Into Darkness

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On September 9th I went to the ArtsHub Art opening and a movie screening at the Chapman Leonard Studios LIVE (9460 Delegates Drive #100, Orlando, Fl). This is the latest showing of Local Artists’ Work At Chapman/Leonard Studios Coupled with A Night at the Movies: Screening of “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Plus there was a special performance from the dancers of Dakota P. Productions new television show “The Upbeat Dancer Show”  Chapman Leonard is an award winning manufacturer of camera support equipment for motion picture and television productions worldwide. The equipment manufacturer is based out of their state of the art sound stages and production facilities.

For the first time ever, thirteen local artists will display work at the Chapman Leonard Studios. The local artists’ work may be viewed during normal business hours by appointment with an Arts Hub Representative.

“Chapman Leonard is proud to bring local artists into their studio facilities” commented Brad Biggs of The Arts Hub FL, curator for this art show. Marketing director of Chapman Leonard, Christine Huenergardt, added, “ we are a worldwide partner to movie makers, and their philosophy includes a commitment to the local arts scene. We are pleased to present this first group of artists ever displayed in our East Coast Studios.”

Artists included Ken Austin, Patricia Byron, Janae Corrado, Mark “TR3” Harris, Catherine Hempel, Saulius Jankauskas, Jason Lee, Kimberly Mathis, Richard Reep, and Parker Sketch. In addition, as a special treat, Chapman Leonard has also installed outdoor sculptures by local artists, Linda Brant and Marsha DeBroske.The show ran though October 8th. Exhibiting artists were paid a small stipend to allow their work to be exhibited.

I arrived a bit late, just as the dancers were finishing their routine. I decided to lean against the tire of a huge mobile lift. This caused an employee to question why I was there. I told him I was the media and he let it go. I stayed for the whole movie, sketching the entire time. It is fun to watch how many more times captain Kirk could get beat up in fist fights. The movie is almost identical to the first film right down to having individuals hurling through space. The story recreated the story line of “The Wrath of Khan” right down to a sacrifice at the ships core system. This time Kirk sacrificed himself instead of Spock. 9/11 was recreated as the Enterprise crashed into San Francisco. A disappointing film but plenty of special effects.

Night of Fire

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Crealde held an event called “Night of Fire” at the school campus (600 St. Andrews Blvd. in Winter Park). Tiki torches lined either side of the long gravel path leading back to the school. I wandered around trying to decide what I should sketch. There was a huge kiln about 8 feet tall that filled a shed. It was burning hot but there was little activity around it. I then found this little garbage can kiln in action. The garbage can glowed red hot, sitting on top of fire bricks. The flame was fed by a propane gas tank. This is referred to as Raku firing.

Lynn Warnicke would remove a properly heated ceramic pot with long metal tongs and place it in a garbage can with newspapers. The newspapers would smolder and then burn. I was blinded quite a few times by the smoke, finding myself downwind of the cans. A garbage can lid would be lifted and then the tongs would be used again to drop the pot in a vat of water to cool down. The finished and glazed pots would then be lifted by hand and placed on a bench where they were all lined up.

There was a constant flurry of activity and I was never certain if I was catching the right moment. I learned about the process as I sketched and now that I better understand it, I would probably get a better second sketch. There was no time for a second sketch. I walked around searching for Terry. There was a cool sculpture behind the school, lake side, that shot up a blue flame into a tall glass tube. There had been a bronze pour but it was finished before I got there to sketch. A story teller waved her arms as she spoke to enchanted children and parents.

Inside the school, Ken Austin was demonstrating his watercolor techniques and Megan Boye was in the print department showing people the process. There were prints and paper hanging and lying everywhere. It was an amazing event. I probably cold have learned a thing or two had I lingered.

Valentines

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On Valentines Day, I had to work in the evening from 6pm to 1am at Full Sail. That late night shift meant I wouldn’t be able to take Terry out to Dinner. I also needed to figure out a daytime event to sketch. I looked in the Arts Fest booklet and the only event I could find was an exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Maitland. Somehow, sketching at a Holocaust Museum on Valentines didn’t work for me. I decided at the last minute to call Terry at work and ask her if she would like to meet for an early dinner at 3pm. She met me at the Grand Bohemian.

The Grand Bohemian main dining room was being decked out with red table cloths and linens for the evening’s festivities. We were offered a table in the bar area. Terry had accepted the fact that I had to work late and didn’t expect any special Valentines treat. When I called, she realized she did appreciate the chance to spend time together. The orders took a long time to come out but we relaxed in the midst of a busy work day. Terry was hungry and her order came out first. We shared her dish of eggs and ham on a thick slab of toast until my chicken dish came out. The waitress put on an extra piece of chicken to make up for the wait. My dish was delicious with a sweet caramelized glaze and plump potatoes with greens.

