Art Basel is a yearly crucible to experience the art market.

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Once a year, Terry and I drive down to Miami Beach to experience Art Basel. Art Basel draws tens of thousands of visitors, collectors, gallerists,
artists, curators, and other art enthusiasts from across the globe,
all coming to experience the highest quality of Modern and contemporary
art. Terry and I stay with friends Elaine Pasekoff and Derek Hewitt. Elaine and Derek purchased three apartments in the same Miami Beach building, and they decorated them with themes from their world travels together. I believe this is the Africa suite. There is also a Paris themed suite. All of the floors were resurfaced and the kitchen was opened up by removing part of a wall to create a corner counter. The amount of work that went into these units is amazing, especially since Terry and I have had color swatches on our living room walls for the past decade.

The drive to Miami beach is a long one and we had to drive through torrential rain and the infuriating impatient Miami traffic around rush hour. By the time we arrived, we just wanted to relax. Elaine always has the Miami Herald, which is a good place to research which Art exhibits were generating some buzz. It is also fun to read about which celebrities were in town for the exclusive all night parties. Elaine and Derek know where all the best local restaurants are, so we eat out when we are there. The apartment is just a few blocks from the beach, so walking down to the beach as the sun sets is always an appealing way to end the day.

Bolder Docs Presents The Florida Premiere of Conquering Kilimanjaro

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Conquering Kilimanjaro is the first feature-length documentary from the Emmy Award-winning team at Growing Bolder Broadcasting. Conquering Kilimanjaro follows an inspiring group of 16 cancer survivors and cancer community advocates as they attempt to climb the world’s highest freestanding mountain in Tanzania, Africa. Conquering Kilimanjaro celebrates the irrepressible nature of the human spirit, providing hope and inspiration.

 

Wendy Chioji, a Central Florida news anchor who beat breast cancer in 2001, was part of the climb just weeks after completing radiation and chemotherapy for thymic carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The cancer has now returned and Wendy has been accepted into a clinical trial that offers new hope. “Wendy will beat this like she beat breast cancer,” says Conquering Kilimanjaro filmmaker Marc Middleton. ”But we want to pause for a moment and make certain that she understands how much she means to so many. Wendy has always been about providing hope and inspiration to others and we want to return the favor. The night will included a special tribute and we’re donating a portion of the proceeds from the screening to LIVESTRONG in Wendy’s name.”

This incredibly documentary follows the lives of the climbers, first on the home front when they discover they have cancer and then on the mountain which becomes a symbol of their fight for life. Having just seen Everest in IMAX 3D I have a deep respect for the dangers any mountain climber faces. The fact that for cancer survivors wanted to reach the summit is inspiring. The 16 members of the Kilimanjaro summit team were, for the most part,
complete strangers before meeting one another just one day before their
adventure began. This climb built a lifelong bond between them all.

The film documented the romance of Bree and Stephen Sandlin. Bree is a marketing executive for Shell Oil, a mother of two and a breast cancer survivor,
Bree celebrated her one year “cancerversary” on Mt. Kilimanjaro with
her husband who she calls “the most sacrificing person I have
ever met.”  On day 6 of the climb it snowed. Bree developed mountain sickness. She was given a steroid shot, but if it didn’t work, she would have to turn back. “I am stronger than this mountain, that is all that matters.” she said as she continued the climb battling nausea and headaches.

Dr. Robert Masson,  celebrated his birthday on the climb. LIVESTRONG CEO Doug Ulman was also on the climb. The empowering work his organization does was tarnished by Armstrong’s fall from grace. Doug had malignant melanoma twice when he was 19 years old, so he understands the need for an empowering community of people who have survived cancer and want to give back hope to those who are battling cancer.

Day 7 was summit day. All 16 climbers left camp in the morning darkness with head lamps on. It would be a ten hour climb to the top. Wendy Chioji developed a nose bleed. Above 19,000 feet, every step was a challenge. The strong bond between the climbers gave them strength. On average, 37% of climbers to attempt to climb Kilimanjaro reach the top.  Every climber fought their way to the top and ultimately all 16 climbers made it to the summit. They often put the needs of other climbers above their own. There are 32 million cancer survivors in the world. It is important not only to survive, but to thrive. Wendy said, “It was the most amazing, life changing experience of my life.” Bree said, “You can do anything you set your mind to.”

