First Orlando Urban Sketching Workshop at the Orlando Public Library.

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This is a very quick sketch I did in the Orlando Public Library (101 E Central Blvd, Orlando, FL 32801) at the First Orlando Urban Sketching Workshop. This  first of 10 weekly workshops focused on using simple shaped to place small intimate objects on the page.  We used the magnolia room as a studio for the first two hours.  There we sketched from busts of Abraham Lincoln and small statues of American Buffalo. We experimented with blind contour and using a simple shape to define the shape before focusing on detail.

For the last hour I sett the students free to explore the third floor of the Library. The  goal was to catch an intimate detail and I let the students interpret that as they pleased. I did quick sketches for each student offering suggestions on what to consider as their sketch progressed. Then I settled in and did this quick sketch. There wasn’t time to add color, so on this rare instance I finished the painting back at my studio days later.

We all gathered at the rainbow of books at the end off a hallway for a group photo with everyone holding up their favorite sketch. I am having fun creating worksheets and course materials for these 10 workshops. The Worldwide Urban Sketchers organization was founded 10 years ago and they are celebrating by offering 10 long term workshops at cities around the world. The goal is to encourage more artists to carry sketchbooks and discover the world, one drawing at a time.

The First of 10 Orlando Urban Sketching Workshops.

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The first of 10 X 10 Orlando Urban Sketching Workshops was held at the Orlando Public Library (101 E Central Blvd, Orlando, FL 32801) in the Magnolia Room. The brutalist style architecture of the building makes it feel like it belongs in a futuristic non-Utopian society as in George Orwell’s 1984. Classical music is pumped into the lobby and when the automatic doors open, you can feel a rush of inviting cold air hit you as you walk by.

Urban Sketchers is celebrating 10 years by inviting sketchers from
around the world to attend ten on location workshops with an Urban
Sketching official instructor! The 10 workshops will cover three themes:

1. Little Stories.

2. Medium Stories.

3. Great Stories.

The Goals of the progressive workshops are to:
1. Show stories from Orlando, one drawing at a time

2. Improve drawing skills

3. Learn how to select, frame and design visual stories on a page

4. Learn how writing and drawing can work together to communicate more to your audience

5. Experience the advantages of group learning and seeing the many paths to success

For the first workshop I started with simple shapes like squares, circles, and triangles. We sketched the simple shapes and then sketched them as dimensional objects on the page. The most important building block to understand for me is the cube and we sketched it from all different angles as if it were dice on a roulette table. We then softened the edges of the cube and stretched, bent and twisted the shapes on the page. Being able to sketch that form from any angle is critical.

We then focused on contour drawing by doing blind contours before more controlled contour drawing of Abe Lincoln statues and buffalo statues. We then focused on producing a more finished still life of our art supplies. We used watercolor for the first time and I offered sketch suggestions to each student as their work was in progress.

 The library sketch with all the computers shown above was broken down into simple shapes. We left the classroom and found small intimate things to sketch throughout the library. The goal of each sketch was that the object chosen should have a story. As part of the workshop each student is encouraged to write about their experience and post those articles on the Urban Sketch Workshop Group page on Facebook. I am excited about the line up of venues that is coming up. We will be sketching exhibits and historic building models at the Orange County Regional History Center, the Ticonderoga Museum which is devoted to the humble pencil, a Celebrity Impersonators Convention, Zombietoberfest, the Creative City Project and Skeletons at The Museum of Osteology. By the end of the 10 workshops, I hope to have helped inspire some new Urban Sketch Correspondents.

The Little Sketch that no one Loves.

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I have 7 large format prints on display at the Orlando Public Library downtown (101 E Central Blvd Orlando FL). The show was hung on New Year’s Eve and will be on display through February. The prints are on the ground floor just past the book checkout counters to the right. Hanging the work was an adventure in itself.

I originally threw 8 prints into the back seat of my car and secured them with the seat belt and a bungee chord. I was told that a parking spot was reserved for me behind the library in the loading dock area. Unfortunately all those spaces were full, so I parked in the loading dock itself. The entry to the mail room was through those large plastic strips you might find in a meat locker. I tried to keep the strips from slapping the frames. Calls had to be made before I could enter the library through two locked doors. I was offered help bringing the framed pieces inside, two at a time. With the help, we only had to make two trips to my car. Once the pieces were inside I was told I would have to move my car. There was metered parking nearby, but instead I drove about half a mile away to get some free suburban parking.

