Beth Marshall suggested I stop down to the Fab Fringe Fundraiser that was held at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater. I had to attend a Bella Fleck concert later that night so I knew my time to sketch was limited. I arrived straight from downtown where I dropped off several of my prints to a client. I was a bit early and I decided to sketch, Carla Davis, the woman who sells the tickets to the event. Pricilla who had attended the Fringe eight times, was at the next table selling Fringe tee shirts and buttons. Within minutes the first Fringe button was sold kicking off this years Fringe festivities. There were three or four photographers buzzing about the event and every one of them wanted to get pictures of me at work. I am getting used to the mild distractions of the sounds of shutters clicking as I sketch. When I finished this sketch I wandered into the Patrons room where tables lined the walls of the circular room with various auction items waiting for bids. I took the business cards of any artists whose work interested me, so I might contact them and see if they were interested in allowing me to visit their studios to sketch.
Tisse Mallon found me and said I had to experience “Theater in a box”. Theater in a box was a small fabric box just big enough to seat two people. A woman had just entered the theater so Tisse suggested I get some food and come back. I loaded my plate and then Tisse told me the theater was waiting. I ducked down and entered the totally dark cave sitting in the empty seat. Jeff Wirth who was sitting opposite me turned on a small pen light which was dangling from the ceiling. As my eyes adjusted, he looked around nervously wringing his hands. Finally he said, “I don’t know how we will get out of here alive.” Slowly our precarious situation was discussed. We were lost on a cave spelunking expedition. This improve drama required that I join in the drama offering my feeble attempts to comfort Jeff, and find a way back to the surface. We had left no trail and there were hundreds of passageways and turns. Outside our dark shelter, I could hear the crowd gathering to enter the theater, but that just reminded me of how desperate the situation was. I realized suddenly that I had bought the Fringe food into the enclosure so I reminded Jeff that at least we had some food. He pointed out that it would not last long. My only way to put a positive spin on the situation was through humor. Then the thought dawned on me, park rangers would certainly send a search team after us when we did not check back in at the end of the day. I also told Jeff that they most likely would have search dogs who would be able to sniff out the food. Jeff took two small pinches off of my roll on the plate. He gave me one pinch of bread. We toasted by tapping the two crumbs together as he said, “here is to survival”.
Timucua – Brazilian Night
Terry and I went to the White House (2ooo South Summerlin Avenue) to experience some Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova. The White House is the home of Benoit Glazer and his family. I know from past performances that he often plays with his children to start the show off. The performance space is in the Glazer living room, with its high ceilings and a spiral staircase that allows the audience many levels to watch the show from. Terry and I had a late start so we missed this opening act. When we arrived people were loading up their plates with the assortment of food in the entry. There was also a table where guests put their bottles of wine. The place was packed. I heard later that this was the highest attendance that the Benoit family had ever experienced. Terry grabbed a plate of food but I was anxious to find a place to draw from. I waited for her and when we entered the living room we could see that there were no chairs to be found. People were standing all along the walls. We made out way to the spiral staircase but Terry got a small case of vertigo and didn’t want to go up. She encouraged me to go on with out her so I climbed up to the top floor where there were only four spectators and I had a great view of the stage from the top of the landing. I started to sketch.
On the stage Edison Campos and Katherine Brodeur were working on a large portrait painting together. The painting gas of a beautiful woman and they worked very fast. The proportions were quirky yet the overall treatment was photo real. The painting was sold as soon as the show ended. Louiz Emiliano brought in two groups to play. The first group was a bit off key, but the lively beat was fun to sketch to. I finished my sketch between sets and went down the spiral staircase to see where Terry was. At the base of the staircase I bumped into Lisa Bates who told me she follows this blog. I am always shocked that there are people out there who read this stuff. Terry was close by so I introduced her to Lisa and left to get a glass of wine. I heard they had a lively conversation and had to be shushed by a woman trying to hear the music. The second group was fantastic and Terry wanted to dance. We got out on the tiny space in front of the stage with a tight crowd and let the music move us. The trumpet player was right in front of me and I could see the sweat pouring off of his brow. This is where I should have sketched from, with the music loud and clear. This sort of high energy concert in an intimate setting is what the White House is all about.
