Brian Feldman wants to get to NYC by May 31st to sit across from Marina Abramovic in her performance piece called “The Artist is Present” at The Museum of Modern Art. To help raise funds for the trip, Brian is holding a 30 hour “Staring Contest” at Frames Forever & Art Gallery (941 Orange Avenue Winter Park). Since I hope to go to New York City with Brian to sketch the main event, I wanted to see how his starting contest fundraiser was going. When I entered Katie Windish’s frame store, Mike Maples, a local comedian was sitting across from Brian. Katie said he had been sitting there for more than an hour. I decided to risk his getting up and I rushed my sketch to get him in place. It turns out I didn’t need to rush because he lasted almost another hour staring at Brian. He chuckled a few times but it seems that is allowed in this staring contest. As a matter of fact, there seem to be no rules and there is no way to loose. Afterward Mike said he chuckled every time Brian wiggled his ears.
Sultana Fatima Ali wandered in quickly but was late to her evening’s run up in Sanford, so she dashed off after dropping some money in the paint bucket. A family showed up and the little boy all of perhaps five years old, kept waving at Brian trying to get his attention. Katie kept trying to get a photo of the little boy waving but all the technical gadgets on the camera wouldn’t let her take the shot in time.
I decided I would sit across from Brian and draw. Since this was a starting contest however, I figured I couldn’t look at the page I was working on. I did what is called a blind contour drawing; something I haven’t done since college. There were minor distractions like the sounds of camera shudders, and I knew video footage was being shot which might end up on YouTube someday. This blind contour drawing took about 10 minutes to do. I found it hard to slow down and let the lines flow. I am so used to drawing fast to catch quick moment. I started by drawing Brian’s eyes. I lingered there as long as possible before exploring other features of his face. Nothing lines up exactly but I rather enjoy the penetrating spontaneity of the drawing.
Brian’s expression was consistently sober and serious. I found myself wondering what was running through his mind and it felt like an important moment to me. Much can be communicated by just looking into someone’s eyes.
Should you want to join this staring contest you still have 2 days to try and see how long you can last.
Brian will be staring Sunday May 16th from 10AM to 8PM, and Monday May 17th from 10Am to 8PM.
Donations are accepted by Pay Pal, or in the paint bucket in the store.
Shotgun
Shotgun, written by John Biguenet, and directed by David Karl Lee, is without a doubt the best play I have seen this year. The play was in the intimate Goldman Theater inside the Lowndes Shakespeare Center as part of PlayFest! The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays. Dennis Neal, who plays Dexter, gave tickets to Mary Hill, his former wife, and I went along to do a sketch.The play takes place in New Orleans after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Beau, a white middle class plumber, and his teenage son rent an apartment in a shotgun duplex from Mattie, an African American woman, and her father, Dexter. Dexter is a bit like a black version of Archie Bunker, not liking the idea of renting to white tenants. He is however under his daughters care so he has to toe the line.
The set for this show is fascinating to watch. When a scene switches from the porch to the apartment inside, the walls fold back creating the side walls of the interior room. The first time it happened, I let out an Ooooh, just like I was watching fireworks. This effect became a bit distracting however since the scenes kept switching form the porch to the interior. The most gut-wrenching scene comes about at the end of act one when Beau, played by Rus Blackwell, and Mattie, played by Chantel Jean-Pierre, are sitting at the kitchen table in his apartment sharing a bottle of liquor. Mattie asks him what happened to his wife and he tells the long painful tale of how she died days after the hurricane from injuries she sustained trying to get out of the house from a jagged hole he had cut in the roof using an ax. He sobs uncontrollably since it was his decision to stay in his home. Mattie consoles him. This scene had me in tears.
Love blossoms between Mattie and Beau and this causes racial tensions for both families. Beau’s son Eugene, played by Brandon Peters, suddenly lets out a racial slur when he sees Mattie come out of his dad’s bedroom. Willie blames his dad for his mom’s death and refuses to forgive him. In the end, the racial divide it too great and Beau moves back with his son to the devastated white suburban neighborhood where they start building their life again from scratch. Love does not always triumph.
