The Orlando Magic against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Posted on by Thor

On the day after Thanksgiving, Terry got tickets to the Orlando Magic Game at the Amway Center. She wanted to treat my sister Pat Boehme who was visiting for the holiday. The Magic were going to play the Milwaukee Bucks. Terry had access to the Bank of America Box which could accommodate 16 individuals. The box is usual used to impress prospective clients. This was the first time I was invited. we got there a hour early and parked in Terry’s work lot. I had forgotten my sketchbook, so I did this sketch on the back of the tickets. Kim Buchheit a dear friend was also invited and she livened up the box by cheering shouting and dancing in the aisles. A financial advisor from the Winter Park office had three of his clients, and a co-worker of Terry’s was there with a friend  and his wife. There was also a well dressed Indian couple seated right in front of me. I sat at a counter which was a perfect little surface to sketch on.

There was complimentary pulled pork sandwiches and beers in the refrigerator. I just sipped Pepsi to get my nervous lines jumping. A large indoor blimp circled the stadium as the players warmed up. In the first quarter, the scores stayed rather close. I recall the score being tied at 43 to 43. Then the Magic started pulling ahead. My sketch was finished by half time, so I relaxed in the second half and just watched the game. The stadium was maybe half full and there was a lackluster energy through the whole game. I rather prefer to watch the antics of the Magic mascot who would wander through the crowd every quarter and throw a whipped cream pie in the face of the first fan he saw wearing a Milwaukee T Shirt.  He tended to hit fans in the bad row of the first section. I pointed out two of the unlucky fans in my sketch.

The final score was 114 to 90 with the Orlando Magic winning the game. Last year the Magic only won 25 games with 57 losses. It was an embarrassing season. This year with 8 wins and 8 losses, they are having a much better season. Perhaps if the wins keep happening the Orlando fans might work up some energy. They tended to shout louder for the free T shirt cannons then for the team on the court.

Shocking Magic Loss to the Pacers, or A Tale of Two Cupcakes.

Posted on by Thor

My wife loves to watch the NBA Finals.  If I sit down to watch, I like to joke, saying, “I hope the Magic wins this time.” Of course I know the Magic aren’t in the finals, but one team always seems to be wearing blue jerseys. Well, maybe next year.

I met Sunshine Woodyard Baker at the opening to my show at Snap. I knew of Sunshine from Facebook, because after a solid week of clouds and rain, I wrote “Hello Sunshine!” to express my joy at finally seeing the sun. She responded back by simply saying “Hello.” Somehow she and her husband scored tickets to a Magic game and she had an extra ticket so I could go and sketch. As she explained, “Lee St. John, the owner of Gigi’s Cupcakes and I would like
to invite you to Gigi’s Cupcake’s One Year Anniversary Partner
Appreciation night. Lee has the Presidential Suite at the Orlando Magic
vs. Pacers game on April 16 at 8:00 pm. We will enjoy food, drinks, and
the game with a small group of people who have been most helpful in
making Gigi’s first year magical. We sure hope you can come! Please let
me know if that day will work for you. It would be so cool to have you
there. We will get to the game around 6pm. My friend, Food Network Chef
Emily Ellyn will be there at the game. I think you’ll love sketching
her, and she’s great at cross-promoting to get your name out even more.”

Getting into the Amway Center involved the usual metal detectors and bag searches. I decided to streamline my art supplies so I could easily slip through security. I made a tiny palette using an old CD case. The circular CD holder is a perfect spot to arrange my daubs of paint into a color wheel. This Jerry rigged palette worked so well I’ve taken to using it all the time. I was one of the first people to arrive at the Presidential suite. Lee St. John was there to greet me. He explained that this wasn’t a very important game since the Pacers were already high enough in the standings where they could loose if they wanted and still move forward.

Lee had a small box of his award winning cupcakes. He had asked if he could bring the cupcakes up to the Presidential Suite, but there is a firm rule that no outside food or beverages can be bought into the Amway Center. This guarantees that Amway vendors corner the market. Lee tried to explain that the cupcakes weren’t for sale and wouldn’t be eaten. They were for a photo opportunity. No one listened to reason, so the cupcakes had to be smuggled in with stealth and subterfuge. To repay Lee for inviting me to the game, I decided to sketch one of the cupcakes ant put it on the jumbo tron in the center of the arena. When the sketch was done, I couldn’t help myself, I ate the mysterious black market cupcake. It was soooo good. No vendor in the Amway Center has anything half as good.

