Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival

Posted on by Thor

I went to the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and arrived shortly after noon of the first day. I found a nice spot on the merchant side of the street from which to do a sketch. Officially, I was breaking the law, that says no art can be created on that side of Park Avenue. I had my back to several magazine stands which kept any passers by from looking over my shoulder. Melissa Marie McCain had said she would be there and I do believe I saw a large feather plume in the crowd that had to be heard. I need to give her a commissioned piece called “The Rainbow Connection“. It documents the many rainbows I have sketched in the wake of the Pulse shooting. The notion of locating someone in the crude at this festival is insane. The artist whose boot I sketched did the most amazingly photo real still life’s. I jotted his name down in my cell phone, and spell check changed it to shouting. That isn’t his name at all.

My favorite art in the show was by R. Michael Wommack. They were large pastels that showed areal views of suburbs at night. Each home had a glowing green pool it the backyards and clouds were unified puffs. An occasional window would have the blue glow of a television. They were all haunting and quite amazing.

I stopped to talk to Stacy Barter, a Winter Park plain air painter. She had some amazing painting of a construction site. I asked her where the site was and she said she had gone to where the Whole Foods was being constructed on Orlando Avenue just north of Lee Road. It is the type of scene that attracts me as well. Don Santag had sold a large sunset painting of one of the canals that connect the many lakes in Winter Park. He confided that the Disney Feature Animation background painters had inspired his work. Seeping his large work made me want to start painting big.

I left for the festival with many layers because the morning temperatures were down in the 40s. By the time I left, it must have been almost 80 degrees. I was overdressed. I got a chicken gyro for lunch along with a green drink, Mountain Dew. Oh yes, I forgot to mention. The opening day of the Winter Park Art Festival fell on Saint Patrick’s day this year. There were plenty of people wearing green. My Nantucket hat was green as was my artist stool. I decided to paint the sketch only using green and Orange.I was told Orange is the color of Northern Ireland. My mothers family came from Corr Ireland in the south, so there is more green in the sketch than orange.

The Winter Park Sidewalk Festival continues today and tomorrow from 9am to 5pm. There is plenty of amazing art to see so be sure to check it out. Just don’t sketch on the merchant side of Park Avenue, you risk a $500 fine and 30ndays in jail. If you do happen to sketch, let me know and I’ll send you the Winter Park Illegal Art logo to emblazon your image.

Saint Patrick’s Day

Posted on by Thor

Terry and I went to Ollie’s Public House, on the corner of Edgewater and Par, on Saint Patrick’s day. Terry had two free tickets for some reason. The parking lot was packed when we arrived. There were green shirts everywhere. Terry brought a beach chair and I had my artist’s stool. We sat fairly close to the outdoor stage. We both ordered a Shepard’s pie which was good and quite filling. Neither of us drank any beer, but there was plenty of Guinness all around.

The first band on stage was “Off Kilter“. They performed Irish traditional songs like, Danny Boy and then went into rock and roll cover songs. We bumped into Kathryne Sullivan, Mike Underwood and their friends Joe Busdecker and his wife Leann Siefferman Busdecker. I spoke with Katheryn a bit but it was impossible to hear over the bagpipes. Women started dancing in front of the stage.

After Off Kilter, the Orlando Fire Department Bag Pipes and Drums Band gathered in front of the stage. There were maybe a dozen bag pipe players and just as many drum players. The crowd gathered around them. The loud shrill sound was quintessentially Irish. The crowd clapped to the beat as the firemen picked up the pace. They played “Amazing Grace” and then doubled the beat. The book light I was using to see my sketch died, so I decided the sketch was done.

It was a fun night. Some people staggered and fell while dancing. One woman had to be helped into the passenger seat of her car by a security guard. T-Shirts read, Kiss Me, Pinch me and I’ll punch you. There was a long break after the Firemen so Terry and I headed home. Just as we drove off, the bag pipes started up again.

Saint Patrick’s Day

Posted on by Thor

There are some who are still celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day, you know who you are. But on the 17th I decided to go downtown to sketch the crowd gathered at the Harp and Celt Irish Pub and Restaurant. The sun was setting as I sketched the darks grew richer and deeper. Everyone was wearing green. Some men had absurdly large inflatable top hats while women sported derbys and shamrock antennae. There were a few couples wearing kilts. I was seated on the center median on Magnolia Avenue since it was the perfect spot to get this panoramic view of the crowd. I was approached by one fellow that wanted to give me a plastic cup for the evening. I said, “I’m fine thank you.”

Terry met me as I was working on the sketch. She decided to take a walk around Lake Eola to clear her head after a rough day at work. By the time she got back, I was done. We decided to go inside the Harp and Celt to get a drink. The pub was packed but we managed to muscle our way up to the beer taps. I saw the bartender pour a drink I had to try. The plastic cup had an inner shot glass which I think held a combination of Irish Whiskey and Baileys. The remainder of the cup was then filled with Guinness. As the ingredients mixed the drink frothed up like an ice cream float. I found out this drink is called an Irish car bomb! Terry ordered a Harp beer which seemed appropriate.

We sat outside. The table behind me was littered with half finished beers. A police officer on foot approached the doorman and they talked for a while. The only problem in the pub so far had been that a man who was presumed to be homeless ordered a beer and then started pan handling everyone inside. He had to be kicked out. After our one drink, Terry and I called it a night. We walked past the art galleries on the way to her car since it was Third Thursday which meant that there were multiple gallery openings. At her office Terry had a bright green jacket and I was surprised she hadn’t worn it for our outing at the Harp and Celt. She didn’t realize the evening might have a chill.

Saint Patricks Day

Posted on by Thor

I loaded up my watercolor palette with the last of my sap green paint, and headed downtown right after work to see what the bars looked like. I got downtown around five thirty and things were already packed. I considered a small Irish pub down on Magnolia but I didn’t notice a nice place to lean back and relax while I sketched. I walked towards Wall Street and discovered that the whole area was fenced in and a cover charge was being collected. There was going to be a band playing U2 songs later that night. I didn’t want to pay a cover charge just to sketch, so I walked down Orange Avenue and stopped in the midst of three pubs in a row. I was impressed by the size of the security guard and decided he would be the anchor for my scene.
There was plenty of activity with people coming and meeting up then moving on. There were many women in very tight mini skirts even though it was a rather blustery afternoon. It actually started raining which caused me to panic a bit as I threw down lines. One fellow was shouting into his cell phone at his girlfriend. “You f*#%!ng C*#”t you are a lying piece of S%*^t. This lively exchange continued for some time, after which he stormed back into the bar. I suspect that relationship might not last too long.
As I worked I was getting cold leaning against my light post. A homeless man stooped to pick something up on the sidewalk in front of me. I am sure the drama in the scene would unfold as the night progressed, but I decided it was too cold to do another sketch, so I packed up and headed home. I still had tons of work that night to get ready for my “Mobile Art Show” across from City Arts Factory the next day.