For the past month artist Doug Rhodehamel has been living in a cardboard box which he sets up in peoples homes so they might have a “Artist in Residence “. Six different Orlando residents opened their homes and allowed Doug to set up his makeshift home. Doug always wanted to build his own home and he finally did so on a somewhat small scale. What did this artist in residence do? He made art! He constructed little cardboard bewilderbeasts for the homes. He just needed a spot in the house to set up his 6′ x 3′ home. The home can be folded up and transported to the next residence in his car.
On July 21st Doug set up his home on the red stage at Stardust Video and Coffee. When I got to Stardust I found a seat at a table up near the stage and then wandered off to find a beer. Carl Knickerbocker, a painter of primitive folk art, was also looking for a beer. He was studying the many bottles and I chose to go for what was on tap. We discussed our tastes in beer and found some common ground.
The sketch was a challenge since the place people tended to congregate and stand was right in my line of sight. It took nerves of steel and much patience to sketch areas I could see when I was blocked. On the loudspeakers, piano music from the Charlie Brown cartoons was playing setting a playful mood. So many beautiful people kept walking in to see. Doug would offer guided tours to select VIPs and they would crawl inside. I never went inside up I did take a look to see how the walls were decorated. A black hairy spider was perched on the roof above the entry and horse photos were galloping above the door. Window boxes held paper flowers and a small donate box was stationed near the entry.
From Dust to Life
I went to an art opening titled, “From Dust to Life” which featured the work of Jason Lee. The art was hung in the Peacock Room (1312 North Mills Avenue). The work will stay on display through August 15th. The Arts Hub and the Peacock Room sponsored the event. When I entered the bar, I immediately looked at all the paintings on the wall and then found myself a seat at the end of the bar so I could get an overall view of the room and bar patrons. Toni Taylor was seated right next to me on my left and next to her was, Jen Jacobson, a friend and fellow artist who has turned to Tony for painting advice. That is right just like in renaissance days, this artist has asked Toni to take her under her wing and share her working secrets. Together they are working on a huge 5 foot high canvas that will be on display at Tu Tu Tango’s on July 30th.
On the ceiling of the bar Doug Rhodehamel had perhaps a hundred brown paper bag mushrooms suspended upside down. On the far wall of the bar an Andrew Spear mural was staring straight at me. I started my drawing by focusing on that beautiful face. All the perspective lines point straight at her. Toni’s apprentice took an interest in my sketch so she sat next to me and watched for a while. I discovered she works at the Animal Kingdom training the birds that are in the shows. We talked parrots for a while, since I have a pet cockatoo. She lost interest and then she and Tony started talking girl talk.
Carl Knickerbocker, an amazing local artist is in the left hand side of the sketch. He noticed me sketching and came over to see my progress. I asked him about the idea of sketching him at work on one of his larger pieces. He agreed so I might visit his studio soon. Brad Briggs who helped organize the evening came over to say hi, he was with his partner Linda Brandt. I had sketched Linda as she worked with her pet dog, Otis, at Hip Dog Hydrotherapy. Brad checked back a few times and I felt he might be impatient with my slow progress. A group of artists stood behind me talking about various shows. Part of me felt I should be socializing more myself. I honestly know little about the Orlando Arts scene but I figure if I just keep doing my sketch a day, the rest will work itself out in time.
First Fridays
The Baldwin Park Sidewalk art festivals were canceled, but organizer Brad Biggs immediately followed up with a similar event each First Friday of each month in the Lake Ivanhoe antiques district (Orange Avenue between New Hampshire and Princeton). I had to go to the first of these sidewalk art shows. There was an assortment of artists set up in front of all the businesses in the neighborhood. Terry and I walked the whole show to see everything. Karen Cali, had a table set up with prints of many of her figurative drawings. She sat in a lawn chair and was busy blocking in a sketch documenting the First Friday event. Brad had offered me a spot where I could display my work but I only had the sketchbook that I was planning to use. I might decide to display my work her on some first Friday.
My wandering eye finally settled on this band that had just started to set up. I set out my camping chair and leaned back against a telephone pole. The group’s name is Chopper Stepe and I was happy to have this front row seat. Terry set up her lawn chair beside me and played with her iPhone. The group played an assorted mix of cover songs and original material. They had a seasoned feel and they relaxed right into the music.
