Art in the Alley

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Christmas lights are ablaze in downtown Mount Dora. On every 2nd Friday of the month, Art in the Alley brings art, music, and more to Mount Dora. 

Art and music exhibitors line Royellou Lane, in the heart of downtown Mount Dora, showcasing their original art, handmade goods and acoustic sounds. Downtown galleries have extended hours and are open to the public free of charge.

This is a unique opportunity to experience a vibrant, eclectic mix of emerging and established artists.

Start your stroll at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts Gallery (138 East Fifth Avenue

Mount Dora, FL 32757) to pick up the Art in the Alley map. As you stroll down Royellou Lane have your map punched at each of the gallery stops along the way. Once you have visited all of the galleries, bring your completed punched map to the Gatehouse Gallery at the Lakeside Inn (100 Alexander St, Mt Dora, FL 32757) to be entered into a raffle for a special prize. By the way, the rocking chairs on the front port of the Lakeside Inn are a great place to watch the sunset should you want to make an evening of it.

Each month provides new themes and exhibitors to enjoy, completely free of charge.
So be sure to stop by each month to see what’s new!

The Galleries are open from 6 pm to 8 pm,
and the Sidewalk Artists and Musicians are out till 9 pm. The next Art in the Alley is January 10, 2020. Check out the sunset, some holiday lights and some art.

Renningers is always packed with visual surprises.

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I spent one day on the weekend exploring Renningers with the antiquing crew. In February vendors come from all around the country to set up booths on the grassy hillsides around Mount Dora. As everyone was exploring the indoor booths, I set off on my own to sketch a giant swordfish I had seen earlier in the day. The fish was the focal point for Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage and Antiques from Deland Florida. As I was sketching I noticed a woman with long flowing hair having her picture taken with the giant alligator. I tried to get her in the sketch but she moved on to quickly. Later as she was taking cell phone pictures of the World of Oddities Side show banners, I managed to catch her.

As she and her friend exited the booth they approached me curious about why I would sit in the middle of a huge Flea Market. Donna Lee Gauntlet introduced herself. It turned out that she is an artist herself and she was in Mount Dora on a “Girls Art Weekend”. Donna told me about how sketching every day in her art journal helped her get through a difficult time. In essence art saved her life. Both her parents were artists and she felt like she didn’t live up to their standards as a child first learning art. Later in her life however the habit of sketching every day took hold. Her art studio is called The Dizzy Dandelion Studio. She offers a program called “Just Drawing It Out” which teaches people to connect to their creativity using art journals. She offers prompts that ask the students to draw specific objects together in a scene. Donna is working on a book right now that uses her sketches and copy to share her joy at having discovered an artists lifestyle. Her sketches are vibrant, playful and often full of joy. Donna runs art therapy workshops with retirement home residents. She uses art and laughter as healing tools. That lead me to tell her about my sketching collaboration where I sketched elderly residents as an an author interviewed them.

Later that evening as the sun set, Elaine took us all to Heron Cay bed and breakfast. We weren’t staying here, but Elaine wanted to show us all the highwaymen paintings that were hanging in the old Victorian home. There were indeed paintings everywhere in the gorgeously ornate interior. Paintings lined the stairway, so I followed our crew upstairs. A bedroom door was open at the top of the stairs and I heard Terry inside saying “My husband is an artist too.” I had to poke my head in, and there was Donna lounging on a four poster bed with several of her girl friends sketching in their art journals. They asked to see my sketch from earlier in the day, and for once I wasn’t carrying my art bag. I ran down to the car to get it and then found the front door locked when I tried to get back in. Another guest on the porch eventually let me in. Back upstairs as they flipped through my sketchbook I thought about what a great sketch I could do in this ornate room. The wallpaper had blood red floral patterns and all the furniture was dark ornately carved wood. I wanted to linger (sketch) but downstairs Elaine told Terry that they would leave without me if I didn’t hurry up. Upstairs, we took a couple of photos and then I rushed off to get dinner in Downtown Mount Dora. The moon was so bright that night as it shimmered above Lake Dora.

The annual Renningers antiquing outing.

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Every year, Terry’s friends Elaine Pasekoff and Bob Newlen come to Central Florida for a Renningers Antiques shopping extravaganza. Elaine drove up from Miami and Bob flew in from Washington DC. Bob has a very responsible job at the Library of Congress, but when he gets to Florida he is all fun. When I got home from work, I found Bob asleep on the couch. He must have had an exhausting flight.

