Snap! print day sale.

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Snap! Space, (1013 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL) held a Snap! print day sale with limited editions, and or open edition prints from local and international artists selected by Snap!
Tables were set up throughout the space for artists.

Each participant had their own photos to showcase and have some type of take away envelope or packaging for buyers to walk away with. I decided to participate, and I sketched the other artists displaying their work as I sat at my table. Chris Tobar was seated at the table beside me with a large tiger print behind him. Chris is now the art director at the Orlando Weekly. It was nice to meet the other artists and see their work. Although it was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon, I unfortunately didn’t sell a single print.

Red Bull BC One at Snap

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Red Bull and SNAP! Space, (1013 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL) presented the Official Opening Night for Red Bull BC
One North America Finals and a special hip-hop vintage photography
exhibit by Bronx photographer Joe Conzo. 

Special guests,included B-Boys performances, music by DJ Lean Rock,  DJ Rasta Root and cuts by Urban Stylez Barber Lounge. The event was free and open to the public.

This was probably the biggest crowd I ever saw at Snap. The black and white photos documented the early years of graffiti art and the emerging hip hop scene in NYC. B-Boy performances would break out spontaneously in different corners of the venue and a large crowd would gather around as if stopping traffic on a crowded sidewalk. The DJ outside kept the beats pumping. I settled in near the barber lounge to sketch people getting free haircuts. The cuts happened fast and furious. I didn’t linger too long after the sketch as done. I was going to the B-Boy Finals the next day and would catch all the dancing on the main stage at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

SNAP! SPACE Presented : ‘Structure & Perspective’.

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I went to the opening of Structure and Perspective at Snap! Space (1013 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL). The show examined the intersection of organic and man made forms such as those found in the distinction of body forms and building forms. Curated by Patrick and Holly Kahn, the exhibit featured the works of nine national and international renowned fine art photographers, painters and sculptors.

Artists in attendance:

• Juan Travieso (Miami)

• Iran Issa-Khan (Miami)

• Dan Hess (Orlando)

• Christoph Morlinghaus (Germany)

• Marco Gallotta (NY)

• Patricia Van de Camp (Amsterdam)

• Jeff Frost (Los Angeles)

• Ryan Buyssens (Orlando)

• Jim Kazanjian (Portland)

• Rebecca Szeto (San Francisco)

Opening night featured cocktails by The Courtesy Bar, music by resident DJ Nigel John, Snap! Space Art Store, and Bibliotheque. 

This exhibit was the part two of a program which will be culminating in May 2015 with ‘YOU ARE HERE,’ a citywide event supported in part by Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs. The first installment, ‘IDENTITY,’ explored how roots may define who we are.

 Snap! Space is the 5,000 sq. ft. indoor/outdoor gallery home of Snap! Orlando, a 501(c) 3 charitable foundation with the mission to celebrate master photographers, and artists, discover and cultivate emerging talent and promote the appreciation of photography and art worldwide.

Snap! Space presents : ‘WILD IS THE WIND’.

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On Friday November 20, Snap! Orlando (1013 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, Florida) presented ‘Wild Is The Wind,’ an unconventional visual exploration of freedom and innocence by selected international photographers and contemporary artists. The exhibition captures an ethereal sense of the interaction between humankind, native environments, and the creatures that inhabit them, through the inspired work of celebrated international artists. Many artists were present on opening night. Craft cocktails by The Courtesy Bar and music by DJ Nigel John.

This multimedia exhibit, including photography, digital art, projection, oil painting, and water color, curated by Holly and Patrick Kahn, features works by:

• Julien Nonnon (France. Works from series ‘Urban Safari’)

• Tom Chambers (USA. Works from series ’To The Edge’)

• Heather Evans Smith (USA. Works from series ’Seen Not Heard’)

• Cameron Bloom (Australia. Works from series ‘Penguin the Magpie’)

• Elicia Edijanto (Indonesia. Works from series ‘Natural Connections’)

• David Olivera (USA. Works from series ‘Duality’)

• Martin Stranka (Czech Republic. Works from series ‘I Found The Silence’)

On the evenings following the opening night, Snap! invited guests to join artist Julien Nonnon, as they will traveled with him to produce new digital projections in specific architectural locations throughout Orlando. Locations were be announced through social media prior to the evening of the event. This was the premiere behind the scenes of the making of his new “Urban Wild‘ series, created for the first time in the US. Details to follow!