“Hope is a waking dream.” – Aristotle

Drama erupts at Saint Mathew’s Tavern with Joe’s NYC Bar.

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I always tell people that if you sketch on location, some drama always unfolds. David Lee invited me to sketch at Saint Mathew’s Tavern (1300 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL) and there was drama in spades. I found a seat in the corner of the bar next to a large speaker and got to work. I sketch in bars all the time but I seldom get to experience this level of heart felt camaraderie and gut wrenching drama. From the outset I felt this was a bar where everybody knew my name and I was invested in these peoples lives. This was interactive theater at its best.

Joe’s NYC Bar is an interactive, improvisational, immersive theatre
experience in which the audience is transported to a bar on Manhattan’s
lower east side. Debuting as part of the 2001 Orlando International
Fringe Theatre Festival, Joe’s ran for 4 years and 76 performances. This
past March Joe’s returned from a ten year absence and was greeted with
positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The show sold out 5
of 6 shows in March and then all 4 performances at the 2015 Orlando
International Fringe Festival. Ten years later, Joe’s has proven to be a
concept and piece of theatre more relevant and popular than ever.

It was hard to tell where the play stopped and the inside jokes began. Some of the funniest moments were so topical that they had to be improvised. A straight laced Republican in a suit (Tim Williams) sat at my end of the bar and he seemed a bit out of place when everyone else was sleeveless or in T shirts. In a heated scene he confronted everyone saying “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through.” This was true of everyone in the bar. What unfolded slowly, pealed away the layers to expose the inner pain that drove defensive behaviors. Much later in the evening, the Republican returned to the bar and found his recently separated wife (Anitra Pritchard-Bryant) was present. The bar went silent before the couple confronted each other.

Christian Kelty originated the idea for this interactive show. The seed was planted when he worked in a Renaissance festival show that invited the audience to participate. In this age of social media people are often interested in the endless drama that surfaces online every day. We have become a society of reality show voyeurs. In this everyday bar setting it becomes easy to let go and become part of the scene. Over the course of the evening it was possible to get to walk a mile in each character’s shoes. Even in this rehearsal, I wasn’t sure who was an actor and who just happened to be there for a drink. With a sold out show, that fourth wall must be even more blurry. Add a couple of drinks and the line is further blurred. Live local music acts fill out the evening, making it a typical night in the Mill’s 50 bar scene. Don’t just go to see a show. Be the show.


6 Performances
Running September 13th-October 18th
Sunday Matinees ONLY!
3:00pm doors 3:30 Showtime

Tickets available at:
www.wanzie.com
$17 in advance / $25 day of show

The stellar casts features: Anitra Pritchard-Bryant, Ali Flores, John Connon, Michael Marinaccio, Jenn Gannon, Simon Needham, Christian Kelty, David Lee, Tim Williams and Jodi Chase.

Musical Acts
9/20 The Smoking Jackets
9/27 and 10/4 Eugene Snowden (The Legendary JC’s) and Friends
10/11 DJ Jay Ross Barwick
10/18 TBA

After the Tone set the tone at TONE.

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Art in Odd Places: TONE / Orlando  has taken over Downtown Orlando on
Magnolia Avenue between Anderson and Washington Streets from September 17-20th. It is a public and visual performance art Festival that presents art in unexpected places. I went downtown on September 17th to see Brian Feldman, a performance artist from Washington D.C. who used to hail from Orlando. I saw him running to and from his car getting the elements for his simple set, a small table with red legs supporting a tiny potted plant, a phone message book, and an old rotary phone. The title of his performance piece was “… after the tone.”

