Venetian Gardens, Leesburg Florida

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I went to Venetian Gardens in Leesburg Florida with a friend to paint. We made the mistake of getting to the gardens right before sunset. The golden hour light illuminated the far shore of the lake a golden orange. Two fishermen were out in small boats pulling in the last of their catch. It was a beautiful scene but we had to work supe fast to try and catch it.

The second it got dark, the mosquitos came out with a vengeance. We both scrambled to pack up our art supplies while getting bitten from all angles from clouds of mosquitos. I don’t even mind getting bitten, I just hate when the mosquitos buzz into my ears. I swear that every mosquito takes a kamikaze run at my ears. Hitting myself on the side of the head to try and kill the culprit is useless and deafening.

We both managed to get something 0n the page in the limited time we had. I of course would have liked more time to mix richer colors. I am considering making changes to my daily sketch kit to include gouache colors which can be applied opaque. With watercolors I can cover the page quickly with thin washes but there are times when I want to paint lights back into the sketch or mix rich pure colors. My watercolor palette is always rather dirty so finding pure color is a challenge.

In this same park there was a magnificent Christmas light display. Lights would flicker on and off in tempo with the music, and a series of reindeer would turn on in sequence making it seem like they were galloping across a bridge. I wanted to return to do a digital sketch of that display but I never got around to it. There were a few magical places to sketch in Lake County, but I have returned to downtown Orlando to search for the types of events that I have loved to sketch for years. I am on a sketching staycation in Thornton Park right now. I am staying at AirBnBs each week and walking downtown  to explore and sketch. My goal is to stay in Orlando long enough to sketch the Orlando International Fringe Festival in May.

Milk District Christmas Market

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I was giving serious consideration to buying a property on Forest Avenue in the Audubon Park district of Orlando. After walking the home and taking measurements, I decided to then walk the neighborhood. Several blocks away was North Bumby Avenue. I walked towards the Plaza Live Theater. Within a block I ran into this Christmas market set up in a parking lot. I decided to just sit down and sketch. This is exactly the type of event I tend to seek out and sketch anyway.

It had rained recently and there was a big puddle in front of me. On sale were vintage records and various arts and crafts. This neighborhood where the home was located felt right. A short walk from the front yard and I was already finding sketch able subjects. The Plaza Live down the street was having a Krampus event and I was excited to get there to sketch as well.

The home I was looking at had a wild and overgrown front and back lawn area. There was no grass, which I like. It had all native plants including bamboo which grows like wildfire. The house is a small 1 bathroom and two bedroom place. I had already drawn out a map of the rooms to see if I could fit my art studio furniture into the place. It was a tight fit. A huge live oak tree cut off much of the light that could make its way through the studio windows. Looking back the place was kind of dark. I could have controlled the light with natural electric lights but that would have run up the electric bill.

After spending $700 on an inspection, I decided the place wasn’t for me. Termites had infested the carport and they made their way up into the roof rafters. Though the roof hadn’t leaked yet it was structurally unsound. Rats had also taken up residence in the insulation in the attic. I figured that I would have to invest well over $100,000 to put on a new roof and it is also possible that interior walls were infested. What I would have been buying was a pile of cinder blocks. It would be a long time before I could move in. This was far more work than I wanted to get my studio set up. It is a good fit for a contractor who wants to flip the place.

Right now I am in between residences. I need a roommate situation or rental so I can stay in Orlando through the end of May since I plan to sketch the Orlando International Fringe Festival which runs from May 12 to the 27th . I am paying top dollar to stay in an AirBnB next week in downtown Orlando but that is very expensive. Apartments often want an 8 month commitment for the lease. I want to drive north in June to look at the possibility of setting up a studio in New York State. If anyone knows about short-term rentals in Orlando Florida, please let me know. I am living out of a backpack and scrambling to find a place. My studio and art supplies are packed away in a storage container and my Prius has my backpack a few groceries and my bicycle. I can view this as a problem or an adventure. I hope it is an adventure.

Hydroponics

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This hydroponics rig had just been set up when I left for Europe. The seeds had just been planted in the tiny pots with foam insets. Water is pumped to the top of the water tower and it trickles down to keep all the pots moistened. Nutrients are added to the water.

When I got back to Central Florida after three month in Europe the tower was overgrown with edible kale and a sort of Lettuce.  The plant on the top of the tower grew so large that it’s weight caused it to crack the plastic of the column and it fell over. The roots extended deep down into the plastic column sucking up tons of nutrients. The plant had to be harvested. The roots were about a half inch thick and I had to use a saw to cut through them.

I snipped off all the leaves and put them in plastic grocery bags. I use reusable bags when I get groceries, but somehow plastic bags still sneak their way into the studio. That one plant filled about 5 of those plastic bags and I put them in the refrigerator bottom shelf.