Terry was busy preparing dinner for our guests and Elaine kept her company as they caught up. There is always plenty of laughter when this crew gets together. After dinner, Bob went down to Sand Lake Road to stay in a brand new hotel that opened just last year. We dropped him off and peeked at his suite. He was living like a sultan rather than slumming it on our couch or guest bedroom.

Terry, Elaine and Bob drove up to Renningers in Mount Dora the next day. The intended to shop until they dropped all weekend. I had a class to teach, so I had a pass the first day. I drove up that night and we all sat on the porch of the Mount Dora Inn for a show and tell session. Everyone had a pile of loot and I got to play judge deciding what was the most unique, quirky and beautiful in the lot.I would make up a new category if an item called for it. I particularly liked a travel booklet for Cuba from the 1950s. That Elaine had picked up. There was an ad inside for Cuba’s only Jewish Deli.

Terry’s Time Trials.

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Terry bought a very sporty Porsche. There is little reason to have such a fast car unless you want to drive super fast. Since getting the car she has been taking it to time trials to test her limits. The track was way out on the west side of town up near Mount Dora. The “track” was actually a large open parking lot next to a shooting range. As we approached we could hear the constant sound of fire arms being discharged. It added to the sense of reckless danger.

Cones were set up in the lot to outline the many turns on the test track. Everyone walked the track to get a feel for the layout. Since Terry didn’t have a number for her car, she put a single strip of Blue Duck Tape on the door for the number 1. A sophisticated timing system was set up to keep track of each drivers drive time. Only one driver was on the track at a time. Since this was Terry’s first taste of a time trial, an experienced driver went with her to coach her on how to attack the track. Beginning drivers were first on the track.

When Terry got on the track, the announcer joked that she was certainly having a leisurely Sunday drive. Each time she got on the track however, she improved her time. Her best time 54.031 seconds was less than half the time of her first attempt. She made slow and steady progress. One guy lost control and spun off the track. She smartly pushed herself without going past the breaking point. Driving helmets were required. Her car is in my sketch. It is the silver Porsche with the black soft top convertible roof. Apparently if the car were to roll over, there are support braces that would instantly rise up behind the bucket seats to protect the roof from crushing the drivers head.

After the time trials all the drivers gathered for a Subway‘s catered lunch on the picnic tables by the gun range. There were some very serious drivers who clocked some amazing times that day. Between rounds the drivers would have to wait an eternity for their next turn at the track. For that reason Terry isn’t a great fan of the time trial process. She is still looking to improve her time and push her car to it’s limit. For me it was a relaxing weekend sketch opportunity.

Hank Williams comes to life in “Lost Highway”.

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Andy Matchett left me a message to let me know tech rehearsals were in progress for Hank Williams “Lost Highway at the Sonnentag Theatre at the Icehouse in Mount Dora. Andy stars in the show as Hank Williams. The show opened with Hank’s mom sitting in a rocking chair on her porch reminiscing about her son’s childhood. He was a mamma’s boy. Opposite her on stage, a blues man sang a soulful tune. Hank went to this singer and played an early song he wrote about a UPA worker who was disgruntled. Hanks mentor asked, “Did you ever work for the UPA?” “No” said Hank. “Well, why you singing about someone Else’s problems?” “You have to use your own experiences.” Hank took the words to heart and is songs blossomed,

Hanks wife was an interesting character. She recognized his talents and helped promote him. Then she decided she needed to step into the spot light and sing. The trouble is, she was tone deaf. I grimaced when I first heard her and thought, how did they cast such an awful singer? But the actress probably had to rehearse many times to hit those notes.  Hank let her sing beside him and even write a few bad songs. But his talents would drown her out until she would stomp off stage in a huff. His earnings he would hand over to her and he would never see a dime. He loved her dearly but also wanted to kill her at times. The attention she craved, she found in the arms of other men and eventually she left hank.

Hank Williams flame burned bright and he achieved all his success in his 20s. But he turned to drink and even performed drunk sometimes. He had a mean streak when drunk and his band mates just had to put up with it. A truck stop waitress tended her bar for much of the show. She acted as the narrator, explaining Hanks influence on the people of Alabama and the whole country. As Hank performed she would be bobbing her head or sweeping the floors to the sway and beat of his songs. Her love and appreciation of the music was contagious. She dreamed of one day escaping the waitressing and driving off in a fancy car. That dream came true when a drunk Hank Williams entered her cafe. She left with him that night and drove his Cadillac while they howled at the moon. Instead of being a romantic interlude however, he passed out. She stayed with him until morning but that was their only night together.

