Poster Evolution: Noises Off

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Noises Off by Michael Frayn will run at the Orlando Shakespeare Center from September 7-25, 2022.

One of the funniest plays ever written, this hysterical play-within-a-play is filled with screwball antics, prat-falls and sight gags. A professional theater director must prevent his half-baked actors and an overworked crew from sabotaging his production with their off-stage shenanigans – and on-stage bedlam! This side-splitting comedy proves the adage – The show must go on!

I watched a movie,  based on the play to get a feeling for the show before I started work on the poster. Every scene is incredibly fast moving with doors slamming off stage and on stage. I became intrigued by a scene in which a beautiful woman looses hr contacts and the actors all struggle to find in on stage. It is a very meta moment in which life and art combine in a hilarious moment.

My first pass at the poster was of the curtain falling on that scene as the actors struggle to find the contact lens. Granted the Shakes will likely not have a curtain in the Margeson Theater, but it offered me an opportunity to show the chaos of the scene as just a thin slice. It leaves much to the imagination. The notes were pretty straight forward and make sense, “More legs, less curtain.” That in itself could be a guiding principle of any theater production.

I always do two sketches of each poster to make sure I am exploring different options. I had heard that there might be a spinning stage that shows back stage as well an the forward facing stage set. I wanted to explore a back stage scene that faces out towards the audience. One of the actors has a drinking problem and to keep the production moving forward, the cast has to hide his bottle. There is an upper balcony on the set with multiple doors, so back stage these would have to be a staircase to get the actors up to those imagined and never seen rooms. The problem with this poster is that the show had not been cast yet.

The final poster was a simple revise of my first concept. I had to get rid of a few actors legs but the idea certainly holds up with everything bigger, larger and better. I am excited to see the show. Several of the actors I have seen in other productions and they are absolutely hilarious. Tickets range from $26.25 to $36.76

Casa Feliz

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This sketch is a bit of a mess since it started raining as I was throwing watercolor onto the sketch. If you don’t know, rain has a tendency to explode the colors that are already on the page. When the rain got really bad I took cover in the car port along with my students. Once the rain let up to a drizzle, I went back out and started adding paint again. That is why the sketch has so many smidges and smears.

Despite the struggles, I found out that I like how a colored pencil seems to melt when drawing over a wet page. I fin myself recreating this effect which was discovered by accident thanks to mother nature.

I am planning to return to this site with a student and looked to see if the Casa Feliz Home Museum (656 North Park Avenue, Winter Park Florida), was doing it’s Sunday parlor music series. I was pleased to see they are still holding off on the parlor series due to social distancing concerns. So many Americans have returned to an imagined pre-pandemic life style, but I remain cautious all my shots and boosters and have so far avoided a COVID infection. I continue to mask and social distance when out and about. That makes me a bit of a unicorn.

Crealde Urban Sketching class

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My Crealde Urban Sketching class will be starting on October 23, 2022, just in time for the Halloween season. Each class begins with a premise that help build towards students completing a sketch in two hour time. We cover perspective, composition, placing people in the scene and much more. For some this is the first time using a sketchbook to document the world around them.

Crealde School of Art has now broken the course into two groups. The first intermediate group is a beginning series of classes that covers the basics needed to complete a sketch. All these classes take place on the Crealde campus, usually outside.

A new series of classes for more advanced students ha been introduced which will be for students who took the first course and want to take on more challenging subject matter. These classes will meet at various locations around Orlando. In these classes students will get used to the notion that people might look over their shoulder as they sketch.

Check out the Crealde web site if you are interested in joining us for Urban Sketching: Tips and Techniques.

Christ Lutheran Church Hebron Connecticut

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Christ Lutheran Church on 330 Church Street, Amston Connecticut, is a recent addition to Hebron, being built in the built in the 1980’s.

The Church’s COVID policies as of August 29, 2022 are as follows:

  • Do not attend service if you are running a fever or feeling sick.
  • Masks are not required.
  • Seating capacity is no longer limited.
  • Hand sanitizing stations are available in the Narthex.
  • “Sharing the Peace” and passing the plate are suspended.
  • Communion will be distributed by individuals or families. The pastor will wear a mask.
  • Individual cups and hosts will be used. The common cup will be unavailable.
  • Hand sanitizer is available at the distribution of communion.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Woodrow United Methodist Church

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In November, 1771, Francis Asbury, called the farmers together at the house of Peter Van Pelt which became the birthplace of the Methodist church on Staten Island. In May of 1787, a meeting was called for the purpose of establishing the Woodrow Methodist Church.

The first church in this site was built of wood, smaller than the present building.  In 1842 that church was struck by lightning. The building was torn down, and the materials sold to many of the worshipers. That same year the present church was built on the same site. It was located with the front facing the road. On December 25th of 1842 it was dedicated.

Woodrow United Methodist Church at 1109 Woodrow Road in Woodrow, Staten Island, New York is a wood-frame, clapboard-sided, temple-form Greek Revival style building. It features a portico with four Doric order columns supporting a plain entablature and unadorned pediment. Above the portico is a three-stage, open bell tower and spire in a vernacular Italianate style added in 1876. It is the oldest Methodist Church on Staten Island.

   In 1850 two acres of land were purchased for a parsonage site. The parsonage was built in that same year. A frame structure was built in 1884 as a meeting hall. This was on the easterly side of the church.  The hall burned in the fire of April, 1963, which leveled Staten Island’s South Shore. In 1971 the church hall was rebuilt.

 The burial grounds surrounding the church are older than the church organization. The oldest grave site known to be used is marked with a tombstone dated 1767.

