetry Award.
Emily is the current resident author at the Kerouac House. At the Kerouac House I got to see “The Nest” which is a spot in the corner of the living room where Emily placed a mattress on the floor . She surrounded this spot with knick knacks she has gathered in her travels, a heart shaped snow globe, an Elvis post card and tiny glass figurines. The nest made for a cozy little artistic fortress.
Wedding of Miriam and Chris
Chris and Miriam were married in Greensboro, North Carolina by Rabbi Eliezer Havivi. Miriam Dolan is a cousin of my wife Terry. We took a long car drive up to attend the wedding. The wedding day is considered the happiest day of one’s life. It is a personal Yom Kippur for the groom and for the bride. On this day all their past mistakes are forgiven as they merge into a new, complete soul. The veil conveys modesty for the bride and stresses that no matter how physically attractive she may be, it is the soul and character that are most important. The couple stood under a chuppah or marriage canopy which is a symbol of the home to be built and shared by the couple. It is open on all sides to convey that the couple should welcome people in unconditional hospitality. Miraim circled Chris seven times, which symbolized that the world was built in seven days. Two cups of wine were used in the ceremony. The first cup was sipped when the rabbi recited the betrothal blessings. Wine is a symbol of joy in Jewish tradition. The wedding is a sanctification of a man and woman. After the ceremony, the groom placed a glass on the floor and shattered it with his foot by stomping on it. This tradition stresses that even at the height of one’s personal joy, we must remember the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. After the ceremony the couple was escorted to a private room and left alone for a few minutes. This time of seclusion signified their new status of living together as husband and wife.
All of these traditions are somewhat new to me since I was raised christian, so I sketched with fascination. I was still adding watercolor washes when the ceremony was over and people began to file out to go to the reception. Terry lost patience when the synagogue was empty since she wanted to get to the reception to see the newly married couple arrive. I got my sketch done.
What Moves You?
City Arts Factory for Third Thursday in August had an exhibition called “What Moves You” which featured installation art. In a far back room, Jessica Earley had an installation with two projectors which were decorated to look like space shuttles. On one of the two screens she could be seen crying animated tears. Brigen Gresh had an installation in which railroad spikes hanging from the ceiling caused a traffic pattern which directed viewers to a corner of the room where a whimsical sculpture with multiple wheeled modes of transportation looked like they were balancing on a high beam. In the hallway a toilet bowl was lined with firecrackers.
Outside Pine Street was shut down and the Mobile Arts Show U-Haul was parked with the back of the truck facing the City Arts Factory. White curtains were draped from the rear of the truck. Near the ramp leading up to the truck, three monsters had set up a kissing booth. Terry was feeling quite bohemian this night, but what happens at the Mobile Art Show stays at the Mobile Art Show. Inside the truck was the work of 
Karen Russell. I identify with her angst filled figurative work.
A large weather balloon was perched in the middle of the street. This was an installation called “Connections”. This sphere had video projected on it by students from UCF. I wandered the street because for a solid block artists were out and working on their creations for the duration of the evening. It had been raining rather hard at the beginning of the evening and most artists were under awnings. I followed their lead and sat down under an awning across the street from City Arts. Antonio Santos was painting right in front of me. He was working on a religious themed painting with the figures glowing in a mystical cloud. Jimmy Margary was painting two rather cartoony frogs.
Michael Moore was set up on Orange Avenue somewhat isolated from the rest of the artist crowd. His work uses stencils and spray paint for a quick effect. I started my sketch since I was trapped by the rain. I hoped he might work on his painting but he ended up talking to a friend for the duration of my sketch. Around the corner a woman and man were arguing. She yelled, “I’m waiting to have fucking dinner with you! That is what our fucking plans were!” The man was yelling back, “I show up and you’re all like…” I lost track of what he was saying as I walked away. A homeless man looked at me smiled and shook his head. I smiled back, amused.
