The day started cloudy, cold and rainy. Terry got up at day break so she could help out in the barn. After feeding the horses, we went inside for our own breakfast. The rain let up enough so the horses were prepared for a ride in the arena. Debbie, the owner of the bed and breakfast, actually lent us a couple of Australian slickers which really helped since it was so cold out. After the lesson, the horses had the saddles removed and they were then brushed down and put back in their stalls. I worked on small quick sketches in the barn to catch all the grooming action. I must do five or six of these a day. Virginia seems like an ideal place to live, if it wasn’t so rainy and cold. Tomorrows forecast calls for a 90% chance of more rain. I kind of miss the Florida sunshine.
Lantern Lane Farm
From Washington DC we rented a car and headed west to horse country. When we arrived at the Lantern Lane Farm we were warmly greeted at the door shown around the bed and breakfast and then immediately Terry signed a waver and went out to the barn for her first ride. I of course tagged along and kept sketching. Terry had to show off her skills in the arena so that Sheryl, her trainer, could judge her skill level. As I walked up on the arena, I was struck by these Icelandic Highlander Bulls munching grass in the foreground. That light brown fellow stared me down for a while, but he never did charge the fence. It was windy and cold. I think I might need gloves.
Mirian Anderson Tribute Concert
Mirian Anderson, a talented African American singer, was denied permission to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in 1939. Instead she sang for 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial. This was a defining moment in the history of protest against inequality in America. To commemorate that historic event , Denyce Graves performed the same program at the Lincoln Memorial and even wore one of Anderson’s dresses. The defining moment in the concert for me was when the Chicago Children’s Choir and the entire audience sang “We who believe in freedom can not rest”. The whole audience was swaying and clapping its hands in unison. One feels that sense of unity and human potential so seldom. It was exhilarating. After the performance General Colin Powell helped several hundred people from 56 different countries gain their US Citizenship. The new citizens got a standing ovation from the audience. The heartwarming ceremony made me realize the civic responsibility we all have to give something back to the community . Colin’s voice broke as he read from Lincoln’s second inaugural speech: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”
Port City Java
I was supposed to meet a group of DC artists in the morning for the 21st World Wide Sketch Crawl. It was raining however and when I got to the meeting spot, a stone Japanese lantern, I found no artists, so I gave up on the crawl and spent the day visiting family. We met Terry’s niece, Allison, and stopped in this coffee shop to catch up. While we talked a group of Morris Dancers assembled outside and started jumping and spinning. The dancers were wearing lederhosen and other Tyrolean gear. A dancer would come in once in a while to use the bathroom. The bells on their legs would jangle loudly. Happy Easter.
Sleepless over Washington DC
Analog Artist Digital World is heading out to Washington DC and Virginia for a week long spring break. The flight to DC was a short hop of about two hours. Terry slept the whole time leaning on her snack tray. She woke up just in time to panic about the landing. “Why is he flying so low?” “Does he have to turn so sharply?” “Isn’t he to close to the buildings?” Though I rather enjoy flying, some of her panic manages to rub off.
I am entering type with handwriting on the tablet PC and it is slow going, so expect short captions.
Panther and the Crane Rehearsals
Rehearsals for Panther and the Crane went on all day long. It was rather windy at first which caused some problems with the screen that was tied up between some trees. A hard gust caused the screen to collapse and it had to be re-tied up. You can still see the ladder leaning up against the tree. Besides the inflatable gator there were also several bronze gators and a statue of a gator wrestler which are permanent fixtures in the park. By the time I sketched this the puppeteers had already run through the performance at least twice and they were getting ready to get some supper. This sketch gives a good overall view of the staging area they had to work with.
Heather Henson introduced herself to me while I was sketching. Actually she didn’t mention her name at first and was just talking about my blog. She was wearing shorts and a blue tee shirt, she had bright green tape hanging off her shorts for some reason and I assumed at first that she must be a stage hand running around taping together anything that needed taping. She was unassuming in every way. When she did mention her name I did double take but was very pleased to finally meet her. She once again stressed that I could sketch at will and I couldn’t have been happier. I knew this was a very busy day for her so I got to work and let her run.
For the performance that night, I put my sketchbook down and just watched the show for the first time. It was a beautiful performance. At one point I spotted the mother crane sitting on the nest I had seen Tamara fixing that morning. Two puppeteers were needed to perform her graceful motions. I then saw the egg she was sitting on and I was shocked to tears when it cracked open and she lovingly preened the chick. There is magic in puppetry.
