La Femme Fondue

Posted on by Thor

Christie and Evan Miga needed time off after the mad rush to bring Dog Powered Robot to Fringe last year. They had four months of extensive rehearsals and a whole cast of cardboard robots that were built. They were constantly managing people. After the show they decided to live in Paris for two months. Fisher Miga, the dog behind Dog Powered Robot went with them. Christie said that within four days they had settled into the Parisian lifestyle. Three days a week Evan freelanced for the design firm he was working for in Orlando. Though he was living in Paris, he worked Orlando hours, sharing his work via the Internet. That left the rest of the week open for the couple to explore Paris. They discovered quirky arts outlets that few tourists visit. Christie loved a tiny Museum of Magic that had rooms filled with mechanized tin toys. Right next to the Eiffel tower was a sumptuous garden that only Parisians frequent.

 When Christie Miga returned to Orlando she started a series of paintings inspired by the trip to Paris. Though abstract, the work is autobiographical as she explains with pure color how Paris inspired her. This series explodes with rich vibrant color. The blue is the exact color of the Mediterranean and the bright magenta reminds her of tight bright magenta pants that many women were wearing in Paris. Provence inspired her use of bright yellow and orange. She mixes her own water based paints and she has some idea how the paints will interact when they are poured on the canvas side by side. The word fondue is the feminine of the French verb fondre (‘to melt’). The colors seem to melt an flow together on the canvas. The paintings are abstract yet they feel like violent storm clouds on a distant planet or the delicate vibrant colors of a butterfly wing. The black dripping motif is used often and it reminded me of a piano keyboard as I tried to sketch it. Ironically, earlier that day, I had been writing about color for a Book on Urban Sketching. Christie’s bold use of fluid primary colors offered amazing insights about how colors interact. She worked to modern pop French music.

Many of the pieces have bold urban graphic elements that look like graffiti stencils. For instance one canvas has a bold image of the Eiffel Tower that then melts into vibrant dripping colors. Subtle blue lettering in French says, “This is not the Eiffel tower.” A bright splotch of moon then drips as well. Once Christie starts one of these liquid abstracts, she has to finish it while the paint remains wet. Amazingly she finished her canvas in the same amount of time it took me to do the sketch.

La Femme Fondue is being shown at the Timucua White House, (2000 South Summerlin Avenue, Orlando FL), on March 22nd starting at 7:30PM. This reception is one night only. The artwork and prints will be for sale.The White House is a fantastic venue to see Christie’s work since the spotlight literally make her canvases glow.

Eladio Sharron and Carrie Wiesinger

Posted on by Thor

On November 11th, as part of the Accidental Music Festival, Eladio Sharron and Carrie Wiesinger performed Latin American works for flute and guitar, including Cronicas Del Descrumbiento by Robert Sierra, Fantasia by Inocente Carreno and Histoire du Tango by Astor Piazolla at the Timucua White House (200 Summerlin Ave). There was no visual artist on stage that day.

I tend to like to sketch from the second or third floor balcony, so I climbed the spiral staircase and found a spot to sit. Wendy Wallenberg was busy setting  up the snack and wine table in the next room. She signaled me from the entry gesturing to let me know I didn’t greet her properly.  Paintings by Christie Miga were on display and a large painting with 3D objects sticking out of it was right next to me. I stood and leaned against the wall overlooking the railing as I sketched. I was afraid that I might nudge Christies painting as I struggled with my sketch, sending the painting toppling down hitting audience members below. I don’t know why I always imagine the worst. Nothing horrible happened. Instead I experienced beautiful music in an intimate setting.

Melinda Wagner

Posted on by Thor

Composer, Melinda Wagner, gave a talk about her music and creative process at the Timucua White House (2000  South Summerlin Avenue, Orlando). She won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for music. Her laptop was open so she could play her compositions for us. Besides composing music she is also a house wife in New Jersey. The other house wives don’t really understand what she does. When Melinda explained to one woman that she was a composer, the woman responded, “I thought all the composers were dead.”

Melinda explained that anytime she starts a composition, there is a period of angst and worry where the music is in absolute chaos. Then the piece reaches a stage where she realized it is all going to fall into place. Then she can relax and enjoy the process. When she played her music for us, she closed her eyes and listened. She explained that an artist’s roll is to take risks for the sake of beauty. She is listening and looking for a piece with heart. As she said, “Music offers composers an immeasurably rich and
generous sonic landscape in which to explore the ‘life story’ of each
musical idea — its dramas, intrigues, joys and sorrows — a life. I
strive to find various and persuasive ways of moving through the
resulting temporal narrative, and to traverse a wide spectrum of
expression and color on the way. Ultimately, I want listeners to know me; I want them to hear that while I enjoy the cerebral exercise, I am led principally by my ear, and by my heart.”

