Social Media is a brave new fronteer.

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I always go to social media meet ups when I can to learn something new. Panelists discuss what they have learned, but they learn by trial and error. I learned that headlines should be catchy and informative. Complete sentences work better when the post goes on Twitter and Facebook. I’m thinking that the best headlines always involve cute kittens. Twitter is a beast I have only started to use. Panelists seem to have Thousands of followers and they accomplish that by looking through lists of followers followers and following them. I can’t imagine putting in so much effort to find people I don’t know.

Monetizing the blog is a realistic goal that I need to set for myself next year. At a party this weekend, we discussed the idea that a goal isn’t likely to be achieved unless you write it down and share it. Soon I will be teaching workshops to middle school and high school students, inspiring them to keep sketchbooks. I hope to start organizing monthly “Orlando Drink and Draw” (ODD) events to meet more local artists. The literary community seems to have a plethora of events every month yet artists seldom get together unless they are vendors at festivals. Frankie Messina had the awesome idea of having a softball game between authors and artists. It is fun ideas like this that can get arts groups to mingle and mix more.

Another goal for the new year is to set up sketch workshops for tourists. I’m sure there are some tourists who would like to escape the theme parks and sketch the real Orlando. In February I hope to collaborate with Kelly Medford who founded  sketch tourism in Rome Italy. Together we will host a tourist sketch outing in Orlando. I’m excited to see this happen.

RobotMan

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The outdoor entertainment tent at this year’s Fringe Festival rocked. Jessica Pawli organized all the bands and she brought in some amazing talent. There were times when I was between shows and I just had to stop, listen, sketch and enjoy. RobotMan had a fun jazzy sound with plenty of energy. Frankie Messina was sitting in the front row and I asked him how long the group had been playing. He said, “Probably not much longer, but I’m glad I am here to catch them”.

I always agonize that I might not have enough time to do a sketch, but I jumped right in anyway. The fast paced music slipper notes helped carry me along. Sometimes faster is better and accuracy can be replaced with spontaneity. The music reflected that thought as did the sketch. What a fun surprise to catch RobotMan in action on the lawn of fabulousness.

Birkbeck, Duff and Ball

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On June 20th (Third Thursday), The Gallery at Avalon Island featured musicians Rick Birkbeck, Duff and Ball at the opening reception for The Imprint Show. A large fabric instillation grappled its way through the entry where the main exhibit was and where the musicians performed. Naomi Butterfield was there listening and Terry and I joined her. One of the musicians was related to Naomi, but I don’t recall the links on the family tree. The musicians had to perform over the ever louder conversations that erupted around the art.

The Imprint show featured all women artists including Dina Mack and Leslie Silvia. Dina and Leslie’s work are exact opposites visually. Dina had quiet abstracts that featured white on white while Leslie’s work had black paper cutouts that boldly featured folklore bordering on nightmares. Britty Metty aka Brittany Metz, had a complex installation that resembled an alter with an illuminated Virgin Mary that had her skull shattered. Stuffed animals and an intricate assortment of found objects were piled up at the Virgin’s feet.

This was the evening of the last game in the NBA Finals, so Terry wanted to go to Frank & Stein’s (150 South Magnolia Avenue Orlando, FL) for some hot dogs and watch the game. It was an exciting game, with the Miami Heat winning. Towards the end of the game, Frankie Messina, Naomi and several others stopped in to watch the climax of the game. Frankie gave several of us “Emblems of Power” necklaces made by Mo4us Da Heru. Mine was an all black bead necklace with a golden cross encased in a black cube.

Soft Exposure

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On February 27th, I went to Soft Exposure at Infusion Tea (1600 Edgewater Dr, Orlando, Florida).

Naomi Butterfield and Frankie Messina  hosted this monthly event that features the writing of local and visiting authors. Soft Exposure happens every 4th Wednesday. I ordered a delicious vanilla tea and a humus wrap and found a spot with a decent view of the podium. Terry arrives just before things got started, but she wasn’t feeling well so she relaxed on a sofa at the back of the room. Author Karen Price joined me at my table.

