Marriage Equality Eve at Lake Eola.

Posted on by Thor

January 5th of 2015 was the Eve of Marriage Equality in Orlando. Ashley Inguanta organized a Marriage Equality Celebration and Reading which were to take place in the green across the street from the Lake Eola Panera Bread. She advised everyone in the invite to bring a blanket or chair. The evening would be a literary celebration of the arrival of same-sex marriage with a series of readings by LGBT writers. Readers on the bill included Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Tisse Mallon and Ricardo Williams. Ashley Inguanta was the host.

I arrived early and started sketching the green across from Panera’s. The plan was that I would populate the scene with the crowd as they arrived. The event was going to start at 7pm and as that time grew near, I was surprised that no one had yet set up on the lawn.  Tisse Mallon arrived with a microphone and speaker and she advised me that she planned to set up in the small amphitheater right next to the field. I quickly added color washes to this sketch resigned to the fact that there would be no huge crowd. This happened once before in this same field. Jessica Early organized a human cinnamon roll hug. This hug works great with a large crowd with people spiraling outward in a nautilus or Cinnamon bun pattern. The people in the center of the hug are completely enveloped. Anyway on that occasion I sketched the same field and only three girls stood together and hugged.

Eventually close to a dozen people did show up for the Marriage Equality Celebration. I finished this sketch and then joined them for the readings. Perhaps I am naive to have hoped that thousands of people might show up to celebrate love. I wasn’t disappointed with the readings however because it was a heart warming and uplifting on an otherwise chilly evening.

Ashley Inguanta hosted a Marriage Equality Celebration and Readings at Lake Eola.

Posted on by Thor

On the evening before the ban on same sex marriages was lifted, Ashley Inguanta hosted readings that were a celebration of love at Lake Eola. I arrived a bit early and did a sketch of a big grassy field thinking that it would soon be filled with hundreds of supporters. Tisse Mallon arrived with some equipment on a dolly. Although the invitation said to meet in the field, Tisse realized that a small staging area nearby might have an outlet where she could plug in an amplifier and a mic. Sure enough there were plugs right behind the stage. She covered a small TV tray table with a black cloth and set the speaker up in front of that. The final touch were small candles that acted as foot lamps.

Perhaps a dozen people gathered on the wooden benches. Ashley took the microphone and introduced herself. She explained that on this chilly evening, we were celebrating the arrival of same-sex marriage with a series of readings by LGBT writers. Readers on the bill included Dianne Turgeon Richardson, Tisse Mallon and Ricardo Williams. As Ashley read the first poem about love, a policeman on a bicycle stopped to shut down the performance. It is rather ironic that poems about love should be considered subversive while people shout out hatred of hell and brimstone on street corners downtown. Ashley asked if she could continue to read without the mic. He allowed that and rode off. Ashley advised everyone to huddle together in the front row, for added body warmth and to hear her over the traffic. She got off the stage and moved close to the audience.

Tisse read an intimate poem about her first love. Other poems were by Dia Davina and Adrienne Rich. Ricardo explained that he wasn’t LGBT but any injustice is an injustice to all. Dianne’s story was similar. She was recently married and hadn’t been writing much poetry while she was happy. The poems she used to write were always dark. On this cold evening there was a warmth and joy in every poem shared. Ricardo read a second poem, but I couldn’t hear him over the passing traffic.

Ashley had recently moved to NYC where she hoped to find her soul mate and get married. She reminded us all that there were only four hours left until there would be marriage equality in Florida. Now it will be possible for anyone to find a committed lasting love in the City Beautiful.

The Creative Mind Project was the Birthplace of Dog Powered Robot

Posted on by Thor

At Fringe two years ago, I was invited by Jessica Mariko to be part of the Creative Mind Project. A select group of artists were given the same music and told to create a theatrical presentation based on what they heard. I decided to edit together a series of sketches to create a video montage paced to the music.

On the opening night, I had to be backstage as the Creative Mind project was presented. My only responsibility was to walk out a projector when my piece was to be presented. I also had borrowed a film screen that I had help setting up. From backstage I peeked out from behind the curtains to see the other presentations.

This sketch is of Tisse Mallon and a cross dressing male performer right before they went on stage. I never actually saw their performance. The cardboard buildings they are standing in front of are set pieces for Dog Powered Robot. When it was Dog Powered Robot’s turn, the audience went wild with laughter.

