The Zora Neale Hurston Festival is held in the final weeks of January. The festival is held in the small town of Eatonville which is just north of Lee Road. Eatonville is the the oldest incorporated African American municipality in the United States. Zora Neale Hurston is one of most significant authors of African-American culture in the world, and many of her works celebrate her hometown of Eatonville, right here in Central Florida! 2010 marked 50 years since Hurston’s death.
The event features museum exhibitions, public talks, panel discussions, workshops and concerts. It culminates with a three-day weekend Street Festival of the Arts, which features everything from literacy programs for children; performances by local, regional and national acts; Juried Arts competitions, presenting fine artists with their original artwork in competition for cash prizes; an international marketplace, where visitors purchase wares from around the world, an international food pavilion featuring an array of food options and more.
When I got to the Eatonville, I found Kennedy Boulevard, the main road, closed to traffic. I pulled into a small churches dirt parking lot. I walked down the boulevard past a local bar and many small somewhat rundown wooden homes. Soon there were vendors tents and I walked the length of the vendors area looking for a subject for a sketch. I finally settled on this collection of large wooden sculptures. The proprietor wore a brown leather jacket and light brown pants. Once in a while he would move some of the larger pieces, I suppose figuring the new arrangement would draw in more costumers. Periodically people would look over my shoulder to see what I was up to. One woman told me all about a silk painting she had bought for really cheep. She later returned and showed me the artwork she had bought. The image is created entirely with thin strands of colored silk pasted down in a spiral pattern. The silk caught the light and sent it back to the viewer with a bright shimmer. Another family stopped to look, and it turns out the young boy has been teaching himself Flash animation on the computer, so I explained about how I had worked for Disney Feature Animation for ten years. They asked me for advice on any books about animation I might recommend and I gave them my top pics.
There was plenty of color to be seen at the festival although my sketch seems to only demonstrate a sea of brown. I ordered some food from a vendor and listened to some gospel music before I headed home.
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival
On Friday March 19th, the 51st Annual Winter Park Art Sidewalk Festival started. I decided to go right after work at Full Sail when Kathy Blackmore told me that there was going to be a jazz band featuring songwriter Peter White kicking off the night’s festivities on the main stage. I knew I had other commitments over the weekend, so this would likely be my only chance to sketch the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. I would be exhibiting my art at the Outsider Art Fair at Frames Forever (941 Orange Avenue Winter Park). There, I plan to sketch Doug Rhodehamel, who makes his unmistakable mushrooms out of brown paper bags, and Brian Feldman, who will be performing “sleepwalk 2, i walk over you”. Both of these are priceless sketch opportunities.
When I arrived at the festival, I wandered and soaked in the energy and excitement of all people gathered for the event. The outdoor cafes were packed. Conversations were buzzing. My pace quickened. As I looked through several artists booths, I ran into Terry and Rick Loewen. Terry and Rick are old friends from ORCA which stands for Orlando Reef Caretakers Association. Terry and Rick informed me that ORCA would be hosting the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America this September, so this is certainly an event I hope to sketch. They told me I could get a hotel room discount at the Marriott Resort, which didn’t make sense at first. But then they told me they would have a Margarita making machine in their room and I agreed, a hotel room was a great idea! If you happen to work at the Marriott, I made that last piece of business up.
I was anxious to find my way to the Winter Park Arts Festival jazz, so I told Rick and Terry I would see them by the main stage. The lawn in front of the stage was already crowded. I walked down the sidewalk and found a spot between artist’s tents where I could sit. I of course started sketching immediately since the sun was setting. A couple asked if they could sit in the spot next to me and, of course, I agreed. When I was about halfway through the sketch, the man seated next to me who was sipping a red wine, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I love your work, can I see the sketch?” The watercolor was still wet in spots, but I handed it over. He shared it with his wife and they agreed, that they wanted to buy it. I gave him my card so he could check out the blog and told him to leave a comment if he still wanted it. I hope I have found another reader!
The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival continues at Central Park in Winter Park through March 21st at 5 PM.