On the long hike back to the library I started thinking about one of the prints. The sketch in question had been done at the opening of Morgan Wilson‘s first one woman show at Falcon Bar and Gallery. Her work in the show titled The Holy and Obscene, was sensual, edgy and surreal. She has an amazing ability to capture the female form while making you think about America’s prudish views about sexuality.  The fact that I documented her opening made me a bit deviant by association.

The same print had hung in the Winter Park Chambers for several months along with about 25 other framed origin sketches. When that show came down, I was told that The Holy and Obscene piece had been taken down half a through the run of the show because a commissioner noticed the F-Bomb written on a woman’s tiara. I decided that I might have to open the frame and cut a Post-it note and cover the tiara.  Jessica Earley is an artist who also works at the library, and I figured she might be willing to help with the edit. As luck would have it, there was a Post-it in my pocket.

When I finally got back to the library, the piece I had been debating about was turned to the wall. I walked up behind two staff members who where discussing the piece. They didn’t even mention the F-Bomb. What they had noticed was a male phallus. I didn’t even remember drawing a phallus. I imagined the infamous hidden tower in Disney’s Little Mermaid poster. I took a second look, and sure enough, there it was, flaccid, small and Morgan was shooting a cell phone photo of it.

When Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, he painted the monumental figures naked. After his death, an unknown artist was hired to paint thin fabric over the exposed men. In one fresco next to the alter, Michelangelo depicted Saint Peter willingly offered himself as a martyr. He was nude as both heroes and the humble were depicted, because
he was naked before God. The frescoes were renovated over a 20 year period and in 1994 the Chapel was re-opened. The restorers left the flimsy fabric censorship in place opening an ongoing debate in the art community.

Now I’m wondering if I should have edited Morgan’s work as it was depicted in my sketch. I drew a phallus without a second thought and yet it means that the sketch can never be exhibited publicly in Orlando. As an artist I have sketched hundreds of different nude models in figure drawing classes over the years. The naked human form is something I celebrate. I do, however understand and respect the Library’s policy. For that reason, I decided not to start placing Post-it notes all over the sketch. Instead, I quietly removed the forbidden art from public view.

Across from the men’s room, Martha Merritt was exhibiting mirrors framed with hundreds of shells. She showed me one framed aquatic skeleton that resembled a creature from outer space. Hidden within the structure she pointed out the shape of a crucifixion cross. She went on to explain that sand dollars have religious significance because they have 5 teeth that resemble holy doves.  I found it fascinating that there could be so much hidden religious significance in shells.  The day was a lesson in the Holy and Obscene. I still absolutely love Morgan’s paintings. She pokes fun at a society that celebrates its guns but hides sensuality. If you happen to stop by the library be sure to check out the shells for a taste of the holy, and then see my prints if you dare. You might want to bring along some Post-it notes just in case.

The Orlando Public Library offers programs for all tastes.

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George Markward from the Pastrami Project Food Truck offered a course on cooking holiday foods at the main branch of the Orlando Public Library (101 East Central Boulevard Orlando, FL). You should sign up for these courses in advance, but I dropped in unannounced and was welcomed. The library classroom is set up to offer any kind of cuisine course. The sink and oven were in another room adjacent to the classroom. About a dozen foodies sat in attendance.

George prepared three holiday dishes. He prepared a noodle kugel, potato pancakes and caviar on Blinis.  Preparations involved a mad dash of proceeding, stirring, boiling and frying. The great thing is that we all got to taste the finished products and bring the recipes home. I liked the noodle kugel so much that I made it at home the next week. Terry was shocked that I baked something, and it was a hit. Perhaps there is hope that I’ll become a foodie someday. It seemed ironic that the Greek Orthodox Church was feeding the homeless a block away while I was sampling free caviar, sour cream, lox and chives on Blinis. God they were good.

Here is the Noodle Kugel Recipe courtesy of Dave Lieberman.

Total time: 50 minutes.

Preparation time: 5 minutes.

Cooking time: 45 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Ingredients.

