Dawn is an illustrator and mother of 2 children. When her youngest went to school Dawn decided she wanted to get back into doing more illustration work. She had been away from illustration for years and wanted to get back in.
Her father was an early adopter of high tech gadgets and he got her interested in Twitter. This introduced her to the new world of Social Networking. Twitter however didn’t satisfy all her needs. Mark Zuckerburg turned her on to Facebook and helped her set up a the Dawn Schreiner Illustration Group page. This is where the art for this show began to be created. A member of the group named Debbie suggested Dawn sketch all the members of the group.
Dawn started doing doodles of the members with the goal of doing one doodle a day. When Dawn started creating these sketches, she had maybe 20 members on the page. As the project progressed, that number grew to 50 then 100 and now it is at about 200 plus members. As the number of Doodles grew so did the number of members so that Dawn may never complete the task.
All of the doodles are done on recycled materials. One piece was on a brownie box and another on a Cheerios box. I found myself wandering through the show checking the backs of each piece to see what art supplies I might be throwing away each day. The show is an absolute delight with bright acrylic colors thickly applied and expert draftsmanship in every piece. Many doodles are fun and quirky with flowing and spontaneous use of line. The show was simply hung on wires with each doodle secured with a clip. Work was flying off the walls at the opening, it is very affordable. I myself am considering going back to get a doodle with my name on it. Having just attended a Social Networking conference I am inspired with how Dawn used Facebook to market her work to an exciting new network of friends. The show had a web cam set up for the duration of the opening so it could be shared with out of state members.
I called my wife and told her she had to come down to see this show and I will tell you the same. Head on over to Seven Sisters Coffee House at 911 North Mills Avenue a few blocks north of Colonial. The coffee is delicious and the relaxed setting is a great place to sit back and read or surf the web. Tell Alisha that I sent you!
Lesley Silvia working at Stardust
I met Lesley Silvia and her husband Jared at a Kerouac House event. As I have been sketching more and more in Orlando’s more artsy cafes, like Infusion Tea, Dandelion, Seven Sisters, and Stardust, I have become curious about all the people who sit and use their laptops for extended periods of time. Lesley works on her photos and graphic design work using a laptop and Photoshop or Illustrator, InDesign and on rare occasions Painter. She had arrived at Stardust before me and had just finished a dinner of nachos. She and her husband who is a writer, usually work together. Silvia enjoys working in Stardust because it has free WI FI and she feels Dandelion and Infusion have a more mature crowd. Stardust is a more comfortable fit for a young edgy artist. She also likes to work in Winter Park’s Central Park sitting on a bench in the shade, or she goes to Borders and looks through a few magazines for inspiration before she gets to work on the laptop.
As I sketched, Silvia was working on a series of photos called Pinatas. This series resembles crime scene photos where people are shown injured or dead with candy in place of blood. It is a unique and somewhat unnerving series of photos. Her graphic design work is inspired by the Swiss, it is clean neat and tidy.
Silvia was just 10 years old when she took her first photography class. She and her brother learned to make the pinhole cameras at one of the art camps they attended. Her work to this day plays with photography’s earliest forms. Her father helped her with a little bit of photo composition at an early age although at the time she didn’t know photography would be her passion. I high school she discovered that photography was really fun and took every class offered. In college she got a BA in Studio art with a minor in philosophy and her independent study focused on photography. Like most artists she has many facets including an interest in sculpture and graphic design.
Silvia is a full time course director at Full Sail University teaching Digital Photography. She gets freelance work through word of mouth and serendipity. She has shot some weddings and portraits. She shot photos for an Australian Rock Band who was later signed by Columbia Records. The record company asked her to take the rock band pictures off of her web site. She just removed the groups name and the lawyers stopped hassling her. Past clients include Scottish Highland Games and Mega Con. Her favorite assignments are outdoor shoots using natural light and shot with film.
The Social Chameleon
Sometimes I experience an evening so enjoyable that I wish I could relive it. The first time my wife and I were at the Chameleon was with all the actors and crew of War of the Worlds. Let me tell you, actors know how to party. I didn’t sketch that evening, instead I drank, ate great food and enjoyed pleasant conversation. I ended up staying until 2 AM to close the place down, not wanting to leave.