Amanda in the Sky with Guy Mans
The Met Life Snoopy One blimp came to Orlando to fly over the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Amanda Chadwick approached the folks who pilot the Met Life Blimp to see if she could go along for a ride, and believe it or not they said yes! She was told to invite two friends. She invited me to sketch the event and Brian Feldman to stream the flight live on TheDailyCity.com. The day prior to our flight, I saw the blimp while I was driving to work at Full Sail, so I decided to sketch it after work. The blimp was held in place by a strong red and white mooring mast and it would change positions like a weather vane every time the wind changed direction.
I was nervous and excited as the day approached. For Amanda, this was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Brian considered flying a remote control blimp inside the gondola, but that plan had been vetoed. The three of us decided to carpool to Orlando Executive Airport where 
the blimp was moored. She drove to the airport bundled with energy; playing a rap song on the radio which Brian then started making up blimp related lyrics to. She called her mom and explained where her will was, should that be needed, as Brian rolled his eyes. Since I had been to the launch site the day before, I navigated to the road which leads to the air traffic control tower. There were no security fences to worry about, we just drove right up to the blimp launch site. We were shocked, however, because upon arrival there was no blimp! We scanned the horizon in all directions, but it was nowhere in sight. Amanda drove right up to the trailers parked on the launch site and we piled out thinking our dreams of flying had been deflated. She asked a man who was resting in a trailer what the story was, and he explained that the pilot had taken the blimp for a spin and would be back in fifteen minutes. We let out a collective sigh.
While we waited, we wandered out to the mooring mast and checked out the portable air blowers which they must use to help keep the blimp inflated. There was also an assortment of Helium tanks strewn about near the airport fence. Then I saw it, a small bulbous shape on the horizon. I pointed and shouted, “Thar she blows!” The wind was fairly strong so the blimp’s nose kept diving down and then pulling back up as it fought it’s way up wind. A crew of about 8 men and women gathered on the field and grabbed the ropes hanging off the blimp when it landed on the grass with its nose in the wind. Small wheels were under the gondola and on the bottom tail fin. The handlers grabbed ropes which hung from the front of the blimp, and then they dragged the blimp over to its mooring mast keeping the nose facing into the wind the whole time. Within moments, Geoff, our pilot, got in and we loaded in. Amanda took the co-pilot seat, and Brian and I loaded in the back along with his marquee sign.
The moment the engines fired up and we began to move was exhilarating. The nose of the blimp pointed up and we were in the air. Each of us were given headphones with mics so we could talk to one another. My mic, however, didn’t work. The pilot suggested I wiggle the jacks where it plugged into the gondola. Great, things were already going wrong. What had I gotten myself into!? The blimp flies much faster than I thought it would. The pilot said we were going 45 miles an hour, and soon we were flying over the buildings of downtown. It seemed like every time we went over a lake, the nose of the blimp would point sharply down and we would start a nose dive. I had to put my foot on the back of Amanda’s chair and brace myself by grabbing the window latch. Brian pointed out that I was grabbing the emergency escape latch, so I grabbed the window frame instead! The pilot would pull back and make the correction and then the metal marquee sign would fall back and hit Brian and I in the knees. I was so worried I might not finish my sketch, that I lost track of our many close calls. I wiggled my headset jacks again and finally got a crackling signal. I could hear everybody in the cabin now but they didn’t seem to hear me. Isn’t that always the case? Brian said he saw a man running in a parking lot with a Batman cape on. He deduced it might be a crime taking place. We finally reached the golf tournament and could see all the cars parked on grass fields. It was a quiet green automotive oasis. We were a little too high up to see Tiger Woods, but I’m sure I found the street I live on.
