Via Facebook Mark Baratelli contacted me and asked if he could borrow my printer so he could print photos for an upcoming show. Every third Thursday of each month Mark puts on a “Mobile Art Show” in a U-Haul truck parked outside City Arts Factory. This month he plans to showcase all the photos that have been take for thedailycity.com. We bounced ideas back and forth on where we could meet and we decided to meet at WPRK a radio station located on the Rollins College campus. Mark would be there to showcase upcoming arts and culture events as listed on thedailycity.com. I arrived early so I would have a full hour to sketch. Jeremy Seghers, the Out and About host, greeted me and then got his guest situated for his on air interview. Seated in the guest chair was Jesse Nager who is now appearing in Xanadu at the Bob Carr Theater. Jesse also discussed a cabaret show he organized with friends of his. An album is being released called “The Broadway Boys” that features hits from this group of talented singers. He wanted to stress that that even people who don’t usually listen to show tunes would like these performances. He expressed how fun it was to collaborate with so many of his friends.
Jesse and Jeremy discussed the plot line of Xanadu at some length and now I am really curious to see this Broadway musical. It seems the play pokes fun at itself and it’s 1970’s culture and should be very campy and fun. The music to this show I have heard many times many times on the radio, not realizing it was from a Broadway show.
Zac Alfson was also on hand to promote the Cabaret House Party at Mad Cow Theater featuring K. T. Sullivan. I will be going to this Cabaret performance tonight and I hope to get a good sketch of K.T. Zac pointed out that there will be cabaret performances every night through May 16th. The Mad Cow offers an intimate setting in which to experience these one of a kind acts.
Transending Vision – Orlando Museum of Art
Band of America and Brokers from from Merrill Lynch gathered in the lobby of the Orlando Museum of Arts for a gathering in honor of the new show at the museum which is on loan from Bank of America. Bank of America started gathering the painting in the collection as far back as 1904. The paintings were gathered from over 3000 regional banks and thus show work gathered from artists all over the country.
Transcending Vision: American Impressionism follows the influence French Impressionism had on American artists from 1870 to 1940. Also on hand were works from the Hudson River School and the American Barbizon Schools of art. The paintings showed the development of landscape painting as an important feature of American art from the 19th to the mid 20th century. Landscape paintings also helped document this countries growth as settlers pushed west.
When I finished sketching the corporate mingling going on in the lobby, I went to the back rooms where these paintings are on display. It was refreshing to see so many paintings all in one place. The museum has a small permanent collection but lets face it the Orlando Museum of Art isn’t like walking into the Met or Chicago Art Institute. The paintings were technically great but even in a large museum, if I see too many landscapes all in one place, I glaze over. Landscapes are a dime a dozen to me. I miss the human element, the unexpected flash that comes the second a human enters and influences the landscape. As I was jotting down notes, Jodie Hardman, a Bank of America Marketing Manager, came over and introduced herself. She was curious about my work so I gave her a sketchbook to flip through. She then pulled out her iPhone and sent me a press release which gave me all the background information about the exhibit. That small technical wonder certainly made my job easier.
I examined the paintings up close. Sometimes the brush strokes were thick, juicy and delicious like frosting. The subject matter didn’t interest me that much but when I got close and examined the inner life of the paintings the tangled and twisted abstract world of brush work, I was excited and intrigued. The show left me wanting to work on large canvases.
Project F – Vocals
This was the second Project F rehearsal I was able to attend and sketch. When I arrived at the Shakespeare Theater there were only a few actors gathered in the space. Aradhana Tiwari, the director, explained to the actors gathered that this night they would begin with a viewpoints session and then move on to vocalizations for the first time. After more actors trickled in, Aradhana turned off the house lights leaving only the Ghost lamp to illuminate the stage. The actors began to walk the grid. Viewpoints is an acting regiment in which actors explore tempo, shape, duration, line, and form. When Aradhana described the process it was as if she was describing the creation of a beautiful canvas using actors and their creative spirits as the medium. She just returned from a month long viewpoints training session in NYC and her intentions and purpose were strong and clear. She often jumped up on the stage to join the actors and affect the session. My favorite quote which came up in the evenings review was, “Art is intention.” The actors were asked to do everything on the stage with a strong clear intention.
