First Thursdays at OMA

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Noga Grossman arranged for Orlando Urban Sketchers to have a table for First Thursdays at the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA). As part of  our presentation, I agreed to do a sketch on my iPad, which was connected to one of the large screen TVs above our table. With that arrangement people could see my sketch progress in real time. Getting the connections right was a challenge, so we arranged to get things ironed out the week before. My possible sketch opportunities were limited to my view from the table since I was tethered to the screen. Pam helped me with a new wireless connection that worked great, which might mean sketching from anywhere in a venue without worrying about wires. It is a brave new world.

The Orlando Urban Sketcher’s table was adorned with a roll of paper, allowing anyone the chance to add to a sketch that developed over the course of the event. It was a popular spot for artists to come and relax with a sketch. Each Orlando Urban Sketcher was asked to bring in a sketchbook. My sketchbook had sketches of the strip in Las Vegas from a recent trip. What is great about having Urban Sketchers exploring an event is that each artist has their unique way of seeing and interpreting  the scene.

The theme for this First Thursday event was Art and Architecture. This show is a discovery into how art informs the built environment.
Artists were encouraged to submit all types of media, from photography
to 3D models, to showcase the beauty found in the built world. First Thursday is an opportunity for patrons to discover local artists, listen to live music, and mingle with an eclectic mix of people. There are cash bars serving wine, beer, soft drinks, and water, and cafe offerings from area restaurants. 

A giant pink sculpture by Carlos Betancourt dominated the back gallery area, while The Smoking Jackets performed live near the Chihuly sculpture in the atrium. Trevor Fraser was telling me a story of a reporter asking Chihuly what the hardest lesson was that he had learned as an artist. The two were walking through the artist’s glass-making workshop and an apprentice was finishing up a gorgeous piece of glass. Chihuly took it from him and threw it violently against the wall. It shattered into thousands of pieces. “Nothing lasts,” he said.

The next First Thurday is June 6, 2019. The theme for the evening will be Indigenous Futurism, which will will focus on the indigenous and tribal origins of art. From Africa,
Australia, North, South and Central America, and beyond. They
will explore the influence and fusion of tribal art from the past and
into the future. Admission is $15.

Mardi Gras at The Orlando Museum of Art

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From 6-9 pm on the first Thursday of each month, Central Florida has an opportunity to discover local artists, listen to live music and mingle with an eclectic mix of people. There are cash bars serving wine, beer, soft drinks and water, and café offerings from area restaurants. The event is hosted by the Associates of the Orlando Museum of Art (2416 N. Mills Ave Orlando, Florida). The museum refers to the event as “Orlando’s original art party”.

The February First Thursday’s theme was Mardi Gras. I arrived rather late and settled on sketching the band before they broke down for the night. High-spirited guests were dancing to the music. There was a drag show in the front gallery, but when I walked in they were walking out. I seemed to be one step behind every performance that night. There were plenty of golden masks and opulent dresses. I just didn’t manage to capture any in the one quick sketch I did. Maxine of Maxine’s on Shine offered some gumbo at the end of the night and it was absolutely delicious. It had just enough kick.The taste brought back vivid memories of the crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans in which you need to learn how to navigate the flow of the crowd not through annoyance and avoidance, but by accepting the weaving and constant contact. It’s glorious when you are in the moment.

First Thursdays at the Orlando Museum of Art.

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First Thursdays, at the Orlando Museum of Art is held as the name implies, is held on the First Thursday of every month. Each month has a new theme. In November, the theme was animals. David Ramiss had a wonder metal sculpture of a wasp enclosed in a plexiglass case. A beautiful model was showing off a day sculptor in progress, still on the armature. I think the sculptor wanted to work on it during the event, but he was bombarded with so many questions, that he never had time to touch the clay.

The hissing cat was unique. Someone demonstrated that if you put your fringe in the cat’s butt, it would make a noise. I explained this unique feature to several friends who stopped to talk, but they didn’t believe me. No one activated the cat for the rest of the evening. Wine flowed and the room got more and more packed. Brad Micheal Biggs gave me a quartz crystal he had mined himself. Jeff had forgot he his cell phone and he needed to borrow mine. I guess the crystal was a fair trade.

