TrIP Home

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The TrIP home from the “There will be TrIP” reading at The Gallery at Avalon Island was quite the adventure. As I exited the venue, Lisa Bates rode by on the quirky, Pewee Hermanesque cougar spotted bicycle she calls “The Beast“. I envied such simple and efficient mobility. Her bike was once stolen but then police quickly found it thanks to it’s undeniable uniqueness. Google maps on my iPhone directed me back towards Division and Central. I started to get nervous as I crossed under I-4 into the heart of Parrimore. The bus stop was a simple pole stuck into the pavement on a street corner across from a mission. A red neon cross announced, “God is Love, Christ is Savior”. There was no seat at the stop but luckily, I always carry an art stool. I sat down and leaned against the bus stop sign pole and it gave way. It wasn’t cemented it place but was just stuck loosely in the hole. Once it stopped moving I leaned back again.

I heard a couple arguing a block away and their loud voices got closer. “I got Aids from You! You gave it to me from F*cking a F@ggot!” Another woman staggered up to me holding a Styrofoam plate of food. “How are You!” she shouted. “I’m fine” I replied sheepishly. “WHAT!” She shouted. I shouted back “FINE!” “Oh”. She stumbled to the corner and the plate of food fell from her hand splatting onto the street. She ignored it and weaved the other way across the intersection. Two guys walked towards me deep in an animated conversation. “You need to be careful when you have a box of cocaine. The cops know it the second they get there and pull behind you.” The conversation trailed off as they walked away. “I am going to die.” I thought. I leaned back and tried to blend into the surroundings. When on earth is this bus going to come? Maybe I should hike to the Lynx main bus terminal. It might be safer there. Yet, at least 5 police cruisers drove by while I waited.  I wondered if the police thought I might be a dealer.

The bus did finally arrive. I sat midway back. In front of me, a guy sat exhausted leaning forward against the seat backs in front of him. A woman in a red down jacked sat fingering her phone intently the entire drive back home with the bright screen inches from her face. Two teenagers with loaded back backs piled in. The bus driver would give each passenger that stepped on board a trivia question. “What band sang “Hotel California?” The passenger was stumped. I had just been to an Eagles concert a few weeks prior so I knew the answer. I kept the answer to myself. The driver talked to the two back packers about hunting gator in the Florida swamps. I assume he was pulling their tails. The back packers that is, not the gators. This driver most certainly deserves a raise. He kept passengers on their toes. When I got off, I called Terry who was at home. The hike home from the bus stop is about 4 miles and it was a freezing cold evening. Screw the authenticity of a full round TrIP by bus. Terry offered a ride and I was taking it.

I started walking west towards home and Terry said she would find me along the way. I was wearing my full foul weather gear which was dark blue and black. The second I pulled my hoodie over my head, I warmed up. I saw headlights driving towards me but I used my baseball cap to cut the glare. Terry’s car drove past me a bit and stopped. As I walked up from behind to the passenger door, she suddenly drove away. Was she toying with me?  I knew she would have to turn around, so I crossed the street and continued hiking home. On the second pass, she once again stopped and as I walked up, she accelerated away. Several texts confirmed that she couldn’t see well at night. I suspect I might have looked a bit scary as I approached her car. On the third pass I flashed my cell phone light at her to communicate that I was a “friendly”. We drove the second half of the TrIP home with ease. Terry made it quite clear that she felt this TrIP was a bit insane. But I stepped outside my comfort zone and it was indeed an adventure.

Airport Delay

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Airport delays are always an opportunity to sketch. It seems that most people consider it an opportunity to stare at iPhones or iPads. I assume they are reading a good book. The semi-mirrored windows reflected the interior scene  when the tarmac was dark. One at a time, these Korean tourists scouted out something to eat. They returned with hot dogs and other meat-like products. Four people were waiting on stand by to get on the very crowded flight. One young girl was very anxious since she needed to get to a wedding.

When the plane finally started boarding, it was from the back rows to the front. I was in row six, so I was one of the last passengers on the plane. Flying over the Dominican Republic, I saw large organized grids of palm forests.  The island was lush and green. The plane was approaching the airport on the southern shore of the island so I got a closer view of the changing landscape. The air was hazy from human influence. Many cinder block buildings had rusty metal roofs, many of which were blown off probably from a hurricane. When the plane landed at the Santo Domingo Airport, everyone on board cheered. let the Urban Sketching Symposium begin!

