Fairy Doors

Posted on by Thor

Leu Gardens in Orlando Florida had twenty, one-of-a-kind, whimsical fairy doors scattered throughout the gardens. Orlando Urban Sketchers organized a group outing to sketch the doors. About 10 to 15 artists gathered in the garden’s guest house. I was surprised that I was the only artist wearing a mask. I invited several of my advanced Urban Sketching students to the event so they could see that there are other artists in Orlando who sketch on location.

We each got a map that showed where to find each Fairy Door. The first one we went to however was hidden up inside a trellis so it was rather hart to find and difficult to draw. We settled on this second fairy door which was in plain sight on a large live oak tree.

This was the Karasi Fairy Door which means life and wisdom. Karasi is a book fairy who loves to read every day. She shares her books and knowledge with all the fairies. She has teal eyes and plum-colored hair and wings. Her silver pixie dust is rare and can only be used if she sees another fairy in need. Basically this was a red book with several pages slipping out of it. My primary memory of sketching that day was the incessant humm of loud fairies buzzing in my ears. I would swat them away, but moments later they would buzz my ears once again. It had recently rained, and apparently fairies are very active after a rain storm.

Back at the Leu gardens guest house all the artists gathered and shared their work. It is always exciting to see all the different styles of work created.

Pre Pandemic Orlando Urban Sketchers Drink and Draw

Posted on by Thor

By February 27, 2020 Covid-19 which started in Wuhan China had spread to 37 locations internationally, including cases in the United States. This week however life was normal. I was sketching rehearsals in theaters and I sketched in a crowded theater.

The CDC was making the following recommendations at the time…

  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer between hand washings
  • Cover your cough: Use tissues or cough into your sleeve.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces
  • Get Vaccinated: CDC recommends vaccination for everyone aged 6
    months and older, especially for those people who are at high risk of
    serious complications from the flu. (This step we now know would have no effect on Covid-19. There is no vaccine for Covid-19.)

15 days later, On March 13,, 2020 Donald Trump would Tweet, “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages
between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the
economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of
CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”

Orlando Urban Sketchers held a drink and draw at the Bear and Peacock Brewery, 1288 N Orange Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Pam and I arrived a bit late and found everyone crowded around a table. With no where to sit, we decided to get our own table in the corner and I sketched the group huddled together. Gay Geiger had picked the venue because her co-workers wanted  to go out after work for a drink. Her co-workers never left so we had two groups crushed together for drinks and conversation. This sort of scene is unimaginable today in our new reality.

Daily over 2000 Americans are dying from Covid-19 this week. Over 2 Million people have died world wide. 37,154 people have died in America so far from the virus. The inaction of the president has resulted in a massive death rate that didn’t need to happen if testing was being done on a massive scale to find and isolate those infected. 

Trump is now effectively calling for protests in Minnesota Michigan and Virginia where followers are protesting stay at home orders. A similar protest took place yesterday March 17, 2020 in Orlando Florida outside the Administration building downtown, with no social distancing among the protesters gathered.

Art Deco Weekend Classic Car Show

Posted on by Thor

Art Deco Weekend is the longest running free community cultural festival in South Beach Miami. Orlando Urban Sketchers, Tampa Urban Sketchers and Miami Urban Sketchers teamed up to offer free demos and sketch walks during the festival. The Breakwater Hotel was one of the buildings that was on the sketch walk I hosted. Walking up and down Ocean Avenue I became infatuated with this car parked in front of the Breakwater.

The owner sat in a lawn chair behind his car and other car owners chatted with him for the longest time. A guy and his girlfriend sat on the grass in front of me while I sketched. When they got back up, the guy asked what I was doing. I think he suspected I might be drawing his girl. When he saw the sketch of the car he offered a compliment. He turned to his girlfriend and brushed her butt with his hand saying, “Your dirty.” He did this three more times, laughing as they walked away. At the outdoor patio across the street, guests were enjoying drinks and “The Best Cuban Food” at Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine South Beach which is also known as the “Cathedral of Cuban Mojitos.” Now I kind of wish I had ordered a drink to sip while I sketched.

Waldorf Towers Hotel

Posted on by Thor

The last stop on the sketch walk I hosted was the Waldorf Towers Hotel (860 Ocean Drive Miami Beach FL) built in 1937 by architect Albert Anis. A curious and unique feature of this building is the round watchtower on the upper right hand corner. It seems like this might be a good place to look over the street scene below but the glass blocks under the tower verified that you couldn’t actually stand up there and look out the windows of the tower. It was purely decorative.

The structural system is concrete block stucco and has 44 rooms built at a cost of $75,000. The building is nearly symmetrical in it’s primary and secondary elevations. The only exception is rounded corner. The building has continuous eyebrows (horizontal banding) with a slightly projected central bay with a stepped ziggurat parapet roof line. There is vertical ribbing at corner and a central bay and fluted columns support the porch. There is multi-colored terrazzo floor designs with glass block ornamentation in lobby.

With the sketch walk finished and the sun setting we all “threw down” our drawing to see what everyone had done during the sketch walk. It is fun to see the wide variety of styles and then we all posed for photos. This walk was a collaboration between Orlando Urban Sketchers, Tampa Urban Sketchers and Miami Urban Sketchers. A few people also joined us because they heard about it during the Art Deco Weekend.

