The first exhibit of 49 portraits at the Orlando Science Center.

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On July 3, 2016 Orlando artists gathered at Falcon Bar to create portraits of the 49 victims of the Pulse tragedy. The goal was to create 49 portraits in one night. Eighteen artists answered the call and the portraits were completed. It was an emotionally charged and creative labor of love. On July 19th, the collection of portraits was exhibited for the first time at the Orlando Science Center during their OneOrlando fundraiser.

I dropped off all the portraits and the hanging hardware. The sketches were simply hung, clothes line style on fishing line with electrical clamps to suspend them. I had prepared labels the evening before, but the museum printed even better labels on vinyl. I got choked up just counting out all the clamps. Precious human life was reduced to the number of clamps needed to showcase the art.

When I arrived at the museum, staff were quickly putting up the name tags. Each person’s name was listed along with their age. I have re-written the list of names several times and the shear number is always overwhelming. People would stop in groups to look at the display. Plenty of cell phone photos were taken, One woman walked by and purposefully touched a portrait which must have been someone she knew. Terry, my wife, stopped by to let me know that the portrait exhibit was a good idea. I was at a loss for words so I continued to sketch.

Siclaly M. Santiago-Leon, is the sister of Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon whose life suddenly ended along with his partner Jean Carlos Mendez Perez at Pulse. Siclaly came to the exhibit to see the portrait done by Plineo Pinto of her brother for he first time. I was excited to meet her since she has followed the portrait project from the start. I was about to leave the exhibit to go upstairs and sketch another aspect of the event. I bumped into her on the steps. She held out her hand and said “People call me Lolly.” She introduced me to her husband and then they went down to see the exhibit. Her brother’s portrait was right on the bottom row next to his partner. Lolly walked up to the portrait and then leaned against her husband as she cried. He held her close. I got choked up as well and wiped my eyes on my sleeve. I looked at Jennine Miller, who had helped coordinate the exhibit, and we both smiled as we fought back the tears.  The couple continued to embrace and I finally realized I should slip away so they could soak up the exhibit in private. This moment made all the hectic planning worth while. Lolly later found me as I was sketching a rainbow colored dinosaur. She hugged me and thanked me for the exhibit and once again I had to wipe away tears. My contribution seems so small compared to the unimaginable loss.

SquareLando InstaShow Dropoff.

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There’s a NEW gallery in City Arts Factory, and some of Orlando’s Best and Brightest are coming together to welcome its debut.

The new “Pop Up Gallery” will host the “SquareLando InstaShow“, where all pieces must have a square aspect ratio. There will be little square artworks, and BIG square artworks, but all will be available to purchase and take home THAT NIGHT! (December 17) Prices start as low as $5.00!

Jon GlassMan Gardner is curating this show and he asked me to submit a square sketch. This gallery is usually blocked off with a black curtain and the only other times I saw it used was as a greenroom for the dead at Dia de los Muertos and as an open area for some installation art. This past week some of the conduits were removed from a wall to open it up to hang art and track lighting was installed allowing for the spotlights of work soon to be hung on the walls.

Once I dropped off my sketch and filled out the paperwork, I decided to linger and watch the square art arrive. A demonic Mickey Mouse by Boy Kong looked particular appealing since it depicted the corporate Mouse I had on worked for. I noticed a Parker Sketch  painting, and three square print by Plinio Pinto. The prints were mounted on those deep hardboard stretchers and if was hard to pick out that they were prints. There was a strong showing of work by Full Sail instructors.

As I sketched, Jon related the story of how he got the nickname GlassMan. At one point his life was turned upside down when his wife left him. He was blindsided, but realized he hadn’t been living the life he wanted the to live. He made a commitment to discover a new Orlando museum or arts venue every week. He soon realized that Orlando actually has a vibrant arts scene and he began creating once again. I bet Jon’s work is some of the first local art I purchased. He makes wonderful glass magnets that have an intricate paint pattern that reminds me of aerial photography. Jon has recently started his own auto glass business. That keeps a steady paycheck coming in while allowing him plenty of time to create when the shop is slow. 