The next First Thursday is titled,

ECLECTIC KNIGHTS

VIII September 1, 2016

8th annual event for the UCF College of Arts and Humanities Alumni
Chapter. This Knight of Art will feature artwork designed exclusively by
UCF alumni, faculty and staff in a variety of media.

Presented by the Associates of the Orlando Museum of Art| which is a volunteer support group committed to expanding
Museum membership and encouraging the appreciation of the visual arts.
From 6-9 pm on the first Thursday of each month, Central Florida has an
opportunity to discover local artists, listen to live music and mingle
with an eclectic mix of people. There are cash bars serving wine, beer,
soft drinks and water, and café offerings from area restaurants.

Admission to 1st Thursdays is $10 for visitors. Admission includes
access to the Museum’s featured exhibition. Parking is free at Orlando
Loch Haven Park and overflow parking is available at the Orlando Science
Center’s parking garage for $5 per vehicle.

Casa Feliz

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Casa Feliz (625 North Park Avenue, Winter Park) hosts free musical performances each Sunday from Noon to 3PM. Jack Fannigan invited me inside prior to a performance with a theatrical flourish. Jack used to work for James Gamble III who designed Casa Feliz. The building was slated to be demolished but Winter Park citizens wanted to save the historic building. The entire building was lifted and moved to its new home next to a golf course.

Matt, The Sax Man, Festa and Michelle Mailhot were performing on this sunny Sunday afternoon. I had sketched Matt once before at a First Thursdays event at OMA. As a matter of fact, when he opened his laptop, my sketch of him was being used as his screen saver. Michelle also performs with Toxic Audio, a talented acapella singing group. I know they have performed at the Orlando International Fringe Festival and I’ve heard plenty of good buzz, but I’ve never seen them perform. Regardless, Michelle’s voice is stellar. She sang Nora Jones’ “I don’t knew why” with incredible heart.

The evening before, I had sketched at the Red Fox Lounge where the incomparable Mark Wayne and Lorna Lamby used to perform their kitschy and fun musical lounge act. After Mark’s death earlier this year, there has been other performers trying to fill those shoes, but there is still a void. Matt and Michelle have that extra magic turning a performance into an all out party. Michelle’s daughter dressed in pink, danced in the front row. Every seat was full and the room was alive. As I packed up to leave, I noticed another artist working on a sketch. What a great way to start a Sunday afternoon.

Francophile: All Things French

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First Thursdays at the Orlando Museum of Art is Orlando’s original art party. From 6 – 9 pm on the first Thursday of each month, OMA showcases a new theme with works by local artists, live music, cash bars serving wine, beer and soft drinks, and café offerings from area restaurants. June’s theme was organized by Anna McCambridge-Thomas who set the stage for all things french. Artists captured what they love about the French or France itself from food, film, wine, literature, perfume, music, art and architecture, fashion, the people to the personality of the country.

When I arrived, Anna welcomed me warmly and showed me around as people were setting up. In the back gallery, Maitre Parfumeur Christian Louis was setting up. He had been flown in from France and didn’t know any English. A beautiful French woman acted as interpreter. In the theater, Emotions Dance was going to perform Four Seasons, Poet Logan Anderson was going to read and models from Le Salon Zizou strutted lavish fashion.

I settled into the front gallery where artists displayed paintings with a French Theme. Artist Bernard Martin set up a small easel. He had a pink dress with him as well and I heard he might have a gorgeous model.  The model never showed, so he had to work from a photo. He was working on a loose spontaneous watercolor. I stood behind him for sometime admiring his lush and highly used pallet. Behind him were his loose impressionistic oil paintings. One was titled Moulin Rouge, another, Cabaret and The Vase. They all featured nude or semi nude women in bold impasto against a dark background.

The sculptor was Steve Piscitelli. The two sculptures he was working on were close to being finished. This made sense since so many people stopped to talk to him which meant he didn’t hare time to concentrate. He added red slippers to the ballet dancer and the red clay acted as blood and intestines for the sculpture of a Bull, much to the delight of a young boy. In the middle of the room there was a crown mounted under Plexiglas made of pearls, a large coin and gems. It was titled, The Princess Kameryn Renee Parker.  Later I saw a young girl walking around wearing the crown. She must have been the artist’s niece or daughter.

Tonight, July 5th, First Thursdays will feature work from OMA members. Admission is free for members and $10 for non-members and includes access to the OMA’s featured exhibitions. Parking is free
at Orlando Loch Haven Park and overflow parking is available at the
Orlando Science Center’s parking garage for $5 per vehicle.

