I drove up to the Maitland Art Center for the Wrap party. Joining me tonight would be Jana who who would search the crowd for hidden human interest stories while I sketched. I arrived early and went down to the water front to enjoy the sun and watch the water skiers ride the wakes. I pulled out a sketch book and splashed on some watercolor on an unfinished sketch to pass the time. When I heard the music start up I went over to the entrance to wait for Jana so I could get her in. I waited, and waited. I pulled out the sketch again and messed around with the colors while leaning against a light pole but my heart wasn’t in it now, I was getting annoyed. When Jana did show she said she had been writing and lost track of time. As an artist I suppose I should understand that, but right then I didn’t understand anything.
When we got in, there was Travis Blaise an animator from my old Disney Feature Animation Days. Travis and Jana introduced themselves. (I should have done that, but I could not think straight) A photographer swooped in and herded us together for a photo. When Travis and Jana started talking, I took that as my cue to move on and start casing the room looking for a sketch. I was immediately drawn to the music so I sat on a wooden bench and pulled out the sketch book. With the first lines my mood softened. The music slowly charged my lines with rhythm.
With one sketch done, I decided to get some food. With some chili in one hand and a Coke in the other I heard Jana call my name. She introduced me to her friend named Jennifer and since we couldn’t shake hands we did an exaggerated cheek kiss. I assumed I would touch base with Jana after the event was over, but she left with her friend early without saying goodbye, which left me wondering if I had insulted them in some way. I haven’t got time to sort it all out. I am having to much fun sketching to the jazz beat.
Got Milk?
Orlando had dubbed a new neighborhood “The Milk District“. It can be found south of the TB Lee Milk Factory behind the Colonial Plaza. A huge “Milk Shake” party was thrown to christen the new neighborhood. Businesses in the neighborhood include: Vinyl Richies Wiggly World of Records, Drop Shop, Retro Records, Sportstown Billiards, the Bull and the Bush and the Drunken Monkey among others. The “Milk Shake” party was to include DJs, live bands and plenty of food and drinks in a parking lot.
As I approached the neighborhood the sky grew dark, I heard the sound of music, and the rain drops began to fall. I ran for cover about a block away and sat down hoping to wait out the storm. I realized I had a wonderful view of the white factory towers silhouetted against the dark sky, so I got to work. Setting up my chair I noticed that there were 3 bullet holes in the plate glass window above my head. I wonder what that was all about?
Once in a while 20 somethings would run towards the music with coats shielding their heads or people would be running the other way on beer runs. One huge teddy bear of a man with dreadlocks stopped to see what I was up to as I got close to finishing the sketch. He was MC Swam and he had just finished his shift as a DJ. He said I was keeping it real and if I could draw like that I should be making a mint doing t-shirts. I gave him a card and said I am always up for any freelance. When the sketch was done I realized I had what I came for. I didn’t need to see the bands, or watch kids getting drunk, I already had my high for the day.
Original Cinema
The theme for the Florida Film Festival this year is Original Cinema with Cin underlined. This of course stressing all that is sinful and sexy in film. The animated shorts screening that I attended was a fun romp. My favorite was a short called “Tales of Mere Existence” by Lev Yilmaz. It really isn’t animation, it is more like half finished drawings that are completed while the narrator talks about the simple futility of his relationships. It was non stop laugh out loud funny and the narration read very much like the inner monologue of a blog. My second favorite short was “Horn Dog” by Bill Plimpton. In this short a rather scruffy bug eyes male mutt falls madly in love with an sleek slender dog but in his pursuit of love all goes horribly wrong. Very funny stuff.
