Speed Painting

Posted on by Thor

DRIP held a fundraiser for it’s new show titled RIFF at Blank Space (201 East Central Boulevard). Besides musical performances by Britt Daley and Thomas Wynn, visual artists were in the house. Tony Corbitt set up his painter’s easel and put up a large sheet of plywood which had been painted black. He cued up some music and explained that there were no gimmicks in what he was about to do. He then ripped off his shirt, distracting every female in the room. Using a photo and bold splashes of white paint, he quickly painted a portrait of a Kiss band member. I had to sketch just as fast to keep up with his hectic pace. There was non time for planning or delicately balancing the elements, I had to react and throw down lines and tone with abandon.

Later in the evening, dates with DRIP dancers were being auctioned off. Darcy got the hefty sum of $100. Then Michael Sloan one of the male dancers was put up for auction. Bidding started slow and remained slow. a Date with him went for only $25. Seems the ladies were shy about spending their cash for a wonderful night on the town with a talented DRIP dancer. Tony bought in his two speed paintings and auctioned them off. Terry shouted out, asking him to take off his shirt again. He obliged. As expected, his paintings didn’t bring in very high bids.

Thomas Wynn performed “When I Paint My Masterpiece” which I had never heard before. I really loved this piece especially with his single acoustic guitar and deep piercing voice. Jessica Mariko performed an inspired improvisational dance as he played “It’s Alright“. Her movements were yearning and quick reaching for the heavens while grounded to the earth. Her movements at times seemed random and inebriated and at other times purposeful. The last time I had seen her perform solo was at Slingapours and she always amazed me.

RIFF Fundraiser Body Painting

Posted on by Thor

When I arrived at the DRIP Fundraiser at Blank Space, I was told my Melissa Kasper that the dancers were in the back room being painted by Christie Miga. Sure enough, in a narrow back room behind a curtain, Darcie Ricardi was being sectioned off like a beef diagram by Christie. Evan helped me to find a spot where I wedged myself for the duration of the sketch. I thought the marijuana leaf was a nice touch. Different sections could be painted by patrons at the fundraiser with more private parts bringing in the better cash. Christie was still painting as patrons entered the event. There was plenty of joking as the flesh masterpiece took form. When the outlines were finished some prices were added and other prices were left open for barter.

Steven Johnson was the next dancer to be sectioned and priced. He wanted to be pained and sectioned up like a superhero. Painting the cape on his back was the biggest challenge for Christie. When she got to his flesh briefs, he wanted her t paint his cheeks as if he had them clenched. She insisted he model this clenched stance and then she painted his cheeks to match. Someone had blown up a balloon and then let it go and it flew around the space makings its wet sticky noise that startled everyone and caused endless laughter. Darci waited till Steven was finished since she didn’t want to go out on the fund raising floor alone. Later that evening a date with Darci was auctioned off for $100. She was only modestly painted by patrons and she wished more people had painter her since the paint helped keep her warm.

Rock Out with Your Cocktails Out!

Posted on by Thor

Today marks the beginning of year 3 for Analog Artist Digital World. This years resolution is to keep the gears greased and begin work on the first AADW book. Drip dance company held a Fundraiser for their new show called RIFF. They may have found a new permanent home on International Drive and I suspect that in 2011 they will blow the roof off the house. The fundraiser was held at Blank Space (201 East Central Boulevard.) The venue was packed and talent was thick.

Singer, songwriter, Britt Daley took to the stage and performed songs from her recent CD release “Unsupervised EP.” Her vibrant Electro-Pop filled the room and people started to move to the beat. The guitarist, James Christy, stomped on foot pedals and made constant adjustments to his sound. Joey Antrim on bass calmly set down his resonant consistent notes, while Jay Caudle who was hidden from my view with a large speaker, attacked the drums. Britt’s music hit a wide spectrum of emotions from driving hard beats to melodic and soulful . One song, “Its too Late” reflected on the sorrow of realizing that it is too late to expect change from the one you love. I stopped sketching to let the music’s sorrow envelop me. I was a little annoyed I let my mood swing so easily. I had been pumped, working feverishly only a minute earlier.

