Death By Pop Community Paint

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On Tuesday October 30th I went to the Death By Pop-Up Shop, (1844 A Winter Park Ave, Orlando, Florida 32803) for a Community Paint event. These Community Paint events will happen every Tuesday from 3-11pm. It is all about giving artists an excuse to get out of the house and escape some of the distractions for a day. Artists brought canvases, easels, paint, sketchbooks, notebooks, laptops or whatever they needed to create with, and they worked along with fellow artists, musicians, poets and designers.

Death by Pop is a hip urban custom clothing store with B-Side Artists work adorning the walls. Chris Tobar was there to show me around. Artists whose work were on display included: Steve Parker, Justin Barrows, Peter Van Flores III, Peterson Guerrier, Jaime Torraco, The three Bears, Cake Marques, Jeff Pfaff, Michael McGrath, Brian Heeter, Decoy and Chris Reason.  

Swamburger was the guest artist that evening. He sold one of his pieces online while everyone was working. He found an image online of a ghetto Spongebob and he laughed as he said, “This is just wrong!” A huge jar of Cheetos puff balls sat on a table, largely ignored. Artist Tiffany Dae was seated right in front of me. She was painting an intricate sculpted wooden totem. She assembles various photos found online into cosmic, ethereal images which are painted. I always like meeting artists and learning how they work.

I spoke with Mila Belle Dykes just as I was leaving, having finished my sketch. I had met Mila Belle once before at City Arts Factory at Mia De los Muertos. She was painting a skull mask on a young woman’s face. I considered sketching Mila at work that day, but she said she would be done in just five minutes. I needed more time so I focused on other artists. The painting she was working on at Death by Pop was light and airy with white doves appearing and rising within abstraction. She worked her oil on canvas with thin glazes retaining the vibrancy of light bouncing through the paint and back out.

Château de Fontainebleau

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We took a train out of Paris on a day trip to Fontainebleau. Terry wanted to see a large opulent palace. The Château de Fontainebleau, once belonged to the kings of France. We took a bus from the train station into the town and then walked to the palace. We walked past this carousel on the way there. Terry wanted to take a tour of the interior. I set my stool up at the base of a large staircase and started blocking in a sketch. Within 15 minutes a guard walked up to me and told me I couldn’t sketch. I hiked back to the center of town to find the carousel.

I leaned up against the palace gates and started sketching the carousel.  Half way into the sketch a large ice cream truck parked in front of me, blocking my view. I moved my stool back in front of the truck and continued to work. The ice cream vendor invited me to lean back against the truck’s tires. The owner of the carousel came over and she discussed my sketch over with the ice cream vendor. A motor cycle was rear ended by a car right in front of me. A very vehement and animated argument broke out. The car’s bumper got caught on the motorcycle’s rear tire, but there was no actual visible damage once the vehicles were disentangled.

After the sketch was done, I hiked back to the palace. Terry and I ordered some croissants from the palace commissary, then we walked around the immense gardens. Several weddings were taking place on the grounds.

Stand Up and Shop

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Terry was invited to a fundraiser called, “An Evening of Shopping” at The Sanctuary Downtown, (100 South Eola Drive). The Sanctuary is the new building that now houses The Abbey and the Broadway Across America offices. The rest of the building is a luxury condominium. I arrived a little before Terry and took the elivator to the 5th floor. A phalanx of pretty boys were standing in the hall. To their left was an open public area with an open bar. l searched some more to find the apartment.

The apartment which is the home of Ted Maines and Jeffery Miller, was absolutely gorgeous with a fabulous collection of original modern art. There was a glass machine gun sculpture, while Warhols and ironic pieces by Ed Ruscha and Jane Hammond decorated the walls. As a collection, the work has a dark under current yet was inherantly humorous. People crowded around a large table which had expensive David Yurman watches and jewelry. The David Yurman team was lead by Jada Marzolf-Beekman. Funds raised from sales would benefit the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center’s program called, Upstanders: Stand Up to Bullying. 

