Smokey Jay’s BBQ

Posted on by Thor

I have an advanced Urban Sketching student I am working with and we meet each week at Lake Eola. Last week we sketched the farmers market where everyone sits under the huge live oak tree.

We discovered that the Lake Eola Farmer’s Market closes down about 2:30pm and we were still in the midst of the sketch as tents were taken down and vendors packed up.

Despite this, we decided to once again sketch the street vendors dishing out plenty of BBQ to the mask less crowds.

While we were sketching this week it started to rain just as I was starting to put watercolor washes over the sketch. Last week it also threatened to sketch and we bolted with the crowds as soon as the winds picked up.

This week, we held our ground. I packed away my sketch in my art bag and decided to wait until the rain stopped. The weather radar on my phone made it seem like the storm would be very short lived. As the rain became torrential, people crowded under window and porch awnings. The pine trees we were under were actually pretty good cover so we moved closer to the trunk and waited. The rain eventually did let up a bit and I painted a huge puddle of blue in the foreground before the rain became worse and forced me to once again close the sketch book.

Since we were already soaked through to the bone, it made no sense to seek cover. It was actually quite refreshing getting soaked. As we continued to debate if it might be possible to complete the sketch, the vendors started packing up. Where we were seated was where the vendors would stack up their dismantled tents so that settled it, we would have to move on. The assignment then became to complete the sketch and make it seem like a torrential summer shower had not thrown a wrench into the creative process. If this sketch looks like a royal mess, that is because it is a royal mess.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for October 6 and 7, 2018

Posted on by Thor

Saturday October 6, 2018

8am to 1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. The east side of the Orlando City Stadium, across from City View. .Purchase quality, fresh and healthy food grown in your own
neighborhood by local farmers, including Fleet Farming, Growing Orlando,
and other community growers.

8pm to 11pm No Borders Breast Cancer Awareness Edition “Save 2nd Base”.   The Geek Easy 114 S Semoran Blvd, Ste 6, Winter Park, Florida 32792. No Borders presents “Save 2nd Base” our Breast Cancer Awareness Edition.

8pm to 11:30pm $15.95 Science Night Live. Orlando Science Center, 777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803.  It’s social. It’s science. It’s 21 and up! This is also one of the best opportunities to  check out my solo exhibition of Science Center Paintings on display on exhibit on the second floor near the Founer’s Room.

Science Night Live
at Orlando Science Center is your chance to spark your curiosity
through fun exhibits and programs…with some adult beverages, of
course! Bring your friends, or make it a date night, and join us for a
unique and ever-changing experience that proves there’s no age limit on
curiosity!

This event has been known to sell out and tickets are available online only for just $15.95, so get yours before they’re gone!

[TICKETS] www.osc.org/snl

FEATURED EXPERIENCES:

• Hear a presentation from our guest speaker

• Immerse yourself in the world of superheroes, crime fighters, gadgets and spies in our traveling exhibit, Hall of Heroes

• View stars and planets with telescopes in the observatory (weather permitting)

• Experience giant-screen films in the Dr. Phillips CineDome

• Conduct lab experiments in Dr. Dare’s Laboratory

• Enjoy the latest exhibition on display in Fusion: A STEAM Gallery (Work of Thomas Thorspecken of Analog Artist Digital World)

• Delight in food and adult beverages available for purchase

• Experience the Science Center in a whole new way…without kids

Admission to Science Night Live is free for Orlando Science Center Members and $15.95 for the general public.

Sunday October 7, 2018 

10am to 4pm Free. Lake Eola Farmers Market. Lake Eola Park, Orlando, FL 32801.

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 3pm Donation based. Music at the Casa. Flamenco Guitarist Omar Miguel. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Members of the public are invited to visit our historic home museum on a
Sunday afternoon from 12 to 3 pm, listen to live music and take a tour
of our historic home museum and the James Gamble Rogers II Studio by
trained docents.

Winter Park Farmers Market

Posted on by Thor

I ran across the Winter Park Farmers Market as I was looking for a writing and yoga workshop. I never found the workshop so I returned to sketch the market. It seemed like every other person in the market had a dog. There were pugs, poodles, greyhounds and this furry beast who lunged forward whenever he saw another dog. The owner pulled back hard on the leash. An older man walking by said, “That is no way to treat a dog.” The yuppie just went on shopping.

Across from me there was bamboo for sale along with garden plants. The proprietor fingered his iPhone. There was local honey in the booth behind me. A little girl walked up to me and asked what I was drawing. I had met this child just a week before at a political forum. Small world.

When I finished the sketch, I began my search for some lunch. I found a small booth that served omelets. When I got t he omelet, I settled on a park bench to eat. The Winter Park historical society was on my right. A woman sat across from me and she must have noticed that I was studying the architecture. She said, “I can’t believe the building isn’t open when the market is open. They are missing a chance to get some foot traffic.” She then started to tell me all about the history of peacocks in Winter Park. The Tiffany’s had a large property where they let peacocks roam. Peacocks are in Winter Park to this day.