Janna Benge was the featured author. She and her husband Geoff run a monthly Silver Fern Writing Workshop out of their winter Park home. The couple hails from New Zealand. They became accidental authors and accidental immigrants to the United States. Janna has ghost written about 100 books; she and Geoff co-wrote two historical biography series which has 61 title, and three million copies in about 15 languages. She is now working on a fictionalized memoir of a Victorian murderess. She read an excerpt from that book. Written in the first person, the woman agonized over her need to confess what she had done. The murderess was based on true events that Janna researched and then fictionalized.

After Janna read, the mic was open for any author to share their work. There is something very rewarding going out and hearing fiction and poetry from local authors. Soft Exposure is Orlando’s kinder, gentler spoken word night. Much of that comes from Naomi’s quiet inspiring words and Frankie’s bear hug of artistic inclusiveness.

Soft Exposure

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Soft Exposure happens on the 4th Wednesday of every month. Frankie Messina has taken over as host for Soft Exposure at Infusion Tea (1600 Edgewater Dr College Park). Naomi Butterfield used to host this open mic night but she recently moved to Gabon. Frankie has added his own flair to this night of poetry and prose. When I arrived, he was still setting up. He had a stack of vinyl records and he spun his favorites as people arrived. Billy Holiday‘s silky voice greeted me. Frankie runs a local arts support organization called Apartment E. Formed in 1993 it offers local love and support. He came up with phrase “City Beautiful” and he owns the online domain.

Artist Janae Corrado set up a display of her oil paintings and pencil sketches.  Her work has a flavor of the surreal while remaining grounded. Frankie asked her to talk about her work between readings. She was hesitant but finally stepped up to the mic. Her work is personal and she tries to keep titles and themes open as she is working on a painting. She has been painting for five years now but has been an artist since she was a child. She feels the Orlando art scene has plenty of talent, much of it unrecognized. The Florida art market tends to be driven by tourism with the exception of Miami which might be its own country. The largest painting she brought was of a woman with horns in front of a bare tree. The model for this painting was Kassandra Kharis. Kassandra was an amazing local artist who took her own life several days ago. I was shocked and humbled by the news from her friend Tracy Lulu Brown. Kassandra’s work is dark and mysterious. She appeared in an isolated sketch I did in Blank Space. I spoke to Janae briefly about Kassandra and her eyes lit up as she talked about how Kassandra wore antlers to an opening to look just like her painting. Laughter and joy in memories masked the loss.

Joe Rosier started the evening off with a poem he wrote at Fringe about a microphone not in use on the empty outdoor stage. He lamented the lost opportunity and endless potential that went unnoticed. Frankie read an amazing poem about lines. Like the line in the sand, the line we are meant not to cross. I wish I had heard this poem as I worked on the Mennello Museum line mural. There were emotional sparks flying in the poems. Several times my eyes burned and had to be wiped dry on my sleeve. Several tourists were in the room. They flew from Australia to Orlando to attend an Avatar self help course. They read from a group exercise handbook. I felt a bit uncomfortable as the material had a cult tinge to it, but in the end their message was of compassion and understanding which is what any art form should aspire to. A poet apologized for not writing much recently. He then recited The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. I love this poem, which I first read in high school. Now that my hair grows thin and grey, the poem has added impact and meaning as I search and scratch out images every day.  Curtis Meyer ended the evening with an emotional spoken word piece about the inventor of the inner circuitry in microphones. The thrust of his poem rushed forwards and back like a DJ spinning vinyl to a rap beat. The evening had come full circle.

I left feeling inspired and uplifted, yet sad that talent could burn so bright and often go unnoticed in an indifferent world.

Milk Bar Beer Garden Mural

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It had been a while since I went to the Social Chameleon. The inside of the place has been changed drastically with a large bar added. It is now an extension of the Milk Bar. I ordered a beer to sip while I worked.The front room was expanded into what used to be the kitchen. Harmonious Universe owners, Todd Morgan and Rodney McPherson, were out back getting paint ready and setting up. This wasn’t the first time the mural had been worked on, it was already covered with images. Laura and Todd Morgan were just recently married and I let her know that Terry and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary. She asked advice on how to make it last, and the only thing that popped into my head was “compromise.” I’m a man of few words when I’m sketching.