The Upstanders: Stand Up to Bullying program is designed to help children understand the dynamics of bullying. The education begins with a moving presentation of a parent whose child committed suicide in response to bullying.  Parallel presentations in the evening help parents and other community members find out how they can be part of the solution. The pledge neatly sums up how we all can help. “I will stand up to bullying. I wont be a bully. I won’t let anyone bully me. I won’t let anyone bully someone else. I have a responsibility to stop bullying in my school and in my community.”

Art and Process

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On November 14th, I went to Urban ReThink to hear artists Brian Phillips, Dina Mack and Tory Tepp talk about their Art and Process. Dina Mack lead off showing her work from inception to today. She worked in the beginning by doing collages. Her work later matured and become austere in its simplicity and abstraction. She did an instillation in which she froze written documents in ice and then let them melt in the gallery. For the Corridor Project, she had a series of cloth napkins which she used to blot her lipstick. She vividly remembers her grandmothers perfume, so she scented the fabric. The lipstick stained napkins were an autobiographical look back at memories she had of her mother and grandmother.  Her grandmother used to give her a butterscotch candy if she sat still in church. The sound of the wrapper still brings back the memory, so she filled a vintage purse with butterscotch wrappers. The ephemeral installation was installed on the lawn of the Mennello Museum for only a few days. The sense of smell is only now being researched. Apparently all the Marriott hotels in the country use the same perfumed cleaning products. A scent can trigger many vivid memories. Much of Dina’s work speaks in a whisper, implied, like a scent on a breeze.

Tory Tepp is now a resident artist at the Atlantic Center of the Arts in Daytona Beach. He began his career as an artist doing traditional paintings. He hit a wall where he felt painting didn’t have any meaningful place in today’s society. He stagnated, not knowing where to go as an artist. Then he started planting seeds and growing a garden outside his Los Angeles studio. This garden helped him feel more connected to the people in his neighborhood. He started using abandoned shopping carts as planters. This evolved into Urban art with a taste of nature. An installation at a college consisted of a series of grass covered dirt mounds that acted as a natural place to meet, lie back relax and mingle. He is now working on a similar installation as part of his Atlantic Center of the Arts residency. With any luck, I’ll get out there to sketch the work in progress.

Brian Phillips showed his illustrative work. He has a whole series of paintings of house fires illuminating the night sky. He has some of his paintings hanging at Urban ReThink now. One piece in particular caught my eye. It was a painting of a stone arrowhead with a bold flat backdrop. This simple image implies much about the violence of survival. That image lingers. Brian didn’t claim any deep rooted underlying themes to his work. For the people intent on finding hidden meanings, he did a painting of a house fire and diagrammatically circled some embers. The diagram pointed to a bird, leaf and phone. It was pure nonsense. He paints because he loves the process.

I’ll be giving a talk on my art and process this Wednesday December 12th from 7PM to 9PM at Urban Rethink, (625 E Central Blvd  Orlando, FL, 32801). Rick Jones will be presenting, discussing and displaying his works on the ReThink wall, along with photographer Hannah Glogower. Stop by and say hi.

Space to Grow

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October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Zahide Love, along with her friends, Gigi, Jerri, Jillian, Michelle, Nadine, Aswadah, organized a domestic violence fundraiser at Bravo Cucina Italiano,
(7924 Via Dellagio Way
Orlando, FL). The ladies of Space to Grow helped combat the devastating effects of
domestic violence by coming together to network and build new
relationships while raising money for a good cause. The $20 donation entry included an appetizer and a raffle entry for a
resort stay.

100% of the contributions were donated directly to the Women’s Residential Counseling Center, (WRCC) to benefit the women and children
survivors of domestic violence. Founded in 1921 the WRCC has evolved over the years ot become an important safe haven for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence.