The suite filled up and I sketched through the whole game. There was a lackluster energy among the players. One Magic fan shouted out “We could win this if we wanted it bad enough.” The Magic didn’t want it enough. The game was a blowout with the Pacers winning 101 to 86. In the suite, people started posing with the cupcakes. Lee hadn’t lied about them being for a photo shoot. I had sinfully consumed a models sweet tasty prop. Luckily there were a few more cupcakes to go around.

Ringling Protests

Posted on by Thor

On Thursday January 9th, I went to the Amway Center to sketch protestors demonstrating against animal abuse at Ringling Brother’s and Barnam Bailey Circus. It rained the whole trip downtown, but my phone radar application showed that the storm system would be passing over leaving a clearing for the duration of a sketch. Protestors gathered under the I-4 overpass at Church Street and South Hughey Avenue. Barricades were set up, but I was told that they were for scalpers who had to remain behind them.

About 30 protesters lined up in front of the barricades and on either side of the street.  A protestor on a bull horn told people taking their children to the circus that they needed to pay attention to see if the animals in the show did the tricks willingly or to see if they were being poked and prodded by the handlers. On a humorous note, he said that the elephants don’t show up on the evening of the performance in a taxi excited to perform. They have to perform or they will be beaten and jabbed.

One sign showed a bull hook which is used to injure elephants in the show. Video on a Ringling Cruelty site show elephants being beaten right before going in front of an audience. Handlers try to keep the bull hooks from the audiences view, but as the guy on the bull horn said, “They might feel they are pulling one over on you, but we feel you are smarter than that.” Hurricane Maria was handing out information fliers. She did the task with a Disney smile and a warm greeting. Some parents however get upset and argue that they will spend their money how they please. As the guy on the bull horn announced, “The elephants are poked and prodded to perform!” A women who over heard him said, “That sounds like how my husband treats me!”

Kelly Medford, a plein air painter from Rome stopped out to sketch the protest as well. She couldn’t find parking and showed up just as I was finishing up my sketch. She was set with an easel and canvas but the protest was almost over. The Ringling show started at 7:30pm and then the protestors packed up. A faint mist settled in as I was putting the final washed on my sketch. I didn’t even notice until my hand smudged the paint. I quickly put the sketchbook away but the damage was done. The sketch glistened and when I closed the book paint smeared everywhere creating a Rorshach pattern. I groaned. I’d have to fix it back at the studio where it was dry. Kelly and I took cover under an awning and chatted for a while. She stayed behind to finish her sketch and I walked back to my car where I touched up the sketch a bit.

Pachyderm Protest

Posted on by Thor

On January 6th I read in the Orlando Weekly that animal performers from Ringling Brothers and Barnum Baily Circus would unload at railroad tracks near 1035 W. Amelia Street, at 8:30pm then travel east on Amelia, south on North Hughey, west on West South Street, and enter the Garage behind the Amway Center. The railroad tracks were in an industrial complex in Parramore, so I decided to sketch the destination at the Amway Center. It was an unexpectedly cold night with temperatures dropping down to the 30’s. I sat next to an on ramp to I-4 and blocked in the Amway Center. I left the lower third of the sketch vacant, assuming I would put in the animals when they walked by.

A truck load of workers got out of a truck in the lot next to me. They each carried long coils of ropes over their shoulders. Maybe their job was to set up the trapeze inside the arena.  Cold winds forced we to huddle back behind an overpass pillar. A large fire ant mound behind me kept me from backing up any more. I blew into my gloves periodically to warm my hands. My denim jacket was no match for the cold. I could faintly smell hay. In the distance I heard a sound like race cars at the Indie 500. I soon realized the sound wasn’t cars, but lions roaring. It was only 7:30pm, so it couldn’t be the animals at the railroad stop yet. The railroad stop was probably a mile away. White tents were set up inside the Amway garage and I realized that the lions were inside. Periodically, Swift 18 wheelers would pull up to the garage. The sketch reached a point where I couldn’t go any further, so I decided I needed to warm up and pee. A hand blower in the public bathroom blew gloriously hot air onto my frozen hands.

I followed the parade route back to the railroad stop. Behind the huge vacant lot referred to as the “Creative Village” a bunch of RV’s were parked along with some Swift trucks. I assume this must have been the traveling circus camp. As I got closer to the railroad tracks I saw flashing police lights and a loud hissing sound. At the tracks the road was lined with protesters with signs that asked people to Boycott the Circus and to Google Ringling Cruelty. I sketched the protesters and police into my already started sketch.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus
is known for its long history of abusing animals. In 1929, John
Ringling ordered the execution of a majestic bull elephant named Black Diamond after the elephant killed a woman who had been in the crowd as
he was paraded through a Texas city. Twenty men took aim and pumped some
170 bullets into Black Diamond’s body, then chopped off his
head and mounted it for display in Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Ringling’s cruel treatment of animals continues today.

