Jessica Earley organized a Facebook event called the Cinnamon Roll Hug. Amanda Chadwick told me about this event only about an hour before it was to take place at Lake Eola near Panera’s. started called encouragement rules!. One previous event she talked about was a party where all the women created small time capsules in bottles which they then buried. The idea was that they would be burying any of the negative nonconstructive energies in their lives.
I got to Lake Eola about a half hour before the Hug was to take place. I went into Panera’s with the idea of getting a Cinnamon Roll to munch on while waiting for the crowd to show up. I had the image in my head of hundreds of women all joining hands. It would certainly make for a challenging and dynamic sketch. There was a line in Panera’s however and I gave up on the roll.
Here is the description from the event page of what I was about to witness…
Outline of Activity: Group stands in a circle holding hands. One person breaks her link with the person on her right. That person then walks to the center of the circle still holding hands with the person on her left. Everyone is still holding hands except for this one break. The person who had been on the center person’s right then begins to walk clockwise around the circle. Everyone follows her. They spiral in tighter and tighter until they are a snug pinwheel. On the count of three, the group gently squeezes.” Jessica explained to me that the best position to be in would be in the center of the roll.
When 6:30PM rolled around, I saw Jessica with two other women near the large flower bed. I walked over and said hello. The two women with Jessica were Marnie Sears Bench and Luisairis Soto. I asked Jessica how many people she was expecting and she said, “Twelve people confirmed on Facebook.” Deciding that would still make for a worthy sketch, I leaned back against a tree and started blocking in the elements of the grassy field where the hug would take place. Jessica wandered off and went to another grassy field where she felt some people might have mistaken for the event site. She returned empty-handed.
It was now well past 6:30 and time for the hug to commence. Jessica and Marnie walked across the street to Panera’s and asked people going in if they wanted free hugs. They asked a family of tourists, who replied, “Sorry we are from out of town.” The tourists rushed into he pastry shop to escape. Marnie then asked a small group of men if they wanted free hugs. She was shocked when they said, “Sorry not interested.” Back at the park Luisairis started shouting, “Free hugs!” I was afraid she might get arrested for disturbing the peace. She was after all shouting in Lake Eola Park. All this last minute advertising was not bringing any more people into the circle. Finally the three women stood out in the field and hugged. They knew I was sketching and stayed together hugging for probably five minutes of so on my behalf. I had not expected them to pose but I am grateful they did. Had I known they would pose, I would have moved much closer.
I consider the Cinnamon Roll Hug a novel and fun idea. I didn’t participate since I was busy sketching. I hope Jessica organizes this event again, inviting far more people. But honestly the number of people isn’t the issue; it was still fun and exciting to sketch this display of open friendship and affection. Jessica said, “Well there wasn’t really enough people for a Cinnamon Roll Hug, what you saw was more of a Donut Hole Hug.”
War of the Worlds – Jessica Earley
Jessica is soft spoken, humble yet vibrantly creative. When she speaks I always lean as close to her as I can to hear what she is saying. She is almost always laughing and has a innocent charm that can be seen in all her video work.
When I arrived at Jessica’s studio, it was pouring rain outside. I climbed the slippery metal staircase and struggled to close my umbrella to get in the door. Inside was warm and cozy.
She is the creator of the amazing viral promotional War of the Worlds video. Here Jessica is preparing to animate the stop motion titles to me used in a possible second video. Her huge cat is named Mein Kampf (my struggle) and he had a habit of stretching every few minutes and he knocked the Crayola Crayons off the Coffee table twice. Occasionally Jessica would accidentally brush a piece of paper against his fur and this would wake him up and make him look around wide eyed in alarm. Jessica said it is a bit embarrassing when the he gets out and she has to wander the neighborhood shouting “Mein Kampf” to try and find him.
She quickly drew all the letters on brightly colored craft paper then cut out the letters with scissors. These letters were then taped on the world map behind her and she then incrementally moved them until they formed the title over North America. She then animated the flying saucers which entered the scene and blew up the title with lasers. Her tripod is the pile of books to the right and the individual shots were taken with the tiny digital camera perched on top. It was fun watching her work her magic. I decided my sketch was done when her second camera battery died. Her work and mine was done.
Grande Hysterie
This sketch is from an event called Blunder Bungle which was organized by Jessica Earley. The event or party took place in MoMNB, the Museum of My Neighbor’s Backyard. Twenty or so artists had work hanging off of fences and on the side of the house.
Erika Wilhite sat in a secluded corner of the yard with small stage lights illuminating her from below. She was dressed in a white night gown which made it seem like she had wandered into this event by mistake. She would play raucous songs on the accordion and then periodically select an audience member for a special demonstration.
After I finished this sketch she picked me for one of these demonstrations. I was asked to stand close, but not to close mind you. She then showed me a white glove and as she delicately pulled the glove onto her hand she explained that she was about to show me something truly beautiful. She daintily pulled the glove tightly down over each finger. Then she worked her fingers to test the fit. She reached behind her for one of the balloons and showed it to me as she cooed softly about the beauty of what I was about to behold. With the balloon inches from my face, she popped it with an quick motion and began to laugh maniacally as I jumped back in surprise. She continued to laugh uncontrollably until her handler, A man with a top hat and a waxed mustache, calmed her down and had her sit down. Erika’s demonstrations of grand hysteria had me mesmerized, and I drifted back several times as she worked her magic on other unsuspecting audience members.