Michael Pilato came to Orlando shortly after the horrific shooting that killed 49 people who were celebrating life. Michael is a muralist and his murals colorfully show family of victims, survivors and first responders who were affected by the tragedy. This coming June 12th will mark one year since that fatal night. The mural panels are nearing completion and a second mural for UCF is about to begin.
The home schoolers visited The studio which is above Anthony’s Pizza on the corner of Colonial Drive and Mills Avenue. The students lead by Susan Gromala Crary, were about to paint murals up the stairways to the studio. Michael showed samples of past murals to inspire the students and then they gathered in a group and sketched out possible concepts to the stairway. Hearts were a recurring theme and also many words of hope. The students text often and words are their primary means of expressing their feelings. Susan took the sketches ant thoughts back to her studio and helped tie them all together into a cohesive whole. The day was good for collaboration and seeing how individuals can come together and creative something that any one of them might not have conceived. It was inspiring to see Susan interact with the kids and they all pulled together to create something unexpected.
Susan has an opening coming up April 29th called Pedestrian: Moments in Blue at The Gatlin Creative, 4940 Orange Ave S, Orlando, Florida 32806. Music Preformance by: Old School Misfits.
The show is a study of the artistic experience that
can not be mass produced. The series celebrates the moments when an
artist is in their element. The paintings are a tribute to the passion
and creative drive of the artist that some might consider pedestrian; or
art happenings that sometimes may be discarded or overlooked as art.
Ms. Gromala journeyed throughout the central Florida
region to paint live at each art event with usually two hours to
capture moments as it occurred. The process of live painting creates the
sketchy loose and energetic feel which allows the viewer to be a part
of each event through Susan’s perspective of the artist. Her preference
to utilize the color blue is a symbolic nod to the “blue collar”
element. It also stems from her passion for monochromatic imagery and
the color of Prussian Blue. A highlight of Susan’s style is the manner
in which she celebrates each drip and errant brush stroke that can occur
in a live painting. These marks are purposefully included as part of
each piece to enable a connection to the action and energy present
during the happening as it was being captured on canvas. Therefore,
creating a painting style emoting a sense of honest reaction to each of
these unique artist moment