I dashed off the sketch fairly quickly and just as I was finishing up adding watercolor washed, the group took a break. Terry and I walked the rounds one more time and said goodbye to Karen across the street before we hiked back to my truck.
Tomorrow Thor will sketch the Taco Truck Tast Test at Del Rio 9785 South Orange Blossom Trail between 9PM and 10PM.
B-Side Artists
On the third Thursday of the month, I went down to the City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue) to do a sketch of the B-Side Artists show opening. This group of artists had seven original members lead by Swamburger and more artists have joined the ranks over the years. The B-Side name came from the flip side of Albums in the 1980’s, it was common knowledge then that the B-Side of the album would have the more experimental and cutting edge performances. Some of the work in this show had the feeling of emerging from the streets, having an urban feeling whose roots go back to graffiti. B-Side Artists is the urban youth underdog that continues to surprise pop-culture with it’s style, bold content, and willingness to create in artistically a-typical conditions.
Sketching a gallery opening is an insanely difficult challenge. I leaned back against a wall on my portable stool and got to work. The difficulty comes from people standing in front of you as you work. I have trained myself to not get frustrated but instead to wait or look elsewhere and draw some other detail not blocked by the person in front of me. Swamburger greeted me with a warm handshake and smile. Outside he related to me the dream he has of someday finding a project where all the arts groups in town can come together and collaborate on a project which shows the world what the Orlando arts scene has to offer.
Guerrier Peterson was the artist who’s work was on the wall opposite from where I was sitting. One painting had elephants across the base of the painting and then rising up behind them was the torso of a woman with no head and a knot of organic looking roots twisting upward out of the neck. Another painting depicted a demonic looking freak show clown with a long tongue. The longer I drew and studied the work, the more I liked it.
Betsy Dye
Betsy Dye will be the featured artist in the July Mobile Arts Show, July 15th from 6 to 10PM. The Mobile Art Show takes place in a U-Haul van parked across the street from City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue). I exhibited my work in the Mobile Art Show, and had a blast.
Betsy’s studio and apartment has a fresh retro feeling of the sixties and seventies. The walls are painted a submarine grayish green and everything in the place makes you feel like you have stepped back in time. She collects records, that’s right real vinyl, and that collection fills a huge bookshelf in the living room. Arranged by recording artists the albums are all in their original sleeves and she must have the complete works of such groups as the Beatles and Moody Blues. She collects owls and hand crafts owl dolls. On a table in the living room there was a basket full of white rabbits with huge black eyes. These rabbits are cute and yet strangely demonic. Also on the table were a bunch of round mirrors which were framed and encased in old Boys Life magazine adds. The sexist ads were light hearted and very funny. The Bob Dylan poster on the kitchen wall turned out to be a rare collectors item. Only a few of these posters were printed to promote a new record label. Betsy bought the poster for cheap and later researched to find out about it’s history.
Behind Betsy in the sketch is a blue cardboard tube tree that she plans to mount in the truck. She plans to place nests in the tree where she will then place her felt stuffed owls. In the sketch she is painting a sloth onto a wooden plaque. She has a whole series of these plaques which will be hung on the U-Hauls interior walls.
Everything about the space was warm and inviting. Sketching I felt like I had stepped back into a time when things were more tangible and less hectic. Something about the retro feeling of the place made me feel like I was finally sketching in the right time period. I felt so at ease and the sketch just flowed. I experienced a playful feeling of bliss.
As I was working on a second sketch, a friend of Betsy’s stopped in named Gina Yolango. She helped Betsy out by painting several of the cardboard cockoo clocks with a bright base coat of paint. Seated in the corner of the kitchen I really couldn’t see Gina so she never made it into the sketch. Betsy told me to pick out an album from her massive LP collection. I searched the titles of some time until I saw that she had Pink Floyd. The album “Wish You Were Here” was my immediate choice. I delicately removed the album form it’s sleeve and placed it on the antique record player. Lowering the needle was strangely rewarding. The needle gave off a familiar hiss and the album began with its delicate guitar melody. I couldn’t see Betsy working if I sat on my stool, so I stood the whole time I sketched while swaying to the familiar music. Since I was in the living room I was put in charge of the music and I fully enjoyed the responsibility.