The premise of his performance is that people seldom leave voice messages anymore. Instead, they might leave a text or a message on any number of social media options. I am a case in point. I seldom notice if my phone rings and there are 44 unanswered voice messages that I need to get to. I tend to respond immediately to texts or Facebook messages, however. With so many ways to communicate, I sometimes lose track of which method was used if I need to go back and reread a message. Voice messages may indeed become extinct. 

Joe Rosier was the first patron to approach Brian’s table. Brian asked him to name someone who would be least likely to pick up their phone. Brian then wrote down Joe’s message on a phone message book. Then Brian asked what tone of voice he should use to deliver the voice message. If the person picked up the phone, Brian would immediately hang up. Sure enough, on the first call, the person picked up and Brian hung up. Joe kind of cheated by calling back and asking the person to not pick up. On the second try, Brian delivered a voice message of endearment in a sultry voice.

A young woman approached Brian who knew nothing about his performance or even who he was. She agreed to leave a message with an ex-boyfriend. Her message was fascinating. She wanted him to know that, “You’ll get your $50 and you were never a good boyfriend, what makes you think you’d be a good friend?” Brian’s angered mafia voice tone sent the message with perfection. Another young woman asked Brian to deliver a voice message to congratulate a friend who just landed a new job in Chicago. Brian did his best to deliver the message in a hardy Chicago accent. He practiced, saying “Duh Bears” several times. The message ended with, “Oh, and you’re hot”.

Another artist, Klimchak, guy rode by on a bicycle wearing a flame patterned cape playing a theremin with strong speakers to belt out the sci-fi vibes. It rained for a few minutes and I ran for cover across the street to hide under the arched doorways of the History Cente, leaping over 6 Spanish Moss nests which had bars of Tone soap in them. Three nests were empty. Barbara Hartley later explained that the artist, Dina Mack, had purchased many bars of soap and the missing nests would be refilled each night. Michael Heidmann offered me his umbrella so that I could finish my sketch. Thankfully, the rain stopped long enough for me to finish. I’m so glad Orlando is small enough for this kind of neighborly gesture.

The Greek Orthodox Church around the corner had a food share earlier in the evening. That meant that some people walking past Brian’s performance piece were more concerned with finding a place to sleep rather than art. Across the street and up the block a bit, a man lay down on his back among the landscaping outside the History Center. Later on a fire engine and an ambulance showed up with their sirens and blinking lights. The man was placed on a stretcher and whisked away on the ambulance. Brian felt terrible that he hadn’t called the ambulance. With 50 or so art projects going on, I thought the man might have been a performance artist or maybe he was a homeless man taking a nap before police told him to move along. Being from NYC I’m kind of used to seeing people asleep on sidewalks. Never faint or collapse in a city setting. No one will notice.

After sketching Brian, I went to see an artist who was sealed inside a Plexiglas box. He was sketching his view from inside the box using day glow markers. Four large black lights illuminated him. Yellow plumbing elbows were all around the AT&T building and one of them had a matching elbow with a fist sticking out of it. On the corner of Washington and Magnolia, a 6 foot high board had an American flag and a gun range human silhouette with a target made with flowers. A black hand made from plywood reached up towards the cloudy sky. In the History Center Park, Halee Sommer showed me a storage pod that was set up as a darkroom where anyone could enter to learn how to develop black and white prints from negatives. My older brothers used to develop film in the basement and the smell of the chemicals brought memories flooding back. Amazingly, I only saw a fraction of the art on display. The Tone themed art continued all the way down to the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. As I walked back to my car, I passed a man asleep in an entryway to the AT&T building and kept on walking. Be sure to get downtown and experience TONE for yourself.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 19th and 20th.

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Saturday September 19, 2015

11am to 9pm Free. Art in Odd Places (Tone) Orlando, FL – Downtown, Magnolia St. from Anderson St. to Washington St. Tone is a visual and performance public art festival to take place on September 17-20 in downtown Orlando. Florida. Artworks and performances will engage and collaborate with the public and public spaces from artists of all disciplines, experiences and mediums.

6pm to 8pm Free. Brewery Tour. Orlando Brewing, 1301 Atlanta Ave, Orlando, FL. Weekly.

