Screening of The Ah of Life.

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The Ah of Life. Written and directed by Banks Helfrich in 2010 is a feature film about theoretical mathematician, Nigel Kline who finds himself the subject of his
own vertical time study. Entering into Einstein’s relativity, three
versions of Nigel face off with each other, weaving time and space in a
world of fluid moments.

Banks himself plays Nigel at age 40 while Andrew Knight and John Archer Lundgren pay Nigel at the ages of 18 and 70. The co-producer, Dina Peterson introduced me to the locally produced feature film which was screened at Taste (717 East Smith Street College Park Fl) which has since shut down.

The three versions of Nigel all wake up with the same gestures and mannerisms. They start their day in overlapping moments in the same small home. The sound of a second hand ticking sets the cadence through the whole film. That incessant ticking became a bit maddening. Now is always. In a world where time is vertical, Nigel, stumbles upon his past and future. The weaving of time lays the
foundation for Nigel’s acceptance of his own mortality.

At this moment in my life, I am making a digital archive of all the sketches I have done since starting this blog in 2009. The sketches have become a point of contention in an equitable distribution of assets. They must be appraised and given a value in dollars and cents. Each sketch marks the tick of moments of my life. Unpublished moments like this one will surface from my past as I prepare to start life anew.

Jazz at Taste

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Taste Restaurant (717 W. Smith Street in College Park) is where I go to sketch on a slow Monday if nothing else if going on around town. Musicians gather at the bar and around 8PM the Jazz begins. Who ever gets to the stage first starts off the set. Frank Walter was on trombone, Miguel Alvarodo was on Tenor Sax, Tom was on drums. The place was so packed that I couldn’t find a table with a view. Instead, I sat in the entryway to the restaurant.

The music flowed and swelled. sporadic and spontaneous solos ignited and then  the other musicians joined in when the moment felt right. Sets can extend forever or be over in a flash, so I tend to sketch frenetically to catch the moment before it is gone. Monday night Jazz is always a good time so it is always on my calendar as a fall back option.

Taste of Jazz

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Every Monday night starting around 8PM, there is a jazz jam at Taste Restaurant (717 West Smith Street).  I arrived straight from work. The drum set was just being set up, so I sketched the pieces as they fell into place. Several performers were UCF professors. Tracy Alexander performed on the drums, Greg Zabel on upright Bass, John Krasula on guitar and Joe Young on Trumpet. As the evening wore on more musicians entered the bar and they would step in on different riffs. I ordered tater tots and a Blue Moon. The dipping sauce was on the hot side so I needed the beer to negate the heat in my mouth.

I recognized some of the regular patrons from past sketching trips to Taste. The guy seated next to me asked a question I hear quite often, “Did you do that here?” Since the sketch is of the musicians we both just saw perform, it would seem quite obvious that I didn’t do it out on the sidewalk or in my car. Anyway, the music was great. Each performer in turn launched into a long solo and when the moment was right the rest of the performers would join back in. I stepped out after the first set to rush back home.

Taste Jazz

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Since I have been working till 9PM at Full Sail, I have been searching for late evening sketch opportunities. Monday Night Jazz at Taste (717 W. Smith Street in College Park) has become a standard Monday Night ritual. They have an early set from 7PM to 9PM and then a later set from 9:30PM to 11:30PM. My sketch is usually finished before the evening of music wraps. All sorts of musicians gather in the bar area and different musicians rotate in for each jam session.

I order a Blue Moon beer and some tater tots to munch on as I sketch.  The young couple at the table in front of me were obviously on a date just getting to know each other. As always the music was lively and spontaneous. My goal at these late night sketch outings is to get a quick sketch done then get home before Terry goes to sleep.

Monday Night Jazz at Taste

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I have been working a late shift at Full Sail from 5PM to 9PM. That means I’ve had to search for events that go late into the evening. Jazz at Taste (717West Smith Street in College Park) fits the bill. Danny Grudal, Chris Muda and Michael Wells started a set when I arrived. I ordered some crispy tater tots, a beer and got to work. Different musicians joined in for different jams. A saxophone player I had met at Terrace 390’s Jazz event said hello.

