Weekend Top 6 Picks for November 11th and 12th 2017.

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Saturday November 11, 2017

10 AM to 1 PM. Free. Circling the World in a 24hr Sketch Walk! Disney Springs 1780 E Buena Vista Dr, Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830 Planet Hollywood and Coca Cola buildings. Nearly 80 Urban Sketchers chapters around the globe will hold
sketch walks in their cities and towns to celebrate Urban Sketchers 10yrs
anniversary, showcasing sketches from their cities and towns.
Orlando’s Urban Sketchers group is one of them!

 Using social media Instagram network all sketch walks will be followed
starting with the first chapter to see daylight (Auckland, New Zealand)
to the last chapter to see the sunset (O’ahu, USA).
Photos and videos from each chapter will be shared throughout the day.

Where is Orlando in all of this? We are in an awesome place in the middle! With the world’s eyes on us here in Central Florida, we will be showcasing in sketches one of our unique and iconic locations.

The renovated Downtown Disney, now called Disney’s Springs, and the newly added section provide plenty of sketch opportunities. Take a pride in our Central Florida community! Come join us!

2 PM November 10, 2017 to 4 PM November 12, 2017. Free. Sidewalk in front of Lincoln Plaza in Downtown Orlando (300 S. Orange
Avenue). Drum Schtick. As part of Noise, an Art in Odd places production, award-winning D.C. based
performance artist Brian Feldman will embark on his longest project
to date.

For 50 consecutive hours, Brian will remain at a drum kit. Brian has been trying to realize this project since 2007.

Brian is seeking up to 50 volunteers (one hour shifts) to help ensure (1) his safety, (2) the continuity of the live stream (periscope.tv/BrianFeldman),
and (3) answers to attendee questions (to the best of your ability), as
he won’t be speaking during this project. Go to Sign Up Genius if you want to help. Earplugs are provided!

Noon to 4 PM through November 19, 2017. $15 Festival of Trees: The Gift of the Holidays. Orlando Museum of Art (2416 North Mills Ave. Orlando, FL 32803) The Festival of Trees, now in its thirty-first year, transforms the
Orlando Museum of Art into a glittering wonderland filled with sparkling
trees, vignettes and stunning décor for visitors of all ages.

The Orlando Museum of Art will showcase designer Christmas trees of all
sizes, holiday vignettes, custom hand designed wreaths and table décor, a
gingerbread village, tabletop displays and more. Each piece is designed
by Orlando’s finest designers and is available for purchase.

A glamorous gala night will mark the start of the 9-day event.

The
Festival continues with musical performances, fun family entertainment
and delightful programs for all ages throughout the week at the museum.

View the museum calendar to see all of the related Festival events. Festival of
Trees is presented by Council of 101, a non-profit organization. All
proceeds benefit the Orlando Museum of Art.

For more information, please contact the Council of 101 at (407) 896-4231,
ext. 254 or by email at councilof101@omart.org.

Sunday November 12, 2017 

11 AM to 5 PM. Free. Pagans in the Park. Mead Botanical Garden 1300 S Denning Dr, Winter Park, Florida 32789. A day of connecting, workshops, readers and vendors at
Mead Gardens, Winter Park FL. Please bring a pot luck item to share!

1 PM to 5 PM Free. Family Day on the Second Sunday. The Mennello Museum of American Art, 900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL 32803. The make-and-take craft table is open from noon-2:30 p.m., and docents are available to give mini-tours of the museum. Then it’s open house in the galleries until 4:30 p.m.

Noon to 1 PM Donation based. Yoga. Lake Eola Park near the red gazebo. Bring your own mat.

2 PM to 4 PM Free but get a drink. Kelly DeWayne Richards Pop Up Piano Bar. 1212 Country club Oaks Circle 32804.

Kelly celebrated his birthday in style at Pilars.