7pm to 9pm Free. The Orlando Shuffle. Beardall Senior Center, 800 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, FL. Between Orange and Delaney Avenues. The Orlando Shuffle is always free, family-friendly, and fun. It takes place the 1st and 3rd Saturdays every month. Come play, learn, or just hangout. Retro attire is encouraged.

Sunday September 20, 2015

11am to 4pm Free. Art in Odd Places (Tone)
Orlando, FL – Downtown, Magnolia St. from Anderson St. to Washington
St. Tone is a visual and performance public art festival to take place
on September 17-20 in downtown Orlando. Florida. Artworks and performances will engage and collaborate with the public and public
spaces from artists of all disciplines, experiences and mediums.

5:30pm to ? $10 Southern Fried Sunday Country Covers Edition and Food Drive for Ferncreek Elementary. Wills Pub 1042 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida.  SFS is a special Country Covers edition of Southern Fried Sunday with performances by Giddy Up Go, Brian Chodorcoff and Bruce Schweizer, Rickey Dicken sand The Revival, Bobby Sanders Band, Tampa’s Will Quinlan, Jackson Rodgers & Stephen Rock with Guests, Bradenton’s Blue Mason Barter, Brian Chodorcoff and Wheeler Newman and Kaci-Jo Hibbard with Guests playing sets of tunes by some of country music’s most well known musicians at Will’s Pub and lil indies.

As always Free BBQ Dinner complements of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Poca’s Hottest and chef’d up by Mykal Williams will be served to all in attendance until it’s gone.

Doors at 5:30pm, Dinner at 6:30pm, get there early to get it!

This event is a food drive in conjunction with 1 in 4 Strike Against Hunger Project to help provide non-perishable food for the children of Ferncreek Elementary w/ $2 off the $10 cover with donation.

9pm to 11pm Free. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out & laugh, or give it a try yourself.

The Film Lester was screened at the White House.

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Lester is a film written and directed by Banks Helfrich which was shot in Orlando.  This screening at the White House was the premiere screening of the film. What was thrilling for me was seeing so many familiar faces of actors I have sketched around the Orlando Arts scene. Another thing that struck me was how beautiful the Florida sky is when it is put on film.

Lester is a compulsive list maker, he loves legs. With the aid of four eccentric
bike shop workmates, Lester sets out to find if he’s remembered. To say Lester is quirky would be an understatement. Then again every character in the film is unique and quirky. Richard Regan Paul plays Lester. He runs an improvisational comedy class. The film interlaces interviews of people who talk about what it was like to meet Lester. In this way his existence is verified by peoples memories. In each Banks Helrich film I’ve seen, a beautiful red headed women plays an important roll. Kristen Wharton plays a woman who recognizes Lester, but after interacting with her, even being kissing by her, Lester realizes that she mistook him for someone else.

In a rather humorous scene, an actress enters the bike shop to ask advice. She was shot from the shoulders down and it was fun to watch the staff since they didn’t know where they should look. When Lester rides his bike to a dance studio, he looks in to watch the students going through rather robotic movements. In a mall, he approaches a woman and asks if he can simply hold her leg. This odd request makes her feel young while it might have been off putting to others. We all hope to live on in others memories and Lester lives on in the memories of the people whose lives he touched.

Bring Your Own Beamer at the Maitland Art Center

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Bring Your Own Beamer Orlando was a one night gallery exhibition featuring explosions of light and movement by local and world renowned digital artists, designers and filmmakers.

This is pop up projected experience included animated GIFs, motion graphics, interactive installations, video shorts, and more.

BYOB Orlando is a collaborative effort by Snap! Orlando, and the Art and History Museum with Nathan Selikoff and Michael Forrest as the curators.It took place in the Germain Marvel Building, Art and History Museum campus (231 East Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL).

