Milk Carton Superstars at FAVO

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Faith Arts Village (221 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, Florida) hosts an  art studio open house every first Friday of the month.  They describe the art motel’s mission s follows: “In life and in extreme death we love. We at FAVO love all and celebrate life and community. Every
month we offer this art show to bring people together. We don’t care
who you are or what you believe in (or don’t believe in). Celebrate an evening of just being creative with local creative people.”

The event allows patrons to browse through 36 artist studios, vendors, , live musical talent, food trucks and more. Bethany Taylor Myers has a studio in which she showcases work from a different artist each month. Her husband is the drummer and lead vocalist for a band called the Milk Carton Superstars.  They performed in the former motel room now being used as a gallery. They were lit from below and small fans blew their hair upwards giving the illusion that they were falling.

FAVO and Park Lake Presbyterian Church work hand in hand supporting all the Orlando communities. The next FAVO evening is August 3rd. The evening gets started after 5pm as the sun sets.

Pop Art Show opening at Dandilion Communitea Cafe.

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I went to the opening for POP! at Dandelion Communitea Cafe,  (618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, Florida 32803).
The November – December show theme is POP! This
includes pop art, pop culture, popping colors or anything the artists interpret
as POP!

As a special
project for this show the curators were trying out something new. The small art
board will be a hang able, movable board that can hold a number of small
pieces. Artists could submit two pieces for consideration to the board in
addition to the normal three submissions. All the small art pieces are just $40.

Bethany Taylor Myers had an abstract straight across the room from the corner table where I set up to sketch.   The large painting had a green “sky” and blue “ground”. Three psychedelic spheres floated above a bright pink mass and black and white stripes. We tried to guess what that pink mass was. I saw a toothbrush on a table, and a typewriter. Bethany was at the opening, and she explained that it was done from a blind contour drawing. She was in bed, closed her eyes and drew her bed from the image in her mind. The black and white stripes are sheets and she says that her feet and her husbands, can be seen in the abstraction of the pattern. The painting was inspired by a Van Gogh painting of hid bedroom in Provence France.


Linda Sarasino had two paintings in the show. One was of four dresses arranged in an Andy Warhol inspired grid, for $440 and a small painting of a heart, cut up in a similar grid for just $40. Within the first 24 hours of the show opening, two of the $40 paintings sold. If you are shopping for the holidays early, these $40 paintings make an affordable, unique, creative gift.

Extreme Perspective Art Show at Dandelion Communitea Cafe.

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Extreme Perspective Art Show at Dandelion Communitea Cafe (618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL) Art is a show is all about an EXTREME perspective, either something grand, vast, expansive, large, or something tiny, cellular, small, minute or something from a perspective of enormous, like a very large collection of items or something extremely close up and uncomfortable or something from a unique and unusual perspective.

I submitted a framed original of a sketch I did at Fantasy Surf. At Fantasy Surf you can ride an artificial wave that never ends. Water is shot up over a plastic shaped wave and you can do tricks otherwise impossible in the ocean since you can hop down on the Past is surface to set up for spins o flips. The original piece of art is discounted since I didn’t add in the cost of the frame which was an up front cost for another show.

Theresa Touhey curated the show and when I arrived at the opening, she was seated at a table with

Natassia Dudack. Theresa reminded me about how her boyfriend spotted m in a Documentary about performance Artist Marina Abramovic. I flew into NYC on the final day of her extended performance of, The Artist is Present. Brian Feldman who was an Orlando performance artist at the time convinced me to sketch him sitting opposite Maria as they stared at each other. I got some decent sketches that day, but I still haven’t seen the documentary. 

I got to talk to artist Natassia Dudack, a bit at the opening. She had several delicate and well observed paintings of flowers in the show. Paintings on her cell phone portfolio hint at Buddhist themes to her work. One had a golden symbol for the “oohm” phrase uttered when meditating. She is also branching out to curate shows on her own. At the table in front of me, a family was out to show their support for Natassia. The mom was also an artist who does exquisite calligraphy brush paintings. The dad told me about his recent trip back to New Jersey where he went to his childhood home. The front door still had a carving that his dad had created over 45 years ago. Some art does last through the generations.

I joined Bethany Taylor Myers and her friends at a corner table for a while to catch up and laugh to a bit. Bethany has been friends with many artists in the room ever since she was 17 years old. It is reassuring to know that some friendships can stand the test of time.

Extreme Perspective will remain at Dandelion Communitea Cafe until September 3rd. Stop out to experience some local art.

A Digital Artist in a Digital World?

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On October 22, I  went to Parker Sketch‘s monthly Artist Critique at the Barefoot Spa, 801 Virginia Dr, Orlando, Florida. This group of artists and art appreciators gathering to help each other grow as artists. You don’t have to be an artist, or show art to participate in the discussion, and meet the artists! It is a supportive and constructive discussion group about art. We look at the work of about 12 artists in the evening and talk about it. The opportunity to show art is first-come-first served. If you are interested in art and want to meet other people who also enjoy art, this is the event for you. The art can range from the purely abstract to representational. I always learn something new each time I go.

