Weekend Top 6 Picks for February 2 and 3, 2019

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Saturday February 2, 2019

9am to 5pm Free. Saturday and Sunday. Mount Dora Arts Festival. Mount Dora, Mt Dora, FL 32757. What better way to celebrate one of the top Downtowns in the country than by walking America’s favorite home-town! Filled with fine-art from national artists, along a magnificent lake view! Discover terrific entertainment, food, superb shopping and of course, The Premier Arts Festival in Central Florida!



7pm to 11:30pm Free. Plankton – by Doug Rhodehamel. Stardust Video and Coffee 1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, Florida 32789. Diatoms, cyanobacteria, coccolithophores, dinoflagellates…who doesn’t
love plankton?!! Leave it to Doug Rhodehamel to take them to an all new
fun and lovable level!

Plankton features an assortment of large
decoupage panels featuring many micro flora and fauna as translated by
Doug’s weirdo brain. There will be cheese.

8pm to 10pm Free. Shuffleboard. Orlando’s Beardall Courts 800 Delaney Ave Orlando FL. Shuffleboard at Orlando’s Beardall Courts at 800 Delaney Ave on the 1st Saturday of each month.

Sunday February 3, 2019

10am to Noon Free. Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation Class. University, 5200 Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32811.  The Method of Heartfulness A simple and practical way to experience the heart’s unlimited resources.

Noon to 1pm. Free. Yoga. Lake Eola near red gazibo. Bring your own mat.

10pm to Midnight. Free. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and laugh, or give it a try yourself.

The Cardboard Art Festival is bigger than ever.

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The Daily City 3rd Annual Cardboard Art Festival moves from the Mills/50 Orange Studio to a retail storefront South of Downtown Orlando (SODO). It is in the Sodo Shopping Center, at 45 W. Crystal Lake Street, store #117, Orlando, FL on the same side as TJ Maxx, across from Gator’s Dockside which just opened this past Wednesday. I went to sketch the media preview event and immediately decided to sit below Doug Rhodehamel‘s huge cardboard submarine. A blue wave animated bulb illuminated the $4,000 sub which was accompanied by a small school of $40 to $60 deep sea fish. One of the fish sold immediately and Doug asked me to help him get an orange (sold) sticker on the fish label. We both stretched diligently on tip toe to get the job done. Doug is about to start a series of cardboard sculptures of Star Wars space craft. He explained that the walker would be about 5 to 6 feet high so that it would be eye level. When I asked how big the cardboard Death Star would be, he said he would consider a collaboration with Planet Hollywood to re-make their globe.

Cardboard twin towers brought back memories of the horrific events of 9/11.  On the back wall, a huge cardboard mural by German Lemus showed a human heart surrounded by howling wolves, clenched fists, a ram and police in riot gear. I was sitting in front of paintings on cardboard of western landscapes by Timothy Thomas. He was born in Connecticut and raised in Maine where he studied film at
Rockport College. He now lives in Orlando, FL with his wife Tina. Since I was painting, I kept being asked if I was the artist. First they would point at Timothy’s work and when I said, “nope” they would assume I was Doug since I was sitting near his submarine. All of the cardboard props from this year’s Fringe hit show, Robyn Da Hood: a Rap Musical were on display. You can pose in the golden carriage or on horse back. Artist Brendan O’Connor  who runs The Bungalower, struggled to lift the hammer of Thor.

I spoke with Banjo Bob who is best known for his hardboard T-Rex skulls.  He had some skulls on display, but even more impressive was a fully automated cardboard telescope he had created. He wrote a program for a cell phone that would allow a user to move the telescopes position. An image from the telescope was then visible on the phone. The program even allowed the telescope to automatically track a star. Since the earth is rotating the telescope would keep adjusting motors to keep the star in sight. He fabricated the cardboard parts at FACTURE  (520 Virginia Drive Orlando FL) a non-profit maker space here in Orlando. The collaborative space is part workshop, wood shop, metal working, crafts, and fabrication laboratory. I have to get over there to sketch. It sounds amazing.

Today, Sunday July 26 the daytime Cardboard Festival Gallery hours, with a suggested $5 donation, are from Noon-5pm. From 1-3pm Kids Fringe will host a Cardboard Matinee ($1 per kid). Kids aren’t the only ones who get to play. There is an interactive cardboard creation corner where anyone can create a cardboard masterpiece.

