Hard Rock Cafe

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In pre-pandemic times, Several instructors from Savannah College of Art and Design were in Orlando and invited me to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

I looked up online that parking was free for Florida residents. The parking attendant however thought my somewhat old drivers license looked suspicious, or maybe he just thought I looked suspicious and he insisted I pay for parking. Instead, I backed out and drive around the block. I approached a second parking attendant and he let me in with no hassle.

The instructors were doing the Universal theme parks and even had sketched from inside one of the Harry Potter rides. It would have been fun to join them on those sketch outings but this was the last day of their trip. In the Hard Rock there was a car hanging from the ceiling. That would have been a fun sketch but the food arrived before I had time to sketch. The sketch above was done before everyone arrived. I sent them a photo of the sketch so they would know where to meet me.

 

Universal City Walk

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Periodically illustration instructors from Savannah Collage of Art and Design come down to Orlando to sketch in Universal studios. I met  instructor Ted Michalowski when I drove up to Scranton Pennsylvania around the time that my step mother died. While up there I reached out and found that Ted hosted a sketch event each month and I decided to join the local artist sketching. His event had local musicians performing and artist could gather to sketch the jam session. One musician played the Theremin which is an instrument that you just move your hand over to create sound. You hear this instrument in most early science fiction films. It was a fun sketch session.

After 6pm parking is free at Universal for local residents so Pam and I drove down and met Ted and several other instructors for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. The Savannah instructors have connection which allow them to sketch some areas behind the scenes. For instance they sketched and painted characters from the Harry Potter movies without having to be pushed along with the crowds going on the rides.  After sharing sketchbooks and war stories of the challenges of teaching art, we all went outside to sketch at City Walk. I don’t visit Universal or City Walk very often so it was exciting to mingle with the tourist crowds and try and catch the bright lights as the neon and signage turned on after sunset.

Ted used bold ink line work to create gestural and intimate figurative sketches. While I sketched a view overlooking the crowds below. Ted sketched me all of the artists at work. He has a fantastic knack for catching faces and peoples poses with intimate close ups. Since this evening in the park, I have been following the work of Ron Spears whose painterly style is an inspiration. He was teaching a class in Italy and it was great to see his everyday studies. He is now painting up a storm doing loose informal studies that are a delight to see. The other artist I met this night was Stephen Gardener who’s realistic painting were also an inspiration. This is one advantage of Orlando in that talent often gravitates to this magical place.

In the Artist’s Studio fundraiser at Mad Cow Theater.

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Mad Cow Theater’s In the Artist’s Studio fundraiser featured Merline Labissière, Lifetime’s “Project Runway” season 14 contestant as the guest artist for the Downtown Arts District’s visiting artist program. The program was moderated by television and radio personality, Marc McEwen, who is best known for his role on CBS This Morning and as an anchor for WKMG-TV, Local 6 News.

A VIP meet-and-greet began at 6 pm.

Labissière, a Miami-based designer, uses architecturally inspired design to create distinctive apparel for professional women. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Labissière is a frequent lecturer and advocate for teaching fashion design to inner-city youth. She sat next to me as I sketched the stage prior to her being interviewed. Being an artist herself she loved what I do.

Merline’s family came from Haiti in a very small makeshift boat. She remembers the very real thought that were the boat to sink, a decision would have to be made about who goes overboard. Her mom is illiterate and she always wanted a better life for her daughter. Merline was shy when she arrived, partly because she was just learning to speak English.

At Savannah College of Art and Design, she studied architecture. She took some art classes and remembers finding out that the opposite of orange is blue, “Say what?” Architecture is the mother of all art, and it offers the foundation on which other art forms are built, but she decided that fashion was her calling. To create her garments, she needed to focus on sketching. At first, her mom was less than thrilled with her desire to go into fashion.

She found out about auditions for Project Runway, a reality TV show about fashion, in Miami. She made it through the first audition, but on the callback, she needed to work on her craft. She needed a week to sulk. After her private pity party, she decided that she couldn’t wait for opportunity and instead she would create her own fashion collection. It seems that anytime something amazing happens in her life, it comes after everything has fallen apart. At her first fashion runway show she had butterflies to the third power, she totally understands why celebrities do drugs. Her fashion designs are edgy using architectural straight lines to break up forms. Dresses on display resembled jigsaw puzzles with intricate cut out designs.

At another audition for Project Runway, she was cast on the show. She pointed out that all the contestants were on the show because they were broke. Although not the final winner, the show made her a celebrity and her work seen by millions. Everyone wants people to see their work and say, “I get you.” The trouble with being an artist is that so much of your identity is wrapped up in what you create. If someone doesn’t like it, that can be devastating. She turned to Christ and her identity is held strong in her faith. When Merline’s mom saw her daughter’s success, she came around and fully supported her career choice.

Merline now teaches middle school and high school kids to get out of the studio for inspiration. She has shifted her focus to enterprise, business plans, and branding. Someone showed her how to crochet and she finds that a relaxing hobby. She is now planning to return to architecture. Life has different seasons and there is always room to grow. She specifically schedules one day off a week to rejuvenate and after hearing her speak , I decided to do the same. She loves going on walks, writing, drawing, going to museums, and galleries. She specifically schedules time for fun and, darn it, that is a great idea as well. God, there isn’t enough time in each day to do everything if you stay curious and inspired.