Gina finished 2 cuckoo houses and got ready to leave. She gave Betsy a present which was a demonic little voodoo doll complete with pins piercing its blue heart, an earring and stitches for eyes. Betsy loved it and laughed out loud. As soon as Gina left, Elizabeth Cason arrived. She kept Betsy company as I finished off the last of the watercolor washes. When I was finished and showed Betsy the second sketch, she invited me to join Elizabeth and her for a bite. We went to Taco Bell. On the trip back to Betsy’s studio, it started to rain. This wasn’t just any rain, it was epic. On a mad dash back to my truck I was soaked to the bone. Every event of the evening was punctuated with laughter. You will see that humor in every piece in the show. So close up Facebook and come on out!
Tomorrow I will be sketching Jazz, Art on a Summers night at Redlight Redlight (745 Bennett Road) sometime between 7PM and 2AM.
Blend
Blend was a live painting event held at Taste (717 West Smith Street in College Park). Frankie Messina and Tracy Burke helped organize this unique collaborative event. Blend bought together artists from a wide variety of disciplines and had them all work on a series of canvases together. When I arrived with Terry, we made our way back to the red room where the lights were blazing and we could hear the conversations of all the artists at work. Jeremy Seghers and Amanda Chadwick were in the restaurant and I suggested Terry join them as I finished up a sketch. Plastic was draped over the walls and floor to avoid paint getting everywhere. Even with these precautions, someone stepped on a palette and stomped red paint everywhere. The mess was quickly cleaned up. The art styles were varied and in some ways disjointed when placed side by side on a single canvas. It took some time and effort to see some of the canvases find a unified vision. A man wearing a Viking helmet had horns which had diodes inside that would light up and move up and down to the beat of the music. After the event, I learned that the artist in the foreground of the sketch is Maisy May Marrs. She did a fun quirky painting of a serious redheaded girl in the cornet of the canvas she was working on. She stares up at a stick figure girl on top of her head. the image is strangely unsettling.
Since I hadn’t been invited to join the effort, I just concentrated on my sketch. I later found out that both Terry and Amanda had contributed to a piece so I suppose I should have made a contribution. Louise Bova whose work is expressionistic and representational, decided to just add swirling brush strokes which added to the pattern of a painting. Once I finished my sketch I joined Jeremy Amanda and Terry out in the restaurant. I ordered some tater tots and a drink. The dinner conversation was lively and well greased with some drinks. Jeremy and Amanda had to get to an 11 o’clock SAK comedy club show so they took off. Terry and I stayed behind and waited for the band to start playing in the red room as many of the artists packed up and left.
Gift of the Magi
As part of 4th Fest, on July 4th, Thunder Hag and A_Scissors will present a puppet show titled, “Gift of the Magi.” Hannah Miller is the artist who is designing and building all the puppets and set flats for the show. The performance will be at 8Pm to 9PM at Lake Ivanhoe. This will be an ambient marionette show where you can see the puppeteers.
CrocoGirl who is a gator that was partially transformed into a human is on of the major characters in the show. Hannah Miller explained that when she was drilling holes in the gator head, she was treated to the most horrendous smell. The set flats Hannah was working on had a blue sequin sky with light blue wisps of clouds. As I sketched she was working on adding a wood grain look to the tree trunks ising golden string held in place with hot glue.
The story begins with a girl who lived in the Everglades. She looks out over the glades and falls in love with a pair of eyes that are always watching her. She performs for the eyes and grows to expect that constant loving gaze. One day the eyes disappear. Distraught, the girl petitions the moon to help her find the loving eyes again. To help her on that quest, the moon transforms her into a bird. She flies over the Glades searching for the eyes she loved.
The eyes belonged to a Crocodile and she was transformed as well becoming part human but retaining her animal instincts. The bird settles on a branch just above the Crocogirl. Crocogirl still desires the bird but that desire has more to do with hunger rather than high minded ideals of love.
Hannah has only has 4 days left till showtime and there is so much that she needs to finish before showtime. Jack Fields and Jessica Earley will be helping with the performance on show day and Brian Cunningham will be performing music he wrote specifically for this show live.