A quiet afternoon at Stardust Video and Coffee.

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With time to spare before going to sketch an event, I decided to order dinner at Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL). I decided to sit onstage looking out over all the tables and the bar. The tables are old antique doors that had been shellacked a million times. My Rob Reiner sandwich and Coke arrived and I sketched between bites. Pink fish and colorful Japanese lanterns illuminated the dark ceiling. The guy in the red shirt was nodding off to sleep while a young couple chatted with excitement. It was her 1/2-birthday and she was celebrating. I like the idea of celebrating half birthdays. I wonder is she celebrates her 1/4 birthday or her 1/8 birthday. Better yet why not celebrate every 1/365 birthday? I’d just be sure to skip the cake.

Most everyone else was plugged into their digital devises. Doug Rhodehamel had a series of sketches on display in the far room. They were all done strictly in blue. I suppose every artist goes through a blue period. In my senior year at high school I only did blue sketches to rebel against the football coach- Art teacher’s strict photo realism. I’m proud to say I failed art that year, but I partied hard with the actors and had a blast.

Earth Day Celebration at Lake Eola

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April 19th was Earth Day and Orlandoans celebrated at Lake Eola Park. That day was also the 43rd World Wide Sketch Crawl, so I organized the Orlando Crawl to happen at the Earth Day Celebration. There were artist and vendor tents set up all through the park. I suggested that any artists could meet in the art vendor area, so that is where I set up to sketch. I sat right at the edge of a huge patch of Doug Rhodehamel‘s paper bag mushrooms. The mushrooms are part of his Spore Project which encourages people to be creative with the simplest of materials, a paper bag, stick and a rubber band.

Jon Glassman Gardner was set up in a tent nearby and he explained the mushrooms to people who were curious. Jon had dozens of colored glass magnets that had colorful patterns that resemble topographic maps. He discovered the pattern one day while pressing pigments between two sheets of glass. I’m the proud owner of several of these magnets that hold up sketches in the studio. He was also selling lanterns that featured his unique glass work. Between costumers, he was working on a spray can chandelier. He cut the cans open in a spiral pattern which made them look a bit like Man O War jellyfish. I believe he plans to group these together with lights to create the chandelier.

My plan to have artists meet at this event was flawed. The event was so large and crowded that it became impossible to find any other artists. One art student of Kathy Blackmore‘s introduced himself and I suggested he sketch something in the area. I should have given him my twitter handle or phone number so I could find him again in the crowd.  I assumed no one else showed up, but weeks later I was pleased to see that Plinio Pinto and Matthew Tardiff also sketched the Earth Day festivities that day. Though each artist was sketching on their own, they both found plenty of interesting subject matter to sketch. The next Sketch Crawl is July 12th. I need to get organized and learn how to bring artists together.

Cardboard Art Festival

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On Friday January 24th, I went to TheDailyCity.com Cardboard Art Festival at The Orange Studio, (1121 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, FL.) This was the second year of the Festival and it was bigger and better than ever. The first thing I explored was an interactive wall by Nathan Selikoff. Cardboard tube gutters could be re-arranged on a pegboard to create a gravity maze for colorful wiffle balls. A large cardboard funnel at the top of the wall was always the starting point and it was high enough so you always had to throw the ball up. I missed the shot more than a few times and had to scramble as the ball rolled around on the floor.

Evan and Christie Miga created a huge storybook interactive display that told of an adventure using a series of dioramas and sculptures. There was a large cardboard octopus and a girl riding an immense bird. The wings could be flapped by turning a delicate crank. A moving street scene was depicted in one diorama that had a magnifying lens to amplify the view as you traveled down the street. The illusion was complete when you turned a cardboard tube that represented the street. There was even a Zoetrope that used a cardboard tube with slits in it that when spun, created the illusion of motion from a series of images inside the tube.

Doug Rhodehamel had a large collection of small cardboard robots on display. Nicki Equality Drumb and Rachel Equality Gardner had blue and pink male and female stand up photo ops set up with equality hearts. With supplemental blue mustaches and pink ribbons, everyone wanted their picture taken. Beautiful women wearing couture cardboard dresses strutted through the crowd. John Glassman Gardner was taking pictures of people that he then pasted in the windows of cardboard skyscrapers. Jeff Ferree created four foot tall Gumby like cardboard creatures that were quirky and brightly colored. It was a fun colorful show and once people started drinking and dancing, the place lit up. If you didn’t go, you missed a hell of a good time.