Artist Frankie Messina shook my hand and I later saw Pam Treadwell. I didn’t notice them working on the mural. High on the mural were some roses which I believe had been painted by Libby Rosenthal.

Artists slowly trickled in during the night. A photographer had his digital camera set up to take a shot every five seconds to create a time lapse view of the murals progress. A couple sat at the table I was seated at. Trevor and Nikki Divine told me that on New Year’s eve they plan to have a painting party with 60 artists in attendance. I definitely need to sketch that. They both recently had given up full time corporate jobs to peruse their art. At one artist’s gathering, Trevor was told he was more expressive and painted better when he used his fingers. Now he is strictly a finger painter. It turns out I had sketched Trevor and Nikki once before at the Cameo. I need to find that sketch and post it.

When a spot opened up on the wall, Trevor and Nikki painted side by side. Trevor painted a Buddha-like face and Nikki a delicate spiraling symbol. With so many artists looking to add their mark, there is the possibility that their contribution might get covered up as the mural evolves. A young woman arrived with a tall ladder. She braced it against the wall and moved some pebbles to give it a sure footing. With a bold magic marker she drew a robotic looking face and torso of a beautiful woman with her inner tubes and pistons exposed. Her boyfriend held the ladder like a gentleman. She worked with quick deliberateness. Then just as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone.

Later as I was packing up to go home, Rodney looked at the sketch and said, “I’m glad you caught her. She came out of nowhere, like Bat Girl!” We laughed. “She had some mad skills” he added.

Post script:

The artist scaling the ladder was Morgan Wilson. I had seen her work one other time when Sam Flax was having artists paint murals on the side of the new store. The mural depicted here was later white washed when new owners bought the building.

SWAMI World Traveler

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Infusion Tea (1600 Edgewater Drive, College Park) hosted a talk by Swami about his world travels. Frankie Messina acted as the MC for the Soft Exposure event. After studying his notes for the longest time he stood behind the mic and read a poem to start off the evening. He then introduced Swami who he had first met in 1996 at the Florida Film Festival. Swami began his talk with an image of a car crash. He had been working as a computer animator for years when a car crash caused him to re-evaluate what he wanted from life and he began traveling the world.

One of his stories was particularly compelling. He traveled to Hiroshima Japan and visited the A-Bomb Dome. The first day he went as a typical tourist soaking in facts and figures about this building which had been kept in its original condition after the atom bomb was dropped on the city. The next day he returned, intent on finding out what the monument meant to the people of Hiroshima. His broken Japanese made approaching people difficult but he persisted. “Sumimasen. Konnichiwa…” He finally spoke to a Japanese woman who was willing to share her views in her broken English. She saw the building as a symbol of peace. She asked him the same question in return and he had to admit he saw it as a symbol of devastation. She looked to the future while he looked to the past. He said he hoped t0 one day see the building as a symbol of peace as well. An old man overheard the conversation and he asked Swami if he was American. The old man lived as a child on the outskirts of Hiroshima. He vividly remembered seeing the yellow orange glow on the horizon that day. Swami expressed his wish for eternal peace and the old man warmly replied, “You good man.” They had their picture taken together both men with their hands raised with the peace sign and the dome in the background.

VegFest

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Terry and I went to Lock Haven Park to explore VegFest on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We took a look at all the vendors tents and then I picked a shady spot under a tree as my sketching vantage point. I had hoped to sketch Doug Rhodehamel’s paper bag mushrooms. Last year there was a large colorful installation of them. Unfortunately they were nowhere to be found. There were two stages where local musicians performed. It was a family friendly event with a kids zone. People constantly strolled the lawn pausing just long enough to read brochures and shop. Frankie Messina stopped by to say hello.

As I sketched, Terry shopped. I texted her when I was finished and then we looked for some vegan food. I got a heaping plate of rice and vegan egg rolls from Loving Hut. Delicious. We were constantly being given fliers for this cause and that. Terry got annoyed, saying they should save some trees since many of the fliers went straight into the garbage. I kept them all thinking they might offer sketch opportunities.