After her performance some hard core fund-raising began when a date with Britt was put up for auction. Steve Johnson, a semi nude DRIP dancer, acted as the auctioneer. I buried my hands deep in my pockets. Terry was sitting beside me, “but it was for such a good cause” I thought to myself. “Perhaps I should bid just to help drive up the price.” My hands didn’t budge. The bidding started lightly, $25 was soon raised to $50, but then a guy at the bar forced the bid up to $100. The crowd was hooting and hollering at this point with each successive bid. I was clapping and hollering myself, the price too rich for my shy blood. The final bid was $200 and the place went wild! I had a print of one of my DRIP sketches up for the silent auction. It didn’t bring in anywhere near the money Britt did. Next time I auction my work it needs to be packaged with a date with a beautiful woman!

DRIP Musician Auditions

Posted on by Thor

DRIP held Auditions for a new show which will be at a permanent performance space on International Drive. Auditions took place in the DRIP warehouse (4502 Old Winter Garden Road). It was a boiling hot Saturday when I pulled into the warehouse parking lot. The huge garage warehouse door was partly open and the pounding of drums and bass guitar was pouring out. The new show in development is called RIFF and it is a wild and vibrant show featuring black lights plenty of splashing water and day glow paint. I did a sketch several months ago of one of the early unveiling’s and my sketch and shirt got covered with paint.
When I entered, Jessica Mariko, DRIP’s Creative Director and CEO, was sitting with Jennifer Wagner, the Production Manager. Jessica gave me a warm hug and told me to set up anywhere.
I sat in a beat up couch right behind the drum set. The first auditioner had left and they were setting up to have someone else perform on bass. The drummer turned to me and said, things might get loud! I told him I would be fine.
David Traver, DRIP’s music director, performed on his own bass to explain to the auditioners how he wanted the music performed. After he had demonstrated the piece several times the drummer Jeff Wright and the new bass performer began. James Woodrich was the bass performer I sketched auditioning. The music was super loud and I was right on top of it. Between pieces Jessica asked the performer to really act it out, to perform like he was on stage at a rock concert. He stared performing with some real flourish. There was no air conditioning in the warehouse and the performers sweat and strained.
The sketch took me about 3 auditions to finished after the third auditioner, there was a long break for lunch so I took that as the sign that the sketch was done and I should head back home.

Riff

Posted on by Thor

DRIP is currently developing an exciting new rock show called Riff, “a wet, raw, sexy Rock and Roll experience.” The event is happening in the DRIP warehouse (4502 Old Winter Garden Road); which is now easy to find because out by the sidewalk there are huge Styrofoam letters spelling out DRIP. After parking, arrows lead me to the entry at the back of the warehouse. A makeshift bar was set up and people were mingling before the show started. Tony Corbitt, speed painter, had his easel set up right in front of the entrance. He slipped his shirt up over his head and started attacking the black board with bold strokes of white paint. Each painting took less than five minutes to finish, so I had to work extra fast to catch him in action. I had talked to Tony the night before and learned that he dreams of one day studying drawing and painting in Florence, Italy. Before the conversation was over I found myself with the same longing. Another artist stood beside me and sketched the painting in progress. Before my sketch was really complete, the stage door was opened and people filed into the warehouse. There was an area right by the door where people could check their shoes since all areas of the warehouse were considered a splash zone. The room was packed and I had some trouble finding a spot from which to sketch. I finally settled on a spot close to the band right next to the speakers.
The room went black and then the band started to belt out a hard edged rhythmic beat. I immediately realized I was a bit too close to the speakers. My right ear was starting to hurt. I decided to take one of the erasers off the end of a pencil and I used that as an ear plug. It worked like a charm. Soon the dancers in the center of the staging area began to move. They used two ropes hanging from the metal girders of the warehouse high above to start swinging. Paint buckets full of water were thrown at the dancers as they gracefully gyrated.
The next routine involved a large platform which was used to hold a transparent “canvas.” As I sketched I realized that my sketch was getting covered with the constant rain of day-glow red and blue paint. Anyone in the audience with a white shirt suddenly glowed a mysterious blue. If my sketch were to be placed under a black light you would see clearly the red and blue day-glow paint splatters. The sketch shows Danny Millan and Nate Skaggs filling the dark space with loud music.
After the performance was over, people lingered outside and talked. Jessica Mariko was explaining that she hopes to find a hotel or similar venue that would be willing to offer DRIP permanent home.
You can still experience Riff in Orlando June 17th to 19th from 8 to 10 PM at 4502 Old Winter Garden Road. The show is also going to be in Miami July 22nd and 23rd from 8 to 10 PM at Easy Street Gallery (3501 NW 2nd Avenue Miami).