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Kelly Dewayne Richards is a prodigy on the piano so it made perfect sense that he performed while his friends sang for his birthday on November 13. Pilars Martini Bar (146 Plant Street Winter Garden FL) is located right next to the Winter Garden Theater and Kelly has been performing there once a week for the past couple of years. It seems that Kelly’s friends are not your average karaoke singers. These folks belted out the tunes with Broadway quality voices. Trudy Petersen was the singer who I decided to sketch. Love was brazened on her shirt and it was easy to love her voice. One singer introduced as “Joy Top Dance” sang a Louis Armstrong song, “What a Wonderful World“. She lowered her voice and managed to sing with Louis’s gravely vibrato.

As I was packing up to go, an artist named Rod Reeves introduced himself. We sat outside and shared sketchbooks. He sketches on location like myself so it was an unexpected surprise.  He advised me to look up Francis Marshall, an English Illustrator. Marshal’s location sketches are fluid and bold with a flair of fashion. I could learn much studying his work.  I collected a card from my fellow sketcher, but for the life of me, I can’t find it.  Hopefully our paths will cross again. Inside the bar, every voice was singing “Seasons of Love” from Rent. With so much talent in the room, it was an inspired performance that could give the coldest heart a warm glow.

Mark your calendar. Kelly performs at Pilars every Thursday from 7pm to 10pm.

New Year’s Day Party

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On New Year’s day, Terry and I hosted an all day party at our home. We figure not everyone goes out and party’s hard on New Year’s Eve. We ordered plenty of Lox, cream cheese and bagels along with a big ham shank. There were salads and vegetables and pastries for deserts. I picked up the pastries and bagels in the morning and Terry cooked on New Year’s Eve.

Kelly DeWayne Richards was the first guest to arrive.  Terry had hired him to play piano. He came with his electronic piano and a microphone. In the kitchen, Terry and I prepared mimosas. Outside on the back patio we had a huge cooler full of beers, cyders and sodas. Gradually, guests arrived throughout the day. There were actors, artist authors and musicians. The official excuse for the party was that Analog Artist Digital World is in its fifth year.

I started this sketch before guests arrived. I is odd that I have seldom sketched my own living room. I sketched people into the scene as they sat down. James and Jasmin Barone brought along their baby who had on a New Years sash.  On the Facebook invitation I had stated that it was a black and white themed party and the Barone’s ran with that theme. Terry was very pleased that Susannah Gilman and Billy Collins came to the party. Billy was once the poet laureate of the United states and his new book of poems, “Aimless Love” was just released in bookstores. I remember seeing a large display of the books in a Louisiana bookstore.

As the party warmed up, people got up to the mic to sing. Even I got up to the microphone at one point. Terry is quite a ham when she has a microphone in hand. I always like how Mark Baratelli sings his set to his own over the top cadence. I sang “Somewhere Out There” with him and it was a challenge to mimic his performance. I just belted out vowels here and there to hit the right notes. Susannah claims she is incapable of singing which means a performance would be all the more entertaining.

Terry’s writing buddies stayed all day and well into the night.  Janet Benge had to leave early because of a writing assignment. When the last guests finally left, Terry and I cleaned up as best we could. I made a resolution to loose some weight this year, but now the pantry and fridge were full of beers, pastries and other sinful fattening foods. I’ll start to diet once all that food is gone. Our refrigerator broke after the party which means many of those fattening perishables ended up in the trash.

Sketching in the Attic

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I used to attend sketch sessions in the Attic of the Martin’s home in Winter Park. Mary Martin was always there to supervise, but Bernie Martin was never there. I guess he prefers to work from models alone. In these sessions the models were nude with shorter one minute sketches in the beginning and longer sketches later in the evening. I always enjoyed these sessions but there is usually some event going on the same evening so overtime, I stopped going, preferring to sketch the chaos of everyday life.

On one occasion I bumped into Bernie Martin while I was sketching in Falcon Bar. He decided to sketch as well. I found out that models cost about $12 per hour. I’m considering the notion of hiring models to start producing more finished paintings. Sketching on location is rewarding, but any event seldom goes on for more than two hours. Some painters can work on a painting for months. It would be nice to give myself the luxury of models and more time. Perhaps that should be my goal moving into the New Year.