This is a great way to relax after a hectic day. Soloists would take the music and improvise their own riff on top of it. When a performer got lost in the moment, the audience at the bar and tables would root him on with laughter, clapping and shouts. It is quite addictive. I nodded my head to the beat and tapped my foot as I sketched. I tried to let the lines flow unhindered.

These Jazz sets happen every Monday Night from about 9PM to 11PM. There is no cover.

Artists Party and Street Market

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Affect Art held its first Artists Party and Street Market at Taste Restaurant (717 W. Smith Street College Park). The purpose of Affect Art is simply to help artists help themselves. A few artists were set up inside the front room in Taste and everyone else was set up outside under the awning. Clouds loomed, threatening rain as the evening grew dark. Parker Sketch had some paintings on display in the gallery inside. I met Terry for dinner at Taste before I started a sketch. I liked the tatter tots but the fish tacos were too hot for my taste. I had to wash them down with plenty of beer. Parker walked some patrons through the gallery and on his way out he saw us and stopped over to say hi.

Some sort of performance was going to happen in the gallery. A petite dancer was getting ready to perform. I found out she was a silks dancer who would be performing her aerial act.  The event was a fundraiser for YAYA, a youth and young adult Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry. It cost $5 to enter, so I opted to go with a free sketch outside, besides, catching a girl spinning and flipping as she is suspended from the ceiling would be a difficult sketch.

Outside, Parker was busy painting a skateboard with a Pabst Blue Ribbon logo. The board was for a show at City Arts Factory. Just about every gallery is filled with skateboards that have been painted by local artists. The show, curated by B-side artist Tr3 Harris is called Boarded up – The Art of Skateboarding. It is an impressive show hanging till July 14th.

Whitney Broadaway had an ingenious idea of letting passers by make their own prints. She had lino cuts already prepared and a young couple stopped to try their hand at print making. The woman rolled out the ink and applied it to the print plate. Only the high ridges would print. A sheet of paper was applied on top of the inked plate and then Whitney set it inside the press. The crank was turned applying massive pressure. The costumer was given the thrill of the big revel. Both Whitney and the costumer signed the print.

Although not much art was sold, it was a great opportunity for artists to mingle and talk art. One artist was talking about how the DADA movement was “the punk rock of art.” He admired Jackson Pollack who finally said, “F*ck this I’m just going to do what I want.” An artist who was dressed like a rough Harley Davidson biker lamented how he was an outsider in high school. Whitney’s table became a social hub for artists who had studied with the same teachers at UCF. A friend walked by and didn’t notice me sketching. I suppose I become a bit invisible when I sketch and I was camouflaged by large potted plants.

A Taste of Jazz

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Every Monday starting around 9pm there is free jazz at Taste (717 W. Smith Street, College Park). When I arrived, the drum set was just starting to get assembled. I ordered a beer at the bar and started sketching the empty stage and the paintings on the walls. All the paintings were of celebrities. Who actually hangs a painting of Marilyn Monroe or Marilyn Manson above their couch? As more musicians arrived, the buzz began to build in the room. A tall African American man, named Zion, entered the room with a leopard skin cap and an open jacket with no shirt underneath. He was shouting and happy. He shouted, “I will be throwing money on the stage tonight!” He had been given a watch by his woman and he wanted the world to know. He showed me his watch and it was as big as a saucer covered in gold and silver.  The inner gears were exposed. He shouted out, “look how beautiful she is!” as he gestured to the woman in the doorway, and she smiled. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.

I heard the drummer say that all The Jazz Professors from UCF were going to perform. Jeff Rupert, the program director was on tenor sax, Bobby Koelble was on the guitar, Per Danielsson on the keys, Richard Drexler played bass, and Marty Morell, the band leader, was on drums. Flying Horse Records put out a live recording from the UCF-Orlando Jazz Festival of this group, The Jazz Professors remained on the Jazz Week charts for 17 weeks, peaking at 19. The music began and my lines danced as I tapped my foot and swayed to the beat. These guys were great! I had stumbled upon an amazing performance. People were shouting and clapping in appreciation. Everyone was lost in the free flowing adventure of smooth improvisation. The air was electric. With my beer and sketch finished, I decided to leave after the first set. On the drive home, I realized I was hungry for another taste.

