Michelle Shocked had a concert at the Plaza Theater on Bumby. My wife bought front row seats for the show knowing I would want to sketch. The event did not sell out and after Michelle started singing, Terry moved back a couple of rows because she couldn’t stand being right on top of the action. The concert was great. The poster behind Michelle was painted by her artist husband on her wedding day. They are now collaborating on a series of paintings and songs about famous women. He is doing the paintings and she is writing songs for them. She explained that most of these women are so famous that you do not have to hear their last name to know who they are. For instance Georgia ________, Audrey ________, and Vanessa ________. He is working on a painting of Ann Frank right now. I love this collaborative idea and can’t wait to hear the music.
When Michelle was called back for an encore, she took out her iPhone and called her husband who she missed and had the audience shout out “Hi Dave!” She then insisted that he tell a story about his youth when he delivered newspapers. He said he was a very reliable newspaper delivery boy. He won an award as the best local newspaper boy in town. But one day a young girl propositioned him before he finished his route. She said if you come over right now you will get “it”. He was quite torn but in the end he left the pile of papers on the street corner and went over the girls house. He never did get “it” and when he returned to the street corner, his manager was there and he was fired. Michelle said she instantly fell in love when Dave simply sat behind her at a party and wrapped his arms around her waste.
Michelle said she is tired of divisive politics and I was surprised to find out she doesn’t have medical insurance. She stressed that music is an important way to bring people together and build a feeling of community.
Parkin Lot Pickin
Every Friday at sunset for the last 20 years pickups and trucks pull into the parking lot behind the Twistee Treat on Maguire Road near Colonial Avenue and they pull down their tailgates and bet out their instruments to play Bluegrass music. Other cars pull into the lot and soon there is a small crowd sitting in lawn chairs enjoying the free music. A man in an electric wheelchair makes his way around to every member of the audience offering free CD’s of the previous weeks performances.
Brad introduced me to this local tradition. Terry joined me for a while but she had to rush off to a girls night out at the Barn. I sat in the parking lot with Brad, Darlyn and a poet named Billy Collins and his fiance Suzannah Gilman. Billy was the Poet Laureate of the United States for two years. Billy and Suzannah were a fun couple to hang around with. After listening to the music for a couple of hours, we all went over to Twistee Treat and got some ice cream. That place was doing a brisk business and I splurged on an banana split that was to die for. After listening to the music for a little longer, we all then decided to head over to Winter Garden to a place called the Attic Door which had music and plenty of drinks. The lively discussion about art and literature went on for hours. If you want a taste of real old time Florida, I highly suggest going out to the Twistee Treat parking lot on a Friday night.
Free Fall Music Festival
The Free Fall Music Festival was held in Gaston Park on Lake Ivanhoe. Here Lost Time Accident performs. The event was small in size and family friendly with one of those inflatable kids slides. Two children were playing in the sand of the volleyball court while dad took pictures. Families were scattered about rather far from the stage. Perhaps the music was to loud for them. Right in front of the stage a homeless man sat totally wasted, often with his head drooped down semi unconscious. Several of his friends were better off but also had that glazed look and harsh emaciated skin. But these folks knew how to party. They were dancing most of the time and shouting with their fists in the air. Once in a while the woman in the red top would shake the wasted guy awake and he would listen for a while before fading back out and slumping into a stupor.
Half way through this sketch I realized that I was running out of water for my brushes. I went up to the beer tent to get a bottle of water, but realized I had no cash. I asked it they took a credit card which of course they didn’t. I had to finish up with some spit to smear the colors around. The girlfriend of one of the performers asked to take my picture while I as working and I agreed. The woman in red came up and looked over my shoulder. The children standing near me backed away. I was afraid she might get annoyed that I had drawn her and her wasted friend. Instead she told me I had a gift from God.
When the next act got up, it started to rain. I quickly ran to a small cement power bunker overhang. The crowd quickly disappeared. The singer on stage sang “I’m Singing in the Rain”. A hawk on a telephone pole took flight. The woman standing next to me started telling me that she and Jimmy were just recently homeless. They had been staying with a friend but the friend got evicted. All their stuff was at another friends house and she was hoping to get an apartment somehow on her own. Jimmy used to work downtown at a small coffee shop across from the library but he got laid off. When the rain stopped I said good by and stepped out onto the wet lawn. On the way out I bumped into Louis Bova an artist from Brooklyn now living in Orlando. She told me about several other events going on that day, but I had finished my sketch, and I suddenly felt a strong desire to relax at home rather than braving the elements to get another drawing.