The Social Chameleon is located at 2406 East Robinson Street in the Milk District. I returned because I needed to organize places to go for the 24th Worldwide SketchCrawl which will be September 19th. I figure the Social Chameleon is a perfect stop on the crawl so I decided to have dinner and get a sketch before heading off to Infusion Tea for a poetry reading. The infinite detail to all the clutter in the room however left me working on the sketch a bit longer than expected and I missed the poetry. There is plenty of poetry in soaking up the Social’s warm inviting environment however.
I sat a a small corner table with a good view of the front room. In front of me a British couple who were trying the restaurant for the first time. They tried some beers they had never tasted before and ended up leaving with a 6 pack of some raspberry flavored beer. The bar keep was talking to a costumer about something called an Electro Guinness. They electrocute the beer to give it extra carbonation. I had never heard of that and I suspect I will be back to try it out.
The Social Chameleon serves food tapas style with an emphasis on flavor and small portions. The first time at the Chameleon I tried the tomato basil pizza which was fantastic. This time I ordered a Mediterranean plate and a glass of Pinot Noir. The stuffed grape leaves were very tasty and the crispy pita was topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, Olive oil and a perfect blend of spices.
In the kitchen was Brett Ashman who owns the Social Chameleon with his wife Serena. Through the window to the kitchen, Brett related to the British couple that he had worked for 100 days as a provisions master on a ship called the National Geographic Explorer. This ship traveled the world showing passengers some of the Geographic’s most famous research sites. Though he worked hard, he had enough time off the ship to shoot 2000 pictures which display automatically on the HDTV above the bar. As the place filled up around 8 PM the TV was switched to Obama’s speech on health care. I decided that when the speech was over so was my sketch.
Stardust Video and Coffee
I drove to Stardust Video and Coffee thinking I would sketch the Audubon outdoor market but the market was nowhere to be found. Rather than call it quits, I went inside and ordered a Coke. Stardust is a quirky artsy hangout located at 1842 East Winter Park Road.
One room had a wall stacked with VHS videos and large tables made from old doors which have been varnished and smoothed. The room I sat in has a small stage area with red glittery curtains. A group of five or so people sat at tables busily tapping at their laptops. The central area of Stardust has the food counter which I sketched. I ordered a pita plate and I was handed a VHS video titled “Pushing Tin” starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. The waiter used this to find out what table to deliver the food to. My plate arrived within minutes. The pita was warm and toasty and the humus delicious.
A woman who had been focused on her laptop walked by and noticed me sketching. She started to tell me about how as a child she used to draw with her left hand. Back in those days parents didn’t want their children to be left handed so anytime she would pick a crayon up with her left hand her parents would slap her hand. Today she is right handed. She said she could still draw a bit with her left hand but if she tried to draw with her right hand, Nothing.
Oil paintings hung on the wall by Jennifer Payne. Exhibits seem to change fairly often. The light in the room slowly got darker as the sun set. By eight PM the place was getting packed. The core group of laptop users in my room were still at work when I left to go to Will’s Pub.
Dandelion Communitea Cafe
I went to the Mills 50 district to sketch Dandelion Cafe. It was a really hot muggy afternoon. I am starting to realize that sketching locations outside int the Florida heat is less than enjoyable. About halfway into this sketch looming clouds started to drizzle. The drizzle lasted for some time so I sat there closed my sketch book, raided my open hand to the sky, and waited for the rain to stop. Well, that didn’t work because the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour within minutes. I ran for my truck and sat inside wondering how I should finish the sketch. Luckily, Sam Flax, an art supply store was nearby so I decided to drive by and pick up a few new pens and tubes of watercolor paint. By the time I got back to Dandelion the rain had slowed to a drizzle again.
I set up shop a second time and started quickly throwing down washed.
A woman walked up to me and introduced herself she was Kristen Erickson and when I mentioned my blog,, she lit up and said “I know you!” She is the Mills 50 Main Street Program Director and she invited me to a mills 50 event going on in two weeks. Every time I do a sketch these days I seem to meet someone who knows of a place I have to sketch next. My blog is slowly becoming more of a community effort.When the sketch was done I went inside and asked for a nice iced tea. I ordered a Jasmine iced tea to go and I drank it on the way to a sketch class in Winter Park.