Happiness Hurts
Performance artist Brian Feldman put out a call on Facebook for anyone with a video camera to record his performance of Happiness Hurts at the Orlando Museum of Art. I happen to have a video camera, so I sent him a message and he made arrangements to get me into the event. He created this performance for 1st Thursdays at the Museum. 1st Thursdays is a monthly event where artists are asked to exhibit work along a similar theme. I couldn’t make out the theme by looking at the art hanging on the walls. Then Tisse Mallon finally realized that they must all relate to happiness. Brian’s performance piece was the key to the puzzle. I spent some time getting the camera ready and there was some panic that the cord to the projector might not be long enough. At the last minute a longer cord was found.
Brian began to smile and the museum slowly filled up. Some people got the idea of the performance right away. I overheard one woman saying, “Smiling that long must hurt.” I was the sketch artist and cameraman. I turned the LCD display so Brian could see his closely cropped face in the viewfinder. This allowed him to focus and remain perfectly still. I set my watch timer to go off in an hour and at that time I would have to replace the tape.
While I was working Sultana Fatima Ali introduced herself to me. She had helped organize a bicycle giveaway program called “Wheels for Kids” that I had sketched. On that day, she had seen me working and she asked a policeman who I was. He told her about my blog and she started reading. She has started following Brian’s performances so she has started to appear in my sketches. As I sketched, I kept meeting people I know. I don’t disappear into the woodwork the way I used to. I am slowly learning to balance the work with the socializing.
On the wall, Brian’s smile was quivering; he was having trouble keeping his smile consistent. He had to keep smiling for three straight hours. With my sketch complete, I wandered around a bit and looked at some of the art. I had to leave early to go sketch another event, so I asked Tisse if she would pack up my camera and tripod and she agreed.
Tanqueray’s
Leslie Lormann, her cousin “Bane”, Dina Peterson and I met at at Ceviche for Tapas Tuesday’s. Ceviche is at Church Street Station. The servings were small and varied. A light salad with beans asparagus and tomatoes was wonderful. A baked salmon was delicious with it’s light sauce. The Mojitos were really tasty and I drank 2. I was surprised to discover both Dina and Leslie had been inside Disney character costumes in the past. I wonder how many other locals share this dark yet fun past.
Dina Peterson introduced me to Tanqueray’s (100 South Orange Avenue) where Damon, Warsing and Wynn were going to play. Tanqueray’s is located around the block from Church Street. The historic building houses the Mercantile Bank and the bar is located in the basement. In the corner of the room where the band was to play, the old bank vault could be seen behind an iron grate. We met Dina’s sister, Kristin Lippens before heading downstairs. The place wasn’t very crowded when we go there. The Orlando Magic was playing at the Amway Arena and the band wasn’t going to start playing till the game was over. The Magic was ahead by like 40 points so it wasn’t a game worth watching though it was on the big screen TV. After the game was over, the bar started to fill up. A table right in front of the band was available so we all ordered drinks and sat down. When the band took their places I got up and sat at another table so I could find an angle where I could fit them all on the page.
This sketch was created over the course of 2 sets and 3 beers. I had sketched Thomas Wynn before at Enzian Theater. He had played for the Florida Film Festival’s opening night party with Thomas Wynn and the Believers. Tonight half of that group was playing. The players were Thomas Wynn, Todd Warsing and Thom Damon. The music was loud, vibrant and exciting. “On Cripple Creek” had my head bobbing. Thomas Wynn was smoking most of the time and the smoke would billow out of his nose highlighted by the blue stage lights. They were as lost in the music as everyone else in the room was. A young couple sat in front of Dina’s table and started talking loudly. Dina got them an extra chair and let them know there was a much quieter table at the back of the room. The couple took her advice and were making out later that evening.