I have been cutting up one or two leaves every time I make a salad. I am amazed at how long the leaves have stayed fresh in the refrigerator. It must have been a month or two ago that I stored them away and I am still using them. There are two more bags of the leaves left. I mix them in with spinach or cut Lettuce that I get form the supermarket.

When that top plant crushed the plastic column due to it’s weight, the water started pouring down the outside of the column and the reservoir would have to be refilled every day or so. I did a quick fix by wrapping Saran wrap around the open wound so the water could stay contained and add nutrients to the other plants below instead of the ground.

At the end of this week I will be hitting the road again with my back pack , my Prius and my bike. I am having an operation down in Sarasota and then recovering with my sister in Port Charlotte. After what I hope is a  quick recovery I hope to find a rental in Orlando for a couple of months. I want to sketch at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in May. That might be my last sketching hurray in Orlando. The plan then is to drive north. And I hope to find a place in New York state just north of NYC. I will be driving up blind with no definite destination. It is a bit scary heading off to the unknown but I am sure I can establish a studio anywhere.

FRINGE: Naked at My Age

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Naked at My Age was a one woman show featuring  Charla Hathaway about sensual pleasure at every age. She recounted an early affair with a French Soldier and then an open marriage where she was free to meet and explore other partners.

It was inspiring to listen to a woman who is my age or maybe a little older discussing her sensuality. Americans seem to feel pleasure is only for the young. Every audience member was given a peacock’s feather and at one point in the performance, we were encouraged to caress our skin with it’s gently tip. I did so, but kept my sketching hand moving, an act which also gives me pleasure.

There were several original musical numbers where Charla strummed her guitar and sang about, well, sex of course. A song related to free sex of the 60s and later in life finding a partner who could not get erect. With patience and caring she learned how to give and receive pleasure. Chala openly talked about having to get an abortion before it was legal. Later in life She felt she had given all she could as a school teacher and she answered an ad as a senior sex worker.

What started part time after teaching school children developed into a Ph.D from Florida University, an online sex advice site and several books which she wrote on sexuality. Today Florida University is cutting any mention of women in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and related language. UF has removed women’s studies courses.

A sign on stage was a quote from May West which was, “If my panties aren’t wet, they don’t come off”. Young boys used to try to force themselves on Charla but she learned to set boundaries until she knew she was moist and ready.  She pointed out that most people are so concerned with giving pleasure that they never relax enough to receive pleasure. Sexual partners might come and go but her advice was to, “leave your partners better than you find them”. It is advice that everyone should take to heart. It was beautiful to see that as we age, our sexuality continues to bloom when we find the right partner.

FRINGE: The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln

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When Abraham Lincoln delivered the now famous speech at Gettysburg, there was a photographer on hand who was scrambling to get his camera and flash set up. When he finally took the photo, the president was already in the process of sitting down. The image of the president was a blur. It is a shame there wasn’t an artist on hand.

Historical performer, Tom Leahy stood in as the former president and I had plenty of time to sketch him as he read from the script.

Besides reading the Gettysburg Address, he talked about his relationship with Mary Todd Lincoln and the death of his son which devastated them both.

Abraham discussed his launch into politics and read his acceptance speech. With the Civil War being such a gut wrenching dramatic time, I wish more of that drama had made its way onto the production.

Next door a huge audience was going wild for one of the opening shows of the Fringe. The muffled cheers made their way through the thin walls, marking a start contrast between the boisterous flavor of the Fringe and the stark historical monologue being read aloud.

A woman who had seen me start the sketch wanted to see the finished result. As she was looking at it, Lincoln wandered over to look. “Why did you lean me forward?” he asked. If I sketched him standing upright, he would not have fit on the page.

FRINGE: Dead Pets

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The Orlando International Fringe Festival show, To All Our Dead Pets was a heart tugging open therapy session at the Rainbow Bridge Support Group for 11 strangers who were grieving for the loss of a pet. The loss of a pet tends to be even more devastating than the loss of a friend or relative.

In the lobby, each audience member was given a name tag and we were asked to write the name of a pet we had lost. I wrote Timmy. Timmy was the beagle our family had as I was growing up. After my mother died, we had to take Timmy to the vet. I sat in the back seat with him. He had developed worms, and the worms literally were wiggling out of his belly and fur and dropping onto the seat as we drove to the vet. It is a vivid terrifying childhood memory of mortality that is hard to wipe away. Timmy was put down at the vet.

As the theater filled the pianist swayed to the beat of the house music. I am a fan of anyone who have to move enthusiastically when the music plays. As the accompanist she did an amazing job holding this musical together.

The folding chairs were arranged in a circle as the audience filled the theater, but once the play started, the actors set themselves up in a line. Each actor had am monologue and a solo performance.

The woman seated in the center acted as the moderator at first but others stated a mutiny, questioning why she was putting a positive feel good spin one peoples grief.