Brian Feldman eats everything on the Loving Hut menu
At the Fringe Festival, Brian Feldman offered himself up as an award to the Loving Hut which had won an award as the favorite Fringe food vendor. Brian staged a performance piece in which he would attempt to eat everything off the Loving Huts all vegan menu. Brian’s original plan was to eat full servings off the menus 44 or so listed dishes. He gave himself 10 hours to accomplished this Herculean feat.
When I arrived I saw this figure slumped over on the far side of the restaurant. From a distance he looked like one of the employees and I thought to myself this doesn’t leave a very good impression for the employees to be asleep in the restaurant. On closer inspection I realized it was Brian who was slumped over. He had collapsed after eating 14 menu items. Since I was meeting Terry for a movie afterward, I knew that I only had an hour to catch the proceedings, so I got right to work. As it turned out Jessica Earley was in the restaurant as well and she was being interviewed by a video crew. She later sat down across from me and introduced me to her friends. More of her friends arrived as I sketched. The staff of the Loving Hut became very curious about my sketch and at one point I lost precious sketching time as people flipped through my sketchbook pages.
A facebook message from Jessica the next day confirmed a suspicion I have always had about events I sketch. I often get the feeling that the second I leave, suddenly the party explodes with activity and people let loose with joyous abandon.
Jessica said “Soon after you left Loving Hut, that place got down right ridiculous…It was like slap happy city. The staff just started getting super kooky and bringing Brian out tiny mini little versions of the meals and every single time anyone walked into the entrance of the place the entire restaurant clapped and cheered and welcomed them.
All tables were talking to one another.. complete strangers hanging over chairs to laugh and make absurd conversation. There were two little kids there who were just coming out with the most funny comments ever about Brian’s eating performance.
Then the staff started to get COZY.. They were coming over and putting their arms around every one’s shoulders and saying things about being happy..
and I ended up getting a massage from one of the ladies!
It was so so silly and funny. Wow.”
Since Brian did not manage to eat all the items on the menu Saturday, he returned Sunday for a second chance to complete the task.
Shut Up And Write!
Mad About Words organized this writing event called “Shut up and Write”. Mary Ann deStefano who runs Mad About Words usually hosts events where writers gather and talk about the process of writing. In some ways all this academic talk is just another form of procrastination. So Mary Ann organized this free event where writes gather and quietly write together. Besides this front room of Dandelion Communitea Cafe there were two other rooms in the back filled with writers at work. As I walked up to the cafe several writers even sat outside at the picnic tables and were tapping away on their laptops. Mary Ann said 22 people signed her sign in sheet but I am certain that many more authors came and went during the 3 hours of this writing event.
Since the room was so packed, I decided to lean against a wall in the doorway between rooms. I had to step aside each time a waitress would go by but it was worth it since this location offered me a great view of the entire front room. The interior of Dandelion is brightly colored and festive. The fellow in the foreground knew of my flickr page and I suspect he is also a blogger. A sign on the wall pointed out that the maximum occupancy is 49 people and this event made me think that maximum might be met.
Some authors left while others drifted in. A few were just here for dinner. A girl in the far corner leaned back in her chair after writing for an hour and exclaimed to her boyfriend “I have officially been productive today.” The two of then then chatted for a while before getting back to work. Patricia an author that teaches a write your life workshop that I sketched last week, came in and asked me if I wanted a tea. I had a butter cup iced tea that has an interesting creamy taste. I really liked it. To say this event was a success would be an understatement. The arts are very much alive in Orlando.
SketchCrawl, Eola Wine Room
When the crawl arrived at the Eola Wine Room around 4 the place was rather dormant. The artists had their choice of tables. I decided to sit with a good view of the main bar area. At this point in the crawl there were nine artists so we did a good job of filling up several tables. KC sat outside and did a sketch of 4 women who had an amazing number of mimosa glasses stacked on their table. It was a scene straight out of sex and the city. Most of the other artists kept me company. I ordered a glass of white Riesling wine and sipped it while I worked.