The exhibition will be on view through January 16th, 2016 during gallery hours Thursday – Saturday, 11 AM – 4 PM, and by appointment contact: info@snaporlando.com

Beatrice Carmen Miranda was wearing a hat that resembled high tech Mickey Mouse ears. She explained the she ran across this unique hat in Brooklyn NY and she simply had to have it. It seems to be made from the support wires found in bras, but its inner structure is covered with a black felt fabric. I couldn’t stop looking at her so the hat certainly attracts attention. Her friend Richard Wahl was surprised to find that he was also in the sketch. We exchanged business cards. He is the coo and principle at Findsome and Winmore, a digital marketing agency. Sketching digitally, kind of blows my cover.   When I work in a sketchbook, I’m usually ignored. But when I work on a tablet everyone wants to know who kind of tablet I’m using, and what software is creating the art. I want to reply “The medium isn’t the message, it is just a tool like a pencil.” People seem l be attracted to The ghost in the machine, like moths to a flame.

After the sketch was complete, I had a stiff drink and then sat down with Swami World Traveler and got to see a 3D rendering program that he is writing code for that creates 3D representations of mathematical equations. The sample he showed me featured pyramids built from just a few block and then progressing to thousands of blocks. Had there been programs like this when I was a kid I might have had more interest in math.

A heated Critique and Conversaiton at the Maitland Art Center.

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Gilbert Vicario was the Guest Panelistat the Artist Critique and Conversation at the Maitland Art Center on March 24th. Gilbert is  the Senior Curator at Des Moines Art Center. Natalie Chikhi who came to 0rlado from France was the first artist to show her work. She had a projector to show us digital images of her work. She creates environmental installations using simple materials. The one piece of hers that I have seen in person involved string converging to a point inside a storage container behind Snap Space. The title of the piece was “Nothingness”.  Another piece used colorful sheets of paper to create a wave like pattern on a gallery floor. She spoke for a while about the challenges in her life, and concluded that the difficult and challenging moment in life are often the most creative.

Martha Lent is the artist who I decided to include in the sketch. She came from a graphic design background and has started producing very large paintings. Gilbert’s comments were rather insipid but he did feel that her smaller works were more refined and complete. I rather admire Martha’s bold large work. It must be liberating to use the whole arm and wrist motion to put down a large stroke rather than the hand and finger movements I use to get color on a sketch.

The one critique that got me the most upset was when Daniella Degulimo showed her work. Danielle went to UCF where she got a BFA in painting. She used to do large paintings of things like the BP oil spill, industry versus the environment and urban sprawl. Recently however she has started a series of smaller works on paper that tackle the same themes. These studies use mixed media and have a bold fresh approach. She showed 15 at the critique and wants to complete at least a hundred to show then all together. Gilbert cut her off and said that she was falling into an art trap by wanting to show a large number of pieces together. I completely disagree. I feel she should do 100 then 200 and keep going. She uses photos she takes of the Orlando sprawl she finds and Gilbert basically felt that the photos might be all she needs. He said, “The materials don’t make it art.” In those few words, he dismissed all of her efforts. I was more than a bit annoyed. I was fuming. I feel she should continue the series but perhaps do more studies on location. Daniella has also done sculptures using straws that replicate the Buckminster Fuller dome. Some of the studies had segmented patterns of the dome incorporated into the sketch. Gilbert dismissed these patterns as being over used and representative of a long lost ideal. I don’t think he is enough of an authority to make that assessment. The entire night he seemed detached and even bored. He never once got out of his chair to inspect the art from a closer vantage point.

The Cameo vintage sign is burning bright again.

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A small black and white photo framed on the back wall of Snap! Orlando shows the historic Cameo Theater with its original signage. Building owner Jorge Boone applied to the Orlando City Counsel to have a replica of the original Cameo
sign put back on top of the building “to re-establish the identity of the
building and bring a sense of history and place to the area.” The
project is expected to cost around $29,000 and the city agreed to
Boone’s request for $14,000 through the facade program. The new
18-foot-long sign will use the same retro font as the original, and it
will be lit with more than 300 LED bulbs.