Dina worked on an Independent film called “The Ah of Life” and she hopes that “The Believers” will contribute a song for the sound track. Rick Lane, and old time friend of Dina’s, sat at the front table and was constantly moving to the beat. Later that evening he was invited to accompany the band on his harmonica.
When my sketch was finished I put it away and just enjoyed the good music. At a break Thomas asked to see the sketch and it was passed around for everyone to see. Others asked to see my work as I was sketching and I gave them the sketchbook I wasn’t using to flip through. I managed to spill a bottle of Becks on one of my sketchbooks when I came back from a bathroom break. I saved it and the beer before the pages got to soaked. Thomas really seemed to like what I am doing and he asked me to stay for the last set. I agreed. I wandered out of downtown at 2AM feeling great, smelling of smoke and proud to have been introduced to a true Orlando Dive.
Triathlon
I got up at 4:30 AM to get down to the Woman’s Triathlon being held at the Disney Wilderness Lodge. Blogger, Sultana Fatima Ali told me about the event. I arrived at the magic kingdom and had to take a bus over to the Wilderness lodge. It was still dark out when I got off the bus. Bright theater lights with bugs swarming around them lit up the finish line area. I kept following the line of women who all were walking in the same direction. I found myself at a “marking area” where volunteers wrote the runners number on arms and then another number on racers legs. I considered doing a sketch here but the action was so frantic and varied that I decided to move on. I needed some anchor to help me calm down and start composing a scene. I started drawing near where all the bikes were stored. I was disappointing when I couldn’t enter the area where the bikes were stored. The first sketch of the crowds milling about as the sky grew lighter was fine but I decided not to post it. The funny thing is that I drew so many people holding water bottles by a strap and now a few days later I have the same water bottle sitting beside me as I type. This is an indication that this event was for me a life changing experience. Sultana spotted me sketching and leaned down to give me hug. As quickly as she appeared she disappeared into the crowd milling all around me. I noted her number which was 893.
After finishing my first sketch I walked down to the beach where the race was to start. A huge crowd of about 2000 women were gathered, all adjusting their swim caps and anxiously waiting. The women would go into the water in 12 different waves, or groups. Sultana was going to start with the 9th wave and she had a yellow cap. Each wave of women wore a different colored swim cap. The Star Spangled Banner played and the crowd fell silent. I decided I needed to finish this sketch before the start of the 9th wave. My line work became more fluid and experimental because of all the energy in the crowd. I worked fast and furious. When the 9th wave got onto the water, I was still applying water color washes to the sketch. I stopped and walked to the waters edge to see the start. I bumped into a spectator and we turned to each other. I suddenly realized it was Travis Blaze a former Disney Animator. He was watching his girlfriend, Sarah Purser, who was also going to start in the 9th wave. He laughed and said, “What are the chances?” While we waited, he said, “We should do a triathlon someday.” I said, “If your game, I’ll start training.” I was half joking. Travis explained that the numbers on the woman’s legs were their ages. From that moment on I was much more curious about the numbers written on legs. I went back to finish my sketch and then I would watch Sultana as she got out of the water. I finished fast and jogged over to the place where the contestants were exiting the water. I stood right next to the photographer. I waited until there were no longer any yellow caps. She was too fast, she must have gotten out of the water before I finished my sketch.
I next went to where the women dismounted their bikes. The crowd of spectators was pressed up against the barricade so I had to stand on my camping chair to look over their heads. Women kept falling off their bikes at this transition point since some wanted to keep riding past the sign and others stopped early. One woman got her foot caught in the pedals and she crashed right into the metal barricade in front of me. One woman rode in on a tiny child’s mountain bike. She explained to friends that she had gotten a flat and a little boy lent her his bike. Finally I saw Sultana cruising in on her bike. I shouted out her name and yelled waving my arms, but she was so focused on the transition that I don’t think she heard me.