Rebecca Rose dropped off a piece. I assumed it would be one of her intricate sculpted silver rings, but it turned out to be an early etching that she had done.  In all I would say about six artists dropped off work in the time it took me to get the sketch done. It is kind of fun sitting still an getting a chance to see some of Orlando’s best talent come to you. Rebecca will be exhibiting at the grand opening of the new Snap! Gallery in Downtown Orlando. I’m hoping to get a chance to sketch her at work in he silversmith studio before that opening.

Squarelando InstaShow opens Thursday December 17th from 5pm to 10pm at City Arts Factory (29 S Orange Ave, Orlando, Florida) as part of the Third Thursday gallery hop. Jon plans to put all the artwork on Instagram so if you miss the opening, you can browse the whole show on your phone. My Instagram handle is analogartist, so if to look me up, I’ll share the hashtag , link or whatever.

The Creative City Project brings downtown Olando alive for a night.

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In July of 2014 I went to a meeting at The Gallery at Avalon Island (39 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL) where Cole Nesmith discussed his idea where the Creative City Project could bring together all the separate arts groups in together to stage multiple performances on on night in Downtown Orlando. Cole is a well versed public speaker and he did a great job expressing his excitement for the project. At this early stage there was much work to be done trying to get grants so that some of the artist could be paid. Not all artists live on sunshine and dreams.

I considered the idea of being part of the Creative City  Project, by doing life sized standing portraits on a large sheet of brown parchment paper. I did something similar to this at Drip with chalk on the black walls. I could knock out a portrait about every ten minutes. In the rush of doing my daily sketches, I lost track of this idea.

When the Creative City Project hit Downtown Orlando, I documented it with my usual sketch. Artist named Plinio Pinto and Melissa Marie from Falcon Bar set up a mini art studio in the street with a UHaul truck as a backdrop. They had a model in a mechanic’s outfit posing with  a motorcycle and they invited anyone to stop and draw. It was a great idea. Unfortunately when I arrived, the model had just taken a 20 minute break and I barely caught a glimpse of her as she walked away. Another great sketch opportunity lost. There were plenty of other sketch opportunities however since there were multiple stages up and down Orange Avenue for about 5 blocks.

Plans are already in the works for next year’s Creative City Project.

The Falcon and Gallery is a haven for local artists.

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The Falcon Bar and Gallery (819 E Washington St, Orlando, FL) always has local art to see. The shows usually have a theme. There was recently a Bill Murry themed show and I sketched a local actress and dancer for a show titled Porn. I went to the first social media Round table hosted by Mark Baratelli at IZEA and Melissa Marie, the Falcons owner was there. As a local business owner, she realized early on that social media is the way to promote business. Her bartenders are encouraged to use Snap Chat to share happenings at the bar with friends. I didn’t even realize snap chat existed. Social Media keeps changing so fast, I need to keep up.

Mondays at the Falcon is for the men. Tuesdays are for locals, there is trivia, Uberbahn, open mics and DJs on most days of the week. On Sunday nights at 9pm there are the “Fear the Walking Dead” watch parties. You have to love a bar that caters to zombie loving patrons like myself.  If there is a zombie apocolipse, I’ll be ready with a sharp sword and a sketchbook. Once a month, Mystery Sketch Theater, now hosted by Plinio Pinto, is a great way to loosen up and sketch cos-play models for $5. If you are a voyeur like me, the Falcon will satiate that guilty pleasure and your thirst. Now that I’m hosting Orlando Drink and Draw (ODD) on the first Monday of each month, I need to find out if the Falcon will host the growing band of vagabond artists one month.

Mark your calendar! The next event at the Falcon is DJ Lavidicus on Sunday September 11th starting at 9pm. Come out to hear the very best in Industrial, Goth, EBM, Synthpop and Darkwave. Everyone knows where they were on September 11th of 2009. If you drink enough this night, you might not remember as clearly. Never a cover, always a good time! (21+) If you check my AADW calendar, you will always find Falcon events in the mix.

Mystery Sketch Theater at Falcon Bar is always a great sketch opportunity.