While being driven between gigs, Hank passed out in the back seat of his car. The driver thought he was sleeping, but he had died at the tender age of 29. There was enough alcohol and drugs in him to pickle the man, but the coroner politely wrote it off as a heart attack. The band released several albums after Hanks death and those sad songs were more popular than ever. It is as if people need a performer’s sadness to feed off of even after death.

Hank Williams “Lost Highway” written by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik Directed by Darlin Barry runs from March 20 to April 12, 2015 at the Sonnentag Theatre in the Icehouse 1101 North Unser Street Mount Dora FL.

Tickets:

$20 All Adults (Fri- Sun)

$18 All Adults (Thursdays)

$17 Groups (15 or more)

$15 (age 18+ with student ID)

$10 (ages 5 – 17)

Showtimes:

Thursdays: 7:30 PM

Showtimes:

Fridays: 8:00 PM
Saturdays: 2:00 PM or 8:00 PM

Sundays:   2:00 PM

Call for Saturday show times

Eric Schlosser spoke about his new book Command and Control at Rollins College.

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Eric Schlosser‘s new book, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety is about the insanity of keeping a nuclear arsenal. He began research on the book after hearing horror stories from enlisted men who are tasked with maintaining these aging nuclear weapons. Many documents have recently been declasifIed, making research possible. He told a story about a simple maintenance worker in a launch silo who was tightening a bolt and accidentally dropped his wrench. It clamored downward and just missed hitting a device which would have caused the bomb to explode.

The nuclear bombs that exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were apparently very inefficient devices. Only 30% of the uranium was part of the nuclear fission used in the blast. The rest of the uranium was just dissipated by the explosions. Had these bombs been better designed, the devastation of the blast would have been much greater. I didn’t realize that an atomic bomb is designed to explode in the air just before impact. This means that none of the blasts downward percussive force was wasted.

The arms race resulted in countries hoarding as many weapons of mass destruction as possible. There is something known as the Titanic Effect. Basically every machine eventually fails which is why we need to buy new cars or build new planes. No matter how many safe guards there are, a device will fail because of aging outdated components, or human error. If you have ever driven on the roads in Florida then you know that humans can’t be trusted to use machines with safety in mind. A recent airplane crash wasn’t caused by pilot error or the engine failing, instead the crash was caused by the seat back entertainment system failing and causing a fire. An airplane was used to transport a nuclear warhead from one storage facility to another. The plane crashed in the Carolinas and thankfully the bomb didn’t explode. A huge disaster was narrowly averted. Luck only lasts so long.  The bulk of our nuclear arsenal is using outdated technology from the 60’s and 70’s.

When the first nuclear bomb was exploded as a test, the scientist weren’t sure if it might burn away the entire atmosphere leaving a dead planet. Thankfully that didn’t happen but the incessant testing through the years has littered the atmosphere with harmful radiation that will last for centuries. Our need for bigger bombs as security is slowly killing us all. The Russians have created the largest bomb to date, the Tsar Bomba, with a 100 Mega Ton yield. If that puppy were to detonate above Disney World, the air blast radius would go as far north as Mount Dora and as far west as Bithlo. At 5 psi overpressure, most residential buildings
would collapse, injuries would be universal, and fatalities widespread. Of course the radio active fallout would drift further killing many more. Oh, Happy New Year!

All Shook Up Brings the 50’s to Life in Mount Dora

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Opening the Sonnentag Theatre at the IceHouse‘s 67th season, All Shook Up, the Joe DiPietro musical features the love songs of Elvis Presley and characters and plot devices from “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare to Mount Dora. The plot was paper thin with characters that were stereotypes with no any depth. The show was a reason  to string together as many Elvis songs as possible. Love was the driving force for the action and the music with back up by a live band backstage was fun, fast paced and at times spectacular. The set designed by David Clevinger had a barrage of commercial images and scenes. It was much like the show with many elements thrown together with no single point of interest. I became frustrated by the many set changes which would force me to stop sketching as the theater went black.

A small Midwestern town’s  moral code is set by the Mame Eisenhower decency act. Then a roustabout (Fredy Ruiz) drives into town dressed like James Dean on a motorcycle. His motorcycle needs repair and Natelie, (Whitney Abell) the town mechanic is immediately smitten. She does everything she can to win the roustabout’s love and she doesn’t succeed until she decided to dress as a boy to approach him as a friend. The roustabout only has eyes for the exotic curator at the town museum (Carly Skubick) but she sees him as a brute with no culture. When she lets her hair down, watch out! Everyone in town seems to fall in love with the wrong person and then the show spins out of control to try and find balance and meaning in unrequited love.