When the Bike dismount sketch was finished I went to the finish line. I once again stood on my chair to look over the crowd. Runner 893 which is the number right after Sultana’s ran in at 9:55. Bubbles were billowing up from a bubble machine. Large groups of spectators would cheer as runners they knew ran for the finish line. It was exhilarating. I waited to see Sultana finish. This time I was too distracted to sketch. There was so much love and energy in the crowd of spectators. I just soaked it in.
The race was held on the day before Mother’s Day. A woman ran across the finish line with her 10 year old son sprinting beside her. Betty Vernon ran in with her 3 children and she held her youngest daughter in her arms. Family’s were cheering and supporting one another. This was the most amazing Mother Day celebration! I felt elated! When ever a runner would come in with a really strong sprint I had to cheer! I waited almost to the end when women were walking to the finish line. I realized that once again I had missed Sultana. She was just to fast to keep up with as a sketching spectator. I glanced over my shoulder as I got on the bus, 4 women strolled across the finish line arm in arm wearing Hawaiian leis and wide brim hats. The leis reminded me of my step mom, and I remembered that my mother, Elvira, had died on mothers day when I was 10 years old. I felt sad for a moment, but then joyful that life keeps striding on in wild celebration.
P.S. I spoke with Sultana after the event by phone. She finished with a time of 1:40:35 and was 27th in her division. She went into the race hoping to finish in less than 2 hours, so this was an undreamed of success and victory. She told me that when she was biking she saw a woman with one leg passing other racers on the course. This inspired her to push past her minor frustrations and pain. She said that the transition to running was the hardest part of the event. She had to talk to her legs convincing them that they had seen much worse while training. They came to an agreement and pushed on. Only 2 women passed her as she ran.
I am now jogging every day and I hope to experience a triathlon myself. If I experienced such a glorious adrenaline rush as a spectator, then it must be even more rewarding as a contestant. My favorite quote from the day’s events was, “The irony of commitment is it is deeply liberating” -Anne Morris. I am now committed to treating my body with more respect rather than just using it a a vehicle to get my hands to the next sketch location. Stride by stride I try to grow.
Play in a Day
Having a bad day. My truck was rear ended and the guy said he had to run because he was picking someone up at the airport, so there was no police report. I looked at my cell phone only to find the battery dead. We did exchange insurance info. People need to slow down and relax. A friend sketched a peace sign into the dirt on the back of my truck. When I got home after the accident I rubbed it out thinking it might have been a bulls eye for the road raged Daytona driver that hit me.
Play in a day is hosted by Beth Marshall at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Six groups of Orlando’s most talented actors and playwrights had just 24 hours to put together their consecutive plays. Writers were given a theme and certain ideas that had to be in the play. They then wrote late into the night some of them all night long for the production starting the next day.
When I arrived Beth Marshall was directing a musical political satire written by Margot Knight. Margot explained her process a bit and it was fascination. She had a long list of free associated ideas that she jotted down in quick succession. No ideas were rejected and many ended up in the final production. She said she even was writing as she drove which is a practice I have started following her example. The fact that I had a fender bender this morning is an entirely unrelated event. I was rear ended and I wasn’t writing at the time. Margot’s production was a fun romp about health care reform. The political quagmire was best represented by using Alice in Wonderland as the vehicle to start the production. At one point Alice tries to read the legal document of the health care reform bill and she is rightfully confused by the language where up is down and down is up.
Britni Leslie had the lead roll as Alice. She had several song numbers to sing and Beth was concerned that her voice might not carry well enough in the theater. Beth arranged to get a wireless mic. The rehearsal was fast and furious with tech setting up lights and sound cues on the fly. I am amazed as how the actors could retain so much dialogue so fast. When it came time to present the play in front of an audience, I felt it went rather well. watching rehearsals I knew where a few blunders and slip ups had happened, but when there was an audience the adrenaline and focus kicked in making everything flow smoothly.