Jazz at the White House

Posted on by Thor

The Civic Minded 5 presented reed player Trevor Watts and pianist Veryan Weston, a longtime duo and storied members of the British improv scene at the Timucua White House, (
2000 South Summerlin).  This free concert presented cutting edge new jazz, where mastery met sensibility and the joy of the moment. The visual artist for the evening was going to be Martha Jo Mahoney, but she couldn’t make it. Bernie Martin was working on a watercolor at stage right and I was sketching in the balcony so the visual arts were represented. I was surrounded  by a family who took some interest in what I was doing. I recognized the husband but couldn’t quite place him. Finally after a short conversation, I realized it was Mark Simon, who wrote a book called Storyboards, Motion in Art. I have that book in my art library and refer to it anytime I get a storyboard assignment. What a small world. This was the first time Mark and his family attended a Timucua concert. They were in for an explosive, experimental treat.

The music was edgy and on the verge of  pure cacophony. As I worked, I realized I didn’t have a rag to wipe off my brushes. I used the sketch itself to wipe clean the brush. I worked in a frenzy driven by the music and the panic of the moment. Both performers had thick grey hair that swept around the back of their skulls reminiscent of friendly poltergeist clowns. I’m considering growing my own grey  lion’s mane to duplicate this bohemian look.

After the concert people socialized around snacks and wines in the entry foyer. I caught up with Wendy Wallenburg, who helps out at the social hour, and her friends, Sarah Austin and Nikki Mier.  Nikki suggested I should start wearing outlandish clothes as a fashion statement so people can spot me at events.  I still prefer to blend in with the wallpaper. Elaine Corriveu, who is Benoit Glazer‘s wife, and the hostess for the evening, wanted to see my sketch. I honestly believe she appreciates what I do. If you haven’t been to the White House, then you are missing out on a gem of the local music scene.

Accidental Fundraiser

Posted on by Thor

The Accidental Music Festival returned to Urban Rethink to present a performance of Terry Riley‘s seminal work In C, often cited as the first major minimalist work. The piece features a group of musicians (in our case a mixed ensemble of 12 players, many from UCF) performing a series of 53 musical ideas, each player moving through the sequence at their own pace. The melodies and rhythmic riffs flow in and out of sync according to the whims of the players, chance, and inspiration, so the piece can take anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours. The mood can become meditative, thrilling, and even ecstatic; it’s never the same twice.

In conjunction with the performance, there was also be a silent auction of prints and other small art pieces by local visual artists, with most items priced at $50 or less. The artists will donate a portion of the proceeds to presenting the 2nd annual Accidental Music Festival this November.

The Accidental Music Festival is a marathon festival of concerts and educational programming sponsored by the Timucua Arts Foundation. The festival is primarily dedicated to presenting modern and contemporary music of high artistic quality by living composers and engaging the community in a dialogue about the value of artistic, creative, and avant-garde music.

When I arrived, Mat Roberts was sitting alone on stage holding a potted cactus next to a microphone. He plucked the needles and the cactus sang like a harp. He used a bowl of nuts as an instrument as well. One nut thundered to the floor in an unexpected improvisation.  Yellow pencils poked into green Styrofoam balls stood topiary style in a pot beside him.

On the day of the fundraiser, Chris Belt the festival’s founder, was concerned that the performance at Urban ReThink didn’t generate the funds expected. I’m happy to see that the 2011 Kickstarter Campaign was a success. Hopefully this years fundraiser will also be a success. The Festival will take place November 8-18th at Urban ReThink and at the Timucua White House. I for one look forward to the new and unexpected. If anyone would like to bid on this sketch, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Accidental Music Festival. Consider the comment section on this post to be a silent bid sheet. Highest bid wins.

The Central Florida Composers Forum Concert

Posted on by Thor

CF2 was evening of new music by local composers at the Timucua White House. I arrived with Terry about an hour before the concert because the idea had been tossed around with Serena Jones, that it might be nice for me to project a sketch I was working on live during the concert. Unfortunately for technical reasons, that didn’t work out but I still got a great sketch from the second floor balcony. Serena worked the multi media imagery on a flat panel TV screen from her laptop.