My Pecha Kucha Presentation

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I love to draw.

On January first of 2009 I set a New Year’s resolution to post one sketch a day online. 

I had wanted to start a blog for over a year. 

It was surprisingly easy to post my first sketch and copy on Analog Artist Digital World.

My wife Terry and I moved from New York City,
and for ten years I worked for Disney Feature Animation here in Orlando.

Perry, shown here, worked in the office next to me.

The studio was shut down in 2004, because Disney executives felt,
that audiences didn’t want to see hand drawn animation anymore.

They only wanted to see computer animation.

I purchased a computer and taught myself CG animation at home.

After years of sitting in a dark room staring at a computer screen, I needed to get out and sketch.

Many early sketches were of buildings downtown, like this sketch of Church Street.

As I sketched, people would often stop to tell me their life story.

I help keep the tradition of hand drawn animation alive at Full Sail University, by teaching the principles of animation using pencils and paper before students start pushing buttons on computers.

When I began doing one sketch a day, I honestly thought Orlando had little to no culture.

I had spent ten years driving to and from Disney, and felt that Orlando must only have the heart of a theme park animatronic.

 I found these drummers in the Creative Engineering warehouse downtown.

I couldn’t imagine much culture happening in this service industry town.

 Yet with every sketch I did, I began to discover artists with talent.

I found people in every field, like Toni Taylor, shown here in her studio,
who are striving to express themselves.

 I seek out artists who love what they do and promote them with a sketch and an article.

By promoting them, I get to share with my readers what I feel is the true heart of Orlando.

I am NOT an extrovert.

 I’m only comfortable when clutching pencil and paper.

When I drive to events, I pump up the music in the car to overcome stage fright.

 I used to walk around the block several times to work up the nerve to start a sketch.

That feeling has slowly subsided, being replaced by stubborn determination.

In a crowded room, I find it impossible to focus on any single conversation,
I hear the overall din.

Small talk is not my strong point.

If I start to sketch however, a sense of calm washes over me.

While focusing on the sketch, nothing else matters.

By going out every day, I began to meet people who frequent the same events.

 They recognize my desire to sketch what is unique, and they include me in amazing sketch opportunities, like this gut wrenching blimp ride over Universal Studios.

Finding interesting stories is an ongoing challenge.

Though I tend to sit quietly observing, I am at times thrust into the limelight.

To get this sketch at the Bob Carr, the director, John DiDonna, suggested I sit onstage with the audience watching at the Red Chair Affair.

The act of sketching became a form of performance art.

I forgot about the audience as I struggled to capture the Cirque du Soleil performer on stage.

Doug Rhodehamel created this Sea of Green florescent fish hanging from the ceiling at Stardust Video and Coffee.

When I am in a room full of creative people, I feel motivated to create.

 Being isolated in a studio makes little sense, when there are so many vibrant events to sketch all around Orlando.

I found Bluesman Maxwell seated among the clutter of a flea market in Mount Dora.

He sang, “Flea Market Blues.”

No one else stopped to listen.

Each sketch usually takes about two hours to complete.

Time stands still.

When you stay in one spot for that long, some drama always unfolds.

At the Enzian Theater during the Florida Film Festival, the projectionist had to splice together the “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” reels.

I always remain open to snippets of conversation which I often jot down on the back of the sketch.

Writing helps me to complete the bigger picture.

Benoit Glazer invites people to his home called “The Timucua White House”, once a month to experience live music and art.

It is amazing how often lyrics of a song, or the plot of a play, will seem to mirror what is happening in my everyday life.

The emotional message of some productions often hits home.

Andrew Spear created a mural at the annual Snap Photography Exhibit.

By meeting so many artists, and sharing their stories, my own art grows richer.

 Listening to a theater director talk about the creative process, the conversation could just as well relate to the process of creating a sketch.

I have often been asked to stop sketching by security guards, ushers and police.

In our fast paced world, someone who stands still tends to be suspect.

This accordion player at Earth Day was asked to stop performing by Lake Eola grounds keepers.
Silence can be deafening……

I don’t believe art should be profiled as a deviant behavior.

Jazz still thrives in late night dives.

 The city grows smaller as I meet the same performers again and again.