Infusion Tea Farmers Market

Posted on by Thor

Every Thursday, Infusion Tea is the site of a Farmers Market from 5 to 9PM. I arrived just before 5 and parked across the street. Vendors were still setting up and I walked around looking for the perfect spot to sketch from. I wandered from tent to tent seeing the goods being offered. Bee’s Knees Sweet Treats had creamy Lemon Tartlets, Chocolate Mint Cupcakes and Orange You my Honey Cupcakes. I had sampled their goods at the last Mobile Art Show and those chocolate covered marshmallows were to die for! A truck unloaded it’s produce including watermelons. There were plants and jams and a grill was fired up. As I sketched a lone performer set up and started singing to the assembled shoppers. I waved to Maria Bolton-Joubert. She set up a caricature booth in the blue tent. I picked a vantage point from across the street so I could get an overall view of the Market while having a view of the Infusion Tea signs.
Thunder rumbled on the horizon and I started to sketch faster. One by one vendors looked at the blue gray clouds forming on the Eastern horizon. Soon enough it began to drizzle. I was under a tree so I was able to work for a while till the leaves became soaked and started allowing the rain through. Then a deluge. I threw my sketchbook in my bag and ran for the cover of my truck. I suspected the storm might pass quickly so I just sat in my truck and waited. I opened the window a crack and started to place watercolor washes over my sketch. I could see the basic colors of the market through the raindrop masked windshield.
When the rain finally stopped I was glad to get out of the truck since it had turned into a furnace and I was sweating up a storm. Outside it was nice and cool thanks to the downpour. Good things come to those who wait. Around 7Pm I went into Infusion and ordered a tea. The woman behind the counter knew of my blog and I showed her the sketch. It turns out they had just been talking about the blog when they noticed me sketching across the street. Melissa Kasper, from DRIP, came in and I showed her how to set up a blog using her laptop and Infusion’s free WIFI. The set up took only a few minutes and she had a post up and published within half an hour. This brand new blog is called Currents and Color. It is rewarding to see another artist experience the same joy I fist felt when I pressed the “Publish” button for this blog over a year and a half ago.

Grandma Party

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Stardust Video and Coffee was the host to the annual Grandma Party. The streets around Stardust were crammed full of parked cars. I had never seen such a crowd at the venue. The Grandma Party started several years ago as a place for local fashion designers, bookbinders, painters, knitters, silversmiths, vintage dealers, bakers and print makers to showcase and sell their work. Everything found here was hand crafted and original. There was a stage set up for local musicians to perform as well but they were not playing when I arrived. I wandered around and bumped into a few friends as I searched for my sketch of the day. Anna McCambridge’s mom, Vicki was celebrating her birthday and she blew out a candle on a cupcake to celebrate.
I ultimately became infatuated with Alchemy, an outdoor hair cutting booth. The seats were always full as women and men rotated in to have their hair cut. It was a challenge to capture the hair stylists who were in constant motion but it was worth the effort.
When I finished this sketch I went to the stage to listen to the music. At the end of the final number a girl dresses in a red and white overalls stood next to the stage and threw confetti when the song ended. Although titled the Grandma Party, most of the crowd was hip and young. These were Orlando’s true bohemians and they knew how to party.

Audubon Market

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The Audubon Market has returned to the parking lot at Stardust Video and Coffee 1842 East Winter Park Road. This market opens every Wednesday night and runs from 5 PM to 9 PM. This is a small local market with live music, a massage station, a fortune teller, a table of delectables like candied apples and other sweets, hand crafted jewelry and clothing, plants, the list is endless. Most importantly it is a place where friends can mingle and talk.
I bumped into Karrie Brown who was selling some of her hand made feather hair pieces. Karrie introduced me to the caricature artist at the event named Marie Bolton – Joubert. Marie is a whirlwind of constant activity. She introduced me to a cause she is backing which involves the shooting of 2 dogs here in sunny Central Florida. She showed me a courtroom sketch she did of an early hearing in this case and now I am planning to go to the court to see if the shooter is acquitted. I should post about this hearing in early November. Then she insisted I sit down and she whipped out a caricature of me in a matter of minutes while talking the whole time. The caricature is great!
I neglected to mention that the reason I went to Stardust Video and Coffee was to attend Dr. Sketchy’s but once I discovered all the activity in the nighttime market I had to sketch the market and I never went inside. It was boiling hot outside as well and I had to wipe the sweat off my hands several times to keep from smearing the watercolors.

Lake Eola Farmers Market

Posted on by Thor

The Lake Eola Farmers Market is open every Sunday from 10 Am to 4PM. There were perhaps 30 or so tents set up with fresh produce and and assortment of holistic goods. One vendor had chilled coconuts which he would slice open and then insert a straw. After walking up and down the line of tents I decided my best bet for a sketch was to sit in this circular area which is shaded by large magnificent live oaks. In front of me was a whole table of women who seemed to get together every weekend. “I think I always tell you this but I love your hand bag.” There were toy sized dogs to be found everywhere. Orlando Brewing Company had a tent and many people were sipping beer as they relaxed.

I was inspired by the massive diagonals the tree trunks created as they sliced up toward then sky. Out of the bark sprouted ferns. Lazy Spanish Moss hung down from the thick branches. On the horizon dark clouds rolled in and thunder could be heard. However where we were it remained sunny. A guitar player in front of me was playing “Let the sun shine in” along with other Beetles songs. Children were seated in small green chairs watching him. Someone mentioned that he plays every weekend. Behind me I could hear a parrot’s shrill scream.

When I was done with the sketch, I walked around the lake scouting out restaurants and cafes for the up coming 23rd International Sketch Crawl. I am mapping a route so artists can join the crawl at any point during the day.