When we finally made it back on solid ground, I was feeling a little queasy from all the movements of the blimp. Amanda and Brian both admitted that they got a bit motion sick as well. Amanda rested on the hood of her car talking to friends on her cell and Brian talked to the ground crew and drank plenty of water. We watched for an hour as the crew loaded a large TV camera in the blimp for shooting aerial footage of the golf tournament. As I sketched, members of the field crew came over to see what I was working on. We asked a crew member if he could take a photo of us to commemorate the day. As Amanda drove us back from the airport, she leaned back from the steering wheel and shouted, “I want more adventures!” Since she is looking, she is bound to find them.
Thrill Hill at the Lazy Gator Bar
Bike week has been going on in Daytona Beach for the last week, and when I heard there was going to be a bike week party at the Lazy Gator Bar, I had to go. I met Leslie Lormann, the lead singer of Thrill Hill, the band playing that night, at the Parliament House singing Karaoke. The Lazy Gator Bar is located right on Lake Jessup which is supposed to have the highest population of alligators of any lake in Florida. I have heard that any gator trapped in any other small lake is transported here. The bar is a tight intimate space which had to use space heaters since it was cold outside. The second I walked in Thrill Hill was taking to the stage, so Lesley said hello real fast and took to the stage.
As I sketched I realized I didn’t have any pencils, so I had to work directly in ink, and worse, I found I didn’t have my watercolor brushes. I had left them back at the studio! Dina Peterson showed up and joined me at the front table I had scouted out as a good place to sketch from. She said she tends to usually sit at this table. Since I was struggling with the sketch, she offered me a drink and I decided to get a $ 3 bud which came in a Lazy Gator mug which I later got to keep. To add color to the sketch, I poured some beer onto my palette and mixed the colors with my fingers. That is right, this one is a Budweiser finger painting, and after all is said and done, it didn’t turn out half bad.
Thrill Hill is a cover band, and Leslie sang a full assortment of modern pop songs. Several time she announced that she was going to sing a Carrie Underwood song. I kept thinking she was going to say Carrie..oke. Once my sketch was finished Dina and I shouted back and forth, leaning in to try and hear what was being said. I pointed out that it was embarrassing to have to take to a karaoke stage after Leslie had performed since she was obviously a pro. When Thrill Hills set was over, I showed Leslie my finger painting and she then started showing it to just about everyone in the bar. I was a bit embarrassed since, well, it was a finger painting. I found myself surrounded by people curious about what I do. The nice thing is that I got several leads on other possible events where I might sketch. Dina said she wasn’t sticking around for the second set, and since my sketch was done, I decided to leave as well.
DRIP – The Pollock Project
Beth Marshall is presenting a theatrical collaboration with DRIP to bring Jackson Pollock’s turbulent and brilliant life to the Mennello Museum of American Art. The Pollock Project will be part visual art, part performance, part history, part dance and part music. This collaboration will explore the marriage of Jackson Pollock’s art and the human condition. This Mennello Museum is now displaying “Auspicious Vision” which features works from Edward Wales Root’s personal collection of American art. Jackson Pollock’s work is on exhibit along with paintings by William de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Edward Hopper among other artists through May 23rd.
I went to the DRIP warehouse to watch a rehearsal for this multimedia project. In the center of the huge space was a large yellow wooden platform which had a large Plexiglas “canvas” mounted on top. The dancers were high up on ladders and Jessica Mariko turned on the recording of music performed by Phillipp Vandre and the Turfan Ensemble. I remembered this high pitched, plunking, haunting modern music from a video I had watched about Pollock when I researched his painting methods for a Halloween costume I made which I called “Jack the Dripper“.
The dance begins with the dancers struggling against gravity as they slowly climb the ladders. Upon reaching the heights, the dancers begin painting with wooden stirring sticks in unison with fluid motions. The dance surged with the electric energy of the music. Watching Pollock work is much like watching a ballet. He would lay his large canvas on the floor and walk around and on the painting as if dancing on its surface. He would bend at the waist as he waved his arm like a farmer sewing seeds onto his field. He was essentially drawing with paint, the lines fluid without describing a specific form. His work was about expressing feelings rather than illustrating them.