12 oz wide egg noodles

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 pound cottage cheese

16oz sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

6 eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

Directions.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Boil the noodles in salted water for about 4 minutes. Strain noodles from the water. In a large mixing bowl, combine noodles with the remaining ingredients and pour into a greased, approximately 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Bake until the custard is set and the top is golden brown, about 30-45 minutes.

Seed Alliance Show

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The Seed Orlando Art Alliance sponsored a group show. Ten Analog Artist Digital World sketchbooks are now on display at the downtown Orlando Public Library (101 East Central Boulevard). The books are framed in black shadow box style frames. I transported the work to the library using an old shopping cart. It wasn’t an elegant solution but it worked. The exhibit is on the ground floor right next to where the security officer sits. After I leaned the sketchbooks up against a wall, I settled back to watch and sketch as the exhibit was hung. Karie Brown was super organized with her laptop showing how she planned to hang the exhibit. As a matter of fact Karie was moving around so much that I ended up placing her in the sketch twice. Stephanie Matos was busy organizing all the items in the cart. Bonnie Sprung was there, but somehow I managed not to sketch her. I hope she was kidding when she said she was ticked about my oversight. Marcile Powers showed me her work which was done in the computer and involved intertwining repetitive patterns.If was a fun afternoon getting to meet some local Orlando artists I hadn’t met before.

The opening was January 15th starting at 4 pm and closing the library down at 6pm. After 6 pm the party moved to Blank Space right across the street. Odin’s Den was setting up it’s sound system and Karie arranged for a bottle of champagne. The sound check for Odin’s Den took forever and even after they started performing they had to stop and re-adjust the sound. Terry and I had to rush off to the opening of a new club downtown called Heat, so we slipped out.The Seed Alliance Art Show at the Library will be hanging through February 28th so stop down and take a look.

Interview with Robert Hill

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Mark Baratelli invited me to come out and sketch an interview he was having with Robert Hill, the Artistic Director of the Orlando Ballet. The interview took place at the Orlando Public Library. Mark kept the interview entertaining and funny. This is Robert Hills second year as the artistic director and he is on a mission to make ballet relevant to the world we live in by providing audiences with contemporary choreography, music and subject matter while continuing to preserve classical ballet that have stood the test of time. The Orlando Ballet’s 37th season begins with Giselle which is one of the timeless classics. For the holiday season, Nutcracker will return to the stage and in February Battle of the sexes hits the stage for a second time. The season will close with Carmen based on the opera.
Questions were fielded from the audience . A man stood and asked, “With a stage filled with dancers, how do we know where to look?” Robert said, “Actually that is a really good question, If the choreography is done right, it will lead your eye.” Mark asked a question which bought a laugh from the audience, “Do you let your dancers eat?” Robert responded by pointing out how he encourages his dancers to eat healthy foods.
Conducting the interview in a public place like the library is part of the plan to bring the ballet to a wider audience. After the interview was over, I approached Robert asking him to allow me to sketch rehearsals. He seemed enthusiastic and he said his assistant would call me. I have wanted to sketch ballet rehearsals for well over a year and it looks like I might finally realize that dream.

67 Books -The Alchemist

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Sultana Fatima Ali read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, as part of the final day of 67 Books on the rooftop over the entryway to Orlando Public Library. I was to read later that day, so I decided I would stop and listen and sketch. Behind Sultana, beautiful colored banners fluttered in the breeze. The story immediately entranced me, holding me in its grip. It followed the story of a young shepherd boy named Santiago, who was on a journey to fulfill his personal legend. It is easy to identify with this young shepherd as he seeks to find his treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. This book has been translated into 67 languages and sold over 65 million copies. Most of these sales were all from word of mouth. The book is even available free online.
The author discussed how he had to overcome many obstacles. From childhood, he was given the idea that fulfilling his destiny is impossible. Growing up, everyone enforced this idea. The second obstacle is love, the fear of giving up everything to pursue this distant dream. Another obstacle is fear of defeat. Yet defeats will come and must be faced. When these defeats are overcome, and they always are, then life can be faced with confidence and euphoria. According to Paulo, “The secret to life, is to fall seven times and get up eight times.”
I was disappointed when Sultana had to stop reading. Santiago had not found his personal legend yet, he had just started down that road. This is a book I will be picking up soon to read for myself.
After the reading was over I got a message on my cell phone. It was from my sister Carol, and read, “She passed. I’ll call u when i get there and know more.” This news caused my stomach to tighten and contract. She was talking about my stepmother, Ruth Krause, who I had just visited in Honesdale Pennsylvania a month before. I stood on the sidewalk stunned. Not knowing what to do, or how to act, I walked to the History Center and started sketching the high school children who were doing chalk drawings all around the public square. I pushed all thoughts of a funeral out of my mind and concentrated on the sketch at hand.