 Evan and Christie Miga had build a simple blue cardboard robot with a square head that rotated with wild abandon. A center chest compartment opened to showcase their adorable Pomeranian dog named Fisher. As the music played, Evan as the narrator waxed poetic about his childhood dreams of living in the city. Then a loud nuclear warning clamored, and Dog Powered Robot walked out into the cardboard cityscape. Like Godzilla in a cheap B grade sci-fi movie he began to destroy the city. The odd sight of this cute dog powering the robot’s rampage was hilarious and people in the audience shouted “Dog Powered Robot!” with delight as they laughed. I only saw glimpses of that first performance from backstage, but the riotous audience was easy to hear.

Dog Powered Robot is still going strong today. They staged their own Fringe show twice and just this week, they made an appearance at the Maker Fair in the Orlando Science Center. I’m convinced that someday the stars will align and Dog Powered Robot will become an international cult sensation. Kids love these cardboard robots but adults can’t get enough. Jessica Mariko is still bringing together creative minds by hosting Local Arts Nights at Drip (8747 International Dr #102, Orlando, FL) every 4th Thursday of the month.

Spores

Posted on by Thor

At the Earth Day Festival at Lake Eola I decided to get a Vegan Lunch. The food court was at the South east entrance to the park under a huge Live Oak. I decided to get a carrot hot dog at Spork Cafe‘s booth. Tisse Mallon and her sister Joyce were working hard to keep up with orders. Joyce was at the barbecue grill searing the carrots over the coals. For a drink, I went to Midtown Eco Village for a berry smoothy. I ate lunch back at the Analog Artist Digital World tent. The hot dog was delicious although quit messy. A big splooge of mustard fell on my pants.

Journalist, Curtis Franklin had taken several photos as I sketched earlier in the day. He stopped by my tent to interview me. It was a fun talk and it turned out we have quite a lot in common.  Whenever he visits a new city, he walks the streets with a camera and a tape recorder to capture the city’s story.

My next door neighbor was Doug Rhodehamel, one of his art projects is “The SPORE Project” he makes paper bag mushrooms out of used paper bags that would usually end up in a landfill. The SPORE Project was
created in 2005 to promote support for art in schools and to illustrate
the importance of creativity in everyday life. He supplied paint and brushes so the kids could paint their own mushroom. Doug worked with a volunteer from Northland
Church and Hope4Orphans. This summer he hopes to to help send a few volunteers to
Ukraine and Russia. Through several week long summer camps, they will be
providing arts and crafts and paper bag mushrooms to hundreds of
orphans.

Doug’s spores are slowly taking over the world.  He stood next to me and laughed like a mad scientist. Parents and their kids would march through my tent to plant their spore and begin painting. There wasn’t much in my tent so it made the perfect garden gateway. I was glad, cause it meant more people would see my sketchbooks. I had the framed books hanging from the tent upper supports above children’s heads. Parents ended up banging their heads on my frames so I just had to plant a seat below the sketchbook so people knew to walk around.

Patti Matchett and her husband Andy joined me for the afternoon. I can’t thank them enough. With all the merchandise sold out, there wasn’t much to do other than hand out business cards and talk to people about the blog’s sketch a day mission.  Two Japanese culinary students wanted to buy the sketchbook suspended over my head. I tried to explain that it was an entire sketchbook but they could buy a print for $200. Language was a barrier but I have their contact information so maybe there is still hope to close the sale.

Snap! 2nd Live Fashion Shoot Out

Posted on by Thor

The Snap 2nd Live Fashion Shootout was held at the Orange Studio (1121 North Mills Avenue). At this event, photographers were given two beautiful models fully made-up and styled, a light and an infinity background. They then had five minutes to shoot. There was a cap at 40 photographers who could be professionals or amateurs.

I parked on a side street in the Mills/50 neighborhood. I passed a car with press credentials in the windshield and saw that it was from the Murder City Photography. Darn, I thought, I should have arranged a press pass to this event. I bumped into photographer Barry Kirsch outside near the entrance. He wasn’t going to be shooting photos. The suggested donation was $5 and I paid at the door. Patrick Kahn, the Snap Orlando Producer, greeted me and said, “It’s officially an event now.”

Inside I debated about sketching DJ Nigel who worked the sound board all night. I then noticed the models were still being primped and preened. I started a sketch but didn’t commit because the make-up was done before I could finalize a composition. I then found a spot in the corner of the photo studio that let me sketch the models and photographers. Models posed for a fraction of a second at a time as photographers shot. Each shot was then projected live on a screen so bystanders like me could see what the photographers were doing. Later in the evening, someone told me that a photo of me sketching was up on the screen. With my hiking boots and jeans I’m the antithesis of a fashion statement.