First Thursdays

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Teachers and students from Full Sail had an exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art for First Thursdays. I wasn’t aware of the call for entries since I haven’t looked at my Full Sail e-mail account for over five years. I’m pretty sure there are over 5,000 unread e-mails that I would have to catch up on. Snap an annual photography festival also had a photography exhibit in one of the back galleries. Admission to the museum for First Thursdays is $10. I had a Snap press pass so I figured I could use that to get in. I also put my Full Sail teachers lanyard in my pocket figuring I could claim I was an exhibiting artist if the Snap press pass failed. Every month I approach the museum to be turned away at the front door. I’m like a raptor always testing the gates. I recognized many of the faces of the volunteers.

This time I showed my press pass and said I was there to report on the snap exhibit. The volunteer looked for my name on the list. My name wasn’t there. She told me she would have to consult with someone. I stepped aside as others filed inside.  I assume the woman that greeted me was a public relations person for Snap. She put a wrist band on me and I went in. I sighed with relief, now I could get to work. I wandered through the Full Sail show fairly quickly. The most impressive work was a large Trope-L’oeil by Shawn Rinehart, of bottles, tools, a pulley and assorted hardware. The three foot high image was created in the computer. It was beyond photo real. A sexy female pirate Marquette also caught my eye. Tom Buzbee had a large painting of abstract spirals that was intriguing. They seemed to be a visual commentary on order and chaos. Hugo Giraud had a nice drawing with ink wash that I liked.

There was no one else in the back gallery looking at the Snap photography exhibit. They must have been crowding around the food and drink stations.  The photos were all rather large in format. A black and white shot of the streets of India stood out. There was also a series of photos of people in trailer parks. Wendy Wallenberg let me know she had a piece on display. On display in the main gallery was an exhibit called, “Reflections paintings of Florida, 1865-1965“.  There were plenty of juicy oil paintings that left me wanting to push paint around on a canvas. A painting called, Moonlight on the Ocklawaha by Charles Christian Eisele was dark and mysterious.

The band I decided to sketch was called, The Cornucopia Jazz Project. Matt Festa was on sax, Jeremy Birdsall was on the keys and Orlando Sanchez was playing the bongos. The music was lively and I had fun sketching to the beat. Chere Force and Rory stopped by to ask why I didn’t have a piece in the show. I really don’t have a good excuse.

First Thursdays OMA

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I went to First Thursdays at the Orlando Museum of Art partly on business and partly pleasure. My first stop was the gift shop where I wanted to place the 2012 Calendars. I met with the shop manager, MaryAnn Keane, who loved the calenders and wanted a dozen for the shop. The woman behind the register said she would have to buy one herself. That was easy. I want to get to other shops but just haven’t had the time.

The theme of this First Thursday was sculpture. I had read that an artist was going to be carving a large cake. I searched for him but didn’t see any cake. I considered sketching in the room full of sculptures but the room was packed. I would have been confronted with many backs. Instead, I wandered back towards the music. France Neil was singing a sultry rendition of “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones. I love Nora’s sad, sweet longing music. I melted away to the sad lyrics. France has been singing at Disney since 2001 in “The Lion King.” I was tempted to mention my involvement working as an intern on the film but thought better of it. I still get goosebumps anytime I watch the opening sequence, feeling part pride and part joy to have played a small part. Several band members gave me their cards. Mike Bloomer was on the cello and David Capp was on the saxophone. David seemed to be in charge of the band, letting me know that they could add or subtract players depending on the gig.

A young woman and her mom introduced themselves to me. She follows the blog and told me to keep up the good work. I never did see a cake sculptor, but I had to go and find my way to a dance rehearsal across town.

Blank Canvas at OMA

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On the first Thursday of every month the Orlando Museum of Art opens it’s front gallery for local artists. It is an evening of art, food, drink and entertainment. This evening featured ten artists who would begin with a blank canvas offering patrons a chance to see their creative process. Walking the room, there were several painters, a print maker, jewelry maker and a sculptor working in the center of the room with a model. The model was all legs in a bikini. I circled around the sculptor and his model several times but I couldn’t find a place to plant myself so I moved on.

