Nothing Beats Bingo at Pulse

Posted on by Thor

Bingo is usually associated with a crowd of retirees at the local Moose Lodge. However when presented by Anna-Rexia and Dysen-Terri, at Pulse, bingo can become a fun romp. I didn’t pick up a bingo card since my hands were busy, but Katie Windish played along.

The cross dressed outfits were a riot of black and white stripes along with plenty of fishnets. After a few Yuengling beers it started to seem like victory was always close at hand.

Pulse (1912 Orange Ave, Orlando, FL) is supposed to be Orlando’s premiere gay bar, it offers a world of fun and fantasy. Inside there are three unique worlds: The Lounge, Ultra Bar and The Adonis Room. Since
2004, Pulse has been serving up unmatched live entertainment and
tantalizing liquid libations, courtesy of the renowned staff and
entertainers.

Bingo was presented rather early in the evening before the place gets packed. I haven’t sketched there yet when the party is in full swing. Anna-Rexia was hilarious, offering plenty of slutty tongue in cheek quips that kept everyone laughing as the lusted for just one win.

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

Posted on by Thor

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.

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!

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.