After a break. The actors were asked to sit on the stage and review some status updates that had been typed out by the director. All of the updates began with the ubiquitous Facebook “is”.
_____ is wishing and hoping.
_____ is work…again!
_____ is popping Advil like their Tic Tacs.
_____ is sending out healing energy, joy & swirling peas. Namaste ya’ll.
In the next view-pointing exercise, Aradhana divided the actors into 2 groups. When one group moved, the other group would remain still. Actors were asked to only move when they had a status to vocalize. Some fascinating things happened as one group would move in and around the other groups architecture. Sarah Lockhard lead one group and she moved frantically around the stage crouched and peering about as if she was being followed. She said, “Sarah has 534 friends.” The other actors echoed “534 friends” while mimicking her movements. At one point Dennis Neal stood still on one corner of the stage and all the other actors gathered around him. The moment became all about him.
Aradhana said she wants to explore archetypes. She asked the actors to consider what archetypes need to be in the show and how they can be represented through rhythm, melody and movement. She wants the actors to capture a persons signature through movement.
Natalie Peterson expressed the concern that she actually felt scared at one point in the session. Themes of voyeurism and exhibitionism were surfacing and they want to explore the extremes of those ideas. Dennis pointed out that everyone in the room is an exhibitionist, on some level. Aradhana pointed out that shy people can become exhibitionists on Facebook. Mary Hill pointed out that at times she could tell when an actor was reciting a line and when they were speaking from the heart from a personal space. Mary was bought into the cast because she has never been on Facebook. She honestly has no idea what most of the cast was talking about as they spoke of “pokes”, “likes” and “followers.”. She wandered the grid as an outsider.
There was some discussion on how Facebook promotes “revolving door relationships.” Just as in NYC where so many people are in constant close proximity, friendships and relationships can often be short and intense, then people move on. Facebook has the effect of throwing everyone into close proximity, knowing intimate details of people who barely know each other and perhaps have never met in person. This play has limitless potential and I’m excited by the possibilities.
The Spore Project – Doug Rhodehamel
On May 1st, Doug Rhodehamel’s “Spore Project” began. Doug is asking people from all around the world to create paper bag mushrooms and plant them around their communities. He wants people to send in photos of their creations along with a name, location and number of mushrooms made. I had been trying to catch a sketch of Doug at work and finally got my chance when I found myself at a booth space right next to him at the Outsider Art Fair at Frames Forever and Art Gallery in Winter Park. Doug sat creating mushrooms at a fast and steady pace. As he worked, he explained to me the premise behind the Spore Project. Doug feels that the project will help promote awareness for the support for art education and creativity in day to day life. The project promotes self expression, resourcefulness and creativity by pointing out how a simple everyday item like a paper bag can be turned into something new and unexpected.
As Doug said, “Art is essential: it promotes intelligence and creativity, and it’s a great expressive outlet that inspires people toward new perspectives on life, which we all need and need frequently. Creativity is needed in every aspect of life. It teaches us to think differently and allows us to consider other options.The idea behind the paper bag mushroom grew innocently out of lunch in high school. While sitting around waiting for the meal break to end, I squished my lunch bag into a mushroom and gave it to my friend. this became a daily routine. years later I figured out a way to stick them in the ground. I then began placing them in my friends’ lawns while they were at work. it was meant as a joke, but other people loved them and asked me to cover their yards with mushrooms as well. I began making hundreds, then thousands. I did them for festivals, art shows, parties and just for fun. I began getting calls from teachers asking if I could come show their classrooms the art of making paper bag mushrooms. even companies and corporations began to get involved. this is where the SPORE Project began.”