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Every month, Mystery Sketch Theater offers clothed models for artists to draw at The Falcon (819 E Washington Street, Suite 2, Orlando, Florida). The model in March was Brooke White. She started the evening dressed as a bear and came out of hibernation during the course of the evening. She must have been hot under all those layers but that didn’t keep her from taking killer poses all evening long. Standing on one foot in an action pose is almost masochistic. All artists are a bit sadistic when they insist that people stand still. Plinio Pinto now runs Mystery Sketch Theater after Kristen Pauline had to abandon the post because of work conflicts. It makes me happy that so many artists come together each month to sketch. I’m surprised that I only knew a couple of them. Perhaps Orlando isn’t such a small town after all.

By the end of the night, Brooke was posing in just her stripped PJs. Several Angry Orchards meant my line work was nice and loose by the end of the night. Art on display was by local artists all depicting their version of actor, comedian Bill Murray.  I believe the tooth shaped painting I included in the sketch was based on Little Shop of Horrors in which Bill played the part of masochistic dentist patient.

Mark your calendar! The next Mystery Sketch Theater is on September 3, 2015 at The Falcon (819 E Washington Street, Suite 2, Orlando, Florida). The sketching begins at 8pm. Be sure to get a drink or two to thank Falcon Bar for being the new home base for artists who love to draw.

Earth Day Celebration at Lake Eola

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April 19th was Earth Day and Orlandoans celebrated at Lake Eola Park. That day was also the 43rd World Wide Sketch Crawl, so I organized the Orlando Crawl to happen at the Earth Day Celebration. There were artist and vendor tents set up all through the park. I suggested that any artists could meet in the art vendor area, so that is where I set up to sketch. I sat right at the edge of a huge patch of Doug Rhodehamel‘s paper bag mushrooms. The mushrooms are part of his Spore Project which encourages people to be creative with the simplest of materials, a paper bag, stick and a rubber band.

Jon Glassman Gardner was set up in a tent nearby and he explained the mushrooms to people who were curious. Jon had dozens of colored glass magnets that had colorful patterns that resemble topographic maps. He discovered the pattern one day while pressing pigments between two sheets of glass. I’m the proud owner of several of these magnets that hold up sketches in the studio. He was also selling lanterns that featured his unique glass work. Between costumers, he was working on a spray can chandelier. He cut the cans open in a spiral pattern which made them look a bit like Man O War jellyfish. I believe he plans to group these together with lights to create the chandelier.

My plan to have artists meet at this event was flawed. The event was so large and crowded that it became impossible to find any other artists. One art student of Kathy Blackmore‘s introduced himself and I suggested he sketch something in the area. I should have given him my twitter handle or phone number so I could find him again in the crowd.  I assumed no one else showed up, but weeks later I was pleased to see that Plinio Pinto and Matthew Tardiff also sketched the Earth Day festivities that day. Though each artist was sketching on their own, they both found plenty of interesting subject matter to sketch. The next Sketch Crawl is July 12th. I need to get organized and learn how to bring artists together.

Johnny Cash Tribute at Redlight Redlight

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Redlight Redlight, (745 Bennett Rd) is a hip bar that often has themed shows of local artists’ work. On this night the walls were covered with Johnny Cash portraits. Plineo Pinto had several sweet watercolor caricatures that I liked. I bumped into Leslie Silvia who showed me the nasty blisters she got on her hands from a recent crewing competition. She had some nice silhouettes of Johnny Cash. American Destitution, was on stage playing Johnny Cash songs. I asked Jared Silvia how long they had been playing to try and gauge how long I had to sketch. The place was packed so I sat on the floor right in front of the stage to get my sketch.

After the set was over, I talked to one of the performers and he told me this was the first time the band members had performed together in a very long time. I still hadn’t ordered a beer so I muscled up to the bar and ordered a Cony Island Mermaid. The beer was dark and strong. I settled into a corner table and started a second sketch. A movie screen was set up on the stage and Johnny played for the crowd flickering and a bit distorted. His music and the swift kick from the beer made me blue. I wondered what lively conversations were flaring up around me. My hand moved over the pages involuntarily. With my second sketch finished, I decided to get home. As I left a group of graffiti artists stopped me to say hello. I had sketched these artists at Frames Forever and Art Gallery as they worked on large mural panels. I was fading and a bit depressed from listening to Johnny Cash for several hours so I didn’t socialize long. Terry was away at some conference in Texas so I could have stayed out much later. But my work was done.