On New Year’s Day, Terry and I are hosting an all day black and white themed party celebrating Analog Artist Digital World’s 5 year anniversary.  We supply the beers, bagels, lox and cream
cheese and food. Kelly DeWayne Richards will be performing on the piano.
The party starts at 1pm and goes to 11pm. Consider this post an invitation. Please call 407 810-4189 to RSVP and come on out.

My Way

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Terry and I went to a music street festival in Winter Garden. Three different stages were set up along plant street and there were vendor’s tents set up everywhere. We listened to several groups outside, with one of them looking and  sounding like the Soggy Bottom Boys. For lunch we had some soft tacos from a food truck. The tacos were good, but could have used more sour cream and guacamole. As we walked past Pilar’s Martini Bar, (146 W. Plant) straight next to the Winter Garden Theatre, we heard piano music inside. The air conditioning felt great after walking in the blazing sun all morning.

Kelly DeWayne Richards was at the piano. We know Kelly well, he even came to our home to play during our 20th anniversary vow renewal ceremony. Terry got up to sing several songs and Kelly asked me to sing, but my hands were busy. The owner of Pilar’s knew of my work since I have sketched so often in the Winter Garden Theater. I thought the guy in the green shirt, looking at his smart phone was a costumer, but he was actually a bartender on a break. He left soon after I started sketching him to pour drinks and clean glasses. What I also didn’t realize was that he is an amazing singer. He got up to perform the final solo before Kelly packed up to go. He sang a rousing rendition of “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, which had everyone in the bar up on their feet for a standing ovation when he was done.

Musical Mondays

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On March 11th Terry and I met at The Fifth (112 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, Florida) between 7Pm and 9PM for Kelly DeWayne Richards Musical Mondays. Kelly is playing all over town now. On Fridays he performs at Parliament House, Sunday Nights between 6PM and 9PM, he is at Hanson’s Shoe Repair (27 East Pine Street), and on Thursdays between 6PM and 9PM he is at Pilars on Plant street in Winter Garden right next to the Garden theater also between 6PM and 9PM. Hanson’s sounds intriguing since it is a speakeasy and you need to know the password to get in.

The great thing about Musical Mondays is that actors who love to sing musicals show up in droves. Actress Jessi Riese announced that she will be moving to NYC so this was one of the last chances to see her sing. Terry got up and Sang a Sondheim song. Kelly asked the manager to turn on the rooms pink lights since he knew it would look good for my sketch.The highlight of the evening was when the entire room sang along with a song from Rent. As one singer pointed out, “Hearing so many talented singers is like getting a $75 ticket show for free.”

Star Lite Film Festival

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The Star Lite Film Festival, now at the Winter Garden Theatre (160 West Plant Street • Winter Garden, FL), features independent films produced for less than $200,000. Film maker and Festival organizer, Michael Poley invited me to the opening night kick off reception on Thursday January 31st. I got there a bit early, so after I picked up my lanyard, I went next door where Kelly DeWayne Richards was playing piano. The place was called Pillars and it was the opening night. Blue neon laced its way along the curvaceous bar and large stage lights were set up behind the piano. I really wanted to draw but there wasn’t enough time.

A red carpet lead into the reception room. A photographer took shots of people as they arrived in front of the Star Lite poster.  The round tables has tiny golden Oscars, pop corn and incredibly small cards with the schedule printed on them.  The type was an infinitesimal two points in size which made it near impossible to read with the naked eye. Small magnifying glasses were there but the plastic lens distorted the view more than it magnified. Film makers and patrons arrived and soon the room was buzzing with conversation.