Casa Casuarina: Versace Mansion

Posted on by Thor

Orlando Urban Sketchers, Tampa Urban Sketchers and Miami Urban Sketchers teamed up to offer workshops ad demos at the 3 day Miami Beach Art Deco Weekend. My first demo was titled, Leaf Something Behind, and my plan was to sketch the Versace Mansion on one of the large circular Sea Grape leaves that can be found all around the beach front properties of South Beach.

Before the demo, I decided to sketch the mansion on good old paper to get used to it’s proportions and patterns before the challenge of working on a leaf. For this weekend I brought along some gouache paints in a new palette. I immediately fell in love with the option of being able to put down pure bold opaque colors wen needed. I decided while doing this sketch that opaque white might be needed when I decided to work on Sea grape leaves. These leaves are leathery when they dry out and rather study. A tour guide had told me that they can be sent through the mail as post cards.

One of the event staff go carts was parked in front of the mansion as they needed to drop off water and other supplies to the VIP dance area behind me. All around me people were in a hurry to set up their tents to be ready for the crowds that would decent on the festival over the weekend. Rain threatened multiple times during the morning, but the showers were short lived squalls and I put the umbrella up and continued to work.

Art Deco Weekend VIP Reception

Posted on by Thor

Art Deco Weekend is held in Miami Beach each year. Art Deco Weekend was created nearly 43 years ago by the Miami Design
Preservation League (MDPL) to showcase the beautiful Art Deco buildings
of South Beach, saving it for future generations. MDPL’s early work was
the catalyst that created the vibrant, world-class city we live in
today.

This year, Orlando Urban Sketchers, Tampa Urban Sketchers and Miami Urban Sketchers were invited to offer sketch tours and demonstrations during the festival. Day 1 was problematic. It rained much of the morning as we tried to set up the tent. Tensions were high and sketch equipment got muddy. The Florida Urban Sketchers had a tent where guests could try their hand using watercolors and it became mission central for  sketch tours.

Pam Schwartz prepared historical information cards abut each of the Art Deco buildings that were being visited on the sketch walks. She teamed up with James Richards on the first sketch walk and was the historical tour guide before artists sketched the scenes. Day 1 there were two sketch walks and three demonstrations. I gave a demonstration sketching the Versace mansion using as my canvas the large Grape Leaves that are so prevalent beach side in Miami Beach. This turned out to be a fun experiment and others grabbed leaves to try sketching themselves. The leaves are thick and leathery and I was told they can be sent as post cards through the mail. I may try to mail one of the sketches back to Orlando.

In the evening there was a VIP reception for board members. It was insanely windy. Women’s hair and palm tree fronds blew horizontal. Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra performed on stage. The wind blew into the microphones creating extra sound effects. The dancers were all amazing. That is because they were mostly a local dance group. We had several drink tickets and Pam ordered several sangrias. I usually like sangria but this stuff was pure alcohol or rocket fuel. I could not down my drink.

Drink and Draw

Posted on by Thor

Sarah Jane Rozman hosted a Drink and Draw at The Nook on Robinson (2432 E. Robinson St, Orlando, Florida). I host an Orlando Drink and Draw (ODD) once a month as well so I decided to stop in to see how this Drink and Draw differed. The biggest difference was that a winner got $$$ for their bar tab! The artists in attendance all were given a theme so all the at produced tied together. Finished pieces were taped to the wall. Since I was working on this sketch, I didn’t follow the rules.

The good thing about this venue was that the Drink and Draw directly followed Tasty Tuesday which is a food truck event that happens each Tuesday in the parking lot behind The Nook. This guarantees that Tuesday nights are going to be pretty crowded. I knew Sarah since she used to work at Art Systems in the print department. Unfortunately the color printer seldom worked so I started getting my prints at RT Art instead.

In 2019 I let ODD lapse since Orlando Urban Sketchers were hosting so many successful sketch events. Unfortunately those outing were almost all on days I was teaching art at Elite Animation Academy or Crealde School of Art. I still try and sketch every night so my best chance to meet fellow artists is to start hosing ODD events again once a month.

Art Deco Weekend

Posted on by Thor

Orlando Urban Sketchers, Miami Urban Sketchers, and Tampa Urban Sketchers, will be a part of Art Deco Weekend in trendy South Beach Miami  this year. You can sketch with us at the Miami Beach Historic
District to capture the essence of the 1920 Era in your
sketchbook. This event is FREE. All ages and all drawing levels and skills are welcome.

The Art Deco Weekend festival by the Miami Design Preservation League is thrilled to include for the first time the Urban Sketchers in their official program with a series of Sketch walks, Urban Sketching
demonstrations and “Drink and Draw” events. Join us as we draw the
architectural gems of the Miami Beach Historic Art Deco District and
capture the essence of the 1920s Art Deco Weekend Festival Events.