People on the sidelines were snapping cell phone pictures as well. A billion or so pictures must have been taken of the six lovely models. Tisse Mallon worked with two models, getting them to interact and have fun. Much of the time however the models glared at the camera threateningly. The room got packet with people sipping Peroni beer, and watching the leggy models vogue for the cameras. I had a chance to chat with Lisa Bates after the sketch was done. It seems her closet exploded like a volcano when she went in searching for an 80’s outfit for the Don Cornelius Soul Train Dance Party the following evening. The Orange Studio is becoming quite the social hot spot.

Tisse’s Birthday Bash

Posted on by Thor

I had to leave after Tod Caviness did his spoken word performance at Urban ReThink. I went to the Mennello Museum to transfer several sketches on to the mural. The work went quickly so I decided to rush back to Tisse’s birthday party. When I re-entered Urban ReThink, I saw a dancer stretching.

There was home made birthday cake so I grabbed a slice. I grabbed a seat at a table with authors Karen Price and John Connelly to see what was next on the Urban ReThink stage. Chaz Yorick came in after having seen all the downtown gallery openings as part of Third Thursdays.

Tisse first met Elise Frost through various mutual friends in the Orlando dance circle and they finally had their first full conversation at Michael Sloan’s going away party.Elise took to the stage wearing a dogs mask and holding an umbrella. Elise moved and spoke in a childlike manner. She reminded me of Totoro. Her monologue had a child’s sincerity with dark undertones. The lantern implied a character lost in the woods. She spoke of her grandmother dying, yet she didn’t like her grandmother. Was this an infants Kabuki? A sinister bedtime story? I remained mystified and bewildered.

Tisse got on stage and started talking about how she gradually discovered Orlando’s arts scene. She moved from Chicago with her parents to Celebration Florida. She hated Celebration’s theme park facade and the clutter and chintz of 192. She missed the big city. She eventually moved downtown where she began to discover the true Orlando scene. The importance of any city is in the people you surround yourself with. Orlando is a small enough city where individuals can really make a difference. The theater scene is small enough where the performers truly appreciate the audience members. The people that stand out in her life are the people who have a passion for what they do and love to help out.

Suddenly she was talking to me, calling me the “Where’s Waldo” of the Orlando arts scene. She praised my work and persistence. I stopped my sketch to listen. It felt like all eyes were turned towards me. My right eye welled up, I’m not used to so much direct praise and adulation. I don’t know how to process it. Chaz was busily taking notes. Later as Tisse praised Jessica Earley she became overwhelmed and choked up, feeling thankful for the people in her life. Chaz took that emotional pause to start singing happy birthday to Tisse. Everyone joined in as she wiped away her tears. When the song was finished and the clapping died down, Tisse said, “Thanks I needed that moment to recover.” The room was filled with love.

Demographics

Posted on by Thor

Tisse Mallon knows how to celebrate her 30th birthday. She had an amazing all night party at Urban ReThink where she brought together friends from all aspects of Orlando’s arts and culture scene. She invited myself and six other artists to decorate a used U.S. Census Bureau bag. Tisse worked going door to door during the last census. Each field worker was given one of these Census Bags. When the census was over the bags were thrown out. These re-purposed bags are all now works of art. I was one of the first artists to arrive to drop off the bag. I re-purposed the mural I am working on by painting the people standing in line on the bag. Jessica Earley totally ripped apart her bag and created a charming door knob hanger of an owl. It was absolutely charming.

Inside each bag there were orange inter office envelopes. Genevieve Bernard used those envelopes to create cut out Census Monsters and Jessica used them to create a charming pine tree. She also used the envelopes to create the owl’s beak, feet and eyes. It was fun to see, “Name” and “Department” scrawled across the owl’s eyes. Scooter Cleveland sat on a table beside a bag that said, “Why Count?” in bold red letters. The bag was filled with food for the homeless. Scooter had been homeless on the streets of downtown Orlando for 18 months. He was in a car accident and a doctor told him he had to stay off his feet for four months. He was fired from his job. He stayed with family and friends but ultimately ended up on the streets. Now that he is off the streets, he is trying to establish a food share program for those who were left behind. A glass jar sat on the table beside him for donations.

Throughout the evening Tisse acknowledged and praised the artistic people that have touched her life. She pointed to Todd Caviness who helps kept spoken word alive in Orlando. He is a writer who is always willing to lend a hand to keep the arts scene vibrant in Orlando. No one expresses what it is like to be a Floridian better than him. Karen Price also read several of her short stories. One, about a mermaid with two tails was a charming morality tale (pun intended). The other was about a high school bully who later in life was served up a bitter justice of hard knocks in her violent deprived life. She didn’t recognize the female lawyer on her case as the victim of her childhood bullying. Such is fate.