 I’m starting to feel very much a part of the culture that I document.

Since starting the blog, I have posted over 2000 sketches about Orlando online.

Every art form has uncertainty, and blind searching, followed by revelation.

 I’m never satisfied with any sketch as I am working on it.

Only looking back, can I acknowledge that it isn’t the worst sketch I have ever done.

I love keeping track of all the arts organizations in town, on Analog Artist Digital World.

At times, I feel I have my finger on the pulse that helps keep Orlando alive and vibrant.

Some organizations have had to close, but there are always people who strive to make this city an interesting place to live.

Every time I sketch, I fall in love, be it with a gesture, setting, or people’s stories.

Mary Oliver gave simple instructions for living life, “Pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it.”

By sketching daily, I discover so many people who astonish me, in a city I now call home.

I love my wife, life and Orlando!

Mark Your Calendar! The next PechaKucha V13 will be on Friday June 13th at the Orange Studio, 1121 N. Mills Avenue, Orlando, Fl. I hope the presenters aren’t superstitious!

Spores

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At the Earth Day Festival at Lake Eola I decided to get a Vegan Lunch. The food court was at the South east entrance to the park under a huge Live Oak. I decided to get a carrot hot dog at Spork Cafe‘s booth. Tisse Mallon and her sister Joyce were working hard to keep up with orders. Joyce was at the barbecue grill searing the carrots over the coals. For a drink, I went to Midtown Eco Village for a berry smoothy. I ate lunch back at the Analog Artist Digital World tent. The hot dog was delicious although quit messy. A big splooge of mustard fell on my pants.

Journalist, Curtis Franklin had taken several photos as I sketched earlier in the day. He stopped by my tent to interview me. It was a fun talk and it turned out we have quite a lot in common.  Whenever he visits a new city, he walks the streets with a camera and a tape recorder to capture the city’s story.

My next door neighbor was Doug Rhodehamel, one of his art projects is “The SPORE Project” he makes paper bag mushrooms out of used paper bags that would usually end up in a landfill. The SPORE Project was
created in 2005 to promote support for art in schools and to illustrate
the importance of creativity in everyday life. He supplied paint and brushes so the kids could paint their own mushroom. Doug worked with a volunteer from Northland
Church and Hope4Orphans. This summer he hopes to to help send a few volunteers to
Ukraine and Russia. Through several week long summer camps, they will be
providing arts and crafts and paper bag mushrooms to hundreds of
orphans.

Doug’s spores are slowly taking over the world.  He stood next to me and laughed like a mad scientist. Parents and their kids would march through my tent to plant their spore and begin painting. There wasn’t much in my tent so it made the perfect garden gateway. I was glad, cause it meant more people would see my sketchbooks. I had the framed books hanging from the tent upper supports above children’s heads. Parents ended up banging their heads on my frames so I just had to plant a seat below the sketchbook so people knew to walk around.

Patti Matchett and her husband Andy joined me for the afternoon. I can’t thank them enough. With all the merchandise sold out, there wasn’t much to do other than hand out business cards and talk to people about the blog’s sketch a day mission.  Two Japanese culinary students wanted to buy the sketchbook suspended over my head. I tried to explain that it was an entire sketchbook but they could buy a print for $200. Language was a barrier but I have their contact information so maybe there is still hope to close the sale.

Tenth Annual Grandma Party Bazaar

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On December 16th, I went to Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 E. Winter Park Road, Orlando) to sketch the tenth annual Grandma Party Bazaar. The Grandma Party is a fusion of arts, crafts, rummage sale and performance. Tents were set up everywhere in the Stardust parking lot. The Death by Pop-Up Shop was open, so I stopped in to look at the art. Several artist were at work inside the store. Christie Miga was talking to Skip who was pealing up a mask from his painting.

Doug Rhodehamel had built a bright green and blue “Free Hug” booth out of a large corrugated box.  I got my hug and then we talked art for a while before I scouted out a spot to sketch. Dough has had an amazing number of gallery showings in the last few years. He wants to try something bigger with his art. He is one of the contributing artists in the upcoming “Cardboard Festival” happening January 25-27 at Say It Loud (1121 North Mills Avenue). Work by Jessica Earley, Brendan O’Connor, Christie Miga, Adriaan Mol, and Nathan Selikoff will also be featured.