Apopla Community Center
I received an invitation to sketch at the Fran Carlton Community Center of Apopka. Art classes are held in the Community Center so the instructor thought the students might like to see several of my sketchbooks and learn about what it is I am doing everyday as I discover the arts in Orlando. Nancy, the instructor this day had a small still life set up on the counter leading to the kitchen. There was an old cowboy’s boot some bright red flowers and yellow drapery. No one in the room seemed interested in the still life however. Each artist was focused on their own projects. Each artist worked at their own level. One woman was working on a drawing of a football star, while another was working on a seascape with lobster pots and fishing nets.
After seeing my work, the one man in the group started documenting the people around him with his sketches.
When I was asked to talk, I kept it short and simple. I explained how this project began as a New Year’s resolution and how my one a day commitment had grown to the point where I don’t know when to put the pen down.
Crealde Sunday Sketch Class
Every Sunday at Crealde there is a sketch class from 10AM to 12:30PM. I write it in my calender every week but usually there is some other arts related event that I end up going to sketch. This week they places one of my Crealde sketches on the invitation so I made an extra effort to show some solidarity and I headed out to the class.
The class starts out with 2 minute gestures then 5e minute gestures. By the end of the class the model is taking 20 minute poses. I started the sketch by blocking in a 5 minute gesture of the model on her stand. Then for the rest of the class I focused on the artists as they concentrated on the task at hand. The model named Jenny looked familiar to me but I couldn’t figure out where I had seen her before. Half way through the class when she was on a break I finally shouted out, “You were Alice!” She admitted that she had modeled for a group called “Sketchy Broads.”
There is another sketching event in town called “Dr. Sketchy’s.” A lot of new people going to Dr. Sketchy’s were really confused about the two sketching events– they had similar names, similar themes, they were both on Wednesdays, etc. Artists started thinking Sketchy Broads and Dr. Sketchy were the same group, or would get dates confused, showing up at Tatame (where Dr. Sketchy’s is usually held) on the wrong night. Because of this confusion, Molly Crabaapple who is the head of Dr. Sketchy’s, sent Jenny an e-mail explaining how Dr. Sketchy’s is a notable world-wide brand, and how there’s been confusion between the events, so she asked if Jenny could change the name. “Sketchy Broads” is now called “The Notorious Unnamed Sketch Club.” I plan to head out to their next event called “Lions Lindsays and Bears…Oh My!” on Wednesday, June 23rd at 6:30PM to 9:00PM at Stardust Video and Coffee. I like that new venues like this are popping up.
Since I kept working on this sketch even through the breaks, I never had a chance to see any other artists work. There were perhaps about 10 artists at the session. I need to go back more often to just sketch the model and experiment with different ways of working. Sketching the nude figure is always a great way to charge the creative battery.
sleepwalk 2: i walk over you
The week Winter Park hosted the 51st Annual Sidewalk Art Festival, Katie Windish of Frames Forever & Art Gallery hosted the 2nd Annual Outsider Art Fair in the parking lot of her framing shop. I like the sound of being an outsider, so I agreed to exhibit a bunch of my prints from sketches done around town. Doug Rhodehamel also was going to be there making paper bag mushrooms and this was going to be an opportunity for me to get a sketch of him at work.
I got to the Outsider Art Fair a little late and found I had to squeeze in to make some space for my work. I had just exhibited my work in theTheDailyCity.com Mobile Art Show and so I had a pile of prints which had been used to wallpaper the entire inside of the truck. I simply threw the pile of prints down on the pavement and let people who were interested flip through. I think I sold just 2 prints that day but I got to meet so many great artists. Tracy Burke was working on a large portrait of Pete Townsend in bold black and white brush work with just a touch of warmth added for the flesh tones. I was impressed by her work, yet didn’t interrupt her to talk. I have bumped into her several times since and I keep trying to arrange to try and sketch her at work.
Towards the end of the day, I finally went up to the front of the shop to see Brian Feldman’s performance called “sleepwalk 2: i walk over you.” I set up across the street and watched Brian as he stumbled back and forth on the scaffolding that was set up in front of the shop. With the original “sleepwalk,” Brian slept for 50 straight hours while people were allowed to walk over him. This time, the bystanders were under the scaffolding while Brian sleepwalked above them for 8 hours. A small sign read, Shout out, “Why don’t you get a room?” A mother encouraged her little girl to shout this up to Brian in order to get a 1 inch button. He had a face mask on and thus really couldn’t see where he was going. The metal railings were the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground.