The Worm

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I spent most of Saturday at the Fringe. It was hot, muggy and sunny when I arrived. I immediately went into the Shakespeare Theater to soak in the air conditioning. I found a comfortable leather chair and relaxed.

This sculpture by Doug Rhodehamel is made entirely from cassette audio tape. In an effort to keep patrons from stepping on or touching the sculpture, Doug placed a sign on the floor that stated that performance artist Brian Feldman may or may not be inside. The worm looks like it has taken and interest in the program that a Fringe patron is reading.

Kristina Goetz, the Director of Development, arrived and sat down in the leather chair next to me. We talked for a while. She said that in preparation for the Fringe she has to make sure all her bills are paid, that her laundry is done and that anything perishable is out of the fridge. She does all that because she basically lives at the Fringe for its duration. She explained that the rain has hurt revenues but now that the sun is out, people who must have cabin fever after a solid week of rain, are coming out in force.

Since I missed Flamenco con Fusion last night I decided to catch the 11:20PM show tonight. I got a ticket and ran over to the theater just before to get in. It turns out I arrived and hour early. For whatever reason I have been constantly confused trying to get into con Fusion. In the lobby outside the show the guitarist and one of the dancers were taking pictures. I got to shake his hand and I explained that I had heard quite a bit of buzz about his guitar playing and the show which was wonderful. From the moment the guitarist sat in the glow of a single spot light on a bare stage, I was entranced. The dancing consisted of a duel between a traditional Flamenco dancer and a Break dancer. After the high energy performance the audience stood, screamed and yelled.

The Fringe Rain Bar

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Since the rain continued, keeping people from going outside to the beer tent, organizers decided to move the bar inside the lobby of the Shakespeare Theater. Besides the bar there was oriental food and pizza. Lines for the shows were at times very long so people are seeing shows despite the rain. For my birthday I treated myself to tickets to a show. Terry and I stood in line with Brad Kuhn,his sister and friends. Brad’s fiance Darlyn had sent out an e-mail saying Flamenco Con Fusion was a must see. I assumed I had taken her advice.

When Terry and I were about to go into the Theater, the ticket taker informed us that we had the wrong tickets. Several days ago I had bought tickets to The Cody Rivers Show and I had forgotten about them. Terry and I had to run over to another theater since Cody Rivers was about to start as well. It was pure luck that we managed to get in. Had Cody Rivers opened an hour earlier, we would have been up the creek without a paddle. The luck of the Fringe was looking out for me. I still would like to see Flamenco. I think I will have to see that tonight. By the way “The Cody Rivers Show” was awesome and is a must see!

Back to the sketch, as I was finishing up, the Korean girls from the food station came over to see how I was doing. They had seen me sketching outside so they knew what I was up to. I answered questions while I continued to work. One girl watched for the longest time, I usually feel self conscious when being watched for a long time, but she had such a quiet demeanor, that I felt quite comfortable. She later bought over a full plate of rice, egg rolls and salad. Since it was late, I had scored a free diner. The starving artist myth payed off. I bought a Coke from the wine Bar and I was one happy camper.

Fringe Beer Tent

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When it finally stopped raining for a few hours, people flocked to the green lawn of fabulouosness and stormed the beer tent. The tent had a truck next to it with kegs that allowed servers to tap and pour the beers right out of the side of the truck. The crowd would grow thick and then on mass people would wander off to a show.

Dewey Chaffee was shooting footage of the revelers. He shot some footage of me sketching as well, and I look forward to seeing the final edit. One group of folks started singing Christmas carols behind me for no apparent reason. By the second verse I was singing along.

Tonight I also got to meet Bonnie Sprung and her mother. They have been to the Fringe for 17 years in a row since day one. Bonnie’s mom has vintage Fringe buttons pinned all over her volunteer tee-shirt. A documentary is being shot about the history of the Fringe and the two of them are going to get interviewed. I stopped sketching when I felt a large raindrop hit my hand. I closed my sketch pad and held my hand up to the sky to test for rain. Sure enough a second drop and then a third. I decided my sketch was done and I opened my umbrella and headed to my car. As I drove home it poured.