Bill Plimpton attended the screening and was going to do a meet and greet afterwards. I had to get to work right after the screening so I actually had to sneak out before the last short was finished. I am glad I did because Bill, (notice we are on a first name basis now!) was in the lobby talking to a few people. I noticed him but I might be late to work, great excuse, so I headed out the door. I stopped myself once I was outside. That was Bill Plimpton, I at least had to shake his hand. So I turned on my heal went back in and marched up the the small group of people he was with and held out my hand. I beamed like an adolescent and told him I was a fan of all his films. He thanked me, and then we swapped stories about our childhoods, simpler times and the joys of creating animation (just kidding, I wish). I rushed off to work but felt great. In the world of animation Bill is a huge celebrity.
Florida Film Festival – Eden Bar
I finally made my way over to the Enzian Theater to enjoy the Florida Film Festival. This event has been going on all week and this was my first chance to stop over. I decided to view the animated shorts #5. I left the studio with the assumption that I would sketch the theater building but the radio on the drive over kept squawking tornado warnings. However when I got to the theater the sun burst threw the clouds. I arrived 2 hours early to give me time to sketch prior to my screening. After I got my tickets I walked around the building trying to find the perfect angle, but the theater is dwarfed by huge Live Oak trees which hide much of the architecture from a distance, so I started walking toward the entrance. I stopped in my tracks when I came across the Eden Bar.
The Eden Bar has murals painted by Oscar nominated animator Bill Plimpton. I sat at a table and ordered a glass of white wine and started to sketch. About midway through the sketch a fellow stumbled up to my left side and stared at what I was doing for a while. He leaned in towards me and wavered a bit then blurted out “Heyyyy!” He continued to watch my hand waving across the page and then he said “Get OUT! He then jerked forward and stomped towards the entrance of the theater swaying from side to side. Later another fellow approached me on my right. I braced myself. He said “Hey, are you that fellow that has a blog?” I said “Yes?” He said “What is it called?” I told him. And he explained that he has been following it for some time. He disappeared and came back later and said “Look, I am the Director of Operations, I have a proposition. I would like you to come to the Revel 18 Party on the final evening of the Festival to cover it in your blog.” He then gave me two complimentary tickets. Jana has agreed to find the human interest story while I sketch. Yet another curve ball that proves the arts are alive in Orlando!
Post Script: I just found out from an anonymous reader that Bill Plimpton is in the sketch I did of the Eden Bar. He is in the foreground with the high rise red socks and a green shirt. Apparently this was the first time Bill had seen his mural since it had been completed. I never even saw his face at the time. Did you hear me! I got to draw the back of Bill Plimpton’s head!!! How wonderful! How amazing! What a small world! Oh god, he must think I was staking him that night.
Finola Hughes Interview
In a whirlwind of e-mail activity I arranged to head out on assignment with Jana Waring while she interviewed Finola Hughes for Playground Magazine, Central Florida’s Hip Sophisticated Parenting Magazine. Finola who was once a soap star on “General Hospital” and who is now on “How Do I Look” was in town to host Fashion Funds the Cure held at Saks Fifth Avenue. This is a fashion show in which young girls who are battling cancer make their debut on the fashion runway. The young girls beam with delight at this once in a lifetime opportunity.
I was impressed at how Jana and Finola spoke as if they were sisters right from the start. In some ways arriving in a wheel chair has its advantages Jana said, it shows your human frail side right out front and it sort of empowers me to take chances and ask sincere questions. Finola was describing in detail the trials and heart breaks of adoption and the need to accept situations as they stand. She painted a picture of her family life in broad clear strokes.
After the interview I got a chance to sit down with Jana at the Florida Mall food court. She joked with me that she wouldn’t have minded being adopted by Finola herself, and Finola seemed so genuinely entranced with her, that I think that could have been arranged. We both agreed that the interview went really well. Since the interview was only a half hour it was a bit rushed from a sketch perspective but I got the major details in place and finished up back at the studio. Actually my presence may have helped Finola to talk about some of the more creative aspects of family life. For instance her husband is a painter and she says the children are encouraged to draw. Getting to work out in the field with Jana was an exhilarating experience.