I never caught the name of the band I was sketching. As I worked, I heard the strange surreal sound of a Sci-Fi zither. A couple was lying in the grass and they were both covered with a wedding veil. The were both holding dolls and a woman waved a wand above them. A cardboard sign announced that this was a non-surgical vasectomy station. I wondered if I was seated too close. I might catch some stray radiation from the home brew procedure. Everyone was smiling, laughing and taking pictures, so the vasectomy seemed painless enough. If the procedure didn’t work, it might be hard to find these snake charmers nine months down the road.

Cardboard Art Festival

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Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com came up with the idea of having a Cardboard Art Festival. The opening night was Friday January 25th at the Orange Studio (1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando). I had to work till 9PM that evening, so I wasn’t even planning to go. Terry sent me a text photo of the new Dog Powered Robot techno beach buggy. She let me know that the event was open past midnight so there would be time to get there and do a sketch.  There was a line of people out the door to get in. I could see strips of Doug Rhodehamel corrugated cardboard bacon hanging from the ceiling. All of the Dog Powered Robots stood, deactivated in a corner.

The opening reception featured music and dancing with DJ Nigel and tons of cardboard sculptures filling up the space created by artists: Jessica Earley, Brendan O’Connor, Evan and Christie Miga, Adriaan Mol, Doug Rhodehamel, Nathan Selikoff. Cardboard dinosaur helmets lined the back wall created by Banjo Bob. They were just the right height where you could stand up and have your photo taken with the helmet on yet still mounted on the wall. Blue Moon beer was being served under the bacon strips and the carpeted dance floor was always full of dancers. After making the rounds with Terry, I settled in to sketch. Blue submarines and ferocious deep sea fish hovered over the dance floor. A rocket garden thrust vertically upward above a collection of mini robots. A tubular instrument resembling a pipe organ could be played by swatting the tube openings with cardboard fly swatters. A ten foot tall tube marionette stood with a tetrahedron head. People could pull chords to make him dance. I got plenty of abuse and by the end of the evening he was lying on the floor, a spent mess.

The opening night was an undeniable blow out success. The place was surreal, the music loud and the dancing furious and care free. It’s not too late to experience the madness in person.


Sunday January 27

  • 10am-11:30am for kids 7 and under
  • 12pm-1:00pm for kids 8 and above
  • Kids Matinee Sponsored and hosted by Kids Fringe and Mennello Museum of American Art $1
    admission. Kids only! Attendees will get to (1) use cardboard to build
    and decorate their very own mask, hat, or wings, (2) meet the famed Dog
    Powered Robot and (3) get a chance to tour the entire exhibit.
  • 7:30pm – 12am
  • Dog Powered Robot + Andy Matchett and the Minks, $5 admission (pay at the door, cash only), wine and beer by donation. Dog Powered Robot is a fantastic group of cardboard robots defending the world against evil via a robot powered by a Pomeranian. Andy Matchett and the Minks is a very popular and fun musical group.

Sunday in the Park With Voci

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Genevieve Bernard, the founder of Voci Dance, gave me a heads up about a croquet game the Voci dancers were going to play on Sunday October 28th as part of the Creative City project. The Creative City Project had free clandestine performances staged at public places throughout the city on every day of October. The croquet game was held on the green beside the Red Japanese Pagoda in Lake Eola. When I arrived, the players, or dancers, were promenading around the court arm in arm in pairs. Each dancer was had on a primary colored dress that matched their ball color. Blue Doug Rhodehamel paper bag mushrooms marked the outer edges of the court. There were orange lines painted on the grass, probably left over from a football practice.

The Park was rather crowded on this Sunday. There were food trucks and tents set up at the band shell for an event I didn’t get a chance to make out. There was also a stage set up on Orange Avenue for a concert I wasn’t aware of. A large group was picnicking next to the croquet court and they were curious once the game started. A mom and her son sat in front of me to watch the game as well. The dancers circled up when music began to play and they gracefully began to play. I was sitting under the shade of a large oak tree while most of the audience sat on blankets on the opposite side of the court. It actually started to get chilly and I wished I had a sweater to cover my Dog Powered Robot T-shirt.

The performance seemed to be over in a matter of minutes as I struggled to catch each dancers proportions and gesture. More of a dance than a competition, Genevieve informed me that everyone won. Some audience members took to the court after the game was over trying out the mallets for themselves..