Gator Devours IBEX Rehearsal
As I approached Orlando Regional History Center, I heard music which I assumed to be for the rehearsal and then I was surprised to see his huge inflatable gator throwing his head back like Godzilla on a rampage. This is not a regular feature in downtown Orlando and was in place just for tonight’s performance of Panther and the Crane. You can see several members of the IBEX Puppetry cast in the small outdoor amphitheater behind the Gator. I noticed one woman manipulating a catfish puppet, she and the other performers I noticed moved with the grace of dancers. It was fairly windy and several times I feared that the gator might get blown on top of the cast. He held his ground however while constantly threatening to move. Tourists leaving the History Center were surprised to see the huge gator, so I assume he was inflated while they were inside. While doing this sketch I probably got to see half of the performance being rehearsed. There was a constant crowd of people watching the rehearsals so I felt I should be able to blend in. I wanted to move in closer…
Tamara Marke – Lares
After pouring herself a cup of coffee, Tamara got started on all the last minute fixes that were needed for tonight’s performance of Panther and the Crane. While she replaced some Velcro on several costumes I started laying in the sketch for the room. Quite honestly I was a bit overwhelmed, every square inch of space was crammed full of interesting visual details. I took a deep breath and got started. I had to assume she would later be working on the contraption sitting on the high stool.
The device she was working on was to be worn over the shoulders by a puppeteer sort of like a base drum in a marching band. Tamara started hot gun gluing leaves to the shoulder supports. She burnt her fingers a couple of times and said ” This is why I usually don’t use a hot gun.” I couldn’t really tell what it was I was sketching, but she explained that it was a nest and sticking out of the nest was a shell with a young chick inside. In the sketch you can only see the chicks wing and a small stick which I presume controls the chicks head movements. Tamara actually took a moment out of her hectic day to show me some of her own sketches. They were amazing! The sketches had twisted organic ink line work and vibrant color, they had a touch of the macabre and yet were very playful. After everything was glued and set, Craig came back with the car from an errand and it was time for them to load the repaired items back into the car and head down to the History Center where rehearsals were going on all day right up until moments before the show at 7:30PM…
Henson Studio
While sketching at the Florida Film Festival wrap party, Margaret Nolan introduced herself to me. This was the first time I had met her in person. I requested to become a facebook friend with her when I saw that she had tagged some colorful photos of a production of Panther and the Cane. Margaret’s tag lead me to research the Ibex Puppetry Company and I discovered a whole series of wonderful development drawings produced by Heather Henson, for the show. I immediately e-mailed Heather and asked if I could tag along for rehearsals and any last minute creative work being done. I was thrilled when she e-mailed me back. She explained that she had obsessively kept sketch journals at different periods of her life and so she fully understood my mission.
Heather suggested I go to the Henson studio and watch Tamara Marke Lares who is an amazing artist, working on the costumes for the show. The studio is located in this colorful old building downtown. I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I looked in the doors glass panes through some light lace curtains and saw a fantastic explosion of shapes and colors. Blue gossamer birds hung from the ceiling, a mannequin head was on the mantle piece with pins sticking out of its head and assorted bits and pieces of colorful fabric were everywhere. There was no chance I could walk away from that door. I assumed Tamara wasn’t in yet so I did what any artist-journalist would do, I camped out in front of the house and began to sketch. Before the sketch was complete Tamara and Craig, her husband drove up. Since we had met previously, the introductions were short and sweet and Tamara quickly got to work…
Sam Rivers Jazz at Maitland Art Center
Later in the evening at the Florida Film Festival Wrap Party the 83 year old Sam Rivers and his band really began to poor on the heated spontaneous Jazz. Each musician would break off and rip into a long rapturous solo, and then the group would join back together and build off of the soloists riff. A group of about 30 or so people crowded around the stage tapping there feet and swaying to the rhythm. Up front 5 photographers kept snapping pictures the whole time. I couldn’t help but think that the photographers were missing the boat. Where was the joy in capturing an image by pressing a button. I was standing there tapping my foot and every line was thrown down to the beat of the music. It was magic, I wasn’t thinking anymore, just doing. No measuring or second guessing just the simply joy of taking a line for a spin. This might not be the best drawing I have ever done but boy was it fun to do. When this last set wrapped up the crowd was cheering for more, but 10pm was quitting time for this wrap party and sadly the event was over.