Sin is in at the Venue.

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7 Deadly Sins is an original work that combines contemporary dance, visual art, performance art, poetry, music and culinary art to examine topics of temptation and sin. Lust, pride, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy and greed come together to entice audience members through an interactive art gallery setting.

Featuring performances by Emotions Dance Company, visual art by award winning body painter and Skin Wars Season 1 2nd place finalist, Shannon Holt, visual art by award winning body painter, Brit Lytle artwork by Patrick Fatica, Amanda Panacea, Scott Sharky Hodges, Thomas Thorspecken, Adrian Calle and others, spoken word performances by E.J. Younes, Jesse Bradley, and Ashley Equality Inguanta, aeral performances by The American Circus Arts Academy, and a variety of refreshments from local food vendors to satisfy your inner glutton.

Performances are on:

Friday October 17

Saturday October 18

Friday October 24

Saturday October 25

7-10pm 

at The Venue (511 Virginia Drive. Orlando FL)

Tickets $25 at The Door.
This program contains some mature themes and may not be appropriate for children under 13.

Shannon Holt Hosted a Body Painting and Fine ART Fundraiser

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On July 18th, Shannon Holt held a Body Painting and Fine Art Fundraiser at Cafe DaVinci (112 W Georgia Ave, DeLand, FL.)  Shannon has been invited to participate in a Body Painting gathering in NYC. She is one of twenty five artists that were invited to participate. The event at Cafe Da Vinci was a fundraiser to get her up to NYC. Her fine art paintings were on display on the walls. When I arrived, the three models were just beginning to take their pose. The models on the sides looked like they would get exhausted since they were leaning over the whole time. I suggested to Shannon that they might want to lean against a piano stool to ease the pain.

Shannon put out a call for volunteer models on Facebook for “bendy” models. She was hoping for as many as ten models, with two assistants for this live paint job. Shannon’s mom was busy putting price tags on Shannon’s paintings as Shannon started to sketch on her three models.  Da Vinci’s got more and more crowded as Shannon’s Body Art progressed. A Florida Panther began to take shape on the models semi-nude bodies.

Mark Your Calendar! Starting August 6th (TONIGHT!) at 9pm Shannon will star on “Skin Wars” which is Game Show Network‘s Ultimate Body Painting Competition. This is a reality show similar to “Face Off” where talented artists showcase their talents and each week one contestant is voted out of the competition. II is exciting to see one of Central Florida’s talented artists in competition for $100,000. Although the TV show has already been taped, Shannon couldn’t give away who won. There is a Skin Wars Shannon Party tonight at CafeDa Vinci. Stop out and chear for Shannon in the Olympics of Body Painting! 

As she started to paint her assistant Emma Kenemer showed up to help. Amazingly all the body painting work was done in three hours and that included breaks for the models. Sometimes only one model would pose at a time. Models LeNelle Stephens, Troy, and Alaina Pixley demonstrated patience, beauty and endurance. Before I left, I dropped some money in the tip jar. It was amazing to see such a collaboration. Working live, Shannon had to deal with constant distractions as she raced against the clock to finish her panther.  Body paintings are a fleeting art, and she had photographer Ryder Gledhill take shots of the finished piece. Shannon continues to raise funds for NYC. she is thinking of doing a kick starter. This would also be a great time to hire her to do a private painting and photography
session, buy some art or throw an unforgettable body paint party! NYC OR BUST!

August Critique Group

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Parker Sketch organized a monthly Art Critique group at The Barefoot Spa (801 Virginia Dr., Orlando, Fl). The group is a supportive and constructive discussion group about art. Work of about 12 artists is looked at and discussed. The opportunity to show art is on a first-come, first served basis. You do not have to show art to participate. You do not have to be an artist to participate. If you are interested in art and want to meet other people who also enjoy art, this is a great event.

The group looks for newer art, that is relevant to what you are doing now. If you bring more than one, please make them all be part of a series. We are either looking to talk about one piece, or several together as a group.

It doesn’t matter what kind of art you do, we have had oil painters, paper makers, glass artists, found object sculptors, video artists, watercolor painters, ceramicists, artists who draw and collage, jewelry artists, print makers, etc. It also doesn’t matter how much experience you have. We have included artists who have never shown and artists who are nationally recognized competition winners.

The point is to get people from many different styles, backgrounds, and experience levels together to talk about everyones’ work!

This is a group of artists talking as peers.The discussions have included pricing, finding materials, technique, framing, exhibition opportunities, and, yes, traditional critique. We are trying to mix different artists and get them talking about art! We will be looking at art individually, and talk about it for about 10 minutes. Though time is short, the idea is  to spend the evening talking about everyone’s art!