Trivia – Hamburger Mary’s
Terry and I went on a double date with Amanda Chadwick and Matt Simantov at Hamburger Mary’s. The small stage in the corner was already set up with a microphone and questions were being lobbed out to the crowded room. Sheets were handed out where answers could be filled in. The first order of business was to figure out a team name for everyone at the table. After much discussion, we decided our team would be called Cuntry Blimpkins. I had never heard the work blimpkin before, but Matt went on to explain it and I don’t think I should repeat it here. You are better off not knowing. Other team names of note included, Your Earwax Tastes Better Than My Dick, Eat Rim Love, and Grandmas little vibrator. You get the general idea and flavor.
Here are some of the questions presented in the “Gay, Gay, Gay” round.
Who designed Cher’s costumes?
EOCPHUANLIACRPSM This is two words and a magazine popular with lesbians.
Al Pacino played a homosexual in what film?
What homo is getting a talk show on the Opera Winfrey Network?
What was Julias’s son’s name on “Designing Women?”
What actor did Will marry on “Will and Grace?”
What “Facts of Life” star has a movie coming out in which she plays a fag hag?
Who wrote the book “La Cage Aux Folles?”
Our team did really good in the first round, coming in second place. We were shocked when the table next to us had copied our team name. They spelled ‘Country’ the traditional way, however. Our ranking slipped gradually in the subsequent rounds, but regardless of there we placed the evening was a blast.
Blank Space – Artist Incubator
Every Thursday and Friday, Blank Space is open to artists who would like some studio space downtown. The hours were from 10AM to 11PM. This offers the public a chance to experience and view the artists at work. This move should bring more artists downtown and help enliven the downtown district. When I arrived one Thursday, Tracy Brurke and Maisy May Mars were hard at work.
Tracy does boldly painted portraits which are usually large in size. This day however she was working small and applying the paint more thickly and experimenting more. The painting she was working on was of a fashionable young girl with beautiful lips. She managed to finish up two of these quick studies while I was producing this sketch. I learned quite a bit from watching her work. Maisy was working on a picture of a wide eyed young girl. The eyes were bright green. Her whimsical work is on display now at Blank Space on a central column.
What is odd about the scene is that the women had to set up and paint on the ping pong table. The space isn’t quite set up yet with easels or drafting tables. The space is available on a first come first served basis. I sat up on a high stool and started to sketch. In the far corner of the next room a woman was threading thousands of optical threads through a white plastic board to create a light art piece.
Having this space open and available for artists on Thursday and Friday is a great idea. I hope in time more artists recognize the potential and take advantage of the opportunity.
DRIP Musician Auditions
DRIP held Auditions for a new show which will be at a permanent performance space on International Drive. Auditions took place in the DRIP warehouse (4502 Old Winter Garden Road). It was a boiling hot Saturday when I pulled into the warehouse parking lot. The huge garage warehouse door was partly open and the pounding of drums and bass guitar was pouring out. The new show in development is called RIFF and it is a wild and vibrant show featuring black lights plenty of splashing water and day glow paint. I did a sketch several months ago of one of the early unveiling’s and my sketch and shirt got covered with paint.
When I entered, Jessica Mariko, DRIP’s Creative Director and CEO, was sitting with Jennifer Wagner, the Production Manager. Jessica gave me a warm hug and told me to set up anywhere.
I sat in a beat up couch right behind the drum set. The first auditioner had left and they were setting up to have someone else perform on bass. The drummer turned to me and said, things might get loud! I told him I would be fine.
David Traver, DRIP’s music director, performed on his own bass to explain to the auditioners how he wanted the music performed. After he had demonstrated the piece several times the drummer Jeff Wright and the new bass performer began. James Woodrich was the bass performer I sketched auditioning. The music was super loud and I was right on top of it. Between pieces Jessica asked the performer to really act it out, to perform like he was on stage at a rock concert. He stared performing with some real flourish. There was no air conditioning in the warehouse and the performers sweat and strained.
The sketch took me about 3 auditions to finished after the third auditioner, there was a long break for lunch so I took that as the sign that the sketch was done and I should head back home.