The featured artist for the evening was Woody Igou. Woody set up a series of sculptures on card tables. One sculpture was of a series of hollow horns stacked up. At the beginning of the performance he mixed some gorilla glue with pigments and salt and he poured the mixture inside the horns. For the rest of the evening the mixture expanded like the blob, overflowing and oozing down like lava.

The CF2 concert offered contemporary composers an open forum to showcase their recent work.

Featured Composers on the Program:

Daniel Crozier (Rollins College) – Piano solo (2009)

Benoit Glazer (Music Director for La Nouba) – Brass Quintet and Percussion Quintet (2011)

Charles Griffin (Full Sail University) – Flute Quartet, prerecorded audio and video projection (2010) Rebekah Todia (Full Sail University) – Soprano and piano (2012)

Charles Griffin’s composition featured animated projections that responded to the music. The audience was encouraged to repeat vocalizations as they appeared on the screen. Everyone followed with shhh, and ah, ah sounds. This gave a primal feel to the proceedings.

The concert was an invigorating multimedia mix of electro acoustic, post-minimal, contemporary art song, solo piano and big-band jazz pieces by musicians and composers from Rollins, Full Sail, UCF and of course, Benoit Glazer, the musical director of Cirque du Soleil, and resident of the (Timucua) White House.

Acoustic Eidolon

Posted on by Thor

The Timucua White House hosted Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire who are a tour-de-force of acoustic music, described as “World Music for the Soul.” In February 1998, Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire founded Acoustic Eidolon. What began as a musical adventure turned quickly into a life adventure, for both Hannah and Joe. Joe described how he builds his own double-neck guitjo. He described the intricacies of designing and playing this one of a kind instrument. His long impassioned description was followed by, “Oh, yea, Hanna plays a cello. Hanna and everyone else laughed.

It might have been fate or destiny that brought these talents together but this couple from Colorado had a unique and heart felt sound. Hannah told a story about how she checked her cello in with luggage for a United Airlines flight and what she got back was splintered and destroyed. United never accepted responsibility for the damage. Scott wrote Hannah a song called “In Your Cathedral” of condolence for the instrument which she called, her lost voice. It was the first of many love songs. This couple who madebeautiful music together eventually got married on October 14, 2001. Hannah wrote a song called “Hurricane Hannah” that expressed the whirl wind of emotions as she searched to regain her voice. A cello repairman had a large slab of wood that came from the same tree Hannah’s instrument came from. The repaired cello had just as rich a sound when repaired.

Terry, my wife arrived late, but when my sketch was done, she sat beside me and rested her head in my lap.

Benoit Glazer

Posted on by Thor

Benoit Glazer and his wife opened their home, the Timucua White House, starting in September 2000, to bring free music to the Orlando community. I’ve sketched many of these concerts and have always been pleased to discover new talents. Benoit and his family believe and promote the following…
Art and music belong to everyone.
Art and music are the highest manifestation of our humanity.
Art and music should be enjoyed in the most intimate venue: the living room.
Every community is better when art and music are performed and nurtured within it.

After one concert, I discovered that Benoit was composing the sound track music for an independent film called “7 Lives of Chance” that was filmed right here in Orlando. This film, written and directed by Banks Helfrich, is about a woman who loves balloons and is unable to let go of the past. Her life would be so much easier and less painful if she could let go and watch her worries drift away with the breeze. The sound track features light and breezy violin music giving the story a distinct European flair. Benoit jumped at the chance to compose the music.

I sketched Benoit on the weekend as he worked in his sound studio. A collection of violins and trumpets lined one wall. A window looked out on the main stage area in his custom built acoustically designed “living room.” His flat screen computer monitor was tilted vertical so he could see all the tracks. The family was watching a neighbors dog. The Benoits also have a greyhound and this dog made the tragic mistake of nipping at the greyhound while it slept. The greyhound was jolted awake, and bit down on the the other dog’s head. The children took the dog to the vet at a great expense. The dog lay on the floor with a big band aid covering the bite. The dog was restless, and occasionally Benoit would have to soothe it, making sure the dog didn’t scratch at the wound with it’s paws.

After each concert, Benoit mixes a CD to thank the musicians for performing. He began mixing a CD for singer Ashley Lockheed. Chris Rotmeyer was on piano, Ben Cramer on Base and Allen Vache on clarinet. Benoit informed me that Allen is a very big deal, having performed with the Jim Cullen band. The music filled the tiny sound studio as Benoit adjusted the levels again and again. I was surprised when he asked my opinion on the levels of one track. I was just as surprised when he agreed with my humbly assessment. Benoit adjusted the levels using pure instinct. He doesn’t consider himself a perfectionist, he just knows when it feels right.