The reason I wanted to show art this night was to see what other artists felt about m using a tablet to start creating my sketches done on location. I’m excited a bow the possibilities in the digital medium but Terry says she cringes every time she sees a digital sketch on this site. I decided to show one of my sketchbooks and the sketch [ did on the tablet of the critique. sketching digitally is still difficult because [ waste so much time looking for tools and menus. Recently I’ve bee streamlining my work flow by learning how to use my tablets keys to select the most common tools. I asked everyone if it made sense to try and recreate my watercolor sketches in the digital medium. Most artists felt that the traditions sketch had more spontaneity and they could clearly see that a digital sketch has z different look. Parker suggested that I take an entire different approach to the digital work, accepting the difference. He even suggest using the tablets camera as the starting point and built the sketch over that. When I confided that the tablet seems too small, Bethany Taylor Meyers suggested I do a traditional sketch on paper, then shoot that with the camera and start painting digitally. I love that idea since I can us a bigger sketch pad and maintain the traditional feel of pencil on paper.

Other artists critiques also inspired me to push in new directions. One artist is trying to pull away from dark line work. Although I love line, the digital medium seems to favor blocking in colors as if building up an oil painting. I’m convinced that the digital work will inspire change in the traditional sketches and vise a versa. Someone suggested that I start using gouache on my traditional sketches and ironically the is something I’ve been considering for  some time.

There was so much amazing art shown that night, and having feedback from fellow artists is indispensable. Parker showed a large “Falling Man” painting. I’ve seen other paintings from the series and they are usually monochromatic. This falling man was fractured into vertical strips and had intense bright colors like cadmium yellow and bright pink. The image is a haunting reminder of 9-11 for me and the bright Peter Max inspired colors seemed a stark contrast. Parker did the painting live at Artlando with constant interruptions as people asked questions.  He said the colors were happy accidents because they just happened to be the colors he packed that day.

If you click the subscribe button over in the right column, I will keep you informed next time there is  an artist Critique.  The subscription is for a weekly AADW e-mail newsletter.

FAVO showcases local art, rain or shine.

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Faith Arts Village Orlando (FAVO),  221 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, Florida, features 36 art studios open for public viewing, food trucks, live music, and children’s fun art projects. The family friendly event happens every first Friday. The former motel comes alive with art. It was a rainy day when I did this sketch of Will Benton‘s studio space on the second floor at FAVO. Friends visited sitting on his couch and will sold one of his pieces. will has been painting really large canvases that reach to the ceiling. One canvas featured large spiraling Ultramarine circles that matched a lampshade.

This sketch was done from outside Will’s studio looking in. Thankfully there was some cover from the rain but wind gusts sometimes caused some spray to settle on the page. A guitarist performed which offered a calming effect. I went to FAVO to see a show that featured artists paintings on sneakers titled, So Shoe Me. Organized by Deliz V. Berrios and Bethany Taylor Meyers the show was  incredibly fun, the room even had a central bench where you could sit down and try on the art to see if it fit. I felt it was too cramped in the small motel room for me to sit down to sketch,  I’d be blocking art. My solution was to be a voyeur on the outside looking in.

On Friday October 2nd Jack Void showed his ceramic work at FAVO. That is the great thing about this monthly showcase, there is always something new to see. Mark your Calendar, the next FAVO is on Friday November 6th from A pm to 9pm.

Dandelion featured an Art Opening for the Berrios-Myers Project 52.

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I went to an art opening at Dandelion Communitea Cafe (618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando FL). At the start of 2014, friends and artists Deliz Berrios and Bethany Myers challenged each other to complete one small piece of art each week for an entire year. The result is Project 52, a show 12 months in the making, featuring the 104 works created by Deliz and Bethany as they met their weekly deadlines. Originally, it was an exercise in motivation. Along the way, it became an art show.

Bethany Myers’ style changed dramatically throughout the year, ranging from reality to abstract surrealism. A concussion in January influenced strange paintings. By spring her art returned to her familiar style of blind contour drawing and bold colored paintings.“It wasn’t easy to think of subject matter that was cohesive. I gave up on that early on and moved forward with a variety of ideas.“

Deliz Berrios’ work reflects her personal life and perspective on a variety of subjects ranging from current states of mind to figurative work. Patterns and color emerge in her art, a clear reference to her

graphic design background. “Working at this small scale I was able to experiment and be playful. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I was able to convey.” Besides having all 52 originals from both artists on the walls, there was also a box full of prints which made for a very affordable way to purchase art.

