DJ Chris Mendez – Analog Artist Digital World

I went to The Geek Easy (114 S Semoran Blvd, Ste 6, Winter Park,Fl) to see what No Borders Art Competition was all about. It is a great concept involving two artists competing head to head with 30 minutes to complete a canvas.

No Borders Art Competition began in April 2015 with two competitions
every 3 months. One competition was on a 4ft x 4ft canvas with a 30
minute time limit the other was on a 6ft x 6ft canvas for 1hour. Each artist was equipped with enough tools to complete their pieces while
also challenging their creativeness.

The 6ft x 6ft canvas might was a bit of a challenge
for some artists so “The Tournament” was created. It consisted of 8
artists on the 4ft x 4ft canvases that have never competed at our show
before. The winners of that show would then compete against the previous 4
winners on the 4ft x 4ft canvases.

The original rules applied:

4 Black markers with different tips

One color marker

4ft x 4ft Smooth White Canvas

Artists were judged on 5 categories:

1. Creativity and Originality

2. Neatness

3. Time Management

4. Use of Color Marker

5. Overall Balance

The Crowd got to pick The Peoples Champ before the judges ruling is
announced.

The judges were: Chris Rodriguez, Stazo Oner, and Josue Ortiz. Josue was the person who got me interested in the event.

The host for the night was Ozones own, Madd Illz, The house DJ spinning 90’s hip hop was Cubby (Chris Mendez) and Dean Rod Uno Rodriguez.

The competition was off to a late start. I sketched the stage waiting for the competitors to take the stage. The first competitors were, Nice Darrell and Jessica Butler. Nice’s canvas was more complex and dream like, being hard to read from a distance in certain passages. Jessica’s canvas was more straight forward with a blue whale. My vote was for her piece which had more appeal. I didn’t stay to sketch the other 6 competitors. I just wanted to get a flavor for the festivities. It is certainly an event I would love to sketch again.

On June 14th, the Virginia Drive Live Street Party was held all along Virginia Drive in Ivanhoe Village. Scottie Campbell, the Ivanhoe Village-Manager war running from street side tent to tent. I saw him when I first got out of my car and then several more times as I walked down Virginia Drive. Vendors and artists were busy setting up.

Virginia Drive, between Alden Road. and Haven Drive, in Ivanhoe Village came alive with late night shopping, food trucks, street vendors and artists, entertainment, and more! A wine stroll guided people you from merchant to merchant. I stopped at the beer garden, Sponsored by TheDailyCity.com, in the lot next to The Venue. Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com stopped to say hello. There had been some drama among the food truck vendors he invited to the event and he had to straighten it all out.

As the sun set, the Tree of Light illuminated the area where DJ Chris Mendez was spinning tunes. Parents relaxed, sipping beers while their children played in the grass. The Tree of light has a welded aluminum structure inside with wood boards from shipping palettes screwed to the outside. I saw the structure as it was first being built in Cole Nesmith‘s yard. An exotic computer program used to make the lights flicker in a sequence when they were turned on with pull chords. Small diode light strips in the mason’s jars looked like fire flies. The heavy Florida rains had some of the jars collecting water. The draw strings were no longer an option. All the lights were always on. The tree was going to be set up in downtown Orlando but after working all night to gel it set up, someone leaned a ladder against a branch and the branch crashed to the ground. No one was hurt, but now the sculpture was seen as a dangerous liability. Cole and his team of artists and engineers went back to the drawing board reinforcing all the inner supports.

Children couldn’t resist trying to climb the tree. A group of three or four toddlers gathered at the base and used the roots as a boost to try and get up the trunk. Thankfully, parents moved in and pulled the children off. Had the kids gotten up to the branches, the results could have been devastating. Worst would be if an adult who has had too many beers decided to climb the tree on a dare. As a teenager, I once drank so much that I decided I had to climb to the top of a telephone pole. I was alone, so I wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I did it cause I was drunk and therefor indestructible. Sometimes I’m an idiot.