So spread the word and go make some mushrooms. It’s easy and fun.
Florida Film Festival – Filmmakers Forum
Independent filmmakers were gathered for a panel discussion on the challenges and triumphs behind the films they made. Chris Gore the author of “The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide” acted as moderator. I was intrigued my Paul Cotter’s comments on how he got financing for his film. He actually came to Orlando to meet someone who had plenty of expendable income. The investor said that there was no problem offering a huge sum of cash to finance the film, but he wanted to make changes to the premise of the film. Although it was hard to do Paul refused the financing. He joked that most people who are rich are rather cheap whereas smaller investors are more generous.
Andrew and Joshua both worked on the film “Cleanflix” about how the Mormons started bootlegging films and cutting anything out that they found objectionable and then reselling the films for profit. This highly unmoral practice was eventually shutdown.
Amber Benson was a co-director for the film “Drones“. I saw this film and it was one of my favorites from the festival. It takes place in an office and Brian has the strange feeling there is something wrong with the people he works with. His best friend, Clark convinces him to date a co-worker, Amy. Brian discovers that both Clark and Amy are aliens who are sent to earth as scouts to judge when the earth is ready for conquest. When Brian breaks up with Amy she become furious and decides that the planet must be destroyed. The actors, Jonathan Woodward and Angela Bettis both had amazing performances. Amber explained that the film came about because the office space became available for a week and so the screenplay was quickly written and the film shot at a breakneck pace. This charming endearing film proves you don’t need tons of special effects to tell and amazing story.
Camilla pointed out that it is impotent to have one very strong image to market the film even before it is finished. For her film,”The Tiger Next Door“, they had great photos of the subject, Dennis Hill, with his big cat “Pets.”
Much of the panel discussion centers around financing the films and all the challenges that entails. Everyone agreed that investing your own money is never a good idea. They said that once you are fully committed to the project then people become interested and want to help finance the project. Listening to this animated discussion I couldn’t help but feel that anyone with a story to tell can find a way to make a film.
The Art of the Producer
The Art of the Producer Forum had a panel of producers who discussed their roles in getting films to the big screen. Randy Finch a UCF film instructor and producer of (Outside Providence, The Substance of Fire) acted as the moderator. The producers on the panel in the sketch, from left to right are, Gill Holland (Con Artist, Were the World Mine) , Sylvia Caminer (Love N’ Dancing, Blue Moon), Richard Gladstein (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs), and James Lawler (The Lottery, Don’t Let Me Down).
The producers discussed all aspects of their jobs from the creative to the financial. Richard Gladstein returned again and again to the idea that a producer needs to read lots and lots of scripts so that in time you get an idea of what the film might look like with this first glance. He felt the producer was the dad of a production while the director was the mom in this family.
There was some discussion of the Internet and how it is changing how films are marketed. Distributing films via the Internet stands to change the entire way films are marketed and what audiences will see the films. Flashes were firing off during the whole discussion which at times was distracting but certainly added to the feeling that I was watching high powered Hollywood moguls.
Behind the producers in the wings of the stage were hundreds of boxes. I found out later that these were full of Cranberry Rasinettes which were offered free throughout the festival. I am now addicted to these and I am going through withdrawals now that the festival is over.
The Funeral
On the day of the funeral I had to arrive early as a pallbearer to help get the sealed coffin into the church. The 6 men in black suits slid the box out of the Hurst and then started struggling up the few steps up to the entrance. The black iron railings were to narrow and we couldn’t fit through. We had to back it down and then go up the wheel chair ramp instead. A gurney helped when we got to the church door which we also would not have fit through. I sat in the second pew alone. My brother Wayne sat in the the pew in front of me with his wife Jennifer and two of his three boys. His wife put her arm around him. The organist began playing “Amazing Grace” and I started to well up. The organ music went on and on. A cousin of mom’s sitting behind me stated humming and singing the songs to herself and I found myself getting annoyed. I kept my anger in check focusing my attention on the Hawaiian flowers on top of the casket. A large leaf had been crushed inside the coffin lid when it was closed. I wanted to go up and free it but I sat numbly.