The print maker was using leaves and other natural found objects to begin her multi layered prints. A painter blocking in a traditional portrait didn’t appeal to me. A young woman strummed her guitar. I finally settled myself next to a jewelry maker to sketch this group of artists working on three large space themed canvases. The closest canvas depicted a satellite circling Earth. The painter let a little boy put down some bold strokes of blue on the painting. The planets on the central painting began as faintly fogged in orbs on a dark canvas. As I sketched the planets were painted in thick impasto.

Denise Lebenstein a friend from college days was in town and she leaned against the wall behind me. I hadn’t seen her in 20 plus years. I interrupted the sketch to give her a hug. I told he I’d seek her out when I was finished with the sketch. She checked out the museum with her friend Patti while I worked. Joe Rosier took a break from selling drink tickets and he shook my hand. Laughing, he wanted to know why I wasn’t sketching the beautiful model in the middle of the room. A puppeteer from Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater introduced herself. She said she saw me sketching a performance of Aladdin’s Magic Lamp. I don’t remember ever sketching that show. As she spoke, I kept wracking my brain, confused.

As I finished up, Denise stopped back to check on my progress. I put away my sketchbook and ventured out into the rain with her and Patti to get some Vietnamese food at Viet Garden. We had fun recollecting memories about our times in art school in NYC. It’s odd how selective memories can be. She remembered that we once went to a Broadway show on New Year’s eve. Watching the play we could hear the crowds gathering in Times Square. The play over, we ventured out into the massive crowd. We tore up our programs and used them as confetti at midnight when the ball dropped. I had totally forgotten about that night. Neither of us could recall the play.

Lousy T-shirt

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The theme for an art exhibit at Orlando Museum of Art’s 1st Thursdays event was “Fashionista.” In the beginning of 2010 Brian Feldman had met with 10 Orlando artists to discuss collaborations in his “Swan Boat Talks.” This project with Johannah O’Donnell was the first project to be realized from those talks. Johannah and Brian had created 20 T-Shirts that read, Lousy T-shirt using a simple silk screen press. This was the first time that either of them had done silk screen printing so the printing was a bit spotty in places.

People could get a Lousy T-Shirt if they traded in the shirt they were wearing. I went into the men’s room, changed into one of my paint rag T-shirts and traded that for the fashionable black Lousy T-Shirt. I didn’t step behind gallery wall to do the exchange. As I removed my shirt Brian said, “Hey everybody, this is your opportunity to see Thor half naked!” Once I had on my brand spanking new T-shirt, I found a spot to sit and started sketching. Brian and Johannah were constantly posing for pictures. By the end of the evening, every Lousy T-Shirt had been given away and the rack was full of a wide variety of shirts and tops.

Orlando Home Grown Show

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As part of the week long Snap Photography celebration, there was to be an exhibit of photography from Orlando locals at the Orlando Museum of Art as part of First Thursdays. Johannah O’Donnel was there and I was told she helped organize the exhibit. On exhibit in the front gallery were paintings which all revolved around an urban theme. I made my way back towards the sound of music. I bumped into Joe Rosier who was promoting his one man storytelling show in the up coming Fringe festival. I am trying to arrange to sketch Joe since he has so much character.

In the central room of the museum with the giant blue blown glass sculpture by Dale Chilhuly a simple two man band was warming up. Adriaan Mol was playing guitar in his laid back fashion. The bands name was, Please Respect our Decadence. There was a nice tall cocktail table right in front of the stage so I started to sketch. I always get nervous sketching in museums now and I kept tracking the museum guards movements as I worked.

Jared Silvia said hello and he let me know where the photography exhibit was. When I finished sketching I went to the back gallery where the photo exhibit was hung. Jared let me know where his wife Silvia’s piece was hung. She was near her photo talking with friends. I jokingly asked her to stop crowding the art so I could get a look. It was a stark almost black and white photo of a woman in a flowing white dress lying in a stream. I couldn’t see the woman’s face. It looked to me like a murder scene. I talked to Jared about it and he said I was wrong. It was a more romantic and symbolic image with personal significance. I mentioned Dustin Hoffman floating in the pool in a scene from “The Graduate.” I hit much closer to the mark with that visual analogy.

Snap was like a week long shot of adrenalin. This dynamic, inspiring event shook me to the core making me realize the importance creative media can have to affect positive change. The city of Orlando really needs events like this to challenge, provoke and inspire creative change.