At the opening I got to meet both artists in person. It was my first time meeting Deliz and her skills as a figurative artist are inspiring. I have met Bethany a few times at artist critiques, and again, I identify with her work which feeds off of direct observation. Bethany’s husband Jim is the drummer for the “Milk Carton Superstars” which is a rock group I sketched several times before. They also performed at this opening. Bethany, Jim and guitarist Guy Larmay came to my art opening the other night. It is so encouraging that artists support each others exhibitions.

Lucy Sky performed first on guitar and he was then joined by his wife Heather Ashworth Pereira. Heather is another artist I have met at artist critiques. The last painting she showed featured a man holding a gun and the barrel of the gun felt uncomfortably close to the edge of the painting. Ironically I’m working on a movie poster right now which had the same issue. I had no idea Heather was also a talented singer.

Claire and the Potatoes rock Nerd Fest.

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On a third sketching excursion to the Orlando Airport Marriott (7499 Augusta National Dr, Orlando, Fl), I bumped into Bethany Taylor Myers at the entrance. She is an exceptional visual artist that I met at Parker Sketch‘s monthly Artist critique. At the last critique I went to, Bethany was showing a lonely suburban landscape that reminded me of an Edward Hopper painting. She was asking a straightforward question about perspective and for once I had straight forward answers. Anyway, Bethany informed me that her husband, Jim Myers was performing. He is the drummer for Claire and the Potatoes.

I had seen the band perform once before at Lake Eola for Earth Day. I knew I was about to see 2 fun performance. Leslie Rising is the lead singer. I had to wonder why her name isn’t Claire. Marc With a C was in the foreground of my sketch and Guy Larmay was on Bass. The hip pop music was fun, with a distinct neurotic edge. My favorite song was about how the band had bills to pay and they wouldn’t be going on a tour to your home town. They did a great job of introducing the tongue in cheek song as a public service announcement.

I managed to get so close to the stage by sitting in an area set aside for handicapped nerds. I consider my need to get a sketch a sort of handicap. Luckily I didn’t get in anyone’s way. The crowd went wild for the Potatoes. As always, the set was over all too quick. This is a quirky fun local band. If you ever have a chance to see them then seize the opportunity.

August Critique Group

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Parker Sketch organized a monthly Art Critique group at The Barefoot Spa (801 Virginia Dr., Orlando, Fl). The group is a supportive and constructive discussion group about art. Work of about 12 artists is looked at and discussed. The opportunity to show art is on a first-come, first served basis. You do not have to show art to participate. You do not have to be an artist to participate. If you are interested in art and want to meet other people who also enjoy art, this is a great event.

The group looks for newer art, that is relevant to what you are doing now. If you bring more than one, please make them all be part of a series. We are either looking to talk about one piece, or several together as a group.

It doesn’t matter what kind of art you do, we have had oil painters, paper makers, glass artists, found object sculptors, video artists, watercolor painters, ceramicists, artists who draw and collage, jewelry artists, print makers, etc. It also doesn’t matter how much experience you have. We have included artists who have never shown and artists who are nationally recognized competition winners.

The point is to get people from many different styles, backgrounds, and experience levels together to talk about everyones’ work!

This is a group of artists talking as peers.The discussions have included pricing, finding materials, technique, framing, exhibition opportunities, and, yes, traditional critique. We are trying to mix different artists and get them talking about art! We will be looking at art individually, and talk about it for about 10 minutes. Though time is short, the idea is  to spend the evening talking about everyone’s art!

I arrived at the critique a bit late but I was astounded to find a front row seat still open. The first artist who’s work I saw was Heather Ashworth.  She had a portrait and a diptych of a woman who’s hair blew aside and became tree branches and blossoms. There was some concern that she didn’t spend much time on the clouds painted in the portrait. Some artists wanted to see a smoother transition between hair and branches as well. Bethany Taylor Myers showed a Hopperesque painting of a neighborhood. She wanted advice on perspective and since I had just been writing on the subject, I offered her a thumbnail and brief advice. She was concerned about painting telephone lines that would cross in front of the house. Several artist agreed that if the lines don’t add to the story they could be left out. Jean Claude showed a bold black and white depiction of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He got an amazing amount of detail with the scratch off technique. Thomas Jacobson Artist showed a huge painting of a yellow sun flower. A mysterious orange glow hinted at illumination by fire. A skull and flowers painting was creepy and mesmerizing in its detail. He is also a tattoo artist and his work is intricate and amazing.

Parker Sketch was the last to show his art he had a large roll of canvas that unfurled depicted a cup of gin and tonic. He did the painting by walking around it on the floor and attacking it like Jackson Pollack. There were some wonderful abstract passages that came from the sheer physicality of the process. Mark Your Calendar! Parker plans to pin this huge canvas to the wall as part of his joint show with Shannon Holt called “Just One More…” The opening is September 19th from 6pm to 9pm at City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Fl). The next critique group is September 26th from 6-9pm at Barefoot Spa.