I arrived at the critique a bit late but I was astounded to find a front row seat still open. The first artist who’s work I saw was Heather Ashworth.  She had a portrait and a diptych of a woman who’s hair blew aside and became tree branches and blossoms. There was some concern that she didn’t spend much time on the clouds painted in the portrait. Some artists wanted to see a smoother transition between hair and branches as well. Bethany Taylor Myers showed a Hopperesque painting of a neighborhood. She wanted advice on perspective and since I had just been writing on the subject, I offered her a thumbnail and brief advice. She was concerned about painting telephone lines that would cross in front of the house. Several artist agreed that if the lines don’t add to the story they could be left out. Jean Claude showed a bold black and white depiction of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He got an amazing amount of detail with the scratch off technique. Thomas Jacobson Artist showed a huge painting of a yellow sun flower. A mysterious orange glow hinted at illumination by fire. A skull and flowers painting was creepy and mesmerizing in its detail. He is also a tattoo artist and his work is intricate and amazing.

Parker Sketch was the last to show his art he had a large roll of canvas that unfurled depicted a cup of gin and tonic. He did the painting by walking around it on the floor and attacking it like Jackson Pollack. There were some wonderful abstract passages that came from the sheer physicality of the process. Mark Your Calendar! Parker plans to pin this huge canvas to the wall as part of his joint show with Shannon Holt called “Just One More…” The opening is September 19th from 6pm to 9pm at City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Fl). The next critique group is September 26th from 6-9pm at Barefoot Spa.

RAW Elevations

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0n July 11th, I went to RAW “Elevations” at The Abbey (100 S Eola Dr #100  Orlando, FL). Once a month, RAW showcases local Art, Fashion, Film, Performing Art, Photography, and Accessories. There is a dress code, so I put on my best cocktail attire. The Abbey was already packed when I arrived. I pushed my way through the crowd to look at all the art and decide what I should sketch.

I liked Tyler Ackom‘s art which was right near the entrance. I found a leather seat right next to the fake fireplace and I got to work. The crowd was so thick that I seldom got a complete glimpse of the work, but I pieced it together by always shifting my gaze. Tyler’s work is a representation of Art and Music combined into one. He uses everything he can find from computer parts to wood, bamboo, plastics metals, ceramics and anything that would make the piece look cool. I imagine he must have quite the cluttered studio.

A young woman asked if she could sit in my artists stool which I had sitting next to my leather chair. She had high heels on and and her feet were killing her. There really wasn’t anywhere else to sit in the place. The bar was full and everywhere else was dominated by art.  Tyler’s aunt took an interest in my sketch and she photographed it in progress several times. Leggy models walked through the crowd presumably from a fashion show on the stage. For some reason Batman was there as well posing for pictures. By the time the sketch was done, I was exhausted from trying to look through the crowd. Leaving, I bumped into Parker Sketch, Shannon Holt and William IwasReallynothing seated outside which was really the only place where you could carry on a conversation. I showed them my sketch and expressed my frustrations in trying to get it done. They seemed to like the colors, and looking back, it isn’t half bad.

Mark your Calendar, the next RAW Event at The Abbey is called “Translations” and it will be Thursday September 5th at 8PM. Tickets are $10.

RAW: RADIATE

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Ashlie Rolfe, the Orlando Showcase Director of RAW suggested that I sketch the premiere showcase event of RAW called Radiate at the Abbey. RAW is an International indie arts organization created by artists, for artists. It features local emerging artists in fashion, music, art, film, performing art, hair, makeup, DJs and photography. When I arrived the place was packed with a line down the block to get in. The first artist I noticed was Parker Sketch and next to him was Shannon Holt of Bombshell body Art.
I know Shannon from critique sessions where she showed oil painting which had evolved over many layered iterations. I didn’t realize she did body art, but now that I think back, I might have seen her working at an event a year ago. Shannon is applying for a grant for her body art. Vote to help her out. Her model was already covered with an intricate pattern of lime green and orange. A scarab beetle was firmly painted on her chest. The Batman logo was painted by Parker.

Libby Rosenthal, who worked at the Mennello Museum on weekends, and some of her friends were there and we chatted for a bit, but I couldn’t hear much over the music. I quickly made my rounds looking at all the art and then I found a table that I could stand at up close to the stage. One artist amused me because he was dressed to the nines and worked so hard to look like an edgy artist. I’m not sure the work justified the outfit. Thinking back, I really should have sketched him, but he was busy promoting his image. The band playing was called Stockholm and they had plenty of energy. The guitarist was spinning and gesturing in all directions. It started raining outside so I decided I had to do a second sketch. A videographer was busy shooting footage. When my second sketch was done, so was the rain so I headed home.