In 2010, 113,378 crimes of domestic violence were reported to Florida
law enforcement agencies resulting in 67,810 arrests. During fiscal year
2010-2011, Florida’s certified domestic violence centers provided
477,489 nights of emergency shelter to 15,789 survivors of domestic
violence and their children. Many more survivors of domestic violence are not reporting their abusers
to the police or accessing services at domestic violence services due
to reasons such as shame, fear, or being prevented from doing so by
their abusers. For this reason, we may never know the true extent of
abuse in our country and in our state.

Bravo’s happy hour menu was extended for the fundraiser.  Terry joined me to network as I sketched. Darkness quickly set in, but the restaurants outdoor lights kept things cheery. There were a few speakers, but unfortunately the loud Sand Lake Road traffic noise made hearing difficult. I did hear Zahida speak, and she announced to those gathered that she had been the victim of domestic abuse. This was the first time she had admitted that in public. She is certainly brave, vibrant and active with a charitable heart today. There was a ground swell of applause.

A Space to Grow pamphlet announced, “It is sad when someone thinks they have no one to talk to about abuse. It is a horror if you don’t ask. Talk about it.” The statistics are staggering. There is a chance someone you know is affected. Reach out and respond.

 E-mail at info@spacetogrow.org. WRCC crisis hot line 407 425-1076.

Chronic Damage

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I went to the Baldwin Park First Friday Art Stroll for the first time. I bumped into Brad Biggs who organizes the event and he said artists were happy with sales leading into the holiday season. The art stroll used to take place in Ivanhoe Village but since it has moved to Baldwin Park, It has grown in size. Artists set up tables on the sidewalks along New Broad Street. I settled in to sketch the work of Shane Malesky of Chronic Damage. His work is marketed as horrifically delicious. His wife Heather was helping him set up. They found an electrical outlet which meant  they had plenty of light. I liked that he had a bold study of a Vincent Van Gogh painting of the artist walking on the roadside. He explained to a passer by that the image showed the artist forging his own path, even if it was a lonely path.

I rather liked the work because of its bold bright colors and dark subject matter. A human skull with is jaw propped open held his business cards. Artists would visit each others booths. One artist vowed to murder the squirrels in his attic by any means necessary. Next to Shane was Jose Tores who came from Deltona to show his decorative art on wood. He spoke with me for a while about how Japanese animation had inspired him to start sketching. Brian Stuckey had photo prints of sculptures done in a bold cartoonish style. They looked like complete scenes from an animated short. Vaughn Belak was having great sales in October and perhaps his quirky dark imagery will continue selling right through the new year. First Friday’s Art Stroll is TONIGHT starting at 6PM. It is a great place to get some original art. Then again you could just order a print or original from this site.

Lacoste France

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Terry and I explored many towns in Provence, France. Lacoste was a typical small mountain town. Outdoor cafes are the heart of any town. Towns people and tourists linger outside reading the paper or getting into heated discussions. It was the golden hour before sunset and the sun caused the trees to warm up to a bright orange. The cafe staff folded down all the umbrellas as the outdoor seating slipped into the shade. I was seated next to a cafe kitchen door and I listened to the clatter of dishes and orders shouted out in French. I was delighted that it was warm and comfortable sitting outside.

With this sketch finished, we went to  the town of Roussillon where large ochre
deposits are found in the clay surrounding the village. The cliffs glowed a bright warm ochre as the sun set.  Ochres are pigments
ranging from yellow and orange to red. One of the former ochre quarries
could be visited via the Ochre Path. Unfortunately the quarry’s were closed, but all the ochre pigments used in paint come from here. Looking back at my sketches, I realized that I used yellow ochre extensively in my France sketches. There was a store that sold raw pigments but sadly it was closed as well.

Gianni Schicchi

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I went to the final dress rehearsal for Florida Opera Theater‘s production of Gianni Schicchi at the home of Kathy and Steve Miller in Winter Park. The rehearsal had been moved to 8PM but when I arrived, the circular drive was already full of parked cars. Light glowed warmly from inside the mansion. The sunken living room offered a perfect set for the opera.

