The Mount Dora Corn Festival

Posted on by Thor

The Zellwood Sweetcorn Festival has gone the way of the dodo. However Mount Dora held its inaugural sweet corn festival starting in 2024, featuring Zellwood Sweet Corn.

The Mount Dora Corn Festival happens in Elizabeth Evans Park, 100 North Donnelly Street, Mount Dora Florida. The dates will be sometime in May 2025. Blankets and chairs are encouraged and service dogs are welcome. Children 3 and under are free. The festival books country singers to perform on the outdoor stage.

Festival activities include…

  • Admission to BOTH days of the festival 
  • Corn shucking contest 
  • Corn on the cob eating contest (All  you can eat and hot corn.
  • Battle of the businesses corn bread cook-off
  • Corn hole 
  • Signature corn food vendors
  • Kids area
  • Crowning of the corn King and Queen
  • Hay ride
  • Petting zoo (Saturday 3-6pm)
  • Fireworks (Saturday at 9pm)
  • Free shuttle parking (Saturday Only)

Florida General Store

Posted on by Thor

I have started exploring Lake County Florida. I had to mail some art to a client, so I made a trip to the Post Office. The flag was at half mast for former president Jimmy Carter.

I had the art packed in a Priority mail tube and the woman behind the desk told me it would cost $36 to ship. She advised I use another form of shipping that cost $9. I was thankful for the advice. I need to keep researching what shipping method is most affordable while keeping the art safe.

Right next to the post office is the abandoned Florida General Store. Now this place had character. If it was for sale I would want to convert this into a working art studio. I am sure it would involve so much renovation work that I would never have time to paint. The other disadvantage is that it is right on 48 which is a highly traveled and very loud roadway. Leaning against a stop sign, I had to deal with the constant roar of traffic as I sketched. One obnoxious UPS truck let off a huge plume of exhaust right in front of me. An X Infinity truck parked in front of the General Store for the longest time. I think they are setting up internet connectivity in the neighborhood behind the store. I debated about including the truck in the sketch but realized they guy was probably just taking an unauthorized break. He left as I was applying watercolor washes to the sketch.

The Florida General Store was B.C. Genaral Store and BBQ up until about 2018. It closed after 32 years in business. It was a quirky place that boasted the “best darn BBQ in Lake County. It used to have a screened in front porch with a cut out pic and chicken dancing on the facade. I thought the yellow cement blocks up front must have been for gas pumps but it seems they were at the corners of the screened in porch area. I tried looking up the place on Zillow, but it has no history, it is as if it never existed. An old Florida gem quietly faded into the past, while corporate sprawl expands.

That neighborhood has true old cracker style homes. My plan is to hike back once a day and get a sketch. I may need to bring a hiking stick, just in case people let their dogs run loose. I hike each morning around the block in my neighborhood to the mail box. 3 huge white Great Pyrenees dogs bark at me each morning from behind their fenced in yard. I simply say good morning to them and they seem to be getting used to seeing me each morning. They bark less vociferously.

Crealde Large Scale Sketching

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As the pandemic progressed, class sizes dwindled at Crealde School of Art. I worked hard to maintain social distancing in the classroom and masks were required. I haven’t seen pre-pandemic class sizes yet, though my online classes have me booked solid 6 days a week.

These two students were friends and both were talented artists. I gave them the challenge of drawing the classroom on very large sheets of paper that completely covered their tables. The sketch above was also done on that massive scale. When starting a sketch the artist is often confronted with a feeling that they could not possibly fit all that they see on the sketch page. This assignment flips that feeling on it’s head. Students can no longer sketch dainty small objects but instead they must draw on a massive scale, to fill the sheet.

The fun thing about working this large is that you can dig in and sketch the smallest details. The sketch still needed to be done in about 3 hours so lines needed to be put down quickly and the entire body is used to put lines down rather than twitching fingertips and wrists the movement of the pencils were influenced by how the student stood and leaned into the sketch. The entire arm, and shoulder and hips would pivot making sketching a much more active sport.

Crealde Table Cloth Sketching

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6 months into the pandemic I was teaching an Urban Sketching course at Crealde School of Art on Sundays. Tables in the room were arranged in tight rows, but I would spread then out into an open circular layout just before class to allow for some social distancing. Masks were required at this point.

My mantra from the very first class is to “fill the page.”  I also want to encourage the students to draw from the hips, trough the shoulders and then to the hand rather than dainty lines put down with wrist or finger movement. To encourage this, I covered each table with white paper tablecloths which become the sketch that needed to be completed. The sketch above was also done on one of these large sheets of paper. You can see the ripped edges on the left and right. I painted the scene much later digitally.

The Crealde Urban Sketching course will start up again in the Spring. I am teaching 6 days a week for Elite Animation Academy and they have a course called “Sketching People Places and Things” which very much like the Urban Sketching course. There are virtual classes for adults now and I have students from as far away ad Borneo!