The White House – Lindy Romez
Based on a tip from a reader I went to an event called Timucua White House. This is a private home of Benoit Glazer, the musical director of Circue du Soleil, at 2000 South Summerlin Avenue where music acts are featured salon style in the families living room. The first act featured Benoit on the trumpet accompanied by his very talented kids. On this day Lindy Romez performed with her band, SolY Mar. Juan Leon played the Bass, Chapman Stick played the native American flute and guitar, Gary Tompkins was on guitar, Johnnie Spulveda was on the hand drums and Ralph Gray played the kit drums. In the corner of the stage an artist worked on a canvas when ever the group was playing. The painting was made available for sale when the performances were over.
The home is three stories and opposite the band, a spiral staircase wound upwards offering multiple balcony views of the act. Being curious, I walked to the top of the stairs and that is where I stood to do the sketch. A fair sized crowd of 30 or 40 people were gathered in the living room and stairwell to view the show. Some people leaned against the walls since seating was limited.
Th music had a swinging jazzy beat with a tropical flavor. I found myself swaying my hips to the beat the whole time I was sketching. The intimate space made the music resonate deeply in my chest. This is the second time I separated the performers from the audience with the centerfold of the sketchbook. It seems a natural divide. The heat from all the stage lights rose up and I found myself sweating up a storm as I sketched. It was worth it however since I love this aerial view of the event.
Tiki Lounge
On a third Thursday I had plans to attend a number of art openings downtown. I had another commitment that kept me from getting to the openings on time. I rushed downtown and got to the galleries just as the shows were closing for the night. I walked in and out of 3 shows in short order knowing I would not have enough time to do a sketch. I was then left wandering the streets hoping inspiration would strike. A biker gang pulled up in front of a bar with gorgeous custom choppers and after they all parked curbside, I crossed the street for a closer look. I started roughing in a sketch but something about the bikers activity left me feeling they were not staying long. I decided to walk up to them and ask if they were planning to stick around. They said they were illegally parked and just resting, they would be gone in ten minutes. Again in agony I decided to pass up the sketch opportunity. As I wandered the hot humid streets I passed this Tiki Lounge and felt a cool blast of air from the air conditioning from the open door. That breeze was enough to lure me inside where I immediately sat down and started sketching the music act, named John Neff. He played a soothing mix of contemporary pop tunes. As I sketched I heard the roar of the biker gang as they rode by. A woman walked up to me and asked to see what I was up to. As it turned out she is John’s mom who came to watch her son play. Later a man approached me and wouldn’t you know it was John’s dad.
David Amram and Me
David Amram is a force of nature, he is a musician, composer, shaman and inspiration. He often stresses the importance of looking for the beauty in the worthless things in life, for those are often the most priceless. David was a good friend of Kerouac and he said Kerouac at any party would always gravitate towards the person in the room who looked the most insecure. It is this giving, encouraging spirit that separated Kerouac from the average artist. David kept stressing the importance of realizing there is beauty all around us, and that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. He pointed out that you don’t have to travel to Europe or Asia to find this beauty. It is right in your back yard, just look around. He stressed the importance of what he called, the University of Hangoutology. If you hang out at a spot long enough you truly begin to discover its secrets. He also likes to point out the importance of spontaneity as a part of the whole experience.
As part of the presentation David showed a video of a performance he gave years ago at the History Center in Orlando. I was shocked when in the foreground of the first shot I saw a younger version of myself in a stiff button down long sleeve shirt and a full head of hair. I was sketching away as usual unnoticed by anyone. It was that evening that lead me to years later decide to go to the Kerouac house and sketch it. It seems like life keeps coming at me in oblique angles. Lines are no longer straight, but instead curve in and around toward the source. I seemed so young and exuberant in the footage and yet I seemed stiff and insecure, like I was dresses up for the corporate role I had to play. I am left wondering in what ways I have changed since that time. The journey continues and David is still there to remind me to keep my eyes open for the wild, wonderful, frenetic, crazy, spontaneous, outlandish, world that has yet to be sketched.
Performers
This is the only sketch I did of Bluegrass Performers. By this time I was tired, cold, and the tablet had died. The lead singer of this group had on a loud jacket with roses sewn on so he looked like he belonged in a mariachi band rather than a bluegrass band. Terry and I had moved forward and sat in the lawn chairs left in place by people who had gone home. I imagine the people were planning to come back the next day to reclaim there prime seating.
Biker for Jesus
The tablet didn’t come out until after the sunset. Terry and I had been sitting on the outskirts of the packed tent for most of the day. When the wind picked up and temperatures dropped, we were forced inside by workers who put up the side flaps to the tent. The couple in front of us fascinated me. The biker had a long grey beard that went down to his belly. The emblem on the jacket read: Christian Motorcyclists Association, with a bible in the middle of the logo. This groups vision , according to there website is: Changing the world, one heart at a time. Later when I got a Polish Sausage, I saw the couple in the picnic area and she was lovingly brushing his long beard.
Working with the tablet in the cold temperature had its advantages, like keeping my hand and lap warm as the computer chip heated up.