Director, Darlin Barry, faced challenges bringing the show to the stage. The lead actor playing the roustabout wasn’t showing up to rehearsals so she had to do something. Fredy stepped into the roll from withing the cast of about 20 actors. When everyone including the ensemble are on stage dancing the stage is close to overflowing. I was made aware of this dress rehearsal by stage mom Kathy Wilhelm Witkowski, who’s daughter Corina was in the show. Corina introduced herself before the show and let me know that she had almost been in one of my sketches last year when I sketched the Buddy Holly Story at the Icehouse. She was on stage checking her cell phone on stage right and she walked back stage before I put her in the sketch. I kept my eyes open for her but she didn’t appear on stage until very late in the first act when she posed as a statue with five other women in the museum. It was a perfect sketch opportunity, and I penciled her in the sketch several times as a statue but couldn’t find a reason for showcasing a statue in the middle of the action that I had put in the sketch already. I had to erase her for the sake of the composition.

Sylvia, (Laurie Sullivan) who owns the local honky-tonk sang brilliantly. She courted Natalie’s widowed father Jim (David Coalter). Songs in the show include “Jailhouse Rock,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “One Night with
You,” “Love Me Tender”, “Devil in Disguise” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” A five-piece
band will accompany the singers with music director Justin Ward Weber on
keyboards. The music often bought back memories of working on Lilo and Stitch which incorporated many of these Elvis songs in the soundtrack.

All Shook Up is a simple fun summer romp. It runs July 18th to August 3rd.

Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The show is already 85% sold out. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 on Thursday and for seniors. Student tickets range from $10 to $15. For reservations or for more information, call 352-383-4616.

Lakeside Inn

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Once a year, Elaine Pasekoff, Bob Newlin and Jill Ziegler make a pilgrimage to Central Florida to attend the Renningers Antique Market in Mount Dora. The last several years Terry has joined them in their all day shopping fest. She has started collecting antique women’s compants encrusted in jewels. Last year she also came home with a huge railroad crossing sign. Bob who comes from Washington D.C. collects antique silver. Elayne comes from Miami and usually walks away with some Teddy Roosevelt memorabilia. Jill, also from D.C., has joined in the last several outings collecting fine china. I didn’t spend the day shopping, but I agreed to meet the exhausted shoppers at the Lakeside Inn where they were staying the night so they could continue shopping at the Renningers flea market the next day.

I got to the Inn a little early and decided to sketch the building. A women stopped to admire the sketch. She told me that a friend of hers was an artist. Teachers bought the girls work. In time however, the art student sold her soul to the devil and became a graphic designer. The crew parallel parked across the street from me.  They unloaded their haul for the day and made their way to the hotel’s front porch for “Show and Tell.” There were several people smoking cigars, so we all moved to a smaller porch on one of the hotel’s smaller buildings.

Elaine advised me to come up with “Best Of” categories for the best buys of the day. Last year Elaine won my vote by getting four French diorama scenes that were multilayered, adding depth to the scenes.This year Terry won the Sci-Fi Award for her purchase of an unused Star Trek board game. Elaine won the Best Teddy Award for a bust of the president. The Steal of the Day Award went to Jill. Bob’s knockers won my pick for the Best Overall Award. The mini working door knockers were on a tie clip.

We all watched the sun set over Lake Dora and then went out to dinner. We all stayed at the Inn, which is the longest standing working Inn in Florida. The next day as the troops rallied to shop again, I drove back to Orlando.

Mount Dora

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Bob, Elayne and Terry are relaxing on the porch of the Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora after a full day of shopping at the Renningers antique show and flea market. After sipping drinks they each had a turn to show and tell all about the great bargains they had found. Elayne’s daughter Haley and her boyfriend, Ryan were also on hand but they decided to walk hand in hand down to the lakefront to watch the sunset. Elayne is checking her iPhone and is about to call her boyfriend Derick. She found a Mr. Oreo flexible figurine for about a dollar and a Wise Owl glass jar. Terry bought some collectible 1950s dishware and a stunning bejeweled evening bag. Bob always returns to Washington DC with collectible silverware he gets from the same dealer he has been going to for years. They all agread that this year offered unheard of bargans.