The Joy of Writing
While Philip Deaver disappeared upstairs for several hours, the authors all focused and wrote. I was pleased to see that five out of six were using pen and paper as the chosen method of writing. The only computer that was being used was in the far corner of this table and can not be seen in this sketch. Some authors consulted with Philip for one on one advice but for the most part everyone was strictly focused on the task at hand. One person commented that drawing authors writing must be like watching paint dry. I found the opposite to be true. I found it to be an absolute thrill to be in the room with so many creative people pushing toward a common goal. There was no mindless chatter just the sounds of pens on paper. Once in a while someone would get away from the table and stretch like a prize fighter and then go back for another round.
When Philip returned he asked people how they were feeling about their progress. The goal for the next meeting was to be half way, or have thirty pages written. He stressed that in the beginning when you are trying to figure everything out progress is slow but once the project is up to speed things move fast. His analogy was the space shuttle. Lift off seems agonizingly slow but once the rocket is in orbit it moves at an astonishing 17,000 miles an hour.
Since the workshop Jana has expressed an interest in collaborating on future stories so that could spur me to push myself in new and unexpected directions. She had a list of interviews lined up that astounds and inspires. It was only 4 days ago that I wrote in a post that I need to get out and meet people and listen to their stories. Life has a way of amazing me. One quote from Phil really sticks with me “The end is not the goal, the journey is the goal.”
Mad About Words
Mary Ann de Stefano invited me to sketch at a novel writing workshop being run by Philip Deaver. The workshops meet monthly on Sunday afternoons for six months. Philip offers encouragement and insights then lets the authors work for several solid hours. I arrived a bit early. Mary Ann and I finally had a few minutes to sit down and talk face to face for the first time. She has followed this blog for a while. She saw a drawing I did of Darlyn, a past resident author of the Kerouac House. On a coffee mug in that sketch, I had drawn, Mad About Words. As it turns out Mary Ann is the founder of that organization and that tiny sketch of a mug has brought us together.
It had not rained in Central Florida for months. As people started to arrive it started to pour outside. A quiet knock sounded at the sliding glass back doors and there was Jana Waring in her wheelchair soaking wet. Mary Ann rushed to let her in and before Jana even had a chance to dry off she was introducing us. Jana brushed a wet strand of hair away from her face and we shook hands. She apologized that her hands were still wet. Mary Ann had already been bragging about Jana’s web site which consists of in-depth interviews with everyday Orlando citizens. Jana told me about how one interview with Jaqueline Siegel had caused a bit of a firestorm because Jaqueline is married to billionaire David Seigal and she was complaining about having to cut back to 5 nannies. I was fascinated, perhaps a bit envious, that this soft spoken young woman had gotten such an amazing story. When she said that her site had “taken on a life of its own” I knew that I had run across a kindred spirit. I sometimes explain to friends who ask, that my blog has taken on its own life and I am just trying to keep up. So within minutes of meeting Jana, I was on my knees showing her a sketchbook and suggesting that a collaboration might be an interesting prospect. I don’t know if I sold her, but I was sold with the first wet hand shake, and when I started to read her work online.
Cameo Theater
I went to an event called Mills 50. When I got to the location, called Cameo, there was a crowd outside. I made my way inside got a wrist band and was surprised when I was greeted by and old friend from my Disney Days named John Hurst. Not only had I known John from Disney but his dad taught me history in High school in New Jersey! It turns out John and his wife had bought the building on a leap of faith and turned the ground floor into an entertainment complex. John told me that the building opened on Christmas day in 1940 as a movie house. Today the ceiling has been lowered to add another floor. John has his freelance animation studio on the second floor and rents out other offices to entertainment companies.
The interior of Cameo is a hip industrial complex of exposed brick and ceiling beams. An arched line on the wall hints at where the movie theater seating used to be.