Compass Fusion at Timucua

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Terry Olson offered some free tickets to the Timucua Arts Foundation, Compass Fusion Concert. He said the first people to e-mail him could have the tickets. I emailed, but wasn’t fast enough. Knowing I wanted to sketch, Terry pulled some strings anyway. Leah Love, the Executive Director at Timicua, let me know she would love too have me sketch. She and Michael Rizzo had been married since the last time I saw them. At the entrance Leah actually didn’t recognize me since I now have a grizzly mountain man beard.

Thick red velvet curtains separated the entry, social area from the performance space. On stage, visual artists Edson Campos and Kathleen Brodeaur were working on a large portrait of a young girl. Edson and Kathleen worked on the portrait together. It was fascinating to watch them work before the start of the show. By the time Benoit Glazer made his announcements and introduced the performers the face of the portrait was complete.

The Compass Trio are from Brooklyn New York. They performed Indian Flamenco-Groove Fusion with guitar, Tabla (drums), and sitar. The music was absolutely mesmerizing and fantastic to sketch to. One piece called Murmerations which was inspired by large flocks of birds flying in absolute unison. The music wove its way into the soul. I swayed as I sketched feeling every undulating improvisation that inspired the lines to dance on the page with little second guessing.

A string broke on the sitar, so there was a brief question and answer session as the repair was made. I took the time to keep sketching feverishly. That break was a good time to break out the watercolors. The final piece they performed kept building in layers to a magnificent crescendo that they maintained indefinitely. When it ended the audience burst into a standing ovation. I had to put my art supplies away before I could stand.

I had driven 32 miles from the back woods of Yalaha, Florida to witness this performance, and it was well worth it. The room vibrated with creative inspiration. Benoit got on the stage and mentioned that the painting that Edson and Kathleen had done live on stage was available for $700. Someone in the back of the audience purchased the painting. I do believe that they were painting a woman’s portrait on the very first evening I sketched at the Timucua White House. That painting has hung in the room ever since it’s creation.

Urban Sketchers Orlando at The Salty Donut

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On October 17, the Orlando Urban Sketchers held a Coffee and Draw event at the The Salty Donut (3025 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL).

I ordered an iced coffee and a donut with a sweet caramel glaze. All the urban sketchers were seated outside and every seat was full, so I sat inside looking out through the plate glass windows. Being inside I kept my kn-95 mask and that meant my donut and coffee would not be eaten until the sketch was done and I went outside.

Staff were decorating the venue for Halloween and a skull was plopped down in front of me, while strands of witches were hung from bookshelves. This sketch was done in a very old sketchbook started back in college days and I am working to fill it up, despite the thin paper quality.

One of the sketchers was a former student of mine and it was rewarding to see him and his wife still sketching. Most all of my evenings are booked solid with virtual classes so I always make sure to get out to any morning sketch opportunities I can find. With all the sketches complete, we had a “Throwdown” to see all the sketches together. Then we posed as a group in front of the Salty Donut.

Art in the Alley, Mount Dora

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Art in the Alley on the historic Roylleau Street in Mount Dora, Florida, is held every 2nd Friday. The alley runs for two blocks between 3rd Street and 5th Street. The alley is one block west of Baker Street and ends at the Donnelly Park, right at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts.

I had forgotten my artist stool, so I sat in a tangle of live Oak roots to sketch the entrance to the alley. All the trees were still lit up with Christmas lights. I took my rag and folded it up to add some cushioning against the hard knobby roots.

Several weeks prior, an artist friend of mine had a portrait on exhibit near here which we visited, and then we went into this Van Gogh themed bus to look at the art of Richard Barrenechea.The entire city was ablaze with Christmas lights and after the bus Stella and I went to the tai restaurant right next to the bus. To me that outdoor seating area reminds me of Van Gogh‘s painting of a provincial outdoor cafe. The Miso Soup warmed my soul and the Pad Thai noodles were sweet and delicious. Overall it was a great night on the town.

Richard had painted an entire house to look like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. On this night, driving into Mount Dora from Lake County, I saw the house for the first time right before entering the historic downtown. Sketching the house would be tricky since a large road runs right in front of it.

As I finished up my sketch, a mom was waiting to get her children across the very busy street. She wasn’t crossing the street to see art, rather she was crossing the street to get ice cream cones for her kids. A beautiful hostess encouraged people to enter the bus. Richard has converted this bus into a mobile art gallery of his work. The pop culture paintings are shiny with thick layers of varnish. I stumbled up the steps of the bus and lost my balance. I used my left hand to catch myself from falling. I asked Richard if I could just get a card and he said, “You are leaning on them.” Sure enough my left hand was right on a pile of cards. I laughed. I wonder how many others had lost their balance getting up those bus steps and stumbled upon the cards. That is some golden marketing right there.

Other than Richard’s bus, I only noticed one other artist with a table set up half way down the first block of the Alley. The central building in Donnlley Park had signs for a Highwayman exhibit. I peaked my head in but there was only a retirement party going on. Weather you are looking for ice cream or Art, downtown Mount Dora is buzzing on a Friday night,

Crealde Urban Sketchers in Panera’s

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One of the last classes of my Crealde Urban Sketching Class is held inside a Panera Bread on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park just a block from the school campus. The goal is to get the students familiar with sketching in a restaurant.