Elephants in Ringling’s possession are chained inside filthy,
poorly ventilated boxcars for an average of more than 26 straight
hours—and often 60 to 70 hours at a time—when the circus travels. Even
former Ringling employees have reported that elephants are routinely
abused and violently beaten with bullhooks (an elephant-training tool
that resembles a fireplace poker), in order to force them to perform
tricks. Since 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has
cited Ringling numerous times for serious violations of the Animal
Welfare Act (AWA), such as the following:

  • Improper handling of dangerous animals
  • Failure to provide adequate veterinary care to animals,
    including an elephant with a large swelling on her leg, a camel with
    bloody wounds, and a camel injured on train tracks
  • Causing trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, and
    unnecessary discomfort to two elephants who sustained injuries when they
    ran amok during a performance
  • Endangering tigers who were nearly baked alive in a boxcar because of poor maintenance of their enclosures
  • Failure to test elephants for tuberculosis
  • Unsanitary feeding practices 

I stood with the 30 or so protesters till 10:30pm waiting to see if the elephants would be walked to the Arena in the freezing cold. The Ringling animal railroad cars were converted passenger cars. I wondered if they were heated. Finally three elephants walked down the ramps exiting the cars. Rather than walk down Amelia, the handlers had the elephants walk away down the rail line towards the front of the train. The route was being changed, so I walked briskly to see what road the elephants were being lead down. Protesters ran past me. Julie Gross shouted out, “Run Thor!” Police blocked cars from entering the next block. A large Swift 18 wheeler truck already had the three elephants inside.  I wondered if the Swift cargo hold was heated. Swift maintains one of the largest temperature controlled fleets in the industry. Any cargo can be kept at a stable temperature from the moment it leaves your door to
the moment it is off loaded at the final destination. Perhaps the elephants were warmer than me. I had seen the elephants for at most two minutes.

Eagles Concert

Posted on by Thor

On November 23rd, Terry and I went to the Eagles concert at The Amway Center (400 W Church St #200, Orlando, FL). Tickets for seating on the floor were over $100. We sat in the bleachers just a few rows up from the floor. When we got to the Amway, I realized I didn’t bring a water vile to refill my brushes. I had streamlined my art supplies so that I could get through security. I tried to get a cup for water from a vendor but they wouldn’t give me one without selling me a beer. I decided to use my brush until it ran dry. Then I went and scavenged a half full water bottle from the trash about halfway through the concert. Most of the time the Arena was pitch black with the only light coming from the stage making the sketch a challenge. A beach ball was batted around by the crowd until the performers got on stage.

Of course from this distance it was impossible to see the singers faces except or the jumbo trons. One singer chastised members of the audience who were standing the whole time saying that everyone had paid to see the performance. He would let them know when it was appropriate to stand. By the end of the concert everyone was standing and dancing. I had been to one other Eagles concert and was blown away by their energy. This was the last concert on a long tour by the Eagles and though they played tight, I felt like they might be tired and thinking about relaxing after the tour. To me, their hearts weren’t in the game.

Regardless, they performed many crowd favorites like “Desperado“, “Hotel California“, “Life in the Fast Lane“, and “Take It Easy.” The large screens behind the stage could move and they were used to project movies that tied in with each song. Even if it wasn’t their most energetic concert, I’m glad we were there.

Grand Bohemian

Posted on by Thor

I went downtown to the Grand Bohemian Hotel to meet Terry after work for a drink and appetizer. My plan was to go to the Amway Center afterwards, perhaps to sketch plastic bucket drummers on the street. I had several happy hour drinks however and decided it was too cold outside to be sketching. The Grand Bohemian is where the visiting Miami Heat players were staying. Terry told me she looked out her office window and saw a huge crowd of fans surrounding the team bus. The basketball game started as we were sipping our drinks.  We could see the commentators and behind them the Amway Center looked more than half empty. I don’t think the Orlando Magic fans knew their home team would be trounced. The bartender changed the station to a college game once the Magic took to the court. Artist Donna Dowless was dropping off one of her paintings in the Grand Bohemian Gallery. She waved as she was leaving.