There was a short sermon which I didn’t really notice, and several hymns requiring standing and then sitting again. I went through the motions exhausted. Finally the pastor started talking about the last time he had visited Ruth in Ellen Memorial Health Care Center. He had dropped his bible as he got out of his car and he couldn’t find it. When he got to mom’s room he found she had her own bible on the night stand beside her. It’s cover was worn and the pages tattered from so much use. When he opened it he found many passages that she loved were already highlighted. She was on morphine and not able to talk and he read to her for the longest time. When he recited the lords prayed she raised her hand up to him. He held her hand through the prayer and she smiled. She was devout and a firm believer right up to her last breath.
The pastor then asked if anyone would like to get up and say a few words. Loretta Ernst, Ruth’s step daughter from her last marriage to Ken Krause got up. She began to talk about how happy her dad was when he and Ruth were dating back in 1995. She called her dad about something and he said he couldn’t talk long since he was expecting a call from “Ruthy.” She kept the conversation short and when she hung up the phone she realized she had forgotten to tell him something. She called him right back. He answered in a sultry voice she had never heard before saying, “Hello blue eyes.” She said, “Dad my eyes are brown.” Everyone in the church laughed. I laughed and began to cry. I have only net Loretta two times in my life and here she was showing me a side of my mom I had never seen.
Walter got up and said, “Wow this is harder than I thought.” He started to tear up. “I knew Ruth for 44 years and to me she was and would always be mom. She was there when my mom died. Ruth and I would sometimes argue about religion. She would say, “You say your a christian but you’re not living up to it.” In the end I would have to admit she was right.” He said, “For putting up with me, she deserved sainthood.” Then he pointed out her shrill high pitched and earth shattering way that she had of sneezing. When she sneezed birds would take flight and deer would turn and bolt into the woods. Once again everyone laughed.
After the service when we had maneuvered the casket back into the Hurst, the director shook my hand firmly and said, “I’d like to meet you again sometime, well not under these circumstances mind you…Uhm you know what I mean.”
That evening around the dinner table after drinking many cups of wine, all the children talked about the stupid things they had done in their youth. I found out things about my older brothers and sisters I had never known before. Walter arranged for a final farewell celebration by setting off large fireworks mortars in Ruth’s honor down near the pond. There were three mortar tubes and they kept trying to set up three blasts at once. The trouble was that there were only two lighters that Walter had picked up at the dollar store. Ben instructed me to wait three seconds after he lit his mortar fuse. I waited but then could not get the fuse to light. The darn lighter wouldn’t stay lit. I was still leaning towards the tube when the Ben’s mortar blast sent me jumping back. The hot flash blinded me for a second and the noise caused my ears to ring. I never did light the darn fuse, and I handed the lighter off to one of the kids. The men behaved like kids and the kids tried to act like men. I just wanted to make sure I had both my hands when all was said and done. Some of the fireworks circular blasts were so close to the ground that the sparks would come withing inches of our faces and many sparks remained glowing embers on the ground. With each new mortar blast we would all shout out, “OOOOh Ahhhh, that was a pretty one.” Cindy who is from California was particularly excited. Fireworks are banned out there. These sudden bursts of light and noise lighting up the cold starry sky were the perfect way to celebrate life’s short journey.
The Wake
As I sketched the Hessling Funeral home, groups of high school kids came running down the slanted uphill driveway. I was leaning back against a parking meter and twice I had to sit up so people could shove coins in the slot. A pickup truck pulled into the parking lot and the man pulled out a lawn mower and started mowing the lawn.