After the dancers finished the painting on Plexiglas, I wandered over to look up at they had created. The paint was a bit too thin so it just pooled upon the plastic like mercury, not retaining any linear forms. Jessica decided next time they would have to use thicker paint. There was also some concern as to how they would clean up once the piece was done. It would be impossible to transport the huge sheet of Plexiglas outside to hose it down. I suggested they stretch a thin plastic film onto the frame and then they could poke a hole in the center when they were done and drain the paint into a paint can. I will be curious to see how they resolve this in the end.
I am very excited to see how this artistic collaboration turns out. There are only two performances of “The Pollock Project”: Saturday March 27th at 7 PM and Sunday March 28th at 2 PM.
Toast to Elizabeth Maupin at the Rep
I bought some potato salad, macaroni salad and soda and headed down to the Orlando Reperatory Theater in Lock Haven Park for the toast to former Orlando Theater critic Elizabeth Maupin. When I pulled into the parking lot, Elizabeth was just getting out of her car so for once my timing was perfect. When I got inside I was directed as to where I should place my food items. I wandered the room wondering where I should situate myself for a sketch. I spoke for a while with actor, Alan Gallant, who had played Orson Wells in “War of the Worlds.” I learned a bit about what it is like to try and make a living in this town as an actor. I then spoke with Zac Alfson who was just back from NYC where he attended a marketing workshop. A woman stood on the small makeshift stage and shouted “Start eating!” I admired her directness and kind of wish politicians could be that straight forward and to the point.
When I saw where Elizabeth was going to sit, I decided to go up to the second floor balcony so I could get a good overhead view of the whole scene. The railing was too high for me to see over with simply my stool. So I pulled up a chair then put my stool on top of it. This high precarious perch gave me an overall view of the proceedings. She can be seen in the lower right hand corner of my sketch with her husband and three other men. As everyone was eating, I finished up the initial line work. Brian Feldman walked in with his marquee sign. He saw me up on the balcony with hand signs, he asked me where to place it. When he found the right spot, I gave him a thumbs up. He went to the men’s room and while he was gone, someone took it upon themselves to rotate the sign towards the front door. When he came back in, he looked up at me with a “what the f…) expression. I gave a hand rotation signal and he rotated the sign back so I could see. Zac came upstairs to see how my sketch was going. He asked if he was in it, and I hadn’t sketched him. I told him if he socialized in the center section of the room, I would put him in the sketch. So he is in the sketch, twice actually, once standing and also seated.
When performers took to the stage I was adding washes. One song in particular was really heart warming, I wrote down the only note for the night, “Where’s the challenge if you never try?” Another song spoke about how we meet certain people in our life who help us grow. My mind wandered and I reflected on the good friends I have met since I have started sketching theater productions. I felt a warm connection to this theater community. Or, as Margaret Nolan said in a Facebook status update, “The evening had a great energy and was full of heart and soul. Just what the world needs!”
TheDailyCity.com Mobile Art Show #7
Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com and I discussed the idea of exhibiting my work downtown for some time, and on the third Thursday of March everything fell into place to make this event happen. Mark rented the truck and drove it to Frames Forever & Art Gallery, owned and run by Katie Windish. Katie offered advice on how to hang the work in the truck. I did a huge version of a previous Mobile Art Show sketch and I blew it up so it covered the side of the truck facing the gallery. It was a fairly easy job to tape the large sketch to the truck. I used a hanging strategy I created at FRESH where the sketchbooks were framed in shadow boxes and hung from the ceiling. The plan then was to wallpaper as much of the inside of the truck as I could with prints of sketches I had done over the last year. Hanging this work simply involved two pieces of scotch tape for each sketch; not really as much of a task as I had figured it might be.