Terry left and decided to scout out the activity around the Amway Center. Happy hour ended as I was working on the sketch. The waitress offered me one more Blue Moon at the happy hour rate anyway. I got a text from Terry and she let me know that I had made the right decision to sketch the hotel bar, the streets around the Amway Center were deserted.

Nude Nite

Posted on by Thor

On Valentines Day, I got to the opening of Nude Nite Orlando at about 10PM, which was a late night out for me. It had been raining all day and it was still drizzling. The event was held at an abandoned warehouse at 639 W. Church St. Orlando, FL. This is several blocks west of the Amway Center in Parramore. Gentrification has pushed its way west but several blocks still had rundown tin roof houses and abandoned properties. I decided it hadn’t been a good idea to park downtown and walk west to the warehouse.

I knew I had arrived when I heard loud music and saw light shining out of cracks in the warehouse foundation. A crude sign outlined in rope was nailed to a tree, it read, “Jesus Saves.” There wasn’t a line to get in. Attendance was surprisingly light. I walked around the perimeter of the warehouse searching for my sketch subject. A nude woman in a gas mask was posing on a pedestal. I considered sketching her but she kept moving in slow motion. She would be a frustrating subject. Wendy Wallenburg and Linda Saracino greeted me. They seemed very excited about a male dancer’s performance.

I started blocking in a second sketch of a woman being body painted near a golden tree. My attention as I sketched however was drawn to a woman seated in a U shaped ottoman in the background. I erased my sketch and moved closer to her to sketch. She was regal, poised and still. Periodically she would raise her arms up to imitate the pose in the photo hung in front of her. I liked when she relaxed, looking off in the distance. The green light gave her an odd glow. When she took a break, a group of girls asked me if it was alright to sit in the ottoman. “I don’t see why not.” was my simple response. They started posing for photos imitating the picture. One girl took her sweater off to pose causing a chorus of giggles and photos.

I heard the performers on the main stage where a crowd of people had gathered. A DJ and his girlfriend introduced themselves. I had just met them at a DRIP Art Night event and I had even sketched the girl as she danced in her polka dot undies. She looked like Halle Berry. Someone else asked me if I was from the Maitland Art Center. Odd question. “I’ve been to the Art Center, but I can’t say they sent me.” I replied. He explained that in past years, there had been artists sketching a model at Nude Nite. I was the only artist he saw creating art.  A woman asked if she could leave her drink next to me as she shot photos. I said, “Sure”. She commented on how small my palette was. I replied, “It’s not how big the palette is, its how you use it.” Of all the art I saw, I made a note of two sketches by artist Ray Richardson from Kissimmee. One was of a nude Cinderella and the other of a nude Snow White munching on a candied apple. Both women were overweight, looking like desperate house wives looking for attention.

I was using a new fountain pen. I discovered a major flaw in its design when I tried to twist the cap off to put the pen away. The twisting motion caused the pen to spit out a huge gush of ink onto the sketch. “Mother F*@$er” I muttered. Just then Kelly Stevens the event organizer walked up. She liked the sketch and I let my frustration and annoyance melt away. The spill was actually a blessing, because I started painting with pure thick pigment which is something I should do more often. As I was getting ready to step back out into the rain, I saw Kelly on a stage posing with patterns of light dancing on her outfit. A computer generated image was being mapped and projected onto her as she posed. Someone held up a mirror so she could see herself. She was laughing and having a great time.

You have one last chance to experience Nude Nite tonight from 6PM to midnight. There is plenty of parking near the warehouse.

Circus Protests

Posted on by Thor

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is staging protests at the Amway Center. They are working to educate the public about the abuse used to train circus animals. Ringling Brothers is presenting their 43rd annual production. A barker outside the arena kept announcing “The Greatest show on Earth!” He kept announcing that anyone going to the show would “get a pair of crazy clown glasses!” The protesters want people to open their eyes.” Holding banners and poster boards showing elephants that were chained and being hit with a bull hook, similar to a fireplace poker, demonstrators shouted, “Don’t go to the show, this is what your money is going to!” “Take your kids to the Science Center instead!” One of their posters read, “The Cruelest Show on Earth. Some protesters held electric candles standing in vigil.

Some people strolling to the show were upset. “This is all Shit!” an angry man shouted at the protesters. A very angry woman shouted, “I’ll spend my money how I want! I personally know the trainers!” A flier handed to me stated that in November 2011, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus had to pay a $270,000 fine to the USDA to settle allegations that it violated animal welfare laws in its handling of elephants, tigers and other animals. The fine was the largest ever against a circus. At Ringling Brothers at least 29 Ringling elephants, including babies, have died since 1992.