At 8pm, Robin Cowie, the producer of the “Blair Witch Project“, will introduce the festival as well as a micro budget film that his company, Haxan, produced called “Midnight Son“, a successful Micro budget Film that received distribution. “Midnight Son” cost $50,000 to shoot and when everything was wrapped, it cost $149,000 in total. Ed Sanchez another Blair Witch contributor was the writer. The film featured a ravenous artist who couldn’t satisfy his hunger. Skin on his arm was horribly burnt from being exposed to sunlight. His night security guard job kept him from ever seeing sun light. He finally realizes that the only thing that could satisfy his hunger was blood. He meets a girl who is addicted to coke but his addiction to blood is kept secret. Every time they get close to intimacy, his blood lust gets in the way. You are left wondering the whole time whether he is a vampire or just anemic. He never gains any supernatural strength or powers, he is just an addict who needs his next blood fix. It sucks to be a vampire.

After the film, Robin took questions from the audience. When asked what he looks for in micro budget films, he responded that he looks for scripts with audacity, he likes writers that take risks, doing something unexpected. More than anything he likes to be surprised. He feels that the new global digital world makes it easier for a film maker to find his audience.

Today, February 2nd, is the third and final day of the festival. There is a full day of films being screened and panel discussions. Go check out some films. Individual tickets are $5-$7.

11:30am  The Racket Boys

1:30pm    Social Media Panel

2:30pm   The Spacewalk

4:30pm   2xUno

6:15pm   Equipment Panel

7:30pm   Waterhole Cove

9:30pm   Less Loss

11:15pm  Awards Ceremony

Musical Mondays, The Abbey

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Terry and I went to the Abbey for Musical Mondays. It was a cold walk from the car. Temperatures were going to drop down to the 30s, and in Orlando, that is big news. There weren’t many people there when we arrived. Kelly DeWayne Richards, Orlando’s Piano Man, was trying to get the piano audio connected to the sound system. He introduced me to Emily at the bar and I recognized her but I couldn’t figure out why. I ordered a beer and found a tall table with a good view of the stage while Terry was in the bathroom. Amanda Chadwick arrived and she and Terry sat in one of the cushy leather sofas in front of the stage. While the place was pretty empty, Terry got up and sang, “Soon or a Later.” I placed her in my sketch as she held her glasses and tried to read the lyrics. The stained glass ceiling slowly changed colors from cool blues to hot reds.

Kelly called up Emily from behind the bar to sing. She sang, “Someone Like You” by Adele and suddenly I realized I had heard her sing before. She has a strong, silky, emotive singing voice that just bowled me over. Her full name is Emily Heffelfinger and getting to listen to her perform was a treat. I can’t believe a talent like that works the bar. As Kelly said, “She’s a great singer and she mixes a mean martini.” Kelly gave her a hard time and jokingly she shot him the finger.

Sharon and Kelly stood at the microphones and sang a moving rendition of, “The Rose.” The place slowly filled and singer after singer got on stage to sing. Some kept their hands tightly tucked in pants pockets while others clutched the microphone. Some voices were shy and tentative while others belted out the lyrics. Musical Monday is a great way to kick off the week. The festivities start at 7pm so I’d suggest having dinner downtown at a nice restaurant and then have a musical nightcap at the Abbey.

New Year’s Day Party

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Terry and I hosted a New Year’s Day party to celebrate AADW’s third anniversary and to ring in the New Year with friends. We shopped for hot dogs and hamburgers the day before along with beers champagne and orange juice. On the morning of New Year’s day, I went to Panera to pick up a large order of bagels and pastries that Terry had called in the week before. Panera’s was packed. Everyone seemed to want bagels that morning. There was a separate line for pick up orders but no one was at that counter. The place was understaffed and chaotic. A twelve year old girl in line in front of me held a puppy she must have been given for the holidays. The woman next to me said, “I’m just waiting for that pup to pee. That’s what they do. There’s a sign on the door that says no pets. My mother would be having a fit right now.” I laughed wondering if the puppy would prance around on the pastries when the girl got to the counter.