The Cameo Theater first opened opened on Christmas Day, 1940. It was a latecomer in Orlando’s movie theaters, and was located just a block west of the Vogue Theater. Open for only a few years (maybe less than five), the Cameo sat abandoned for years, save for an occasional booking by a evangelical group.

The building was remodeled and occupied for years by IBM. Since then it has had many occupants, and has often been vacant. The marquee still stands.

In October 2008, it was in use as a live performance space, but had closed by Summer of 2009. By early-2010, it had reopened and was available ‘For Rent’, and several groups had regular performances, primarily live music.

Today the Cameo Theater is home to Snap! Orlando, a hip gallery that is bringing cutting edge exhibits to Orlando. The owners, Patrick and Holly Kahn  also have expanded Snap into a gallery space in Miami and they seem to have finally created a gallery worthy of a top class city here in Orlando.  Nearly 1200 people came to
celebrate Snaps one year anniversary, and the lighting of the Cameo
sign on January 23, 2015. As Patrick said “Thank you to all of our partners, supporters, Snap! team members
and friends who joined us last night! Our deepest appreciation and love
to the exceptional Jorge Boone and Magdalena Dalsjo for reviving the
Cameo sign, and sponsoring the public art fence, created by Chris Scala. In 2015 Snap is planning a citywide event with pop-up art
exhibits, lectures with guest speakers, workshops, and other educational
and cultural events. Announcements soon.”

Seen up close, butterflies become monsters.

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When it began to rain during Artlando, I ran inside the Orlando Museum of Art for cover. A crowd of people had the same idea. Inside the museum, local art galleries had exhibits. Jai Gallery was set up in the lobby. I was curious about a large hyper real photograph of a butterfly. Artist and architect James Cornetet was taking microscopic photos of a butterfly. The digital camera was set up on a metal framework which allowed James to move the camera in tiny increments. To get the final high resolution image he shoots hundreds of photos horizontally, vertically and in depth. The camera has a very shallow depth of field which means the tip of an antenna might be in focus but the butterfly head might be out of focus. James had an exhibit titled “High Fidelity” of his monstrous insects at Jai Gallery. Coralie Claeysen-Gleyzon was also on hand to let people know about Jai Gallery. One of Josh Garrick‘s black and white photos of a sculpted Greek god’s head was also on display.  Josh’s photos went on exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Greece. He was the first American artist to ever have his work displayed there.

Snap! Orlando teamed up with The Falcon and The Gallery at Avalon Island for a special installation at Artlando. The exhibit featured the art of Szymon Brodziak Photography, Aurora Crowley and an interactive digital installation ‘Beautiful Chaos’ by Nathan Selikoff. The exhibit was in the rotunda of OMA, as well as the galleries located to the left of the museum’s entrance. Once I was done with my sketch, I ran outside to my tent to make sure none of the cards on display had gotten wet. Everything was dry, but I was shocked to see that the tip jar which was half full of dollar bills earlier in the day, was now empty. I was furious. Who would stoop so low to steal money from a tip jar? Later that day I found out that my wife Terry had removed the money, “for safe keening.” The tip jar earned me enough money to pay for the food truck feast I enjoyed later that day.

Analog Artist Digital World sketches are on display at West Elm.

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Nine original sketches from the Analog Artist Digital World archives are now on display at West Elm, 4010 Conroy Road, Orlando, FL. The store offers modern home decor and modern furniture. Here you’ll  find the bedding, furniture, room decor, and dinnerware you need to create a stylish contemporary home. The store is right near the Millenia Mall and Ikea, so if your shopping for Christmas, stop by and see some original art. Patrick Kahn from Snap Space curated the display. The work will be on display through the holidays and into the New Year.

I executed this sketch digitally since I felt it might be awkward to use watercolors in a store. I also chose to sit on my artist’s stool rather than on one of the comfy couches. Jason Moore is the store manager who hung the show. He recognizes the importance of social  media to spread the word about West Elm.  I had planned to sketch a Christmas light display on this day, but rain made me realize I needed to sketch inside. It seems any time I choose to sketch outside, the weather has other plans for me.