One girl only had her pet for a day but her grief was as intense and everyone else’s. One woman became so overwhelmed that she stormed out of the back door of the theater. One macho actor tried to make a jokes at the expense of others. There was an author, a matronly grandmother, and a woman who felt she was above it all until she to broke down. The lyrics didn’t grip me but the feelings expressed held me firmly to my seat.

FRINGE: Paco Erhard, Live Forever

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Paco Erhard: Live Forever was in the Silver venue at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. The show was presented by German Comedy International from New York City presented the show.

Paco’s show was part stand up and part heart wrenching drama. Paco’s Russian accent added to the international flair.  Hard times were mixed with plenty of laughter.

Paco wanted to live the care free life of a beat generation writer like Jack Kerouac. Since Jack Kerouac wrote several books in Orlando My ears perked up. The Karouac Project in Orlando offers residencies for writers and I have had the honer of sketching many of these creatives as they write in the old College Park bungalow that Jack used to live in with his mom.

Paco’s description of taking LSD was intriguing since it is an experience I have never had.

I sat at the back of the theater since I had to sneak out early to teach a virtual class from my car in the theater parking lot. This was my first time using a phone hot spot to teach a class and thankfully it worked.

I can’t give a full review since I had to sneak out, but I was certainly laughing and had a great time at this one man show.

FRINGE: Done to Death By Jove

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Done to Death by Jove presented by Nicholas and Collett Productions from Hastings England, at the Orlando International Fringe Festival, is a Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie mash up featuring a cast of 6. However, 4 of the cast along with sets are stuck in traffic on I-4.

The two English actors who were left did there best to play all the parts. When Watson had to change into the part of a woman be speared thick lipstick around his mouth because he could not see back stage.

A laptop computer gave all the sound cues for the show but neither actor was familiar with how the program worked, so sound cues fell off the tracks. Quick costume changes, of which there were many, were done behind a thin metal costume rack. The audience could see the costume changes a happening but the actors requested that no one look.

When there were supposed to be more than 2 actors in a scene they used hats to stand in for the missing actors. The show was fast paced and hilarious. I loved every minute as I laughed my head off.

Tickets are $15. The final show is tonight, Sunday May 25 at 7:40pm. It really is a fun romp.

Fringe: Get a Clue, A Murder Mystery Who Dunnit Stage Combat Extravaganza

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At the Orlando International Fringe Festival some venues are not inside a theater. This show put on by Live Action Novelty Combat Entertainment (LANCE) takes place between the Orlando Science Center and Princeton Street.

Most of the audience was seated to my left. One man shouted out to me, “Are you doing a courtroom sketch of the performance?” I shouted back, “Yes, You all are the jury.”

In the show, a corrupt businessman is murdered along with two others. The narrator set the scene for the audience. As she spoke, 3 members of the cast dropped to the ground. Then she said, would you kindly move to where you actually died? All three got up and moved to a new spot.

The premise of the show is that the murders are recreated using objects that are set about the stage. There is plenty of staged fighting and murder. Once the scene was complete and the three actors lay in their spots, one would lean up and point out that the murder as described was completely wrong.

The whole scene would be reset and the scene would be replayed with a new villainous soul committing the murders. At times the stage fighting was quite unnerving with loud hits and narrow misses. The emotional impacts were helped by cast gasping and reacting in horror.

But the end of the show it had started to drizzle. I put away my unfinished sketch and popped my umbrella. If afternoon rains persist, the number of shows might be impacted.

Show times are:

Saturday May 17, 6pm, May 17, 8:30pm, Sunday May 18, 6pm, May 18, 8:30pm, Saturday May 24, 6pm, May 24, 8:30pm, Sunday May 25, 8:30pm.

The show is 45 minutes and tickets are $8 along with a FRINGE button. You need to be prepared to witness plenty of violence.

Orlando Fringe: Danny Feedback to the Future

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The Orlando International Fringe Show, Danny Feedback to the Future was unexpected. I think the premise was that Marty and the Doc from Back to the Future are playing guitar and at one point Dick Tracy performed on the drums.

An interactive component of the show consisted of passing out tiny vials that contained a scent. Since I was sketching I never picked up a vial. Besides I was wearing my trusty N95 mask, so that last thing I needed was to removed the mask to take a big whiff of community breath.

At one point doc was stripped down to his drawers. I am not sure why. The Feedback in the title refereed to a shrieking guitar performance where lots of foot pedals on the floor amplified the guitar feedback.

I think the show was part comedy. The audience definitely wanted to laugh. I am not sure what I experienced. It was certainly an unexpected assault on the senses. So, Back to the Future is a great movie, definitely worth seeing again.

I didn’t sketch the Fringe Awards ceremony since I am crunching on next season’s theater poster art for the Shakes, but I am so happy to see so many of the vibrant talented artists I got to sketch winning awards. Fringe is a wrap.