Daytona International Speedway

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Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com gave me a call and asked if I would like to go to the Daytona International Speedway to sketch a race. I of course said, “YES!” We met at IKEA and I drove the rest of the was to the speedway. Mark had been invited by Red Bull to experience the start of the race from the Pit Road Patios. This involved VIP access to the infield of the race track. We were both stoked but at 8:30 AM our excitement was restrained. At least Mark had a full cup of coffee for his morning jolt. We Knew we were getting close when we started seeing RV Parks. Then the bandstands loomed on the horizon and traffic settled to a crawl. The lot we had been instructed to park in was reserved for handicapped parking. After several calls to our contact, we were told to park across the street at a mall. Parking there was $50 but we were told we would be reimbursed. We walked to tunnel four which would lead to the infield. A Red Bull “Wing Girl” drove up in a jolt cart and drove us the rest of the way to the Red Bull Patio.

There were beautiful women everywhere. On the track, I swore I heard a 747 jet airplane firing up its engine. The patio grandstands were right behind the pit stops. I picked up a Red Bull and slopped some breakfast food on a plate and then started sketching as the pit crews set up. We had several hours before the race world start. We were offered a walking tour of the pits and the garage area where all the cars went through multiple inspections. Groups of five men would push the race cars from spot to spot. There were so many amazing sketch opportunities. I hope I get to return someday when I can fully commit myself to the event. As it was, I only had time for one sketch before I had to go back to Orlando to go to my night job at Full Sail.

Right before race time lunch was putout. It was an impressive spread. A D.J. was mixing music. This was a young crowd most of college aged kids. We were told this was part of a champagne to introduce NASCAR to a younger demographic. I was sad when we had to go, the party was just firing up.The sound of the race cars rushing by was deafening. As a “Red Wing Girl” drove us back out with the golf cart, we saw row after row of fans who were waiting for the race to start as they stood on the roofs of their RVs.The entire infield was an RV city.

Wheels 4 Kids Distribution

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The bicycle distribution took place in front of Howard Middle School which is on Robinson just East of North Summerlin Avenue. Coming from another appointment, I arrived late. I wasn’t in the best of moods. I was honestly annoyed and impatient. I didn’t waste a moment. I just leaned against a tree with the full sun warming me as I worked. The wind kept blowing the sketchbook closed till I finally clipped one of my pens on the flapping page to keep it in place. I couldn’t see the Mounted Police horses though I knew they must be around. Children’s names were being called over a megaphone and I heard Santa chuckling in good will. A policeman kept signaling passing cars to slow down. He had to shout at times in annoyance at SUV drivers who were in a mad rush.

Patricia Charpentier walked up to me and said, “I knew I would find you on the periphery here.” I showed her my sketch which only had a light blue sky washed in. She picked up several prints I had done for the LifeSketch project. This particular LifeSketch was going to be about how her parents met. Two young boys were yelling with joy behind me as they tested their new bikes on the school’s running track. Patricia pointed out a little girl who was riding her tiny pink bike with training wheels and a mini child seat for a doll. She was adorable as she tried to keep up with her mothers long strides. My foul mood melted. How could I remain angry when faced with so much goodwill? Firemen posed for a group photo in front of the “Wheels 4 Kids” banner. They shouted out “Merry Christmas!” and the photographer pressed the shutter button. The Mounted Police Horses clomped in front of me. Kelly one of the volunteers riding tapped her butt and asked me if I had sketched her. I was being jokingly reminded that I had let those proportions get a bit wide in a previous sketch. Last year 94 bikes were given away and this year around 64 bikes were distributed. Perhaps people can give less but they still give. I was still sketching as the truck pulled away and people scattered.

CEO Stagecoach

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There was so much more going on in Miami besides the art on display in the Convention Center for Art Basel. I spent an entire day trying to track down and sketch the CEO Stagecoach. In the morning Terry and I went to the Rosa Dela Cruz Gallery (23 NE 41 Street ) along with Elayne Pines, Bob Newlen and Derek Hewitt. I quickly ran through the 3 floors of modern art and decided I had to draw this furry Sasquatch with mirrored staircases spiraling in and around it. A female guard stood vigil in her white suite beside the sculpture the whole time. The wall behind was covered floor to ceiling with colored mirrors which appealed to many a vain patron or photographer. Periodically a patron would walk up to the furry monstrosity and snap a photo using their iPhone. To me the sculpted creature looked very annoyed at all the attention he was getting. Black ooze dripped from his fingertips and where the fur was stripped away the flesh was pink and raw. I wondered if his privates were the focus of these photos but I couldn’t see from where I was sketching half way up a staircase. Just as I was finishing the sketch, I got a text message from Terry letting me know she was relaxing having a free coffee and cookies out on the back patio. After I tried a few cookies myself, we went to a staff member of the gallery and asked about the Stagecoach. He didn’t know where to find it but he did an exhaustive internet search. It turned out that the artist was giving a talk about his creation at the LIONS Gallery at Museovault(346 NW 29th Street) and the coach was slated to be there till 4pm. Terry and I got back in her car and rushed over to that gallery.