When six o’clock rolled around, I met Mark down at the CityArts Factory parking spot. He pulled up and honked. We quickly started taping and hanging Christmas lights, wires and sketches. I managed to drop one of the shadow box frames and it shattered on the floor of the truck. I had to use scotch tape to hold it together for the duration of the show. People started entering the truck and looking around even as we worked. The prints started selling immediately. Every time I walked in the truck I sold one or two prints.
Through Facebook, I arranged with Tamara Gray to get a model who works at Universal Studios dressed up for Mardi Gras and on stilts making her nine feet tall. The idea was that the model, Lyn Sky, would grab people’s attention as they walked down the street towards the CityArts Factory openings. We invited artists to come out for a free sketching session right on the sidewalk and perhaps five or seven artists in all came out and took advantage of this free modeling offer. I started this sketch, but kept getting pulled away for radio and TV interviews. There was a Kerouac House fundraiser going on at Urban Flats right up the street. Summer Rodman and Kim Buchheit both from the Kerouac House stopped by and admired the show. Emma Hughes stopped by to pick up an original sketch I had done for her parents. It seemed like my attention was being diverted every few seconds. The sketch of Hannah Miller in her wedding dress sold while Hannah was in the truck looking at other works. She wondered aloud, “Why would they want a sketch of me?”
Just as I sat down and started putting on some final washes on this sketch, I realized the evening was over. Now we had to break down the show and load everything into my truck. After everything was packed away, Mark, Brian Feldman and myself went to IHOP for some pancakes and some lively late night discussion. The whole quirky show was an exciting whirlwind of activity, a once in a lifetime experience.
Maupin!
Elizabeth Maupin was the theater critic for the Orlando Sentinel for 26 years. She decided it was time to leave the paper and start a new chapter in her life. In honor of her final day on the job, Brian Feldman read selected reviews she had written for the Sentinel. This eight hour event was broadcast live on brianfeldman.com, Qik, Vokle and Livestream. Viewers were encouraged to request specific reviews with names and dates of the productions. When I asked Brian if I could sketch this performance, he tried to encourage me to sketch from the comfort of my home. I had to explain that sketching a computer screen didn’t offer the life and vitality that I get when I am sketching places the audience usually doesn’t get to see. On the day of the event he fired off the address. When I arrived I had some trouble seeing the building numbers, but then I spotted his tell-tale mini marquee sign in a ground floor window. Since he was reading all day, he simply left the door open and I slipped in without a sound. I immediately sat down and started sketching. Brian never even turned to see who had entered, he is such a pro.
The space was an amazing twisted technological mess. Wires snaked around the floor and posters and assorted paperwork were hung everywhere. It was ironic that all the audience could see was a single Shakespeare poster behind Brian. That poster was the one note of decorative calm in the storm. Some review requests were also rather ironic. For instance, a request came in to read a review that changed a playwright’s life. He wrote a play and was so excited when it got to the stage. However, Elizabeth’s review was so scathing, that he decided to give up the theater and work in city planning. Many of the reviews were Fringe related. Brian was constantly scanning the multiple screens and windows to bring up reviews and try and keep all the video streams working. This was a nonstop juggling act with many stops and starts.
Elizabeth has just started a new blog titled “Elizabeth Maupin on Theater“, so the next chapter of her life has already begun. The theater community can sigh with relief, since Elizabeth’s voice and opinions will still be heard.
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival
On Friday March 19th, the 51st Annual Winter Park Art Sidewalk Festival started. I decided to go right after work at Full Sail when Kathy Blackmore told me that there was going to be a jazz band featuring songwriter Peter White kicking off the night’s festivities on the main stage. I knew I had other commitments over the weekend, so this would likely be my only chance to sketch the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. I would be exhibiting my art at the Outsider Art Fair at Frames Forever (941 Orange Avenue Winter Park). There, I plan to sketch Doug Rhodehamel, who makes his unmistakable mushrooms out of brown paper bags, and Brian Feldman, who will be performing “sleepwalk 2, i walk over you”. Both of these are priceless sketch opportunities.