Even more more important, the exhibit fell on my birthday, so I treated myself to a unique sketching experience. Since the show was all about high tech projections, I decided to execute my sketch on my tablet. I figured that way I would sort of blend in. It was tricking finding a spot where I wasn’t blocking a projection beam. I sat right next to the projector that threw an animation of a view that looked like the camera was flying over a city of colorful cubes. I was most intrigued by Ivan Depeña‘s piece which consisted of a blue screen that would explode like colorful fireworks when people walked in front of it. All evening children and adults moved in front of the screen to watch the color dance. On the floor was a tiny TV. I couldn’t make out what was being shown but later when i got a drink, I met Carl Kickerbocker and he explained that the TV was showing one off his animated shorts. I decided to go back and I sat down in front of the TV to watch. Another projection was sampling colors from around the room and vibrations from a pan of water drove the image frequencies projected. I’m probably explaining that wrong, but it looked cool. This really was a world class exhibit. Exhibitions like this have occurred all around the world in cities like Moscow, Begota, Firenza,  NYC and Copenhagen to name a few. It is good to see Orlando catching up to the World art scene.

Artists in the Orlando BYOB exhibit included,

Rusty Pliers shocked the crowd at Stardust Video and Coffee.

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Saw Ewing was a lead cleanup artist at Disney Feature Animation. I worked under his guidance on the character Koda in Brother Bear. After Disney closed the Florida animation studio, I started work at Full Sail University and I worked closely with Sam as we taught college students the principles of animation using traditional pencils and paper. Sam had a dream of someday becoming a writer. He left Full Sail to follow that dream. I was happy to hear that Sam started a blog titled “Rusty Pliers.”

Soon everyone referred to Sam as Rusty Pliers. I wondered what the moniker meant. My thought was that each artist that worked for Disney was a tool. For the duration we were tools with a set purpose, to create ageless films. When the studio was shut down there was little need for Animators who draw. We were discarded tools left to rust (rusty pliers) until we found new outlets for our talents. The Florida humidity has caused all the tools in my tool chest to rust. It is unavoidable with age.

This reading at Stardust Video and Coffee set the record straight. When Rusty Pliers got on the stage, he had an eye patch that made him look a bit like a pirate. He started reading tentatively at first outlining his early dreams of becoming an animator.  Half way into the reading he took a moment to adjust his eye patch. He moved it from his left eye to his right eye which caused laughter to erupt. “That’s so much better.” he said. “I didn’t realize there were so many of you out there.” It was a full house. Standing room only.

Rusty then read about his next career move into the porn industry. This is apparently a hard industry to break into. It was during the filming of a hot kitchen sex scene where rusty earned his name. He discovered some pliers on the set and he worked them into the scene in kinky ways best left to the imagination. When the scene had reached it’s climax the director shouted, “You are going to be a star!” He wasn’t referring to the actors however. He was referring to the rusty pliers.

When the reading was over, my sketch was done. Back by the bar, there was a table full of former Disney colleagues. John Pierro has been doing a painting a day of his quirky and somewhat sinister intertwining figures. Merritt Andrews has been working for Universal Studios the past few years. Pam Darley turned me on to a bar her husband loves called the Brass Tap and I hope to go there on a Drink And Draw outing soon. Darko Cesar and his wife Mirjana were there as well. Darko is discovering how to use TV Paint which is the industry standard for producing traditional animation using a digital tablet. Kathy Blacmore is still teaching art to kids and illustrating children’s books. It was awesome to see Rusty Pliers laughing with friends. I had one grapefruit flavored beer and since I’m a light weight drinker, I laughed at even the simplest jokes. I was just happy to be surrounded by so much talent.

ODD3 had about 15 artists drinking, drawing and collaborating.

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The third Orlando Drink and Draw (ODD3) fell on Labor Day. Artists were to meet at Redlight Redlight (2810 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL). I was afraid there might be holiday hours so I searched the web and found out the bar would be open from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. Since artists would start arriving around 6pm, I could relax. I went to see the movie Mission Impossible Rouge Nation, so I ended up arriving about an hour late. When I arrived,I bumped into Gay Geiger who was getting napkins from the food truck parked in front of Redlight Redlight. The building used to be a refrigeration sales store and the signage is still out front. The bar signage uses the same colors so it all blends in.