The evenings entertainment consisted of folk singer Kaleigh Baker who’s warm inviting voice greeted me when I first entered. The Black V Tribal Dancers were sitting to my left while I was sketching. There exotic belly dancers outfits caught my eye but I was committed to this sketch and it looked like they might be the next act on stage. Sure enough they went up and danced and gyrated to the whoops and screams of a very pleased crowd. The last act I saw was Beef Wellington and Divinci they played the keyboards to the right in the drawing. Divinci, who I didn’t draw, played the keyboard for a solid 10 minutes with his face which was to say the least very amusing and entertaining.
I fell in love with this place. It has the best of art and entertainment. It is raw, exposed and very real. I suspect I will be back many times.
Kimberly Elkins Interview
Ever since Kimberly stepped foot in the Kerouac house as the new resident author, I seem to have been buzzing around her like an annoying mosquito trying to convince her to let me do a sketch of her at work. The very first night she stepped foot in the house was the evening when “txt” was being performed. If you recall that performance had some of the most sexually explicit offensive and downright insane dialogue being written by the audience in real time on iPhones and blackberries. Genius that I am, I chose a moment right after the performance to excitedly talk to her about my idea of sketching resident authors. To me she seemed shocked. I realized she was just getting to know her surroundings. She looked out the kitchen window for the first time. I don’t know if she felt at home yet. I had spoken to soon. At several other gatherings I threw my proposals at her with no effect. I know that in a crowded social setting I am always a bit adrift. Timing and simple social graces seem to slip when I need them the most.
I was excited to discover that two Full Sail documentary film makers, Lyle Kastrati and Robert Navarro, had succeeded where I had failed. They landed an interview with Kimberly. Since I had already sketched a David Amram Interview in the Kerouac house I realized I just had to sit back relax and learn about Kimberly and her writing process through the video interview with her. The interview went great. She is writing a historical novel about a woman named Laura Bridgeman who is deaf, dumb, blind, and mute, she can only experience the world thru the sense of touch. Laura helped teach Annie Sullivan who later became Hellen Keller’s teacher. Laura was a huge celebrity in her day. I found it interesting that Kimberly said that no matter how well researched the book might be, some part of herself would be reflected in Laura.
Kimberly and I talked in her kitchen this day, I felt for the first time as one artist to another. She told me something that I find reassuring and useful. She said that not having a great memory is actually a good thing for a fiction writer. It allows the writer to feel and interpret rather than just report the facts. I find myself walking that fine line every day writing this blog, am I just reporting, or am I expressing how I actually felt as I did a sketch? Do my other senses fall to the wayside as I sketch? Is my perception of myself and my identity dependent on the feedback I get from my subject?
David Amram and Me
David Amram is a force of nature, he is a musician, composer, shaman and inspiration. He often stresses the importance of looking for the beauty in the worthless things in life, for those are often the most priceless. David was a good friend of Kerouac and he said Kerouac at any party would always gravitate towards the person in the room who looked the most insecure. It is this giving, encouraging spirit that separated Kerouac from the average artist. David kept stressing the importance of realizing there is beauty all around us, and that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. He pointed out that you don’t have to travel to Europe or Asia to find this beauty. It is right in your back yard, just look around. He stressed the importance of what he called, the University of Hangoutology. If you hang out at a spot long enough you truly begin to discover its secrets. He also likes to point out the importance of spontaneity as a part of the whole experience.
As part of the presentation David showed a video of a performance he gave years ago at the History Center in Orlando. I was shocked when in the foreground of the first shot I saw a younger version of myself in a stiff button down long sleeve shirt and a full head of hair. I was sketching away as usual unnoticed by anyone. It was that evening that lead me to years later decide to go to the Kerouac house and sketch it. It seems like life keeps coming at me in oblique angles. Lines are no longer straight, but instead curve in and around toward the source. I seemed so young and exuberant in the footage and yet I seemed stiff and insecure, like I was dresses up for the corporate role I had to play. I am left wondering in what ways I have changed since that time. The journey continues and David is still there to remind me to keep my eyes open for the wild, wonderful, frenetic, crazy, spontaneous, outlandish, world that has yet to be sketched.