On a Sunday, Panera Bread has few customers in the early morning but as noon approach people start to arrive many from church. Some retirees are here every weekend it seems. Most people were on their digital devices. Only my students held paper pencils and pens. Since tables are set square to the room, this is often a lesson in one point perspective for my students. My sketch is sett up as a one point perspective with a hint of a second point off to the left off the page.

I move from student to student and kneel down to do thumbnail sketches helping them at any point that has them stumped at the time. My time working on this sketch is therefor limited. An older couple sat right in front of me. After they had eaten, I liked that they were both on their cell phones at the same time facing one another but speaking to others. It is a sign of our times. A digital divide.

When all our sketches were complete, we went outside and lined up all the sketches on a table. It is so rewarding to see the amazing variety of approaches each artist takes. Even though they were all given the same information to start, they each interpreted what I told them in their own way. This is what makes sketching from live so exciting. I am often asked, “do you take a photo and work from that?” NO! There is an energy that you get when working directly from life. It is that energy and excitement that I hope to share with the students. Granted sketching on location isn’t as popular at Crealde as ceramics, but the students how embrace sketching, will have a new way of interacting with the world.

Sign up for the next Crealde Urban Sketching classes which will start up in the spring. The winter class was canceled since no one signed up. Perhaps Florida students fear the cold. It is 56 degrees out there right now. Brrrr!

Spiral Circle Writers Workshops

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On Wednesdays at 6pm, Spiral Circle Bookstore (750 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL) offers free writers workshops.

I got there a bit early and looked around at all the books, crystals, candles and and endless array of soul calming talismans. The air was scented which reminded me that I was unmasked. Having just recovered from a COVID infection, I hope I am immune for several months. After that I will start masking up again.

The workshop room was yellow with an “Everyday Miracle” quote on the wall. The middle sentence was so faint I could not read it. Albert Einstein said, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

I sketched the room before participants arrived. There was a small table in the center of the room and two chairs. All that changed when writers started to arrive. The table was pushed back and many more chairs were retrieved from a closet I was sitting in front of. Seven writers entered and sat in a circle. I erased most of what I had started.

The workshop is one hour and offers three prompts. Once a prompt was read everyone began to write. I love the creative energy in that moment of silence and concentration. In the time of the first prompt I managed to rough in the sketch lightly in pencil. I was still searching and unsure, but things were starting to pull together. Each writer read aloud what they had written. A playwright said she was surprised by how the words sounded when read them aloud. Shayana, the moderator, said, that reading aloud helps an author recognize and hear their own voice. Shayana had a “Black Women are Perfect” Tee shirt which I found fun. One prompt was about feelings following the holiday season. Without going into details of the stories, I felt a mix of joy and deep sorrow from each of the authors. I welled up at one point. There is a raw openness to the group and pure acceptance for what was expressed. For some poetic passages everyone would snap their fingers.  Once everyone had read, they turned to me. I explained that there was just a tangle of lines at the moment but I shared my progress. There was some ooohing and ahhhing and I felt warmly embraced. Everything that happened in the yellow room was a creative miracle.

Crealde Urban Sketching Tent

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One of the first assignments my Urban Sketching students get at Crealde School of Art is trying to sketch this outdoor tent. The day starts with a lesson in 1 point and two point perspective and then we go outside and sketch the tent.

There is a lake behind Crealde and the far shore gives a clear indication of where the horizon line would be in a sketch. Before students get too far into their sketches, I visit each one individually and give them a thumbnail sketch to indicate what features I would look for if I were to attempt the sketch from their angle.

Sometimes we just work in pen and ink and sometimes we push further and use watercolor. It depends on the vibe of the students. Each class tends to focus on one premise which is rolled into what we learned the previous week.

This is the perfect time of year to attend the Urban Sketching Class since the weather is so cool. In most classes we are outside exploring the camp us or heading out to a location to sketch. Past locations have included, a dog park, bowling alley, Panera’s, and antique car meet ups. The possibilities on a Sunday morning could be endless with enough research.

If you are interested in improving your skills and joining an international movement of like minded artists you should come on out. We meet for 3 hours and the goal is always to push the sketches to a level of completion with line, value and color. These are sketches not something for a museum wall. When you stop worrying about the final result you tend to take more chances and surprisingly the sloppy experiments are what works best. In my work the sketches are almost always populated with people, so in one class students sketch one another.

I just got an email from Crealde and unfortunately the January 19 series of classes have been canceled but you should think about signing up of the next series of sessions starting in the spring. I can’t figure out why sketching on location is not more popular in Orlando. I have been sketching everyday on location since 2009. I just did the math, that is 16 years. It is a habit that keeps me motivated and inspired each and every day.

Today I will be unpacking all the sketchbooks I have filled over the past 16 years. They take up a shelf and a half on my handmade bookcase. I also discovered I have tons of wood stretchers and raw canvas. It might be a good time to start working on larger paintings on location. I am now in a rural Lake County Florida, so I will soon be hiking into the woods to sketch and perhaps work on larger paintings. This is an exciting time, much like a residency. This new location should inspire me to take more chances moving forward while still working on the COVID Dystopia book.