Charles Eisenstein on Sacred Economics

Posted on by Thor

Charles Eisenstein, the author of Sacred Economics, gave a talk at the Timucua White House. Harlan Wallner got on stage to introduce Charles. He stood there for a long while beaming. He said he had planned a long time on how he might introduce Charles but instead he just wanted to smile. He said, we were in for an enlightenment.

Charles stood at the very edge of the stage his toes reaching towards the audience. He began by saying, “This is the first talk I have given at the White House.” Which broke the ice with laughter. Behind him two spot lights created a heart shaped pool of light on the painting in the corner. I began by sketching that pool of light.

He outlined how our society today is surrounded by product, not true nourishment. Most people feel that community is missing from our lives. Money tends to block us from the natural expression of our gifts. Community is something that is woven from gift relationships. In ancient societies, wealth was a matter of how much you shared. If a hunter brought down a large catch, he couldn’t eat it all himself before it spoiled. He would share the catch with the community. Today, financial independence means you don’t need others. The dissolution of community to a shallow consumer society relates as well to the high number of divorces today. Community comes from creatively producing together.

Existence is a matter of giving. Our default state is gratitude. The world is a web of gifts. Growing up we accepted the gifts of our parents. When we are older we seek to give those gifts in return. Joint consumption doesn’t create intimacy. Only joint creativity and gifts create intimacy. Anything we do has significance. Perhaps our society doesn’t place a high monetary value on someone sitting with a person in hospice. But a shared moment of forgiveness at the end of life has an immense value. How will that change the world?

Look for gifts in the unspoken. Bow in service to what you need to create. You have to be in service of something. Everyone wants to live a life of meaning. Something wants to be born, to be created. It’s light will bring up pain. You might think, “It’s impossible” or “I’ll be left behind.” Pay attention to that pain, give it space, then move past it. The logic of the heart wants to be of service. Love is the felt experience of connection to another human being. An economist feels, more for you is less for me. But a person in love knows that more for you is more for me as well. If you love someone, then their happiness is your happiness. Your sense of self expands to include others. That is a different kind of revolution. We want to create a more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible. A sacred world. A world that works for everybody. A world of peace. “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.”

After the talk, I spoke with Dina Peterson who had recently lost her job and is considering moving to Indiana. Regardless, she wanted to buy one of my calendars. I was touched. I realized I only had a single dollar bill in my wallet. Rather than take the money, I suggested she “gift” the money to Charles. I felt good knowing I had made a contribution. When she came back, she said she felt rich being able to give the extra cash to the speaker. This was our shared experience in Sacred Economics for the evening.

David M. Roth

Posted on by Thor

Folk singer David M. Roth performed at the White House. Artist Ed Sanderson stood in the corner and did a quick impasto landscape painting as David played. Ed was one of the first visual artists to paint live at the White House and he had returned several times. Davids mellow tunes all had uplifting hope filled lyrics. What made the performance special for me was the way he wove his family history into monologues between his music. His father came to this country to make a better life for his family and he had hopes that his son would one day be a success as a doctor or lawyer. David did find success doing something he loved and sharing that love of music with others.

David was asked to perform at a NASA conference and he suggested in an off hand way that he could write a song especially for the occasion. Months passed and he forgot about the promise, but the organizer called him right before the conference to let him know how excited she was to hear his song. He panicked but just happened across an article about Sputnik, the first Soviet satellite. That mysterious orb sent fear into every American heart and the space race began. His inspired song pointed out that if future explorations were fueled by love rather than fear, then we could accomplish anything.

A race to the furthest star
A race to the galaxies above
If a little bit of fear can go so far
Imagine what a world could do with love

The song he wrote was later taken into space by a shuttle astronaut. When he told his father the amazing news, that his music was orbiting the earth, his father asked, “So how much does that put in your pocket?”

Later when his father was sick and in Hospice care, David would sit bedside and play his music for him. His father wasn’t very responsive, slipping in and out of consciousness. As David was leaving hospice with his sister, he suddenly had a feeling he had to return and speak with his father. He asked, “Are you aware that I have been playing music for you?” His fathers eyes flickered open and he said, “Yes, it is beautiful.” Rob was a bit choked up as he said, “That was the only time he acknowledged that he liked my music.” A few days later, his father died. When Rob thinks of his dad, he always has that moment to treasure.