As we pulled up to the Museovault, Terry pointed and shouted out “There it is!” The horse drawn art was on the move however. I was despondent. It was leaving. Terry suggested I get out and run after it, but I haven’t figured out yet how to sketch while running. We went inside to ask about the piece anyway. The space had a fun quirky collection of art. There was a radio that once belonged to Robert Maplethorpe that Kieth Haring had drawn a few of his white stick figures on. I was informed that the CEO Stagecoach was going to pick up the artists parents and it would be returning. I sent out an excited tweet just in case any other artists had made it their mission to sketch the coach. I paced the gallery nervously waiting for my moment to sketch. Terry had one of the curators looking online for handbags and concertinas. I felt at home in this gallery which was humble compared to the circus of excess at the convention center.

The CEO Stagecoach was created by artist Jeremy Dean. He got the idea of cutting a Hummer in half and rebuilding it as a stagecoach after he read about how people bought cars before the Great Depression of 1929 and then they could not afford to pay for gas. All over the south Americans converted cars into horse drawn carts. These cars were referred to as “Hoover Carts“, after President Edgar Hoover. The Hummer has become a symbol of American excess in the 21st century. Jeremy ended up spending his wife’s life savings to buy a brand new Hummer to deconstruct. Luckily the piece was immediately purchased by a museum in Kentucky. After all the modifications the vehicle weighed in at 18 hundred pounds which isn’t much more than a standard cart. The gorgeous Belgian Draft horses didn’t seem to mind. As Jeremy said, “This is an exploration of historical amnesia, the culture of excess, financial collapse, sustainability and the future, through leather, steel and chrome.” Jeremy is planning to convert a Cadillac Escalade next. I asked Jeremy to sign my sketch. After his talk a bicycle rolled by on the sidewalk riding on its rims with no rubber tires. There was something surreal about the moment as both vehicles made statements about want and economics.

Punta Gorda Railroad Station

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After our Thanksgiving dinner, Pat drove us to Punta Gorda to see the sights. Our first stop was this Historic Punta Gorda Railroad station. The rear of the station is devoted to an antiques shop and the waiting areas up front house a Railroad museum. Terry and Pat shopped while I sketched. What caught my eye imediately were the separated “Whites” and “Colored” entrances to the station. An antiques dealer was telling Terry that in the 1970’s his school was one of the first in the area to allow full integration. When the building was restored, these signs were kept in place to remind museum goers of this regions recent history of segregation.

The building was first erected in 1928. The main purpose of the railway was to ship fish to Northern markets. It also functioned as a passenger train. This is the only station remaining built by the Atlantic Coast line that features the Spanish Mission style which would make more sense in California. In 1971 the depot was closed. In 1998 volunteers began to restore the building. In August of 2004 the building was badly damaged by hurricane Charlie, but it was once again restored. The depot is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

When my sketch was done, I went back to the antique shop to find Terry and Pat. Terry had been on a shopping spree. She had bought some antique plates, an Emerald colored ring for Pat and oddly a German Concertina or accordion. Now I can honestly say, momma’s got a squeeze box.

