Johnny Cash Tribute at Redlight Redlight

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Redlight Redlight, (745 Bennett Rd) is a hip bar that often has themed shows of local artists’ work. On this night the walls were covered with Johnny Cash portraits. Plineo Pinto had several sweet watercolor caricatures that I liked. I bumped into Leslie Silvia who showed me the nasty blisters she got on her hands from a recent crewing competition. She had some nice silhouettes of Johnny Cash. American Destitution, was on stage playing Johnny Cash songs. I asked Jared Silvia how long they had been playing to try and gauge how long I had to sketch. The place was packed so I sat on the floor right in front of the stage to get my sketch.

After the set was over, I talked to one of the performers and he told me this was the first time the band members had performed together in a very long time. I still hadn’t ordered a beer so I muscled up to the bar and ordered a Cony Island Mermaid. The beer was dark and strong. I settled into a corner table and started a second sketch. A movie screen was set up on the stage and Johnny played for the crowd flickering and a bit distorted. His music and the swift kick from the beer made me blue. I wondered what lively conversations were flaring up around me. My hand moved over the pages involuntarily. With my second sketch finished, I decided to get home. As I left a group of graffiti artists stopped me to say hello. I had sketched these artists at Frames Forever and Art Gallery as they worked on large mural panels. I was fading and a bit depressed from listening to Johnny Cash for several hours so I didn’t socialize long. Terry was away at some conference in Texas so I could have stayed out much later. But my work was done.

Neon Forest

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Neon Forest Gallery (1741 South Orange Avenue) opened its doors for the first time with a gallery show entitled “Welcome to the Forest.” This show was four months in the making with floors being painted and walls prepared. The gallery partners are Dustin Orlando, Scott Donald, Sean Hartman and Jason Dwarzski. When I arrived, Scott Donald was out back in the parking lot putting finishing touches on the DRES13 piece entitled “Guerrera.” It was decided that it would be nice to match the colors between the pieces DRES13 was hanging in the show . So some washes of green and red were added along with a light dry brush effect of white in select spots.
TU TU Tango was setting up a food tent and there were plenty of drinks on ice. Dustin, one of the partners in the venture walked outside and looked at the looming clouds on the horizon. He said to himself, “Come on God, Work with me. Well at least it’s not windy.” When he went back inside thunder rumbled. He said they were expecting two hundred people to show up to this inaugural opening. Rain could dampen everything. He hoped it would just sweep through quickly and then dry up. A hard wind blew through the lot and lifted up one of the tents sending it into the air like a parachute. Three of us ran and grabbed the legs before it disappeared. Several people worked on strapping the tent down. Then the rain came.
Inside the gallery I discovered the work of Nicholas Gazin, a Brooklyn based artist who does amazing line drawings of people copulating and strange portraits with titles like, I want your Damage, Suicide Bombing Aftermath, and House of Spirits. Disturbing and thought provoking I wanted to see more. I spoke with Scott for a while and checked out his piece in the show called, “Spirit Bear in the Golden Age of Jihad. ” I then spoke to Tanya Dickie for quite sometime and I found out she posts a picture a day on flickr. This common thread of creating something everyday and posting it, I had to follow up on, and in time I convinced her to show me her work using the gallery’s computer. She started one of her series on September 11th because she had been in the World Trade Center a month before the attack. Like many people that day left a scar that has never fully healed. I sat in my camping chair and watched the limitless possibilities found in taking a photo a day. I felt I really got to learn something about each of the artists I met that night. This was one of the more rewarding openings I had attended lately. I felt elated that the arts are very much alive here in Orlando.
It was easy to drive by the gallery without noticing it and being in SODO it might not get the foot traffic of a downtown gallery. Still, the show was exciting and unexpected. I am hoping they have lasting success.

Something Worth Going To – The Cameo

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Katie Windish the owner of Frames Forever & Art Gallery helped get me a press pass for this show held at the Cameo Theater (1013 East Colonial Drive). Twenty two artists from around the country were featured in this show. Each artist was given a large drywall slab on which to work their magic. Many of the panels were painted the day before in the parking lot of Frames Forever & Art Gallery. When Katie and I arrived, music was blasting in the back of the ground floor space. The DJs this night were SJ Supershot, DJ SPS, Rubeox and Divinci of Solillaquists of Sound.
It was hard to choose a spot to sketch from since the space was broken up with all the drywall panels. I finally settled onto a comfortable red couch with a view of a bicycle that was covered with graffiti. The bike was decorated by Chico who is one of the earliest NYC graffiti artists. On the base of many of the spray cans that were mounted on the bike, Chico had painted his self portrait.
Across from me a New York City artist was painting an amazing mural of skulls. I had watched him start the mural the day before and I was fascinated to see how he was finishing up the process. Much of the work in the exhibit had a pop cultural hard edged feel. A friend of Katie’s named Tobar had a panel that featured a man in a gas mask. This iconic image appears again and again in his work. What really struck me was the fact that he had 2 security cameras mounted on the top edge of the display. It left me feeling a little uncomfortable like Big Brother might be watching.
Chico stopped over to see what I was working on. He offered me a signed print of one of his paintings which he gladly signed. It was a relief to see so much urban art. This show really was worth going to.