The strange thing about this place on a weekend is that about every 15 minutes a young couple would arrive with a baby and the parents would order wine. I sort of envied these couples just starting a family, feeling secure and living in a ritzy downtown neighborhood. But then after a short time the child would start squirming, complaining, and screaming until the parent s felt they had to leave. This scene played over and over again. I joked to another artist that the Wine Room had more infants as clients that adults on weekends.
One of the waitresses was an artist and I tried to convince her to come out to the next Crawl. For many artists this was the last stop on the crawl. As we all said their goodbyes storm clouds rolled in and just as I got ready to head across the street to the final destination, it began to pour…
SketchCrawl, Panera Bread
At 10 Am Orlando Sketch Crawlers headed to Panera Bread for breakfast and a chance to share sketchbooks and talk. Megan, an artist I had sketched before, showed up with her mom and was taking photos of the event. Our group filled up these three front tables and people talked art while others sketched. I was sitting on the long leather bench shown in this sketch, but after eating, I decided it made more sense to get up and sketch our group. Ricardo the photographer for the Sentinel sat behind me the whole time I sketched watching every line and wash as I put it down. Usually I get distracted with such attention but I had to get this sketch done, so I lived with it. Kristen or Kelp as she refers to herself online, can be seen sketching the photographer and myself. She has the art of clandestine sketching down because I never actually noticed her glancing at me directly. I am sure this is a skill I have as well.
As I was sketching, artists slowly got up and headed out for the next leg of the crawl. There were artists sitting in the two empty chairs when I started the sketch. By the time I was splashing on the final washes everyone was gone. The photographer said he had more that enough shots and we said our goodbyes. When he left, a woman who was seated in a leather chair behind me, introduced herself. Her name is Dina Mack and I knew of her work through a friend named Summer who had told me of an artist journal workshop that Dina was going to organize. Dina and I spoke for close to an hour about art and journal keeping. Sketching on location isn’t something Dina does often, but she said she liked having the time to fully soak in the environment. We joked about how Panera’s is such a sterile place with harsh glass cases and coffee dispensers that look like space station refueling depots. A cafe in Europe would have a much different feel. The smells of the pastries is pleasant however and I kind of wanted to sketch them and the cashier but we had to get to the next stop on the Crawl route…
Hot Dog Eating Contest
In Coney Island, Nathan’s hosts a 10 minute hot dog eating contest and this year Joey Chestnut won by eating 68 wieners. The Orlando take on this contest is a bit different in that the contestants have 10 hours in which to eat the hot dogs. When I arrived at Dandelion Communitea Cafe, Brian Feldman had eaten only 3 hot dogs and he only took a few bites from another politely using a knife and fork. If anyone asked who was winning, he would respond with, “How do you define a winner?” They were not competing it seems based on simple numbers but it was a more refined competition based on savoring the moment. Caroline Johnson, who is from Spain, was reading excerpts from her novel while Brian and Zac Alfson slowly tasted their vegan hot dogs. Caroline was also a contestant since she had a small mountain of uneaten hot dogs in front of her, but she never tried a hot dog while I was sketching. Eight hours into the competition, the contestants had honestly lost count of the number of hot dogs eaten. The hot dogs were wrapped in a pita like bun called a Snuggles which are made locally in Orlando by Toufayan Bakeries. Pittsburgh artist Dawn Weleski, acted as the MC. She would periodically interview members of the audience. She would ask the audience member to sit in the blue chair to the left of the staging area and then ask them to wear an Uncle Sam hat and white beard. Brian’s mom and sister showed up late in the competition to watch the relaxed proceedings. Another announcer named Gordon Winiemko took the mic and decided to MC shirtless. He threw the sweaty shirt right at me and I caught it and then didn’t know what to do with it. Putting it on the table would be unsanitary yet dropping it on the floor would be rude. I decided to drop it on the table, and the two girls eating salad right next to me didn’t seem to mind.
From here Terry and I headed downtown for the Lake Eola Fireworks display. There, during the fireworks show one mortar must have fallen over because it fired off not into the air, but straight across the lake at the audience. It blew up just yards from the shore sending hot embers showering over the crowd. I do not think anyone was hurt.