Sidewalk Art
Heritage Park Square in front of the Orlando County Regional History Center was the site of a daylong sidewalk chalk artist festival. I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired this day, but I had to push past that and just get lost in the work. The park in front of the History Center had a large circular sidewalk and artists were assigned designated areas where they could create their sidewalk creations. I found a spot under a shady pine tree and settled in to get a quick sketch done. The artists I was sketching seemed to all be from the same high school. I believe the art teacher was to my right since once in a while a student would walk up to him and ask a question about their project. The kids were in constant motion wandering back and forth comparing chalk creations before settling in and putting some chalk on their own work. The piece right in front of me was rather nice, being a sketch of a girl half veiled with a colorful shawl.
When my sketch was finished I wandered around the rest of the park and ran into Bob Kodzis, Anna McCambridge and her mom Vicki. Anna was working on a bunny rabbit, while her mom had a human figure with rather intriguing firework type effects. Bob went with a crowd-pleasing black and white dog that looked like the dog from “The Little Rascals.”
After this event I walked down the street to the library to participate in Brian Feldman’s 67 Books project.
Cinnamon Roll Hug
Jessica Earley organized a Facebook event called the Cinnamon Roll Hug. Amanda Chadwick told me about this event only about an hour before it was to take place at Lake Eola near Panera’s. started called encouragement rules!. One previous event she talked about was a party where all the women created small time capsules in bottles which they then buried. The idea was that they would be burying any of the negative nonconstructive energies in their lives.
I got to Lake Eola about a half hour before the Hug was to take place. I went into Panera’s with the idea of getting a Cinnamon Roll to munch on while waiting for the crowd to show up. I had the image in my head of hundreds of women all joining hands. It would certainly make for a challenging and dynamic sketch. There was a line in Panera’s however and I gave up on the roll.
Here is the description from the event page of what I was about to witness…
Outline of Activity: Group stands in a circle holding hands. One person breaks her link with the person on her right. That person then walks to the center of the circle still holding hands with the person on her left. Everyone is still holding hands except for this one break. The person who had been on the center person’s right then begins to walk clockwise around the circle. Everyone follows her. They spiral in tighter and tighter until they are a snug pinwheel. On the count of three, the group gently squeezes.” Jessica explained to me that the best position to be in would be in the center of the roll.
When 6:30PM rolled around, I saw Jessica with two other women near the large flower bed. I walked over and said hello. The two women with Jessica were Marnie Sears Bench and Luisairis Soto. I asked Jessica how many people she was expecting and she said, “Twelve people confirmed on Facebook.” Deciding that would still make for a worthy sketch, I leaned back against a tree and started blocking in the elements of the grassy field where the hug would take place. Jessica wandered off and went to another grassy field where she felt some people might have mistaken for the event site. She returned empty-handed.
It was now well past 6:30 and time for the hug to commence. Jessica and Marnie walked across the street to Panera’s and asked people going in if they wanted free hugs. They asked a family of tourists, who replied, “Sorry we are from out of town.” The tourists rushed into he pastry shop to escape. Marnie then asked a small group of men if they wanted free hugs. She was shocked when they said, “Sorry not interested.” Back at the park Luisairis started shouting, “Free hugs!” I was afraid she might get arrested for disturbing the peace. She was after all shouting in Lake Eola Park. All this last minute advertising was not bringing any more people into the circle. Finally the three women stood out in the field and hugged. They knew I was sketching and stayed together hugging for probably five minutes of so on my behalf. I had not expected them to pose but I am grateful they did. Had I known they would pose, I would have moved much closer.
I consider the Cinnamon Roll Hug a novel and fun idea. I didn’t participate since I was busy sketching. I hope Jessica organizes this event again, inviting far more people. But honestly the number of people isn’t the issue; it was still fun and exciting to sketch this display of open friendship and affection. Jessica said, “Well there wasn’t really enough people for a Cinnamon Roll Hug, what you saw was more of a Donut Hole Hug.”