The wake was an eternally long period of sitting and waiting from 2 to 4 and then 7 to 9 PM. Ruth’s body was lying in a solid and sturdy looking casket. A small table toward the foot of the casket has a picture of a neatly trimmed Christ. My sister Carol found a statue of Betty Boop with a bright red boa to put at the table at the head of the casket. Ruth was a fan of Betty Boop and had a collection of them. At breakfast in her home I put in a Betty Boop animated short and watched her sinuous cycled animation.
My sister Carol had been put in charge of making sure I did not do a drawing of Ruth in her casket. She said, “I know you love drawing, but… no drawing the coffin, I’d think you’d freak everybody out.” Juanita and Gail also also kept a close eye on me. I knew Ruth would not want me to do such a drawing but being told it was forbidden made it tempting. Had I tried, I would have been kicked out of my own mothers funeral. Gail told me that if I sketched mom she would haunt me for eternity. Ruth was always concerned that she only be photographed or drawn when she looked her best. The mortician had done a good job of removing any hint of wrinkles and pain from moms face. She wore one of the leis and two others were dangling from the edges of the casket lid. Large red Victorian floor lamps lit the front of the room with a warm red glow. There were large flower arrangements from the children and grand children and people in town.
I once did a drawing of my father, Art, when he had Leukemia. Ruth found the drawing and ripped it out of my sketchbook and destroyed it. I later did more drawings of my father but all of them were from memory, done in the waiting room.
Honesdale Pennsylvania is a small town and everyone knows each other. Gail and Juanita live in Honesdale and friends and co-workers kept coming in and hugging them and offering condolences. I sat lined up against the wall with the rest of the 6 Thorspecken children and we spoke amongst ourselves never being embraced by the people from town. I realized it is hard to cry without touch. My family sat around and joked and told stories to pass the time. I couldn’t take all the banter. It was all just so much noise. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts.
I finally went to a back parlor of the funeral home and started sketching. I made sure to place a relative strategically to block any view of the casket. Old photos of Ruth were on display and a digital frame displayed photos of her grandchildren. Kyle and Jack, two of my nephews, watched my every move as I did the sketch. Kyle is a budding artist himself, and I was proud when he showed up to the second half of the wake with his own sketchbook tucked under his arm. My brother in law Walter kept borrowing my sketchbook to show to his friends. I met the owner of a downtown gallery and she was one person who held my hand for the longest time when she greeted me. I found myself talking excitedly about art for a while before, out of the corner of my eye, I again caught the image of mom lying in the front of the room alone and ignored. I did stand in front of the casket for a long time memorizing her features and the gentle turn of her thin wrists with her fingers folded calmly on her belly. This lifeless image is however not one I want to hold onto and I will never commit it to paper.
1000 Miles of Silence
I drove straight through. As I write this I am seated in the Himilayan Institute in downtown Honesdale, Pennsylvania. The stereo is playing gentle Indian music with the distinctive sounds of a sitar and drums. A singer chants ohmmmm. The Institute’s coffee bar is the only place in town with a WiFi connection. Yesterday I left Orlando at 9AM and I drove into my step-mom’s driveway at 4AM . The last time I drove this route I had my stereo blasting the whole trip. I let the music sway my mood up and down the whole way. This time I drove in silence. My spirit needed the rest. I stared straight ahead a the vanishing point at the end of the infinite road ahead of me. The road soared beneath my feet. My sketchbook sat on the passenger seat as my co-pilot. I fueled myself with peanut butter cookies and Mountain Dew. Once my right eye teared up, probably from eye strain. I put on my sunglasses but soon took them off so I could see the vibrant spring colors unfiltered.
By the time I got to Pennsylvania, it was dark and many of the big rigs were parked on the exit ramps. I got lost several times, once in Baltimore and once on the hilly winding side roads around Harrisburg. when I finally found my way back to the main highway, I was exhausted. Driving past Scranton at three in the morning, my spirit soared. The highway hugged the side of a mountain and in the pitch black, I felt like I was flying. The lights of Scranton could be seen stretching out to the horizon and I was flying above them at eighty miles an hour. I imagined myself flying the Spirit of Saint Lewis safely across the Atlantic. My darn right eye is watering up again as I write this. I can still write with one eye open.