The store wasn’t particularly crowded on this evening right after rush hour. One couple however was diligently looking for a new piece of furniture for their home. When the sales lady asked, “So what sort of style furniture is in your home now?” “Our entire home is full of West Elm furnature.” was his response. While sketching the store I got a strong sense of the warm uniformity of every item in the store. The color of the sketches on display were bright notes that broke up that uniformity. I was happy to see one woman stand in front of the display for the longest time. It made me happy that the work could be seen in a real world, brick and mortar setting. However, I just came back from Art Basel in Miami where a Pablo Picasso plate worth $85,000 had been stolen. The plate was smell enough where it could be slipped into a hand bag. I realized the woman viewing my work was holding a shopping bag large enough to hold one of my framed originals. Luckily that thought did not cross her mind.

Real Estate Showcase Event at Snap! Space

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On April 23rd as my Retrospective Exhibit was still hanging as Snap! Space (1013 E Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL), a Real Estate Showcase Event was held in the gallery. Jim Lussier contacted me, saying, “As the Artist in residence, I think you should hang out with us and take a bow. Please bring Terry with you if she is free. We will have about 100 people in the space from all aspects of the Real Estate industry for a 2 hour Meet and Greet.

I have another idea I’d like to run past you. We want to collect everyone’s business cards and have a drawing for ….a piece of Thorspecken art? I thought one of two things – either identify a piece you already have that you would part with for $300, or create a small piece at our event, and award it “hot off the press.” Third idea – we will award a selected piece that we purchase from you for $300, or, at the winner’s option, we will contribute $300 if the winner wants to purchase a more expensive piece from the collection.

Maybe you have a better idea. We want you and Terry to come no matter what. Please call me when you have a couple of minutes. Thanks! We are very excited to be having our event surrounded by your work.”

I decided to go with the option of awarding a print done from the sketch done that night. The event did get rather crowded and the sketch was presented with a flourish. I made the print the next day and dropped it off at Snap. The exhibit was financially more successful than I expected.  Enough originals and prints were sold to cover the framing costs and there was a profit of about $8000. Having the frames has made it easier to showcase my work at other venues as well. I exhibited a series of paintings based on Emotions Dance rehearsals and sold over $2,000 worth of originals and prints. This is the type of collaboration I need to be doing more often. Snap founder, Patrick Kahn, arranged to exhibit my work is now on display at East End Market (3201 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL) through August.

Snap! Attacks! to Open at Snap Space!

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On June 16th I went to Snap! Space,  to sketch German Muralist Mark Gmehling as he worked on a huge five story high mural. I had also visited on Friday the 13th, but he had just painted the whole area grey using a roller on that day. The mural depicts Mickey Mouse gloved hands clutching oozing gooey brain matter.

As I did this sketch, an angry line of fire ants marched in line into a crack in a blue grey wall. Patrick Kahn, Snaps founder offered me an umbrella to block the sun. I felt a little guilty being pampered because Mark was five stories up in the lift wearing a black TShirt in the 90s plus humid Florida heat. He didn’t need any shade. Since I have had skin cancer before, I accepted the offer and helped him tape the umbrella to the telephone pole I was leaning against.

Several people stopped to look and take pictures. Two time lapse cameras were set up to record every stage of the mural’s creation. When Mark came down for a break, we spoke for a while. He is a teacher and he does most of the painting using spray paint. He likes the greys that are in the Montana Gold spray paint being used for this mural. The forms combine hard edges and soft edges as he builds up the form. He works quick. The mural will be complete in less than a weeks time and he worked entirely alone. Local artist Chris Tobar did help paint some of the grey base coat paint lower to the ground floor. A tattoo shop is opening up right behind Snap! Space. I imagine one of the first requests will be to tattoo Marks melting brain image onto someones arm.

Mark Your Calendar! The mural will be completed before the “Snap! Attacks!” opening on Friday June 20th from 6pm to 10pm at Snap! Space, in the historic Cameo Theater, 1013 E. Colonial Dr., Orlando, Fl. The show will be a cutting edge contemporary and figurative art show from the combined curatorial forces of Snap! Orlando and Art Attacks featuring photography, painting, illustration, mixed media, sculpture and video installation with internationally renowned artists in attendance. Guest curators Art
Attacks is an online art resource for contemporary arts,
providing a curated digital gallery, in depth interviews, and art event
coverage. After four years of showcasing the best in contemporary art
and creative inspiration, Art Attacks Online is pleased to announce its
very first gallery show!

On Saturday June 21st from 2pm to 4pm there will be a free artist panel discussion at Snap! Space so you can meet the artists and learn more about their work.