A DRIP Day-glow Paint Surprise Party

Posted on by Thor

This sketch was done a while ago as DRIP prepared to perform at the City Arts Factory. Evan Miga is busy preparing the printing press while David Traver is working on hanging mirrors from the rafters. Samantha Hudson is the dancer waiting in the wings. For this performance the dancers used the press to print edible ink on small cakes that were then offered to the audience. After this sketch was done Jessica Mariko asked to see what I had done. As I was showing her a City Arts staff member approached me and said “Excuse me this is a veeery exclusive event, you will have to leave.” Then with a flick of his wrist he said “Shoo!” My sketch was finished and I was ready to go anyway, but once again I found myself not welcome.
Months later I was invited to go to a surprise birthday party for Evan. The party took place in a small children’s art studio off of Colonial Drive called “My Art Studio” ( 4401 East Colonial Drive, Suite 106). I arrived early as instructed with a towel and a change of clothes. I entered an empty room where dancers were painting Happy Birthday in day-glow green paint on the walls. I helped by painting a blazing sun under the birthday lettering. Terry stopped in but she was still in her work clothes. I suspected things would get messy. I decided to leave my sketchpad in the safe room. When the main lights were turned off and a black light turned on the lettering glowed vibrantly. Jessica informed us that Evan was on the way and so we all hid behind a table for the surprise. We all crouched behind the table in the dark for the longest time, the anticipation growing. The plan was that Christie would walk Evan to the center of the room and then the black light would flick on and we all would shout surprise while stripping Evan and getting him into grubby work clothes. Then he was doused with a full bucket of watery paint and hit with silly string.
Paper was taped to the walls and we all painted at each and had to move on when the music changed. The music changed often until there was barely time to get one stroke on each page. Soon we were just throwing paint at the walls. Then the paint war began and I was caught in the cross fire! Everyone started throwing sponges soaked in paint at each other. Then paint was thrown straight from the bottles. Syringes were used as high power paint pistols. Before I knew it I was soaked head to toe, a living day-glow Pollock painting. When there was finally no paint left, Evan started hosing people down. For whatever reason this room had a garden hose and a drain in the center of the floor. He hit me with the cold spray and I washed the paint off my head and arms as fast as I could. Afterward we all lay down on the wet floor and had a group photo taken with Evan in the center. DRIP certainly knows how to throw a creative birthday party! It turns out anyone can plan a paint party at “My Art Studio.”

DRIP – The Pollock Project

Posted on by Thor

Beth Marshall is presenting a theatrical collaboration with DRIP to bring Jackson Pollock’s turbulent and brilliant life to the Mennello Museum of American Art. The Pollock Project will be part visual art, part performance, part history, part dance and part music. This collaboration will explore the marriage of Jackson Pollock’s art and the human condition. This Mennello Museum is now displaying “Auspicious Vision” which features works from Edward Wales Root’s personal collection of American art. Jackson Pollock’s work is on exhibit along with paintings by William de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Edward Hopper among other artists through May 23rd.
I went to the DRIP warehouse to watch a rehearsal for this multimedia project. In the center of the huge space was a large yellow wooden platform which had a large Plexiglas “canvas” mounted on top. The dancers were high up on ladders and Jessica Mariko turned on the recording of music performed by Phillipp Vandre and the Turfan Ensemble. I remembered this high pitched, plunking, haunting modern music from a video I had watched about Pollock when I researched his painting methods for a Halloween costume I made which I called “Jack the Dripper“.
The dance begins with the dancers struggling against gravity as they slowly climb the ladders. Upon reaching the heights, the dancers begin painting with wooden stirring sticks in unison with fluid motions. The dance surged with the electric energy of the music. Watching Pollock work is much like watching a ballet. He would lay his large canvas on the floor and walk around and on the painting as if dancing on its surface. He would bend at the waist as he waved his arm like a farmer sewing seeds onto his field. He was essentially drawing with paint, the lines fluid without describing a specific form. His work was about expressing feelings rather than illustrating them.
After the dancers finished the painting on Plexiglas, I wandered over to look up at they had created. The paint was a bit too thin so it just pooled upon the plastic like mercury, not retaining any linear forms. Jessica decided next time they would have to use thicker paint. There was also some concern as to how they would clean up once the piece was done. It would be impossible to transport the huge sheet of Plexiglas outside to hose it down. I suggested they stretch a thin plastic film onto the frame and then they could poke a hole in the center when they were done and drain the paint into a paint can. I will be curious to see how they resolve this in the end.
I am very excited to see how this artistic collaboration turns out. There are only two performances of “The Pollock Project”: Saturday March 27th at 7 PM and Sunday March 28th at 2 PM.