When I arrived at the festival, I wandered and soaked in the energy and excitement of all people gathered for the event. The outdoor cafes were packed. Conversations were buzzing. My pace quickened. As I looked through several artists booths, I ran into Terry and Rick Loewen. Terry and Rick are old friends from ORCA which stands for Orlando Reef Caretakers Association. Terry and Rick informed me that ORCA would be hosting the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America this September, so this is certainly an event I hope to sketch. They told me I could get a hotel room discount at the Marriott Resort, which didn’t make sense at first. But then they told me they would have a Margarita making machine in their room and I agreed, a hotel room was a great idea! If you happen to work at the Marriott, I made that last piece of business up.
I was anxious to find my way to the Winter Park Arts Festival jazz, so I told Rick and Terry I would see them by the main stage. The lawn in front of the stage was already crowded. I walked down the sidewalk and found a spot between artist’s tents where I could sit. I of course started sketching immediately since the sun was setting. A couple asked if they could sit in the spot next to me and, of course, I agreed. When I was about halfway through the sketch, the man seated next to me who was sipping a red wine, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I love your work, can I see the sketch?” The watercolor was still wet in spots, but I handed it over. He shared it with his wife and they agreed, that they wanted to buy it. I gave him my card so he could check out the blog and told him to leave a comment if he still wanted it. I hope I have found another reader!
The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival continues at Central Park in Winter Park through March 21st at 5 PM.
Project F – First meeting
Project F will explore the many facets of social networking and community on the Internet through the lens of Facebook using a theatrical microscope. At this first meeting, Aradhana Tiwari, the director, asked all the actors who were in the circular patrons room at the Shakespeare Theater to read a commitment contract. Actors would each read a sentence in turn when they felt inspired to do so. Sometimes several actors would jump in and read the line together…
I promise to be an artistic adventurer. I will navigate this process with the wonder of a child and the wisdom of an old soul.
I will strive to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone and expand my range of artistic identity. I will always try my best, give my all and share my utmost.
When I enter the space I will leave the baggage and stresses of the day at the door. I will breath in the energy of a blank canvas and look to paint upon it.
I will believe in the process…even when it’s hard, even when I am tired, even when I have doubt.
I will embrace collaboration as a gift and tend to it with grace, patience and respect. I will be honest about my point of view while opening myself up to other’s viewpoints.
I will always try. I will fail. I will try again. I will succeed. I will understand that succeeding is to try.
I will respect my fellow artisans by honoring our work with my steadfast, and punctual attendance. I will make discoveries about my artistic self and attempt to grow in ways I don’t expect.
Aradhana asked the actors to split up into groups of four or five. Then she gave each group packets with 5 statuses written in chalk on black paper and assorted objects. Within one minute the actors were asked to create a scene using the props and statuses. The groups then performed each in turn as the rest of the actors sat in the audience and watched. The perfomances were fun, unexpected and at times bizarre.
Afterwards, she asked the actors what they found frustrating about the process. Actors found the time constrain rather tight and the props obscure. One actor said he was always second guessing himself. When asked if the emerged a leader within the groups, no one wanted to admit that a leader ever emerged. Perhaps there was not enough time.
Aradhana then asked the actors to walk in a grid pattern on a stage area she had set up with four chairs in a Viewpoints session. First she asked the actors to consider their tempo, how fast or slow they moved. Then they explored duration, how long they might stay in a particular speed. They were asked to explore stopping and stopping. Then they explored kinesthetic response, the physical reaction to movement outside of themselves. She asked the actors to allow everything to affect them and to be open and listen and react through their bodies. They were asked to open themselves to surprise encounters. At this point Michael Sloan and Sarah Lockhard found themselves back to back locked together like puzzle pieces. Sarah smiled and leaned her head back. I wish I had sketched fast enough to catch that moment.