Animals at the circus don’t perform because they want to, but because they are scared not to.  Training includes whips, ropes, electric shocks and bull hooks. Animals in the circus live in chains, cages and railroad cars never experiencing their natural habitat.

Protests continue this week before every Ringling Brother’s Circus performance outside the Amway Center. Stop out and show your support.

Saturday January 12th- 10:00am, 2:00pm, 6:00pm ( Vigil, please dress in black)

Sunday January 13th -11:30am, 3:30pm

Monday January 14th – 10am, 2pm, 6pm

Tuesday January 15th- 11:30, 3:30pm

Wednesday January 16th- 3:30pm ( Help is needed at this show!)

Thursday January 17th – 6:00pm

Friday January 18th – 6:00pm

The Creative Village

Posted on by Thor

The old Amway Arena was imploded at 7am several weeks ago. I didn’t get up that early to see the devastation, but a week later, I drove past the site as I was weaving my way through side roads to avoid a back up on Colonial Drive. A large banner declared the wreckage to be the “Creative Village” and I had to sketch the ironic sight. The wind caused sheet metal to flap sounding a bit like thunder. Clouds of dust rose and danced among the exposed beams. The four corner structures remained intact with dark red interior stairwells looking like bloody eviscerated flesh.

I enjoyed the Orlando Magic games I saw in this arena. I never understood why an extra large arena had to be built to house a basketball court. But what is done is done. According to a site online, The Creative Village will be a magnet for knowledge workers to live, work, learn and play – a place where high-tech, digital media and creative industry companies integrate with residential, retail, and academia in a neighborhood that is connected to the surrounding community and plugged in globally. Innovative in its architecture, thoughtfully mixing living and working spaces, the Village will be designed to enhance the lifestyle of creative people and become a supportive, business-friendly environment in which digital media and related companies can thrive. Hopefully the Creative Village will live up to its name, but for now, it looks like a war zone.

I had a wrapper from some peanut butter Girl Scout cookies in my art bag. Half way into the sketch, an ant bit my leg. I slapped it off and looked around to be sure I wasn’t sitting on a fire ant mound. I noticed ants swarming around my bag. I pulled out the wrapper which was now covered in ants and I disposed of it. Slowly the ants dispersed but some still chose to bite me occasionally.

Citrus Floats

Posted on by Thor

I spent an afternoon searching for the spot where volunteers rubber band thousands of citrus fruits onto wire meshes to create the floats for what was formerly the Citrus Bowl Parade. The new name of the parade is the “Fresh from Florida Parade.” I heard volunteers would be working feverishly at the old Amway Arena. I went there assuming the floats would be inside the Arena. I was surprised to see that the Arena was surrounded by chain link fencing and it is considered a construction site. lt turns out the Arena is being demolished to make way for a Creative Village. The interior is now being demolished, and the building is slated to be rigged with explosives and will implode in March of 2012. I walked around the fenced in Arena. A security guard in the parking lot asked if I was going to the game. “No.” I replied. “I’m looking for volunteers working of floats.” He directed me to the opposite side of the Arena. A huge crowd was gathered in a line going through a security check point. They were being scanned for explosives by the Department of Homeland Security and local police. “This is a rather big fuss for a few floats.” I thought. This turned out to be parking for the college football game happening at the Citrus Bowl. People had to go through security before getting on a bus to the Bowl Game.

I hiked down to the new Amway Center searching for floats as well. No luck. I visited Terry at her downtown office and she located a press release online. It turned out the floats would be at the Amway Arena the next day. At least I got plenty of exercise. So the next day, I hiked to the Arena and I could see the bright orange and yellow citrus peaking through the foliage around the parking lot from a block away. I settled under a shady oak and sketched. I had expected more floats. Volunteers were still securing fruit to the wire mesh with rubber bands but the floats looked pretty complete. The construction had occurred for two days at the Convention Center. They were then driven to the Arena for final touch up before the parade the next day. I wondered what roads they must have driven. Did they scream up I-4 at 55 miles per hour? Wouldn’t the citrus bounce off causing a catastrophic citrus pile up? More than likely they took side roads creating a minor traffic back up.

As I was finishing up the sketch, someone drove away in a golf cart to get dinner for the volunteers. The sun blazed warmer as it moved towards the horizon making the oranges even more orange as the shadows lengthened.