A Sketchwalk is
an interactive walking tour run by urban sketcher leaders, where participants stop to pull out their sketchbooks and capture the scene in
a drawing. These on location from observation sketches tell the story
of place, time, and community. Equipped with inks and colors, urban
sketchers use their personal drawing techniques, interpreting their view
through their own styles. At each walk, through a ceremonious
“Sketchbook Throwdown”, the incredible variety of work captured is
shared and discussed, providing inspiration and a fascinating show and
tell for all.

The primary leading instructors are; James Richards,
Thomas Thorspecken, Gaston McKenzie and Greg Bryla, together with
instructors members of the FL USk chapters.

I will be hosting two demos, called, Leaf Something Behind.

Location: Versace Mansion – South beach park, opposite the Villa Casa Casuarina (1116 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach, FL 33139).

Description: As artists our goal is to leave something behind with the sketches we create.

Using found object Grape Leaves to do a pen and ink sketch of the active festival street scene.

On the beach front there are Sea Grape trees that have large round leathery leaves.

We will hang out in the beach front park or on the street as I do a sketch of the scene in pen and ink on one of these leaves.

The leaves can be mailed as post cards and I plan to test this out with the finished sketch.

Should
you like to do a leaf sketch yourself, I can’t guarantee there are
enough lying on the ground, but there were plenty last time I visited.

What to bring:
Bring your sketchbook and sketching supplies of your choice. As this
event is OUTDOORS be prepared with drinking water, portable chair/stool,
and appropriate clothes for the weather.

Where: Sketch walks commence at the Urban Sketchers tent (1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139).

Weekend Top 6 Picks for October 19 and 20, 2019

Posted on by Thor

Saturday October 19, 2019

All day. $18.85 Architects of Air Immerse. Dr. Phillips Center Lawn, Downtown Orlando. Through October 27, 2019.

10am-1pm Free. Young Artists Urban Sketching Workshop Ink and Twig: Sketching Brutalist Architecture. Orange County Regional History Center, 65 E. Central Blvd, Orlando, FL.  

Learn to sketch with only ink and twig to capture the Brutalist ”raw” architectural style of
The Orlando Public Library. This workshop is part of the Young Artist Workshop series
sponsored by Orange County Regional History Center and Urban Sketchers Orlando.
Workshop includes admission to Orange County Regional History Center, tour of the
exhibit: The Accidental Historian, and materials.
Learn more & register. Instructors: Art Esteban and Gay Geiger.

7pm to 9pm Free. The Orlando Shuffle. Beardall Senior Center, 800 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801. The
Orlando Shuffle is always free, family-friendly, and fun. It takes
place the 1st and 3rd Saturdays every month. Come play, learn, or just
hangout. Retro attire is encouraged.

Sunday October 20, 2019

10am to noon, Free. Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation Class. University, 5200 Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32811. The Method of Heartfulness A simple and practical way to experience the heart’s unlimited resources. 

11am to noon. $5 Yoga. Lake Eola near red gazebo. 

Noon to 3pm Donation based. Music at the Casa. George Grosman. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Members
of the public are invited to visit our historic home museum on a Sunday
afternoon to listen to live music and take a tour of our historic home
museum and the James Gamble Rogers II Studio by trained docents.

Accidental Historian Install

Posted on by Thor

The Accidental Historian Exhibit will be on display the the Orange County Regional History Center (65 East Central Boulevard Orlando FL) from September 21, 2019 to January 21, 2020. I went in to sketch during the install of the exhibit. I was  intrigued with the fact the eight years of my sketchbooks were stacked like the Tower of Terror inside a glass museum case. The staff tried to just stack the books but it swayed uncontrollably and they had to come up with a plan B. A clear plastic spine was created that supports the high column of books but even with that solution, the tower slumps forward just a bit like an old man reaching for a cane. On top of the tower one sketchbook is open to a sketch of a giant inflatable alligator that was once in front of the History Center thanks to Heather Henson. A laser level stood sentry like a War of the Worlds armored attack vehicle. It stood on spindly legs staring at the sketchbook tower perhaps judging how fragile it looked.

In this exhibition, created at the
History Center, you get to learn how individuals who are absorbed in documenting
the world of today accidentally become some of Central Florida’s finest
historians for the future. You can also catch a glimpse into some of the museums
collections that were created for the now – more than 100 years ago.

The Accidental Historian features both historic and
contemporary work and collections, including drawings by the renowned
artist and teacher Ralph Bagley and Orlando Urban Sketchers , poetry by
Orlando’s inaugural poet laureate Susan Lilley, audiovisual work by food
blogger Ricky Ly, historic images by photographer T.P. Robinson, and of course a some Orlando sketches by myself.

Visitors to the exhibit can create 19th-century “tweets” and step
into a larger-than-life, Instagrammable photo station, along with other
fun features. The exhibit is fully bilingual, presented in both English
and Spanish. Related programs range from preservation workshops to
poetry readings and a historical food-based demonstration.

In my sketch, I focused on the huge open sketchbook in the corner of the room where Orlando Urban Sketchers work was displayed. I am proud that these artists who work together to explore Central Florida with their sketchbooks are now seeing their work exhibited in a museum. Their vision is unique in a time when people tend to shoot homogenized selfies with thoughtless abandon. These artists take the time to truly see the world around them.