Something Worth Going To

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The parking lot behind Frames Forever & Art Gallery became a large outdoor working studio for the Urban artist who came to Orlando from all over the country to showcase their work. In Progress Urban Arts Magazine hosted the event which would ultimately be staged at the Cameo Theater (1013 East Colonial Drive). In this sketch, local Urban Artist, Swamburger is seen working on a large sheet of Drywall. The old trees offer a perfect easel for the large works.
It was exhilarating to watch artists from all over the country all working together. While I was working on this sketch, a third panel was started just to the left of my view. This work of art was started with bold sharpies to block in the basic shapes. Then spray paint was used to throw in the dark’s and more drawing was added. Finally a wide brush was used to add bold drybrush highlights to the skulls which had taken form. I had a fantastic time watching this bold execution and I would have stayed longer if I didn’t have another event to sketch lined up. It is exciting to see this vibrant Urban Art being created right in white bread Orlando. The city and its art scene seem to be growing up. As I packed up to leave Katie Windish explained that she might be able to get me a press pass to the actual show the following night. I most certainly had to see the final results.

The Spore Project – Doug Rhodehamel

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On May 1st, Doug Rhodehamel’s “Spore Project” began. Doug is asking people from all around the world to create paper bag mushrooms and plant them around their communities. He wants people to send in photos of their creations along with a name, location and number of mushrooms made. I had been trying to catch a sketch of Doug at work and finally got my chance when I found myself at a booth space right next to him at the Outsider Art Fair at Frames Forever and Art Gallery in Winter Park. Doug sat creating mushrooms at a fast and steady pace. As he worked, he explained to me the premise behind the Spore Project. Doug feels that the project will help promote awareness for the support for art education and creativity in day to day life. The project promotes self expression, resourcefulness and creativity by pointing out how a simple everyday item like a paper bag can be turned into something new and unexpected.
As Doug said, “Art is essential: it promotes intelligence and creativity, and it’s a great expressive outlet that inspires people toward new perspectives on life, which we all need and need frequently. Creativity is needed in every aspect of life. It teaches us to think differently and allows us to consider other options.The idea behind the paper bag mushroom grew innocently out of lunch in high school. While sitting around waiting for the meal break to end, I squished my lunch bag into a mushroom and gave it to my friend. this became a daily routine. years later I figured out a way to stick them in the ground. I then began placing them in my friends’ lawns while they were at work. it was meant as a joke, but other people loved them and asked me to cover their yards with mushrooms as well. I began making hundreds, then thousands. I did them for festivals, art shows, parties and just for fun. I began getting calls from teachers asking if I could come show their classrooms the art of making paper bag mushrooms. even companies and corporations began to get involved. this is where the SPORE Project began.”
So spread the word and go make some mushrooms. It’s easy and fun.

Mobile Art Show

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TheDailyCity.com hosts the Mobile Art Show every month parked outside the City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue) during “Third Thursdays.” On Third Thursdays, the downtown art galleries all open new shows allowing for a solid night of gallery hopping. In February Mark Baratelli of the Daily City decided to fill the truck with the posters of LURE Design. This was a simple show to hand since all the posters were about the same size and they could be hung with bull clips zip tied to the existing rubber bumpers inside the truck. January 21st is when this show of posters took place.
Mark drove the rental U_Haul to Frames Forever where Katie Windish had promised to help hang the show. Mark started taping huge sheets of brown paper on the side of the truck that was going to face the City Arts Factory, while Katie was hanging the posters inside the truck. As I sketched it started to rain. Katie told me I could borrow an umbrella from inside her show so I ran in and got it. So part of this sketch was done in the pouring rain while I hunkered under her umbrella. Then the wind started to pick up causing to rain horizontally and I dashed inside the truck. The windy deluge didn’t last too long and I soon went back out to finish up the sketch.
That night I went downtown to see the Mobile Art Show in action for the first time. Brian Feldman was outside the City Arts Factory doing his latest performance which involved charging peoples cell phones. Because of the pending rain, I decided against sketching that night. This sketch would have to do for the day. Mark had decorated the inside of the U-Haul with white Christmas lights and it was really festive. I am trying to convince Mark to allow me to plaster the side of the truck with ink jet prints all 365 sketches from last year and then have the 2009 sketchbooks and some matted prints inside the truck. At the FRESH performances this month I have figured out how to offer any print from the sketchbooks by using a tablet PC and an ink jet printer. As Mark said when he say this set up, “That is bad ass!” So keep your eyes open downtown on the Third Thursday of March!