The actors, in costume, stood around Robin Stamper on the piano in the beginning, going over the songs. This is a very accessible opera since all the lyrics are in English. Stage director, Eric Pinder, then had the cast rehearse their final bows. Eric was very gracious about letting me sit in and sketch the rehearsal. He informed me that I had once sketched him at one of Mark Baratelli‘s early food truck gatherings.

Gene Tate sat on the bed as the cast got ready to do a full run through. He then got under the covers. I didn’t realize that he had perhaps the easiest role in Giacomo Puccini‘s comic opera, playing Buoso Donati, who has just died. Relatives of Buoso sit around the bed lamenting his death and more importantly yearning to find out the contents of his will. They savagely search everywhere for the document, throwing papers everywhere. When it is found, they are mortified to discover that everything had been left to a monastery. They then truly cry and lament their loss.

Gianni Schicci is asked to help find some loop hole and he advises them to pretend that Buoso is still alive long enough to get a new will drafted. The dead man is treated like a puppet as Gianni throws his voice, trying to convince a visiting doctor that he is alive. Gianni himself gets under the sheets to dictate the new will in which he takes everything in order to unite his daughter with her true love, Rinuccio, played by Austin Hallock. The aria,  Oh my dear papa, sung by Lauretta, Gianni’s daughter, played by Shannon Jennings, is one of Puccini’s most well known, and one of the most popular arias in opera. Opera is still alive in Orlando.

When: December 8th, 7:30 p.m., December 9th, 2 p.m.

Venue: Bishop Moore High School, 3109 Edgewater Drive, Orlando FL

Phone: (407) 718-4365

Web Site: http://www.floperatheatre.org
Tags: opera
Price: $30

All performances will be followed by a reception.

Gordes France

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Terry and I drove from one small provincial town to another. Gordes was perched way up on top of a mountain with small roads and narrow passages. A small fair had just shut down with it’s rides and vending trucks packed up and ready to go. I settled myself in the small public square with a large fountain. “Defense” was inscribed on the fountain I presume from WWII. There were no large crowds here, just the occasional tourist eating a snack or resting.

Terry and I didn’t understand all the road signs. Once we drove up a road with a sign that had a red circle with a white line through it. We discovered that meant “One way” since another car was coming the other way on the narrow one lane road. Locals shouted and waved at us to back up. We backed out gingerly for a solid block. Driving on the mountain roads took nerve and faith since every blind turn could result in a head on collision. When cars passed the opposite way, one car or the other would have to pull off the road. The closest call we had was with a huge tourist bus that didn’t yield at all. Our small Porsche shook as it roared by. There were traffic circles every few miles which were like mini smash-em derby’s. Slipping in and out of the circle traffic was a refined art with a dash of chaos.

Saint Remy

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Terry and I drove to Saint Remy, France from Avignon on market day. The ancient cobbled streets were all lined with vendors selling their wares. Some vendors sold tourist trinkets like cicada sculptures that chirped if you stood too close, or wooden frogs with ridged backs that made noise when a stick was rubbed across it’s back. There were clothing vendors and a huge fresh fruit and produce market. Fish were stored on ice and one lady had a large shark for sale. I heard music in the air and walked towards it. Vincent Van Gogh walked these cobbled streets and perhaps he frequented this market trying to stretch the money his brother gave him or supplies.

Terry shopped, as I hunted for a sketch opportunity. Musicians were playing outside Cara-Ann Boutique. Shoppers, stopping to listen stood at a polite distance. The band was called Dos Amigos with Joselo Gonzalez and Louis Pousa on guitars. They were joined by a cello player whose name I didn’t catch.  I tapped my foot to the beat as I sketched their hip fedoras and slick black silhouettes. Crowds gathered and left between sets. Cara-Ann came over to inspect my sketch and she seemed delighted although I didn’t understand a thing she said. Joselo talked to me once they were done playing and he gave me his business card.