Holi Festival
Holi or the Festival of Colors is celebrated every spring by Hindus, Buddists and Sikks. It is primarily celebrated in countries with large Indic diaspora populations. From what I read, I anticipated people decorating themselves with brightly colored chalks. This was something I had to sketch. I read that this celebration was taking place right here in Orlando so I packed my art supplies and drove over to the Citrus Bowl where it was taking place. That evening I was also going to a Oscars party so I put on a nice suit and dress pants.
When I arrived at the Citrus bowl, I could hear the very loud music. Parking was $10 which was annoying, but I bit the bullet and drove into the dirt lot. When I entered the fenced in area where Holi Fest was happening there were a few tents set up for food and assorted goods. There was a table full of colorful, romance filled and vibrant Balliwood DVDs. Leaning against the fence were a wide variety of paintings of Krishna, Radna and other exotic and beautiful gods. The place was rather deserted when I got there. People were just setting up and the sound engineers were standing near the stage truck and the huge wall of speakers. As I was finishing my sketch of the main stage, a woman approached me from behind and rubbed her hand along the back of my neck. I thought, well, isn’t that friendly. Then when I looked back at my sketchbook, I saw that the page was covered in bright pink powdered pigments. I quickly blew off as much pigment as I could but some had landed in a wet patch of watercolor so it remained. Then I noticed that my suit jacket was also coated in the pigment. Glancing around I realized that the field was now filled with hundreds of people, most of them dressed in white and covered in various pigments.
With my first sketch finished, I stated wandering around the crowd looking for my next subject. Everywhere I looked people were throwing or wiping brightly colored chalks on each other. People were using super soakers full of pigmented water and squinting each other. I was in a colorful war zone. I backed myself up against the fence and relaxed in the shade of a tree for a while.
Rather than try and draw the huge and constantly moving crowd, I decided to approach these children who were relaxing behind the speakers. I asked I they minded me sketching them, and the young girl said, “Of course not!” I sat a few feet away and started working. I was anointed with pigments several more times as I worked on this sketch. I realized that I stood out like a soar thumb since I was the only man in a black suit and everyone else was dressed mostly in white. I slowly blended in as I became more colorful. Performers who approached the stage would walk right in front of me. They were smart, having covered themselves with long raincoats which they only took off when they got on the stage. There was music and dancing all afternoon. Songs often would have to do with the epic love story of Radna Krishna. I didn’t understand the words, but the spirit and playful fun of the event were not lost on me. By the time I finally decided to leave there had to be several thousand people crowded on the field. Everyone was brightly colored and often soaking wet. The family I sketched had flown from New York State to Orlando just to go to this event. I gave the mother of the children I had sketched the address to this blog so she could get a copy of the sketch. She then offered me a huge plate of Indian food which was fantastic. There was an apricot pastry, and several really tasty Guijia, which are fried dumplings. It is often impossible to sketch and observe an event without it coloring and influencing my life. How great that Orlando still offers new and unexpected experiences. This is a fabulous, fun and free event that I certainly plan to attend again next year.
Summer Bash Party
I attended the International Academy of Design & Technology Summer Bash Party. I was attracted to this event because I heard they were going to hold a sand castle building contest. I imagined engineers and artists working together as teams to create astounding architectural and sculptural wonders. What I found when I got there was a sad pile of sand with one ten year old girl digging a small hole with a plastic shovel. I stopped back several times and not a single sand castle appeared.
Several young women in tight shorts and white tee shirts did offer me a free drink however. They were Red Bull girls and things started looking up. My attention wandered to the sidewalk chalk artists. These students attacked the task at hand in the blazing noon day sun with gusto. The young woman in the foreground used a two fisted approach as she layered in the yellow and orange hair on her Henai creation. The artist in the black skull cap took a more somber view and half of his sidewalk square was filled in with pure black chalk.