Town Hall Meeting

Posted on by Thor

Urban ReThink hosted a town hall meeting. I assumed based on the invite that the meeting would be about discussing ways to make Orlando more culturally vibrant. There was a good turn out. People do want to see a positive change. Patrick Green introduced new comers to the venue. Tisse Mellon ran the meeting. She wanted everyone to brainstorm on ways to help make events at Urban ReThink more successful. People were split up into groups where they would brainstorm ways to make Urban ReThink an important cultural hub.

There was a marketing group, promotions, archiving and pre-show entertainment. I have been sketching many events at Urban ReThink lately. I go right after work lets off at 5pm so I end up going somewhere else to grab dinner and to sketch. ReThink has a small cafe, but the place is frighteningly empty before an event begins. Since I was still working on my sketch when everyone broke up into groups, I found myself seated closest to the archiving committee. I listened in. They need a central place to store all the photos, videos and audio recorded at events. I chimed in and said I would administer an Urban ReThink blog if needed. There was discussion of creating a book for sale but I doubt ReThink has a budget to create self published books that would have a limited number of readers.

Urban ReThink has had some amazing programs that were poorly attended and mediocre programs that pulled in a huge crowd. It seems the word isn’t always getting out. Some of the points covered at this meeting should help the word spread that Urban ReThink is bringing a vibrant alternative cultural experience downtown.

The Attendant

Posted on by Thor

As one of his 11 performances at this year’s Fringe Festival, performance artist Brian Feldman, decided to pose as a bathroom attendant. He set up shop in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s men’s and women’s room. When I arrived at the men’s room, Tisse Mallon was acting as an attendant in Brian’s place since he was running late. He ran in with a rental tux slung over his shoulder and went to change in the handicap stall. Tisse helped him with his bow tie and cumber-bun. There was a large tip bowl and plenty of manly items for sale. Some items like Q- tips were complimentary. If you wanted baked beans, a pickle, condom or the latest copy of Jet magazine, there was a price list.

I had only sketched in a public bathroom once before. That time, the bathroom wasn’t in use. This time men came and went frequently. Several men must have eaten something nasty from the vendors outside because there were some wet noisy gastric explosions. I suggested that perhaps there should be a quaint fountain sound track in case anyone was unable to concentrate on the task at hand. Some men turned away thinking there must be a line since some people stood around and gawked. I suppose having an artist sketch you while you pee could be distracting. Mark Baratelli came in and snapped pictures. Then he tried to coach Brian on how an attendant should interact with patrons. His examples were hysterical. When someone reached for soap he would thrust his arm in the way and say, “let me get that for you.”

There were DVD’s for sale as well like Mannequins 2, and films starring Silvester Stallone. I was surprised when one of the five hour energy drinks was sold. I erased it from my sketch. The oddest item was a crusty sea captain sculpture. Ear plugs seemed appropriate should a show be too loud and Advil would help the resulting headache. Tisse offered a tour of the women’s room and I stopped my sketch to follow her. In the women’s room there was a pregnancy test kit, stockings and an even wider assortment of goodies. It was an odd feeling being in there as women squeezed by to get to the stalls. As I was leaving a women was coming in. Her eyes widened when she saw me and she asked, “Am I in the right place.” I said, “Yep, you’re at the Fringe.”

I rushed off to a show I had been invited to attend by the writers. It was pouring outside. Terry entered the lobby drenched. Through a series of volunteer mistakes and blunders, we were then turned away from the theater, our tickets given away to others in a completely sold out house. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Terry was furious at me for spending so much time in the men’s room and not getting into the show I promised her we would see. I think I’m Fringe fried.

Brian Feldman Reads the Fringe Program in its Entirety

Posted on by Thor

Brian Feldman read the Fringe program in its entirety. A small makeshift stage was set up outside the Shakespeare Theater and his signature marquee sign sat at the foot of the stage. Two LED theatrical spot lights were on the ground but their purple light was hardly needed in the bright Florida sunshine. There were two rows of folding chairs set up in front of the stage and Beth Marshall was in the skeletal audience. There were several video cameras set up recording every minute of the reading. Tommy Wingo operated one camera and Tisse Mallon operated the other.

Beth was enjoying the performance. Periodically she would shout out, “I wrote that!” A few curious people stopped to try and figure out what was going on but they seldom sat and lingered. Brian read, “No alcoholic beverages are allowed outside the lawn of fabulousness. Beth laughed loudly and took a sip from her cup. A giant penguin sat in the front row holding a program in its flippers so it could follow along. After perhaps ten minutes the penguin got up to leave. But then it realized there were video cameras running and it did a silly dance in front of the stage. Brian laughed as he tried to continue to read. What does it all mean?