Sanford Art Walk

Posted on by Thor

On every fourth Friday between 6pm and 9pm, there is an Art Walk in Downtown Sanford that features fine and funky art. I went to the June Sanford Art Walk with storm clouds looming. As I walked down 1st Street it began to pour, so I slipped inside the Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Galley (211 East 1st Street, Sanford FL). As I was looking around, the woman behind the counter asked if I was Thor. It was Mary K. Shaw. I had sketched her once as part of the Sketchbook Project Library which was set up for a few days at Urban ReThink. I had never met her in person, yet she was a Facebook friend. Since she knew of my sketch a day project, I felt comfortable asking her if I could sketch the gallery to promote the Sanford Art Walk. It was hard to find a spot where I wouldn’t be blocking any art. I snuggled up next to a water pipe and got to work.

There are artist’s studios all around the outer edge of the gallery. I particularly liked the work of Cherie Dacko. Her ” Bent Realism” distorted faces as if using the liquefy filter in Photoshop. Features melted and swirled. She also incorporated fabric that gave the work an added dimension. I got to meet the artist and she used to work in the front studio that had a window to the street. Passers by would actually stop in to complain saying they found her work disturbing. That is a major accomplishment to get such a visceral reaction.  She now has a studio upstairs where she can work in peace. I purchased a bottle of “Cheer Wine” which is actually a local soda that I have never been able to find in a supermarket. I met Joe Waller, who makes “Cheer Wine” in his home state of North Carolina But I never had the chance to taste it. Now I knew what all the fuss was about.

For the Art Walk, two Folk Artists were exhibiting their colorful work in the far corner of my sketch. That evening there was also going to be shuffleboard matches at the Sanford Senior Center with vintage attire encouraged. The shuffleboard is rain or shine, thanks to covered pavilions, so
anyone can come out and rattle the sticks and pucks tonight. Free and
fun til 9pm. A small French Bulldog named Frankie was the welcome ambassador to the Folk Art. He slobbered on my bag and checked on my progress fairly often. A Day of the Dead mask of Lady Catrina was made by an artist who wears it in October and walks 1st Avenue to promote the gallery. This is the place to be come Halloween. There were $20 magnets by Artist Carl Knickerbocker. I had one of these on my car once but it was stolen. Tin can fish swam through the cavernous gallery and black face iron sculptures stood behind an ancient travel chest.

The theme for the month at the
Sanford Welcome Center was,“Art Show About Nothing”, abstractions abounded, they didn’t care what it was, as long as it was NOT SOMETHING. It’s a different theme
each month. A small card on the counter had a map that showed all nine stops on the Art Walk. Having experienced just one venue, I have every reason to go back. Tonight’s Art Walk (Friday July 26, 2013), theme is “Breakable”- a tribute to all things breakable, broken or pieced back together. This is Central Florida’s only monthly juried art show with both a “Best in Show” award chosen by a panel of judges and a “People’s Choice” award chosen by the attendees of the show. Head to downtown Sanford, pick up a map at any gallery, and mingle with the artists as you enjoy live music, food and lots of ART. The event is open to the public and admission is free.

The Sketchbook Project Mobile Library

Posted on by Thor

The Sketchbook Project Mobile Library rolled into Orlando on July 2nd and 3rd at The Gallery at Avalon Island (39 S. Magnolia Ave.
Orlando, FL). The library was open from 5pm to 9pm. It is an interactive art exhibition on wheels, featuring a rotating selection of work from The Sketchbook Project installed in a custom-crafted library trailer filled with 4,500 sketchbooks.

The event was free to attend. Steven and Sara Peterman, co-founder of the Sketchbook Project and the director of Brooklyn Art Library were inside helping people check out sketchbooks. The sketchbooks were cataloged by theme, material, mood,  artists names, tags, city, country and more! “It’s like a taco truck but with sketchbooks.” Orlando is one of 30 cities that the Mobile Library will visit in 2013. There were three steps to participate. 1 you get a library card, 2 you check out books using a computer to pick a theme, city or artist, 3 you’re given a sketchbook to flip through.

I submitted a sketchbook to the Brooklyn Art Library in 2009. All of the sketches from that sketchbook were posted on this site. Because I visited the Sketchbook Project when it came to Full Sail and Urban ReThink in past years, I already had my library card. I just had to laser scan it and pick out some sketchbooks.

First I searched by city, looking for sketchbooks from NYC. I was given, “Into the Forest” by Lily Feng. She had precise photo real pencil renderings of women in forest settings. She had to have spent an eternity getting the wide range of values right. I was given a second, arbitrary sketchbook of sketches done in Saint Marten. This sketchbook was part collage and part sketchbook documenting an island vacation. As it grew dark more people showed up to check out sketchbooks. Part of the fun is to see what quirky sketchbook a friend is flipping through.

Patrick Greene, the new curator at Avalon Gallery interviewed TrezMark Harris as I sketched. By the time I finished my sketch, dark grey storm clouds had rolled in. The warm light inside the truck illuminated the threatening gloom. An E-Z Up pop up tent was leaned up against the truck in case it rained. I checked for a sketchbook from Orlando and was given one by Lilah Shepherd. It was full of abstract pen line drawings with light watercolor washes. A second arbitrary pick was from Kelly Zarb from Melbourne Australia. She sketched some of her favorite things like terrariums and owls. Spreads highlighted inspirational sayings like, “Don’t hide your beauty, let the world see you.” And, “See the beauty in the everyday.” I can relate to that. As I returned the sketchbooks, it began to rain. I popped up my umbrella and headed home.

The Sketchbook Project

Posted on by Thor

The Sketchbook Project has been touring the nation and it made a stop at Urban ReThink (625 East Central Blvd., Orlando). The Sketchbook Project sells small sketchbooks to artists around the country, asking the artists to return the book full of art. I participated the first year I heard about the project but it was painful to give up a full sketchbook. I learned from fellow Urban Sketchers that the Sketchbook Project retains all reproduction rights to the sketches. It is nice to have the one sketchbook in the Brooklyn Sketchbook Library but I’m not tempted to do it again.7000 sketchbooks were neatly stored in bookshelves on wheels. They can be quickly rolled off a truck to be moved to a new city. Dina Mack sat flipping through sketchbooks. As she put it, “I’m in sketchbook heaven.”

Urban ReThink which was formerly a book store seemed perfectly suited to house the collection. The first step in checking out a sketchbook was to get a library card. I already had my card from the previous year, so I skipped to step two, which was checking out a book. There was a laser bar code reader to scan the card and then you used a computer to pick out sketchbooks by theme, location or artist’s name. I picked two local sketchbooks to start. The sketchbook from Orlando was dark, brooding and full of angst. The next category I searched was “This is a sketchbook.”  I figured I’d get to see some quality sketches. One artist did catch my eye. Cheism was an artist from London and his sketches were light hearted and fun. Larry Lauria an animation instructor from Full Sail stopped in. Larry had submitted a sketchbook this time around so I tried to check out his sketchbook. It wasn’t available. Someone else must have checked it out. I seemed to keep checking out duds while the young couple next to me kept getting fun creative sketchbooks. One of their books was taped together accordion style and the whole book was one big colorful Dagwood sandwich.

Artist Mary K. Shaw sat with friends at the table in front of me flipping through sketchbooks. Blank post cards were available for artists to sketch on. If you sketched on a postcard, it would be sent to the next stop on the sketchbook tour. Robin Maria-Pedrero completed a postcard sketch and in return, she was given another artists postcard. The postcard sent her warm wishes for a beautiful day. The next step for the Sketchbook Project is a mobile library, similar to a food truck.