FRESH – Creation

Posted on by Thor

Much of FRESH is all about the process of creating art. In this sketch, Christie Miga is on her knees as she creates a drip painting during the event. All of the paints are diluted just the right amount so they can flow and blend into each other freely. At times Cristie used gravity to let the paint flow and other times she would lay the painting flat and blow the paint into areas of the canvas where she wanted it to spread. She had the painting done within an hour and at the end of the night it was auctioned off. I had to work extra fast to catch Christie since she was in constant motion. The FRESH performance space also had other areas where guests could play and interact. For instance there was a small Zen dirt garden where people could rake the dirt and arrange delicate stones and sticks in any way they likes. I created a big Z and then with some twine wrote orro so the garden had the mark of Zorro. I have a pet Cockatoo named Zorro so I leave his mark whenever I can.
Besides the drip painting, we all helped create a mural each night by using an overhead projector hung from the ceiling. I was asked to make a hand shadow puppet and then Evan Miga traced the shadow I made onto the large sheets of white paper hung on the wall. He asked me to finish it up, so I added an eye and other details to bring it to life.
After each evening’s performance, the real fun would start. The music would build and then all the dancers would come out and dance. I joined them every night and it was always fun. Once in a while we could get an audience member out on the dance floor and then things really got large. It turns out Evan is quite a dancing fool and on occasion he would jump up on the dirt mound and play king of the mountain while dancing. On the final night, Evan pulled Jessica Mariko, the troupe’s founder and choreographer, up onto the mound and they had a blast while everyone else clapped. Being on the floor and sketching every night I was no longer just reporting on the event, I was a part of the event itself. This was a creative and inspiring environment and it is a shame it is only in town around Valentine’s Day. Every day should be Valentine’s day.

FRESH-The Coffee Mound

Posted on by Thor

Rather than staying with my exhibit of sketchbooks at FRESH, I returned again and again to the main show space to sketch the performers. In this performance, TinTin danced on the mound becoming more and more a part of the earth. He then dug into the earth, essentially resurrecting his dancing partner, Ashley Kroft. She gracefully rose up, spreading her arms towards the sky. Their dance then became an erotically charged dance of embraces, painful separations and joyful reunions. They both embrace the earth, and share it with each other. They rub the coffee scented earth into each other’s skin. It would be awesome if Starbucks would embrace this celebration of coffee by bringing this dance to the center of its coffee shops. I am certain they would sell more coffee.
I am writing this post from the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Gentle new age music is playing as I enjoy my morning coffee. The music perfectly brings back impressions and feelings I had while watching the FRESH performance. I feel at peace although I am here, to do one last portrait of my stepmother who is losing her battle with cancer. I visited her yesterday and she is a frail fraction of the woman she was. This portrait is the most important sketch I will do in some time. It is time to pack up my supplies and get to the hospital. I approach this new found day buzzing with hope and faith. I do not want to waste a minute.

FRESH Massage

Posted on by Thor

On the first night of FRESH, I started to sketch people getting free massages. When the sketch was half finished, I decided to try a neck massage for myself. My neck always tenses up when I am sketching. I figured getting the massage was a form of research. How else could I understand how the clients felt? Naomi Bourassa worked on my neck while Denise Lefebvre worked on another client. Naomi did a great job focusing on my neck. I became disoriented at one point and lost track of where she was standing. I don’t know why that was on my mind, I was trying to visualize the massage with my eyes closed. As I said, this was research. when my shoulders were loose, Naomi rolled my head, and stretched it side to side. She finished up just as the first of the audience members started to enter the theater. I felt great.
On night two I asked her to work the kinks out again . The sketch is probably more expressive since I did my homework by fully living the experience.