On the final miles driving through the mountainous back roads, I started to see flashes of darkness that would dart in front of my truck. I knew there were plenty of deer up here, so I would pull my foot off of the accelerator. My eyes were playing tricks on me. The dark flashes were phantoms, figments of my overactive imagination and tired retinas. When I rolled into my step-mom’s empty driveway, I was ready to sleep sitting up. I opened the front door and the first thing I saw in the empty house, was a plaque that said, “Having a friend is a comfort that can never be taken away. ” I have no idea what friend might have given Ruth this plaque or even if she is alive. I dropped onto the couch and fell asleep thinking nothing lasts.
The next morning I went outside to sketch Ruth’s former home. Huge bumble bees crawled into the light purple blooms of the Rhododendrons near the porch. The light was radiant and bright. As I sketched, a Fed Ex truck pulled in the driveway. when the driver pulled out a package and started walking to the front door, I got up, thinking I might have to sign for it. My foot was asleep so I stood stamping, trying to bring it back to life. The driver left before I was able to walk. I realized that he hadn’t even noticed I was there. I took the package to my step-sister Juanita, who lived next door. She opened it up and discovered two beautiful Hawaiian leis. My father and Ruth visited the islands many times. Ruth will be wearing these leis for her wake. Juanita asked me to bring the flowers to the funeral home downtown. As I drove I kept getting calls from my step-sister, Gail, since she was concerned that no one was there, and she didn’t want me to leave the flowers at the door. Mr Hessling greeted me at the side door and crushed my hand with his firm handshake. Gail wanted to talk to him, so I handed him my cell phone. He started joking with her saying that he had given the flowers to his wife for secretary’s day. He joked with me as well but I felt a bit uncomfortable since Ruth’s body was probably lying in the next room.
The Arts and Social Responsibility
Billy Collins the former US poet laureate, Jules Feiffer, a Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist, novelist , playwright and screenwriter and Marsha Norman a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright all came together at the Annie Russell Theater at Rollins College to discuss the arts and social responsibility. Feiffer kicked off the discussion by pointing out that most of his cartoons were about the narrative of social injustice. He was fascinated by the way politicians would say one thing and mean something entirely different. In his mind fear is the most common human emotion.He saw Death of a Salesman when he was a young boy and he was truck by the way the family in that play never told the truth to one another. He saw his own family mirrored in the hidden meanings of what was left unsaid on the stage. He felt that the play “Waiting for Gordot” was a play with cartoon dialogue which as a cartoonist he could identify with.
Marsha Norman discussed how her play “Night Mother” came to fruition. She was angry at having just lost a job and she found herself in a new city not knowing anyone. She wrote the play from that place of anger feeling she had nothing to loose since no one would ever produce the play. The play was about time and anger and the end of a certain journey. As it turns out this was the play that won her the Pulitzer Prize. She said winning that award gave her the four word title in front of her name but little else. Writing her next play she knew she had to start from scratch and anything she produced would always be compared to the former high water mark. She started discussing how the intermission is so important in a play. The audience has met the characters and seen the obstacles. She compared the audience to a jury. She felt it is important for the audience to deliberate during the intermission. When the audience returns it is important that no key moment be staged in the first few minutes since audience members are still adjusting to the seats and thinking about their neighbors and any annoyances. Then she wants the audience to feel they are on stage with the characters. She said the brains main function is to predict and at all times the audience is making predictions and judgments.
In a question and answer session after the talk, a student asked the open ended question which has the most elusive answer, “What should I be doing if I want to write a great play?” I was surprised at the simple and obvious answer Marsha offered. She said, “Write some short one act scenes of dialogue. One could be a love scene, an argument and a scene where one character wants something the other character has. Then get some friends to rehearse these scenes and perform them in public places like a cafeteria or a park. The people in these public places will be your audience and see how they react. Keep writing. Write some more.”