Culture Pop! Not Your Typical Art Opening.

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Maitland Art Center (231 E Packwood Ave, Maitland, Florida) to sketch at Culture Pop. The evening featured the opening of “Contemporary and Historic Landscapes,” with works by Bruce Marsh, Dawn Roe and pieces on loan from the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. In addition to being among the first to see new exhibitions, guests also enjoy live music, poetry readings, complimentary food & cash bar with fine wines, craft beer and more.

Activities on the campus grounds included open artist studios and a pop-up exhibit by one of the A&H’s Artists-in-Action, Martha Lent. I decided to sketch The Actomatics, who had set up their band equipment on what used to be an abandoned shuffleboard court. They had a string of white Christmas Light strung across the top of all the instruments and it made for a magical display. Shadow, who was on the keyboards, introduced herself. There was unfortunately very few people in the audience. Besides myself there were only three other people seated in the folding chairs. That didn’t hinder the spirits of Shadow, Rick an of Shadow, John and Rick however. They performed a magnificent set of all original tunes. As a true artist, you don’t always need an audience. Some birds sing for the pure joy of singing. I sketch and write, not knowing if a word is heard, or a sketch seen.

Several times, I was offered complimentary appetizers from Creations Catering and Events. The server was a young woman who is an artist herself. She was very curious about the Wacom tablet I was using to sketch. She is excited about the new Apple iPad Pro that came out and she is hoping it might find its way under her tree this Christmas.

In the Mayan Courtyard, there were literary readings by the DIY MFA Readers: Danielle Kessinger, Misty Watkins and Karen Price. I didn’t make it over that way to sketch. As I left, I did get a chance to see Martha Lent’s large colorful paintings, as she took the art off the walls and loaded it into her car. I admire her large bold works which make me wish that I was working so large.

The Wedding of Rachel and Bruce McMillen.

Posted on by Thor

Rachel Leona Kapitan and Bruce Bowers McMillan were married on October 3rd of 2015 at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando. Rachel’s son, Jackson Elliot Donald lead Terry down the isle and we were seated about four rows back. I considered moving closer to sketch but then decided to focus my attention on the wide expanse of the chapel. Weddings seem so rushed when you are trying to sketch them. the program asked guests to be truly present at the ceremony.  Everyone was respectfully requested that all cameras and phones remain unused during the ceremony. There was no mention of sketchbooks, either traditional, or digital, so I went to work documenting the fleeting moment. I’m only truly present when I’m sketching. I was still sketching as the photographer lined people up for the family group shots. Terry wanted to get to the reception, so I cut the sketch short. We bummed a ride with Karen Price and Naomi Butteffield to the reception.

The reception was at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne which used to be part of Dr. Phillip House, a few blocks from the Center for the Performing Arts which bears his name. There was macaroni so I carbo loaded and got some soda. Bruce’s kids, Ryan and Katherine McMullin offered a toast and welcomed Rachel to the family with  warmth and humor. After a sumptuous fish dinner all the women hit the dance floor. Like me, Ryan wasn’t in the mood for dancing. Kim Buchheit introduced us and I learned that Ryan was an artist. He decided to learn sign language and that has become a full time job. Later in the evening, his sister Katherine came over and asked him to dance. He refused, so she turned to me and asked, “stranger will you dance with me?” Since I hadn’t danced with my wife all night, I didn’t think that would be a good idea. Instead I pressured Ryan to dance just once with his sister. The evening was almost over. He gave in to pier pressure and they danced. I clapped my approval, always the voyeur.

Tisse’s Birthday Bash

Posted on by Thor

I had to leave after Tod Caviness did his spoken word performance at Urban ReThink. I went to the Mennello Museum to transfer several sketches on to the mural. The work went quickly so I decided to rush back to Tisse’s birthday party. When I re-entered Urban ReThink, I saw a dancer stretching.

There was home made birthday cake so I grabbed a slice. I grabbed a seat at a table with authors Karen Price and John Connelly to see what was next on the Urban ReThink stage. Chaz Yorick came in after having seen all the downtown gallery openings as part of Third Thursdays.

Tisse first met Elise Frost through various mutual friends in the Orlando dance circle and they finally had their first full conversation at Michael Sloan’s going away party.Elise took to the stage wearing a dogs mask and holding an umbrella. Elise moved and spoke in a childlike manner. She reminded me of Totoro. Her monologue had a child’s sincerity with dark undertones. The lantern implied a character lost in the woods. She spoke of her grandmother dying, yet she didn’t like her grandmother. Was this an infants Kabuki? A sinister bedtime story? I remained mystified and bewildered.

Tisse got on stage and started talking about how she gradually discovered Orlando’s arts scene. She moved from Chicago with her parents to Celebration Florida. She hated Celebration’s theme park facade and the clutter and chintz of 192. She missed the big city. She eventually moved downtown where she began to discover the true Orlando scene. The importance of any city is in the people you surround yourself with. Orlando is a small enough city where individuals can really make a difference. The theater scene is small enough where the performers truly appreciate the audience members. The people that stand out in her life are the people who have a passion for what they do and love to help out.

Suddenly she was talking to me, calling me the “Where’s Waldo” of the Orlando arts scene. She praised my work and persistence. I stopped my sketch to listen. It felt like all eyes were turned towards me. My right eye welled up, I’m not used to so much direct praise and adulation. I don’t know how to process it. Chaz was busily taking notes. Later as Tisse praised Jessica Earley she became overwhelmed and choked up, feeling thankful for the people in her life. Chaz took that emotional pause to start singing happy birthday to Tisse. Everyone joined in as she wiped away her tears. When the song was finished and the clapping died down, Tisse said, “Thanks I needed that moment to recover.” The room was filled with love.

Demographics

Posted on by Thor

Tisse Mallon knows how to celebrate her 30th birthday. She had an amazing all night party at Urban ReThink where she brought together friends from all aspects of Orlando’s arts and culture scene. She invited myself and six other artists to decorate a used U.S. Census Bureau bag. Tisse worked going door to door during the last census. Each field worker was given one of these Census Bags. When the census was over the bags were thrown out. These re-purposed bags are all now works of art. I was one of the first artists to arrive to drop off the bag. I re-purposed the mural I am working on by painting the people standing in line on the bag. Jessica Earley totally ripped apart her bag and created a charming door knob hanger of an owl. It was absolutely charming.

Inside each bag there were orange inter office envelopes. Genevieve Bernard used those envelopes to create cut out Census Monsters and Jessica used them to create a charming pine tree. She also used the envelopes to create the owl’s beak, feet and eyes. It was fun to see, “Name” and “Department” scrawled across the owl’s eyes. Scooter Cleveland sat on a table beside a bag that said, “Why Count?” in bold red letters. The bag was filled with food for the homeless. Scooter had been homeless on the streets of downtown Orlando for 18 months. He was in a car accident and a doctor told him he had to stay off his feet for four months. He was fired from his job. He stayed with family and friends but ultimately ended up on the streets. Now that he is off the streets, he is trying to establish a food share program for those who were left behind. A glass jar sat on the table beside him for donations.

Throughout the evening Tisse acknowledged and praised the artistic people that have touched her life. She pointed to Todd Caviness who helps kept spoken word alive in Orlando. He is a writer who is always willing to lend a hand to keep the arts scene vibrant in Orlando. No one expresses what it is like to be a Floridian better than him. Karen Price also read several of her short stories. One, about a mermaid with two tails was a charming morality tale (pun intended). The other was about a high school bully who later in life was served up a bitter justice of hard knocks in her violent deprived life. She didn’t recognize the female lawyer on her case as the victim of her childhood bullying. Such is fate.