Costume Contest

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Terry was at the bar with a co-worker when I arrived at Taste for the Anime Masquerade. When I started a second sketch of the cast of characters at the end of the bar, she decided to head home. Neither of us were in costume, so we kind of stuck out from the crowd. After the burlesque, there was a costume contest on the main stage. There was a cat lady with flaming red hair, that masked guy from Vendetta, some hooded guy who was perhaps a hangman, and some guy who I think was a Cheshire Cat. Lets face it, I don’t know enough about Anime or video games to know who was who. There were some choice prizes however from “A Comic Shop.” Next time I should make more of an effort.
The evening was a challenge. Everyone was constantly on the move in the tight space. Every sketch swam in a sea of uncertainty. I am starting to realize that I should ask people to pose. Some of the costumes were so complex and beautiful that I am certain that the creator would be honored to pose. I need to stop trying to catch the big picture sometimes and instead go in for the close up.

This was a very crowded and successful event. I’ve been told that these kind of costumed events happen fairly regularly in Orlando. If you know of such events please contact me here or on Facebook. I would love to keep sketching these types of events.

Anime Masquerade

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The Anime Masquerade was held at Taste to help raise funds for Japanese relief. At the bar people gathered in costumes to drink. Apparently there is a new phenomenon in which people dress as their favorite video game or anime character and then go places where others do the same. In the back room Anime themed paintings lined the walls. This was a difficult event to sketch since the people in costumes were constantly on the move, voguing for one camera and then another. I sat on the steps to the stage. On the table in front of me, a man and woman in kimonos, named Hai and Nhi, were displaying art work. A sketch that reminded me of self portraits by Egon Schiele was lying on the table along with a tip jar. A woman dressed like Speed Racer wandered the room.

A woman climbed past me to get on stage. She announced a burlesque show. Behind her a blue satin bolt of fabric hung from the ceiling. Honey Malone took to the stage and wrapped herself in the fabric. What followed was an aerial act and burlesque that had me mesmerized. I stopped sketching and just watched. She held herself suspended by just wrapping her legs in the fabric.

The woman dressed as Speed Racer also did a burlesque. She began in a car seat acting like she was driving. She got up took off the helmet and let her long blonde hair flow free. It wasn’t long before her blue costume was lying on the stage and she danced with tasseled pasties decoratively spinning on her chest. My reflexes weren’t quick enough to catch the action. Actually as I think back, I wasn’t paying much attention, since I was engrossed in finishing another sketch. Yes… That’s right, I didn’t see a thing.

The Manteis Project

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In the red room at Taste (717 Smith Street, College Park), Terry and I stayed to watch the music act that was setting up on stage after most of the artists had left from an event called Blend. The heart of the group seemed to be an Apple laptop computer which put out vibrant pulsating sound effects. There was a sitar, guitar an a wide variety of drums. A keyboardist also had a laptop open above his keyboard. They were known as the Manteis Project. Behind the group the screen displayed animated lighting patterns. The music was mesmerizing.
Kenneth Raduazzo was working the sound booth. I glanced up at the sound booth and his wife Teresa was there with him. She had recently introduced me to an ashram. A couple of artists were still working on the collaborative paintings in the room behind us. I was seated in a chair right at the foot of the stage looking up at the performers. After the performance was over, Terry and I walked back to the car and on the way we bumped into Teresa. She had decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air. I thought she and Terry must have met before at the Kerouac House but I made the introductions anyway. We talked for a while but then Teresa had to get back inside to help break down.

Tomorrow Thor will sketch an Acrylic painting demonstration at Sam Flax on Colonial Drive near Mills between 3:30PM and 5:30PM.