Bike week has been going on in Daytona Beach for the last week, and when I heard there was going to be a bike week party at the Lazy Gator Bar, I had to go. I met Leslie Lormann, the lead singer of Thrill Hill, the band playing that night, at the Parliament House singing Karaoke. The Lazy Gator Bar is located right on Lake Jessup which is supposed to have the highest population of alligators of any lake in Florida. I have heard that any gator trapped in any other small lake is transported here. The bar is a tight intimate space which had to use space heaters since it was cold outside. The second I walked in Thrill Hill was taking to the stage, so Lesley said hello real fast and took to the stage.
As I sketched I realized I didn’t have any pencils, so I had to work directly in ink, and worse, I found I didn’t have my watercolor brushes. I had left them back at the studio! Dina Peterson showed up and joined me at the front table I had scouted out as a good place to sketch from. She said she tends to usually sit at this table. Since I was struggling with the sketch, she offered me a drink and I decided to get a $ 3 bud which came in a Lazy Gator mug which I later got to keep. To add color to the sketch, I poured some beer onto my palette and mixed the colors with my fingers. That is right, this one is a Budweiser finger painting, and after all is said and done, it didn’t turn out half bad.
Thrill Hill is a cover band, and Leslie sang a full assortment of modern pop songs. Several time she announced that she was going to sing a Carrie Underwood song. I kept thinking she was going to say Carrie..oke. Once my sketch was finished Dina and I shouted back and forth, leaning in to try and hear what was being said. I pointed out that it was embarrassing to have to take to a karaoke stage after Leslie had performed since she was obviously a pro. When Thrill Hills set was over, I showed Leslie my finger painting and she then started showing it to just about everyone in the bar. I was a bit embarrassed since, well, it was a finger painting. I found myself surrounded by people curious about what I do. The nice thing is that I got several leads on other possible events where I might sketch. Dina said she wasn’t sticking around for the second set, and since my sketch was done, I decided to leave as well.