67 Books

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In honor of National Library Week (April 11-17, 2010), Brian Feldman organized a week long performance where 67 Orange County Library System (OCLS) card holders read aloud for one hour at a time from any book they choose from the OCLS collection, on the entry roof of the Orlando Public Library downtown branch. The event is an independent production of Brian Feldman Projects and is supported through in-kind donations of area businesses and individuals, and has not been paid for by the Orange County Library System.

Every reader to this point had been taken up to the roof overlooking the entryway to the library. This area is like a large never used balcony with a grand view of the street below, and makes for an impressive staging area. Mary Hill was open to the idea of me sketching her as she read Thomas Morton‘s book “Contemplative Prayer.” She was set up with a wireless mic and she then began to read. Speakers carried her voice to any passersby, and on rare occasions someone would look up and notice her perched high above the entry. When she reached for a sip of water, a homeless man across the street threw his hands up in the air and cheered. The sun was pounding down that afternoon and I sketched from the only patch of shade on the roof. After Mary had been replaced with another reader, she said her eyes had dried out and she had trouble focusing. She laid down for a while and rested on the concrete ledge before we both went back down to ground level using the scissor lift.

Harriett Lake is a renowned Orlando philanthropist and supporter of the arts. When I discovered she was going to be a reader, I knew I had to sketch her. Her choice of “The Catcher in the Rye” was also a bit controversial since this book at times has been banned from school curricula. Harriet told Brian she couldn’t go up in the lift because of her age and slight disability. She was seated in one of the two red camping chairs Brian had set up on the street level near the computer which was mission central. Harriet needed a more comfortable chair so a wheelchair was bought out for her to sit in. Harriet’s enthusiasm for the book was evident from the start as she read a newspaper article about the book and author, J. D. Salinger. She lost her grip on the article when she finished and the paper started to blow down the street. A passerby picked it up and tried to hand it back, but she was already reading the book and didn’t notice him.

Amanda Chadwick came over with her very frightened dachshund. She tried to calm the dog, but it would jump and scurry any time there was aloud noise. In front of the public library, there are many loud noises. Ambulances rushed by, the electronic lift screeched and groaned. People exiting the library bust out with loud laughter and joking as they escape the deafening silence from inside. Through it all, Harriet read with enjoyment the small orange paperback.

She read, “Pencey was full of crooks. Quite a few guys came from these wealthy families, but it was full of crooks anyway. The more expensive school is, the more crooks it has – I’m not kidding.” Twice she stopped reading and started laughing. She shouted out, “This is a funny book, I forgot how darn funny it is.” I laughed out loud as well sharing her delight. Homeless men with backpacks and business men in suits shuffled by. A few times people stopped, surprised by all the camera equipment and lights and they listened for a brief moment before hurrying off.

She read aloud, “People never notice anything.” This seemed so appropriate as people rushed all around her always focused on a destination rather than savoring this moment here and now. Harriet was the last reader for the day and when her hour was up Brian approached her and let her know. She shouted back, “What? THAT was an hour?! It didn’t feel like an hour!” I laughed out loud again. When you’re doing something you love, time flies and life always finds a way to interrupt the process. There was magic in the moments Harriet was reading in front of the library. The fact that she was so much closer to all the activity on the street, and the fact that nothing phased her made this feel like an important and meaningful sign that art endures amidst life’s chaos.

I will be reading as part of 67 Books on Saturday April 17th from 3 to 4 PM. I am not entirely sure which book I am reading yet, but in the running are “The Fountainhead” by Ann Rand and “Book of Sketches” by Jack Kerouac. Which do you think I should read, any suggestions?