On December 1, 1976 the Wesley Methodist Church, and the South Shore Presbyterian Church which had been meeting in Eltingville, on Richmond Avenue, and the Woodrow United Methodist Church  merged in a decision to become one church and to meet at the Woodrow location.

United States National Historical place and in 1967 it was registered as a New York City Landmark.

 

 

Lake Lorna Doone Park

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Lake Lorna Doone Park is a 12 acre park located in the between the neighborhoods of Westfield and Parramore in Orlando, Florida. The physical address is 1519 West Church Street, just to the north of Camping World Stadium. I had a fun assignment to add landscaping improvements to the park. Improvements had already been made, thanks to a donation from the Arnold Palmer Foundation. The $8 million dollar renovation including a new walking loop, fitness stations, a pavilion, inclusive playground, basketball courts, covered seating, and a splash pad and even a putting green. Walking around the lake I was quite impressed, but what really stands out is the wildlife. Water birds off all types can be seen exploring the shores.

What I was tasked with was to show less grass and more butterfly garden plantings. Other proposed additions include an outdoor classroom under a huge live oak tree, a natural log climbing play area and a small floating platform for water birds to rest on. For all the money that had been invested in the park, the planners didn’t consider the brutal Florida sun in their plans. Most outdoor benches have no shade from the sun making them unusable. Outdoor chess tables suffer the same fate.

Lake Lorna Doone: The Meadow

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The Ideas HIVE has been planning the the pollinator garden, park improvement concept which is planned for the south west corner of the park. The IDEAS Hive is an interdisciplinary, inter-generational community Think + Do Tank designed to educate the public about sustainability and develop their ideas into local action projects. The IDEAS Hive is designed to transform communities to advance positive change.

In this particular illustration I had included an inset of a bee pollinating a flower. This was a macro view making the bee look as large as the children. It turns out having a six foot bee in the scene is rather unsettling. Other insects like the butterfly and dragon fly also had to be reduced in size. I simply got rid of the bee so no one could be stung.

On the shore, a fisherman is testing the waters. Several kids are playing on a natural log climbing area. The meadow is an area that would be allowed to grow naturally. A white picked fence is planned to keep over zealous city maintenance workers from mowing the meadow down. I am left wondering how much of this will become a reality. It would certainly be an improvement if it does.

Nature walks are already being offered to kids aged 5 to 10 at Lake Lorna Doone Park.

Lake Lorna Doone: Outdoor Classroom

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One of the coolest ideas to revitalize Lake Lorna Doone Park was an outdoor chickee hut classroom under a huge live oak tree. The goal of the classroom would be to teach kids about the wide diversity of life in the park. In preparation for this illustration I spent an afternoon with an advanced urban sketching student and we sketched the splash pad. I got to appreciate the shade offered by the live oak as I sketched. Sketches I had done of kids enjoying the water spray were directly incorporated in the final illustration, just way smaller.

Another program discussed was a photography program for kids. Money is being raised to acquire cameras for the kids and the plan is to have the kids photograph the wildlife and then develop the film themselves. I like how they are planning to teach the history of photography rather then just having kids take cell phone photos which will eventually be lost when their phones die.

A free library is planned where you can take a book or leave a book. There is also a plan to also plant native fruit trees so kids can pick their own fruit.

Lake Lorna Doone and nature

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It is human nature to mow down beauty and replace it with grass. Close cut grass lawns first emerged in 17th century England at the homes of large, wealthy landowners. English landowners depended on human labor to tend the grass. Before lawnmowers, only the rich could afford to hire the many hands needed to scythe and weed the grass, so a lawn was a mark of wealth and status.

Now the walkway around Lake Lorna Doone only has close cut grass which is buzzed down by gas lawn mowers. The loud lawn mowers scare away the natural diversity of life. The grass also offers a barren landscape as it dies down near the waterline. The hope is that someday the grass can be replaced with natural florida plants and natural meadows. The hard part will be to keep indifferent city employees from mowing it all down.

The wildlife already exists, it just needs to be encouraged to stay. Another unique thing about this lake is that it is being stocked with fish. People are encouraged to bring a fishing pole or binoculars for bird watching.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: St. Ann’s and the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

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The National Historic Landmark church now known as Saint Ann and the Holy Trinity was built as The Church of the Holy Trinity by Brooklyn paper manufacturer Edgar Bartow who wanted a magnificent edifice for the City of Brooklyn, with pews that were rent-free. Construction of the church began in 1844 on the highest point in Brooklyn Heights, which was then sparsely settled with some large merchants’ homes, small homes and shops and a number of unfinished streets and vacant lots. Minard LaFever designrf the church and adjoining chapel and rectory.

The church is an important example of Gothic Revival architecture in America, the richly ornamented church is notable for its elaborately vaulted roof and extensive suite of stained glass windows by William Jay Bolton. The church’s official opening was on April 25, 1847, although the building was not entirely completed. A 275-foot tower was designed and installed by 1869. Its spire was the most visible landmark in Brooklyn and was used in conjunction with the spire of Trinity Church Wall Street by ship captains to navigate into the New York harbor. The church removed the spire in 1906 because of concern about falling stone and the high cost of maintenance.

During the Cold War in the 1950s, there was a clash between the bishop and rival factions within congregation which eventually led to the dissolution of the church in 1957. The building was closed and stood mostly vacant for more than a decade.

In 1969, nearby St. Ann’s Church, the oldest Episcopal congregation in Brooklyn, sold its property to The Packer Collegiate Institute next door and moved four blocks into the long-empty Holy Trinity building. St. Ann’s took the new name of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in honor of the building’s heritage. In 1979, the New York Landmarks Conservancy intervened to save the aging church and stained glass, and in 1983 the St. Ann Center for Restoration and the Arts was founded.