Analog Artist Digital World 2009 Retrospective Opening

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The opening for the Analog Artist Digital World 2009 Sketchbook Retrospective was a lively and crowded five hour event at Dandelion Communitea Cafe. The ten sketchbooks created last year were framed in shadow box frames I had built myself. I had Frames Forever frame several assignments I had done for Orlando Home and Leisure as well. The number of pieces framed was just enough to fill out the space, and one sketch wasn’t hung.
On opening night I arrived early to set up a tablet PC, which I hung on the wall to play a flickr slide show of all the drawings posted to the blog in 2009. Patrons who were from the various arts boards were some of the first people to show up right after work. The band called Hymn for Her set up to play alternative folk music for the people arriving later. The cafe is used as an unofficial after party for the people who go to First Thursdays, which is a monthlt themed art event at the Orlando Museum of Art.
Dandelion Communitea Cafe was packed all night. People who I had sketched during the year kept arriving and introducing themselves. Once the music started it became impossible to talk, so at that point I got the sketchpad out to document my own opening. An artist/author from the last Sketch Crawl also stood in a corner of the room furiously working in his pad. The little child at the table playing with the crayons is the performer’s child. He had a large headset on to protect his fragile eardrums. The rest of us experienced the music full blast. I asked the performers to place one of my framed sketchbooks on the amplifier behind them. It frames Pierce’s head in the sketch as he plays banjo. Maggi is playing a cigar box with a broomstick attached. The instrument actually has a really good sound.
When I finished this sketch, someone showed me a sketch on their digital camera and he said it would be a blast from my past. He said the sketch was mine, and for the longest time I didn’t believe him. My eyes started to tear up from the strain of staring at the musicians and drawing. Julie Norris, co-owner of Dandelion, asked if I was Okay, as I kept rubbing my eyes with my sleeve. Perhaps there was an emotional reason for the tears as well, rediscovering a sketch from a vibrant and exciting time in my life. The lines on the sketch he was showing me digitally, were vibrant and flowing, dark and confident. I really liked the sketch, yet couldn’t believe I had done it. It showed a New York City street scene with a crowd of people. He finally explained that it was from a sketchbook which had been passed around the Florida Disney Animation Studio. I had done that drawing on the backlot of MGM (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) more than fifteen years ago. Darn, I was a good draftsman back then!
All night, people offered new ideas on places I could sketch in 2010. By the end of the night my head was spinning. I only had one white wine. With all the conversations and activity, I never had time to take a sip. Eventually, a large crowd of us had to be asked to leave so the place could be cleaned up and closed down for the night. What an exciting night! The show will hang at Dandelion Communitea Cafe at 618 North Thornton Avenue Orlando through January 30th. Go by, grab a tea, and enjoy the events, places and people that defined Orlando culture in 2009.

Frames Forever and Art Gallery

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I have been offering people who purchase sketches from me the opportunity to have the art framed by Katie Windish at Frames Forever & Art Gallery 941 Orange Avenue in Winter Park. Katie has made her shop available for several of Brian Feldman’s performances such as “Sleepwalk“, and “The End of Television: PartIII“. Since she supports the arts in this way, I have decided to use her services exclusively.
On my second trip to the shop, I asked Katie if she would mind me sketching her at work. If you look in the mat she is placing, you will see one of my theater audition sketches. Katie works fast. She had the mat cut within minutes and then went on to build the custom frame. She cut lengths of the black wooden frames on a table saw with a vacuum sucking up the dust automatically. The cuts were then sanded perfectly flat and everything was set to assemble. She glued the wood frames together and held it tight with an adjustable strap. When the glue was set, she nailed the frame together for added support. Her dog, Lucy, checked up on me several times as I sketched but since I didn’t lavish any attention on her, she wandered to the back of the work room and watched me for a while. Lucy is Katie’s security dog and I am sure she was devising some way to get me kicked out of the shop but her eyes got droopy and she fell asleep.
Katie is a whirlwind using every corner of the shop as she assembles a frame so I drew her 3 separate times in 3 different locations before I decided to lock her into the position she holds in the sketch. Katie’s small intimate shop is always a pleasure to visit. If you are looking to frame anything, I highly recommend heading down to Frames Forever.