A woman at the bar was showing off a new line of flavored vodkas to the bar maid. As we finished our meal, the bar began to fill. Several of Terry’s co-workers sat at another table and ordered drinks. Late afternoon employees in business suits drifted in from work. The sun light sweeping in through the windows got warmer as the sun set. I kissed Terry goodbye and she marched back to her office in high heels, a bright red blouse and a vibrant black and white stripped skirt that looked like it just came off a model’s runway.

I trudged back to my truck to head off to work. I had an hour to kill so I stopped into Avalon Gallery to look at a group show of watercolors from members of the Central Florida Watercolor Society. I brushed past work that was too pedantic and sweet but I did find some inspiring work. I studied a rough landscape by Ken Austen, and I really liked a painting called “American Craftsman” of an old Orlando home. I learned a thing or two from the paintings on display, leaving me itching to splash some color around. Jeffery Shonkwiler, the gallery director, was seated with Donna Dowless in the cushy gallery seats. Donna is Orlando’s ambassador of love. Much of her work incorporates a heart shape. As I left, Donna said to me, “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” I replied, “It sure is!” Walking towards Lake Eole I realized it truly was a gorgeous day.

Walking around Lake Eola, I stopped at the swan boat dock and realized, that I had to sketch. The light was golden. Couples walked out on the dock in a constant stream. No one used the black mini Venetian Gondolas. As soon as a swan boat returned to dock it would fill with another loving couple looking for adventure. A black and white swan swam near where I was sketching. A couple was shooting photos. The boyfriend suggested to his girlfriend that she get a shot where the swans necks formed a heart shape. She waited behind the lens for that magic moment. The white swan reared up in the water flapping its wings. It honked loudly and then lunged forward at the black swan, snapping it’s beak. The swans weren’t lovers, they were two males competing for territory.

January Artist’s Critique

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Parker Sketch organizes these monthly or bimonthly Artist Critiques at Barefoot Spa (801 Virginia Dr.) I was running a bit late. I parked a block away and walked down Virginia Drive away from Mills. Belly dancers were rehearsing in a dance studio. I almost had to stop but I was late, for a very important date. I could see from the street that Barefoot Spa was packed. People were standing in the doorway. Luckily, I had my own artist’s stool so I pushed to the front of the room and set my chair up in a corner right next to Parker. Ken Austin was sharing some of his more abstract watercolors and I got busy sketching. I had recently had a chance to meet Ken on a group trip out to the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach and then I bumped into him giving a demonstration a few days later at Crealde.

Paul Martin is the artist seated to the right in the sketch with a baseball cap and flip flops. He went to UCF in the 90’s and then went to Miami. The Miami arts scene is thriving but he felt he wasn’t making headway. He returned to Orlando where he is combining new medias with old media. He presented a painting of a Chinese flag on Plexiglas. When he traveled in China he took photos of any graffiti he could find. It was rare and hard to find. He scrawled this graffiti onto the Chinese flag painting. He plugged the painting in and three small video screens played footage of the American Flag waving in the wind. Someone in the room wondered if the video screens had been manufactured in China. There was an irony to the piece and an underlying social comentary. Paul pointed out that a client over time might decide that new video might be needed and this painting, like software could be upgraded for a price. China Flag 2.0. Love it. Everyone in the room was mesmerized. Americans can’t help but watch a video if it is playing. That in itself says something about our culture.

Matt Charlan is new to Orlando, having come from Boston. He presented a large painting of a smiling baby’s face. The face filled the canvas and was offset a bit to the right. Matt talked about how he liked to paint in the dark using just flashlights. For him the act of creation is meant to be a struggle. When he paints, he actually doesn’t look at the canvas. He has a video camera set up across the studio and he looks at a laptop computer to see the brush strokes he puts down. In a way he is a voyeur to his own process. He uses the cheapest house paint he can find along with pastels, white spray paint and fixatives. He started painting on uneven surfaces to heighten the effect of catching the video vantage point. While in Boston he painted a portrait of Steven Colbert on a couch. The portrait can only be seen from one vantage point. If you move, the image breaks up. A video was posted on YouTube and it got three million hits. That is huge, like instant viral fame! It gained him instant notoriety in the Boston Arts scene. Yet the couch never sold.