Gay was in the back room of the bar with her daughter. I glanced through her daughter’s sketch journal latter that night and there was a stunning collage of characters from the Japanese animated film “My Neighbor Totoro.”  I ran my fingers over the image to feel the amazing depth created. After that image I explored every page as if searching for Braille messages. This is what I love about this monthly event, I always get to discover and meet amazing artists.

In the front room Carlos Basabe was at a long table in the corner along with about 6 other artists. There was one seat available but when I sat in it, I found myself blinded by a projector which was projecting an image on the wall behind me. The blinding light wouldn’t do so I set up at a table near by. Colin Boyer and a friend sat at my table. I’m learning names slowly and sent around a sign in sheet that I forgot about, so it was left behind. Once I started my sketch I was lost in thought. I started my sketch by drawing Brian OHalloran at the end of the bar lightly in pencil. A young couple sat at the table in front of Brian blocking my view. They became my center of interest. Brian did a digital sketch of the beer he was drinking. Later in the evening he took a picture of the bar maid and he took a shot of me at work. Brian is now doing a series of sketches of people.

I made a small accordion sketchbook and invited any interested artists to fill a page or two. When the sketch is unfurled you can see the stream of consciousness as each sketch builds off of the sketch preceding it. I’ll bring the sketch to the next ODD event since it is a work in progress. Two young women were visiting Orlando from Walla Walla, Washington state and they heard about the event and joined us for the evening. They had bright markers and they added a splash of color to the nights sketch. Artists came an went in waves. All told I would say about 16 artists came out to mingle, drink and draw. I got to meet artists I’d never met before so to me the evening was a success.

Julie Norris moves from the Homestead.

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In March of 2006 Julie and Chris Blanc established Dandelion Communitea cafe. It is a beloved organic cafe located in the heart of Orlando, Florida which serves healthy vegetarian fare and premium loose leaf tea. It is a landmark establishment attracting loyal locals as well as health conscious tourists. More than just a cafe, Dandelion is a gathering place for a diverse
cross-section of people in the community with regular cultural events
such as art openings, poetry night, eco-networking, moon circles, and other special events.

Julie Norris’ homestead was less than a quarter mile from Dandilion. She had turned the Homestead into a place that
brought people together as a community. Anytime I visited, I felt welcome. Julie made anyone and everyone feel
at home. On December 30th she had to load her belongings onto a U-Haul
truck.  The community that she had helped build now came to help her. Julie and Her daughter Maya stayed at friends homes until the lawsuit was settled. She now lives in Deland returning to Orlando once a week to host her radio show, Front Porch Radio. On that show she helps showcase and amplify voices that don’t have a regular outlet. Sadly the homestead has since been torn down, being replaced by a townhouse.

“It’s been a tough ten years” Julie said. She was just 26 when she established the Cafe with Chris Blanc. Then came the recession followed by an expensive drawn out lawsuit between the partners. Chris  filed to have the company
dissolved due to what court documents say were
management issues. Julie said that she wants to resolve the situation
rather than dissolve the company, which could potentially put
Dandelion out of business. This culminated in an expensive law suit that dragged on for well over a year.

Earlier this year the case was resolved and Julie gave up her stake in the company. She is now free to pursue other creative endeavors. Dandelion is still serving tea and hosting art events. From a post at Localist.guru, Julie explained, “It is with a light and liberated heart that I share the news that I am
no longer an owner of Dandelion Communitea Cafe, having recently signed a
settlement.”

Julie has taken some much needed time this summer to  travel with her daughter Maya. The friends she visited helped pay for the trips. One thing she came away with after all the stress of the lawsuit is that she is loved. She found out that the friends who stand by you in the hard times are your true friends. Julie is bubbling with ideas about what creative path she wants to follow next. She is a graphic designer and she is passing that skill on to her daughter. It is a mother and daughter apprenticeship. She also has ideas for three separate businesses she would like to establish. Each project moving forward is intended to empower the women who help her run and grow the business. Julie learned much from the experiences in court that will help her new projects to succeed.