The cashier didn’t know about my order. One woman searched, but came up empty handed. They waited for the manager who was at a register. We waited. He finally looked in the same place as the other woman and pulled out the large bag. The next stop was Publix for some lox and cream cheese. At home everything was spread out on the dining room table. Candles and the Christmas tree were lit. The invitation was for noon till midnight. Since no one had arrived yet, I started writing a blog post. Half way into the post, the doorbell rang. Our first guest was from Terry’s writing group and Terry immediately put him to work cutting tomatoes and an assortment of last minute preparations.

All through the day people arrived at various times. In the evening, Kelly DeWayne Richards stopped by with his portable piano. Terry was the first to sing. She sang, “Soon or a Later.” I was outside scrambling to get burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Amanda Chadwick got up to sing “Somewhere out There.” I don’t know how this tradition started, but I always get called up to sing with her. I will spare you the audio. Amanda then called Matt Simantov in Seattle via Skype. She had me hold the cell phone while she sang to him. Britt Daley sat behind the keyboard and began singing “Anything But“, one of her original songs. Everyone stopped to listen. There was magic in that moment. What an amazing way to start the New Year, with authors, artists and musicians. So much talent in one place made my heart warm.

Then Terry insisted I sing “Hold On” by Michael Buble. I hid in the kitchen. Though Terry couldn’t see me, Amanda could. She shouted at me to “Get in there and sing!” I don’t know the lyrics and when I perform, I like to know I’m well rehearsed. I messed up the lyrics several times and couldn’t find my way back to the refrain. Luckily no one was in the room but Terry and poor Kelly at the piano. She was seated on the couch in her wedding dress, listening intently. She had changed her outfits five times that day to everyone’s delight. After the song, she knelt down in front of me and said, “Marry me.” We had already renewed our vows on our 20th wedding anniversary. People shouted out, “Again?” The writers looking in from outside found the image of Terry kneeling in front of me suggestive. When I realized why they were laughing, my face flushed red.

Sunday Piano Bar

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Amanda Chadwick invited Terry and myself to the Sunday afternoon Piano Bar at the Parliament House (41o North Orange Blossom Trail). Kelly DeWayne Richards plays every Sunday from 1:30pm until about 4:30pm. He has a huge selection of sheet music and invites audience members to come up and sing. There is an undeniable regular crowd. Most of the singers are exceptionally talented. We muscled up to the bar as our eyes adjusted to the dark room. Amanda ordered a chocolate martini and it looked so good I wanted one. From the bar stool I started sketching. Mark Baratelli enterd and everyone shouted “Mark” Cheers style. Kelly insisted Mark step up to the mic. As he got ready to sing, an audience member got up to go to the men’s room. Mark glowered at him like a diva and we all laughed. He began singing an over the top emotional rendition of “I’m Not Going” from Dream Girls. His emotional heaving breaths and despondent screams made his rendition hilarious. The crowd in the tiny room roared.

Even though I was still sketching, Kelly insisted I step up to the mic to sing “Hold 0n“. Kelly told the story of how I sang this at the surprise 20th anniversary party I threw for Terry. I pulled the lyrics up on my cell phone as the audience waited. With a weak internet connection, it seemed an eternity. I whispered into the mic, testing it, “This one goes out to Terry.” I missed a lyric or two but by the end I was feeling good, even the high notes were effortless. I looked at Terry then I saw people in the audience swaying and singing along. By the last refrain, the room was filled with harmony. When I finished, I assume there was polite applause. When I walked back to the bar, Terry threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. Mark shouted out, “Hey! Look everybody, straight people!” I laughed. One song isn’t a free pass. It is the first step on a long road.

While I was singing, some guy had taken my bar stool. I just stood next to him throwing down quick watercolor washes. He eventually left and I regained my seat. Terry got up and sang “Being Alive” from the Sondheim musical, Company. I was surprised how soft and vulnerable her voice was. We are both frightened moving forward challenging support and independence but very much alive. Amanda and I sang “Somewhere Out There.” We have had to sing it every time we are at the Sunday Piano Bar. Now that Matt Simantov, Amanda’s boyfriend, is living way out in Seattle, the song has taken on a special meaning for her.