On the stage in front of the entrance of the school, a group of man dressed in red sweats began a strength demonstration. They tore phone books in half, busted baseball bats and crushed a tower of cement blocks. Between bouts of destruction, they explained that they were destroying things for Jesus. Each of them at one point was at the top of their game living the plush life of a sports star, when for each, an unexpected injury bought them down and made them realize they were living only for themselves. When they discovered Jesus their lives were turned around. I applaud their dedication to destruction, but they would have been far more entertaining without the lecture.
Earth Day
On the same day as the Kentucky Derby, Lake Eola became the home of Earth Day in Orlando. Twenty eight groups and businesses helped sponsor the event. Dozens of tents were scattered around the lake. There was free music, a kids play area and various performances through out the day. You could learn about building a local food network, health and wellness and water conservation. I on the other hand was drawn to such luxuries as a good shoulder massage. As I leaned back against a tree and did this sketch, my shoulders as usual tensed up as I worked. Right next to me in the lake was a gooses nest with mom sitting pretty. Periodically well meaning adults and children would chase the mother goose away by crowding the nest and throwing bread at the her as she swam away.
When My sketch was finished Summer and her friend Teresa stopped to say hello and I decided to be sociable for once and joined them on a quest for a refreshing desert. After turning down some holistic cupcakes we all settled on flavored ices. I got a mango flavored ice and we all sat down to enjoy some free music as we ate. The ice really hit the spot on a hot summer afternoon. It was nice to just relax after a solid day of sketching.
Green Festival
On a sunny Sunday I went to Lake Baldwin to sketch the Green Festival. I assumed I was looking for a lakes side park so I drove around the neighborhood for a bit before I finally rolled down a window to ask for directions. An old woman walking her dog pointed me in the right direction. The street was blocked off and two blocks were cluttered with tents. I was thirsty so I immediately got an organic iced lemonade. Kristen Manieri wanted to get some photos of me at work and we were to meet here. I walked on the shady side of the street looking for a spot to sketch. I settled on Joe’s Oat Patties stand because of the intermittent lines that would form offering me a chance to sketch people waiting in the foreground. The sun moved and within minutes I was no longer in the shade. I had stood in the shade of a palm tree and those never offer much cover. I dug through my bag for sunscreen but I had left it at home. My arms and neck got quite a burn.
Kristen walked right past me once then called me on her cell. She explained where she was and I could see her on her cell in the distance from where I was sketching. I steered her toward me until she saw me on my cell. She introduced me to her husband, Marc and baby, Elizabeth. Then she started taking shots while I continued to work. After perhaps a dozen shots she was done. Afterwords she and her family went to the lake side to have a picnic lunch. They had bought a picnic basket and blanket. I like the way she manages to mix work and pleasure.
Performers
This is the only sketch I did of Bluegrass Performers. By this time I was tired, cold, and the tablet had died. The lead singer of this group had on a loud jacket with roses sewn on so he looked like he belonged in a mariachi band rather than a bluegrass band. Terry and I had moved forward and sat in the lawn chairs left in place by people who had gone home. I imagine the people were planning to come back the next day to reclaim there prime seating.
Biker for Jesus
The tablet didn’t come out until after the sunset. Terry and I had been sitting on the outskirts of the packed tent for most of the day. When the wind picked up and temperatures dropped, we were forced inside by workers who put up the side flaps to the tent. The couple in front of us fascinated me. The biker had a long grey beard that went down to his belly. The emblem on the jacket read: Christian Motorcyclists Association, with a bible in the middle of the logo. This groups vision , according to there website is: Changing the world, one heart at a time. Later when I got a Polish Sausage, I saw the couple in the picnic area and she was lovingly brushing his long beard.
Working with the tablet in the cold temperature had its advantages, like keeping my hand and lap warm as the computer chip heated up.
Bluegrass Sunset
As the sun set people began to bundle up. In the background you can see the septic truck which cleaned out the portopotties. Outside the staging area there were hundreds of RV’s. Besides the acts on stage, people were jamming all day and night in tents and RV’s.
Bluegrass Audience
This morning I woke up with a nasty cold and I have no doubt that it is from sitting outside at this Bluegrass festival till 9:30 at night while I could see my own breath. I am not sure what the temperature was but it was cold!