My Fair Lady
The Orlando Philharmonic along with Mad Cow Theater is presenting “My Fair Lady” at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center (401 West Livingston Street). I went to a rehearsal of this limited staged production and was shocked at the care taken with the set. The whole living room section rolled forward towards the audience. I thought I was going to sketch back stage, but the whole orchestra was elevated making that a challenge. Instead I sat in the front row looking up at the action.
I loved this production it was funny endearing and the singing was great. The sound techs were still working out the kinks on the sound dials for the actors mics. This caused actors to occasionally go mute but I’m sure it will all be worked out by show time. Caroline Blice a french horn player came down to say hello during the intermission. She explained that every instrument in the orchestra had a separate mic.
I loved every second of this production. The performance features Michelle Knight as Eliza Doolittle and Philip Nolan as Henry Higgins. Performances are today at 2PM and 8PM. You will be sorry if you miss this production.
K.T. Sullivan -Mad Cow Cabaret
For the next three weeks the Mad Cow Theater is offering great cabaret entertainment from all over the world. This is the 8th annual cabaret festival hosted by Mad Cow. Cabaret offers a celebration of song and personality; musical entertainment in a intimate setting. I saw Zac Alfson who works at the Mad Cow at the WPRK radio station and he invited me to go to the opening night performance by K.T. Sullivan which would then be followed by a cabaret party. I have never been to a cabaret before, so I jumped at the opportunity. I got a seat in the back row and that worked out great since I needed to use a book light to see the pages the whole time I sketched. This is the first time I have done a sketch with a book light in a theater and I was a bit self conscious. When the house went totally dark I would shield the light with my hand.
Just as the show was about to get started two young women in fluffy night gowns and high heels got into the row in front of me. One of the girls got up probably to go to the rest room and she pranced down the steps theatrically as if trying not to make a sound. Half of the audience was able to see her stealthy comical movements and they started laughing uncontrollably. The woman had to be an actress and I wondered if she had been planted in the audience.
K.T. Sullivan’s performance was both sultry and humorous. Jon Weber accompanied her on the piano. She sang the songs of Dietz and Schwartz who she said wrote the songs late at night. One song written around the time of WWII was about a woman having to date young boys and old men since all the best men had been shipped off to war. The lyrics were very funny. Seeing her performance from the back row let me focus more on the overall feeling of the intimate setting of the space.
After the show was over everyone gathered in the lobby and I was surprised that no one left. I noticed one of Terry’s friends named Eileen and I went over to say hello. She had just gotten back from Louis’s funeral in New Orleans. She is selling her home in Chuluota and will be moving to New York City soon. I offered my condolences and told her a bit about my trip to Pennsylvania. She was with a large group of people and they left for another venue.
There was to be a Cabaret House Party starting at 10PM and so everyone waited in the lobby for the next half hour or so till that started. I got a chance to talk to Genevieve who is now working with Aradhana Tiwari on Project F. Genevieve is the choreographer of Voci Dance and she is excited about the Facebook themed show she is collaborating on. She told me about a rehearsal I missed in which everyone on stage had yarn and as they walked on stage they would leave a trail behind them. All the actors became entangled in this web and it affected their movements. I can kick myself for missing that rehearsal.
I got a white wine when the Cabaret House Party began. Seth Kubersky carried a clip board and wandered the crowd looking for people to sign up for Karaoke Cabaret. Tod Kimbro took to the piano and entertained the audience for a while. The first singer that took to the stage was seventeen year old Samantha. She said she was a bit nervous because she had never been to the Mad Cow Theater before then she quietly began to sing “Till there was you.” She began tentatively but then her voice rang clear and beautiful. She had a gorgeous voice. What a fabulous start for the night! Another couple that I absolutely adored sang “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors. I love this show, and used to sing the songs to myself as I painted in my rundown apartment in New York City. The notion of finding romance in the ruins of New York appealed to me, as did the idea of escaping to find a better life somewhere else. Who would have imagined that might be Orlando. They finished their song and kissed. She quietly said to herself,”He’s so adorable.” I found myself humming “Suddenly Seymour” to myself on the whole drive home.