Lake Cane Morning Swim
Sultana Fatima Ali told me about an early morning swim that is held at Lake Cane. When I arrived there were many cars parked on the street in front of a gorgeous lake front home. As I walked toward the metal gate that blocked the driveway, I bumped into Melissa Swedburg who plays the Viola in the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. She had been to this morning swim before and she said the gate was magic. She walked up to is and it opened all by itself. As we walked back, I noticed a huge perhaps 10 foot high yo-you which was stored in a carport. A sign announced that it was the largest yo-yo in the world according to the Guinness world book of records. Melissa and I talked for a while as we walked towards the backyard of the home, then I let her stretch and get ready and I started to sketch.
A plume of smoke rose up over the lake from a Cape Canaveral rocket launch earlier that morning. As the plums dissipated, the sun rose above the horizon and caused a bright glow behind a tree and gazebo. Runners kept arriving and by the time it was time to swim, there must have been at least 75 people wading out into the water. The owner of the home had on a large cowboy hat. He told me that Adam the family dog always started the morning swim by jumping in the water first. Soon the water was boiling with the frantic strokes of all the swimmers as they started off to the far shore.
Sultana arrived late and asked me to watch her bag. She walked up to the water’s edge and made sure her hair was neatly tucked in her skull cap. By the time she got back my sketch was finished. I was surprised when she told me she had swam across the lake twice. When someone goes to this swim for the first time, they get a bumper sticker and they are allowed to sign their name on the back of the home. I went to see this signed wall and the number of names is astonishing. I searched for Sultana’s name trying to focus on a grid like search pattern and just looking for the letter S. We had just about given up when she spotted the signature on a spot near a bay window.
As I strive to improve my physical health by running I hope to someday return to this lake, confident in my swimming abilities. I once competed in a Tin Man competition in Seattle. I lost much time in the swim since I swam on my back with my eyes closed. It turns out I was swimming in circles. Several men in a row boat had to beat the waters surface to get my attention and point out to me that I was swimming back to the shore where I had started from! I need to swim with my face in the water doing the crawl like a pro.
Biker Bar
Karen Cali (KC) has a knack for finding Orlando’s true dive bars. She invited me to come out on a mini SketchCrawl at a biker bar located in a Howard Johnson’s , Crossroads Bar and Grill (2801 East New York Avenue, Deland). The music was blazing as we walked in. We walked from table to table trying to find a good vantage point from which to sketch. Tables at the back of the place were so dark that it was impossible to see the sketchbook. We tried sitting at about 4 different spots before finally deciding to sit at the bar itself to sketch the band and patrons. The bar had bras hanging from the ceiling along with an American flag and then a confederate flag proudly displayed behind the stage. We both ordered a beer and got to work.
There were free wings that night and the guy next to me was enjoying a drum stick. His frayed denim jacket announced that he had been at Bike Week in Daytona. The band was all high energy singing rock and roll cover songs and I later found out the lead singer was exactly my age. Between sets the bass guitarist with the long black hair came over to KC to see what she was working on. They talked for a while and she put in a song request which was the first song they performed when they started playing again.
A competition was announced and a call for volunteers went out. I was surprised when KC got up and walked to the stage to participate. The competition involved holding two buckets filled with beers and ice above your head. The one who held them up the longest would win. KC competed against two other women in the women’s round. As they struggled everyone in the bar started shouting out encouragement. KC won. When she sat back down, she said her arms were shaking, which might make it difficult to draw. The men’s round which I refused to volunteer for went on for a long time. They guy who won had huge biceps. KC had to compete against him in the final round. She put up a good fight but he won.
Several friends of KC greeted us and started admiring our work. Other bar patrons asked to see the sketchbooks and there was much appreciation. When the first sketch was done, I wanted to with another sketch of the huge bikers hidden in the shadows with long gray beards and gorgeous tattoos. That sketch will have to wait for another night since we both agreed we had sketched enough. The place was a gritty down to earth blast. When I got home I realized my sketchbook smelled like cigarette smoke.
