Kaleidoscope All Things Music Art Show

Posted on by Thor

Kaleidoscope Venue for the Arts (1991 Corporate Square #181, Longwood, Florida 32750) is in a warehouse in Longwood. Monthly they host themed shows.  The theme in April was All Things Music. I like the idea of submitting art created with the theme in mind but have never submitted work to this space since they charge a $10 submission fee per artist. Regardless I figured it might be nice to head out and see all the art created with music in mind.

There is a second floor walkway in the venue and that is where I decided to hang out and sketch. There were paintings of flowers, abstracts and polished photograph but I couldn’t pick out any piece that really tied in with the theme of music. An artist joined me upstairs and he explained that he would be at the steampunk show up in Mount Dora. This is an event I have sketched before so we had some common ground. He was picking up his work and a painting by his daughter from the last show. He offered me an area fan which he plugged in. The air conditioner wasn’t keeping up with the heat.

Downstairs, beer, wine, sodas, and water was available for donation at the bar. Co-Owner Jack Beals was serving the drinks. Contributing artist’s drinks were complimentary. Pam ordered me a Coke that I sipped when I was sketching. The one advantage of the space as explained by one of the artists was that you can exhibit really large paintings. Since my work is sketchbook sized, that isn’t an appealing reason to consider submitting work to the space. In April the space was already insanely hot, I cant imagine how hot it must get in the deep summer months. I still see the Facebook invites to submit art to this venue but have learned to scroll by them on my feed. Right now there is a call for artists for a “Fan Art” show opening August 24, 2019. I am a fan of everyday life, but I don’t think that is what they are looking for.

Wedding of Jonathan David and Anna Marie West

Posted on by Thor

Jonathan David West invited me to sketch his wedding to Anna Marie. I met the couple for the first time at the Day of the Dead festivities at City Arts factory. The wedding took place at The Springs Gated Community (400 Woodbridge Road Longwood, FL).  I arrived early as groomsmen were getting dressed in their tuxedos. Jonathan, still in a T shirt, saw me and explained that the wedding would take place at the gazebo down by the spring.

I walked down to the water’s edge. The gazebo was dark. I picked my sketching spot because I liked the way a weather vane stork silhouetted against the sky. A Renaissance trio of musicians set up in the gazebo and Christmas lights flickered on.

The wedding was short, sweet and to the point. When the couple was pronounced man and wife, someone pulled out the plug by mistake and the gazebo wend dark. They must have scrambled fast because soon the lights came back on. The couple then ignited a flame that filled a paper bag hot air balloon. The glowing orb floated up, just missed some tree branches and then floated up to the clouds. Everyone was given sparklers. I decided my sketch was done, so I joined everyone forming a double sided line. All the guests raised their sparklers and the newly wed couple ran under the sparkling canopy.

The reception was held at the top of the hill in a club house. There were perhaps fifty guests but I didn’t do a head count. Every puppeteer in Orlando seemed to be there. Jonathan and Anna are both puppeteers. After guests had their meals, Jonathan and Anna put on a puppet show. They had made puppets in their own likeness and they told the story of how they met. They were childhood friends, that used to talk for hours on the phone and play together. For Anna’s 16th birthday, Jonathan took her out. She hoped he would kiss her that night, but the moment slipped by.  Once Jonathan walked an incredible distance, crossing townships, to see Anna. When she asked him why he had come, he unfortunately replied that he just wanted to go for a walk.

College sent the kids to different states.  They each got married starting separate lives and families. Anna had seven children. Those marriages eventually both lead to divorces. Many years later, Jonathan and Anna both moved to Orlando for different reasons. After so many years apart, there was still a spark that remained from their adolescent romance that burned bright. Once again Jonathan and Anna were inseparable. Their respective puppets took a bow and everyone in the room stood and applauded.