The Fringe Deluge

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It has been raining for three days straight. Not a drizzle but a deluge. Beth Marshall’s facebook status reported: “Rain Rain Go Away, Fringe Fringe Is Here To Stay, Patron Patrons Come Out And Play, GAY GAY GAY GAY!:)”

The rain did not keep the intrepid artists from performing. The show must go on, but the green lawn fabulousness was deserted. I arrived early and caught this Cello player thumbing through his Fringe program guide. A line started forming behind me for the Pink Venue but the line never got long enough to block my view. I was afraid I might end up with a sketch of a bunch of rear ends although that might have been interesting. Before I was finished with the sketch the Cello player walked off. I am not sure what show he was performing in that night. Another Fringe mystery.

To lighten my mood after so many days of rain, I decided to go see VarieTEASE. This dance group performed a cross between burlesque, cabaret and modern dance with costumes that would make Toulouse Lautrec proud. The performance was playful and vibrant. Unfortunately the lights dimmed and I could not see my sketchbook. I did do a series of blind gestural sketches. These performers impressed me so much however that I am hoping to catch them relaxing just before there next performance in the green room backstage.

Fringe Ticket Booth

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After two days of observing the Fringe from a distance, I decided it was time to get tickets and see a show! On the Green Lawn of Fabulousness I asked four different people what their favorite show was so far and they ALL pointed me to “The Cody Rivers Show presents: Meanwhile Everywhere”. I decided a four out of four survey guaranteed that my first Fringe show would be a great one.

But before I bought my ticket I had to of course sketch the ticket booth. While doing this sketch I spotted a friend of mine Ray as he bought a ticket. I shouted out his name and then we went outside to get some Greek food for dinner. Ray and I talked about an upcoming event he is planning and about art, marketing and life in general. While we were eating, Patient X Augustine of the Asylum, aka Erika Wilhite, sat down with us and performed a twisted yet delightful piece on her accordion. The accordion was set up with a small spot light on top which lit her face in an sinister way. When her song was finished, her handler, a burly man with an upturned mustache, pulled X away with a rope.

Later a sexy female pirate with an umbrella, a wet ghost and a girl in a pink tutu with butterfly wings were handing out blow pops in a reversal of Halloween traditions. The way the pirate offered the pop was quite enticing she would say “Care for a sucker?” or “Do you want a blow…………pop?” I declined her nasty offer. I am married after all. But boy they looked good, I think I saw a grape flavored one. How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Blow Pop? I can’t stop thinking about it.

Toni Taylor at Visual Fringe

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In the Visual Fringe room I had the rare pleasure of watching Toni Taylor working on one of her refined and luminous canvases. I sat at a round table across from her and began to sketch. I had just about finished drawing her when she placed her pallet on her portfolio and walked away to talk to some friends. While she was away I started drawing paintings on the walls and the insane number of fliers lying on the table. Several people started flipping through the portfolio and turned the pages over right onto the wet paints. Had I been paying attention I might have been able to stop them. When Toni returned she had to scrape off the paint with a pallet knife and wipe the pages clean with a rag. We had a good laugh about it when the damage was all cleaned up.

As I was finishing up my sketch Toni finally noticed that I was sketching. She was a bit shocked, she thought I was just writing notes. We started to talk and found that our lives had run near identical courses intersecting often. She lived in NYC at the same time I did and even was at the School of Visual Arts at about the same time as me. She lived in Washington Heights only blocks away from where I lived while in NYC. Then she moved to Orlando as I did and now she has a studio less than a mile from my studio. I seems crazy that we had not bumped into each other before. The Fringe continues to radiate its crazy unexpected magic.

Fringe Poetry Smackdown

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As evening rolled around the poets took to the stage for a no holds bared Poetry Smackdown. There were five judges. Three of the judges were Fringe celebrities including Pepe with the red Mohawk, Beth Marshall The Producing Artistic Director of the Fringe, and Wayburn Sassy entertainment legend and you tube celebrity. Two other judges were selected from the audience to keep the judging fair and impartial.

This sketch is of Curtis Meyer who impressed me with his strong rap like delivery. He would close his eyes as if in a revelry and then thrust his verse upon the audience gesturing the whole time with his hands.