Available
For the entire month of August, performance artist Brian Feldman has decided to make himself “Available” to do anything you need help with. Do you need your car washed? Laundry folded? Lawn mowed? Dog walked? Dinner prepared? Someone to go shopping with? Someone to see a movie with? Kids watched? Help crossing the road? Services of the self-proclaimed greatest designated driver of all time? Just fill out the form and he is available for you. It is like hiring a friend to help out for FREE!
One request caught my eye from the start. Karen Cali (KC), a figurative artist, wanted Brian to post nude for her. As KC wrote, “I do charcoal work from the figure and there’s a shortage of male models in general and my money to pay models in particular.” There was a mad flurry of e-mails as this private sketch session was arranged. Several sketch locations were considered and then discarded, including the Mobile Art Show and Blank Space. Since I was having a sketchbook display at Frames Forever & Art Gallery, we finally decided this would be the perfect spot for a quiet Sunday morning sketch session. Katie Windish, who owns the shop, is still offering huge clearance discounts on everything in stock. She even bought in a whole pile of art books, DVDs and other items from home. She had a tiny digital camera that she wanted to sell and before Brian got to the shop we duck taped it to the far wall opposite from where he was going to pose. We made no effort to disguise the camera, we just wanted to see if he would ever notice it. It took him about half an hour, but when he did notice it we all had a good laugh.
KC had bought her own artist sketch bench and a flood lamp. Brian hung a black drape over the windows of the shop door. KC and I dropped our cell phones off in the back room of the shop with Katie. She was busy working on a framing job and wasn’t prepared to see Brian nude, so she stayed hidden. She did stop out when Brian had a break and was in his bathrobe. I showed her my drawing but kept my thumb over the private parts. KC did a great job of posing Brian and reassuring him as he found his pose. He is actually a really good model since many of his performances involve stamina and patience. KC did two drawings and I worked on this blog sketch. The second pose was a standing pose, and offered the full monty. I decided to stick with this sketch where his clenched hands hide his privates. I have a newfound respect for the lengths Brian will go to for the sake of his art.
Maisy May Marrs
I fist sketched Maisy May Marrs at an event called Blend. I then saw her at Blank Space where artists are permitted to come in each Thursday to work in an open studio environment downtown. Through Facebook I asked if I could sketch her studio and she agreed. Her husband Ron was home for vacation for a week so we agreed to set up a time around lunch for me to stop by. Maisy had prepared a delicious bean soup and I chowed down before getting to work. The small studio room is known as the Pink Room because the curtains are pink and when the morning sun comes through it makes everything in that room and some of the living room a pink hue. . It is a tiny and intimate space being perhaps a 10 by 10 foot cube. At first I considered sitting in the doorway but I only got a view of Maisy’s back from there, so I shoved myself into a corner of the room where she kept her witch’s broomstick. She has drawn me several times and I always laugh out loud at the results.
Maisey began to sketch out one of her wide eyed little girls as I began to sketch the studio space. I asked about a funeral urn which was on a top shelf and it turned out to be her mother’s ashes. There were dried roses and a high school art piece which was a coffin shaped box with a nude woman struggling against her bonds and a red robed priest inside. Maisy’s art on a whole is fun and lighthearted. Some of the pieces look like children’s drawings. It was refreshing to see such childlike innocence in her work.
Outside her studio window she can see ducks as they swim around the apartment complex retention pond. it started to rain outside and then the rain slowed. Ron called out from the living room that he was going to get the mail. As soon as he left and got half way to the community’s mailboxes, it started to pour. Maisey looked out the window anxiously. When he got back she shouted out, “Did we get anything good?” Ron shouted back, “Some junk mail and pneumonia.” I started to run out of time and all the infinite detail in the room was overwhelming. Maisey would peek over once in a while to see what I was up to. She kept the afternoons work fun and light. It was great to sketch and laugh the afternoon away with a fellow artist.