After heated qualifying rounds which all seemed to involve sexuality in one form or another, poets must be a horny bunch, the wheat was separated from the chaff. In the end only one poet was left standing and that was Kendra Corrie who’s poetry resonated with a confident voice and message that was inspired. Her last poem was a response to a thirty something who said “if you area not liberal in your twentys you don’t have a heart and if you aren’t conservative in your thirtys you don’t have a brain.” Her poem spoke to the depths of idealism, hope and caring. She lifted me up weightless and full of joy. Screw American Idol there should be a nationally televised Poetry Smackdown celebrating the truly creative voices that can be found right in our back yard. On that stage Kendra is my Fringe Idol.

The Orlando International Fringe Festival Begins!

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I finally had a chance to go to Lock Haven Park to experience the Fringe Festival. In all my years in Orlando I have never been to the Fringe. I am a true Fringe virgin. When you enter Lock Haven Park the first thing you see is the sculpture titled “The Rocket Thrower” by Donald DeLue. For the Fringe he has a sporty Fringe tee shirt around his neck. Behind him on the green lawn of fabulousness are all the colorful tents of the food vendors, and an outdoor stage. The first impression is of entering a carnival.

The first thing I did was check out the Visual Fringe which is located in a round room inside the Shakespeare theater. A small sketch I did of Wayburn Sassy at a Fringe preview was on display. I am astounded by the talented artists that had work in the show. I am hoping that over time I will get to meet some of these artists and sketch them at work so I can share there work here. Anna McCambridge who runs the Visual Fringe welcomed me with a warm hug. I immediately felt at home at the Fringe.

While I did this sketch a young blond girl sat down next to the statue in the blazing sun probably waiting for a friend. She lasted a full 15 minutes in the sun before she then moved over to a shady spot and started using her cell phone. I sketched her in both locations so I had more of the human drama. As I was working on the details of the tents and food stations, I glanced up to find she was gone. I am not sure if she met her friend or not.

Magic Playoff Game

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At the last minute Terry got two tickets to the game 6 of the playoff games between the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics. A client of hers works for ESPN and we met him in the huge trailer that is used to quickly edit together all the footage being shot of the game. I would have liked to have watched the crew at work as they edited the show live on dozens and dozens of small TV screens, perhaps next time. We had some difficulty getting to our seats and a nice usher told us to follow him. He lead us to a hallway that lead to court side. As we walked in the Magic players started to run past with a huge fanfare. A man next to me reached out and gave a player a high five. He shouted “I am never going to wash this hand!” My dreams of sitting court side were shattered as we started walking up an endless staircase until we reached the very top row of seats in out section. The beginning of the game was punctuated by huge flame throwers and a large T.G. Lee blimp made its rounds flying above the crowd. The National Anthem was sung by a seven year old and the crowd went wild when she finished.
At halftime the Magic dancers performed and trampolines were set up in front of the baskets. Girls would run with basketballs jump on the trampolines and make spectacular slam dunks. One girl did a full forward flip and still slam dunked the ball. A fight broke out in our section between a fan wearing a green Celtics jersey and a Magic fan seated directly behind him. The magic fan was shouting and took off his shirt I guess to show off his chest muscles or so the shirt would not get ripped in the fight. The two girlfriends were trying to calm the guys down and security showed up just in time and dragged the fans away.
I finished the sketch with only a few minutes to go in the game. The crowd was standing and going wild. I figured it was time to start paying attention to the score. With 3:40 minutes to go the score was 75 to 75. The magic made a huge final push and ended up winning 83 to 75. The crowd was so loud Terry had to cover her ears. There were fireworks and streamers. The guy seated in front of me gave me a high five. That was the most exciting 3 minutes ever!

Philharmonic After Party

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After the performance of the Orlando Philharmonic, Board members, donors and friends of the Philharmonic are allowed to go back stage for a meet and greet. Champagne is served along with fruit punch and deserts. Terry and I always attend these gatherings and since Terry is a true social butterfly, we are almost always the last to leave. This time I walked up two steps on the stairway to the dressing rooms to get a good overall view of the crowd. This sketch was certainly a challenge since people were constantly milling about and moving from group to group. I am pleased with the result since I can pick out individuals I know and it gives a good feeling of what this crowded event s like.
The time just flew by, and several children became curious and wanted to see what I was up to. The featured pianist Joyce Yang even wanted to see what I was up to so I got to talk to her, which I usually would not do since the featured performer is almost always surrounded by a crowd of admirers. This sketching at social events has turned out to be a great way to meet talented and interesting people.