Going Green the Wong Way

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Getting to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami was an adventure in battling congested urban traffic. Terry and I followed Elaine Pines who was a native Miami dweller. We hoped to get to downtown Miami from Miami Beach in 45 minutes. There were five accidents as we drove down I-95. Traffic slowed to a crawl. We considered scrubbing the whole theater experience since we were running late. Orlando performance artist Brian Feldman was performing in the theater lobby for an hour before Kristina’s Wong’s show. Brian and Kristina had met last summer at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach. Terry dropped me off at the theater steps and I jogged inside. I picked up our tickets and then asked the box office assistant where Brian was performing. He looked at me with a blank stare and said, “Brian Feldman? I’m sorry, I don’t recognize the name.” I thanked him anyway and searched the lobby. After I searched in the men’s room (you never know where Brian might perform!), I found him right near the Carnival Studio Theater entrance. Beside him was a 5 gallon gasoline container. Brian lifted the container and took a long drink. Behind him, a large mosaic mural by Cundo Bermudez called “Ways of Performing” decorated the wall. He rested for a bit, coughing between long draughts. The arriving audience patrons that slowly crowded into the lobby never seemed to notice Brian. I, on the other hand, found the image of him sucking down gasoline timely and funny.I knew there wasn’t much time to sketch so I rushed to get lines on the page.

Kristina’s show, Going Green the W0ng Way, directed by Paul Tei, began with an image of Earth projected on a large screen. Hundreds of plastic grocery bags were piled up and toys were lined up along the back of the stage. The show was a no holds barred hilarious experience. She had no problems with self-deprecating humor. Everyone in the audience had a plastic grocery bag on their seat with a water bottle filled with beans that made for a fun alternative to clapping. The first act began with Wong shouting her environmental beliefs into a megaphone to her middle school classmates. She broke into a fast-paced rap that outlined her devotion to Mother Earth.

One of the show’s funniest moments came as she demonstrated the wonders of a reusable tampon called The DivaCup. Her attempts to demonstrate this environmentally friendly product were embarrassingly funny. The story she later told about trying to reduce her carbon footprint by driving a car that ran on vegetable oil was endlessly funny. The car became a money pit, with endless trips to mechanics. She related the inner workings of the LA bus and subway system with so much detail, it became a spoof on how insane the inner workings were. I found it ironic that Terry and I had to battle so much traffic congestion in order to get to the show.

The environmentally friendly messages were driven home with humor. Life’s bittersweet ironies were mined and exposed. The show never missed a beat. I laughed the whole time as I discovered more about Wong and the World she wanted to save. There are two more performances: Saturday, November 20th at 7pm and the same day at 10pm in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Carnival Studio Theater (1300 N. Biscayne Blvd. Miami). Cost is $30-35.

Public Hearing High Speed Rail

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I decided to go to a public hearing to learn a little bit about the proposed high speed rail system. Florida has been a candidate for the system since the 1980s. The fast population growth, flat terrain, large number of tourists and distance between cities make Florida an ideal candidate for high speed rail. On January 10, President Obama announced a $1.25 billion award to Florida as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. These funds will start construction of the Tampa-Orlando high speed rail corridor. In May of 2010 Florida received $66.7 million in ARRA funds to take the project 30% of the way in terms of design, ridership projections and to prepare bid documents in early 2011.

The 84 mile line will run from the Orlando International Airport to down town Tampa with a stop at Disney of course. The room was lined with maps on easels that showed the proposed route. The project will be built in the median of I-4. Bridges and overpasses were built higher for years to accommodate the train. The train will reach speeds of 168 m.p.h. The system will have 5 stops, Orlando Airport, The Orange County Convention Center, Disney World, Lake or Polk County and Downtown Tampa. Each station will have connections to bus routes. The system should be operational in 2015 , so expect four years of construction on I-4. I am sure this will not cause any traffic problems or rubbernecking. Tourists should be thrilled, but the average Orlando resident will have little reason to use the system.

After the presentation, the floor was opened for questions or concerns. One woman just expressed her concern that the system have good connections to bus routes. A man stood and started talking about his dreams of a system that transported cars as well as passengers. He was told that to get the line operational, they had to use proven existing technology. The public hearing was over so fast that I didn’t finish my sketch. I walked to Panera Bread to finish it up while having dinner.

Copper Rocket

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The Copper Rocket Pub (106 Lake Avenue) held a fundraiser for the Mustard Seed Foundation. The Mustard Seed provides furniture and clothing to families is need in the Central Florida area. When I got to the Copper Rocket, I found the parking lot full of tents for food and merchandise. Finding a parking spot was a real challenge but I finally found a sweet spot on a grass lawn. I met Terry and the first order of business was getting some food. We sat down of a curb to eat. Behind us two women were dresses a hula girls with leis and grass skirts. I was torn between wanting to sketch and finishing my meal. My stomach won. There must have been costume contests inside because other woman were dressed as 1940’s bombshells. How is it that those fashions ever went out of style?
When we finished dinner, Terry gave me the freedom to find a spot to draw. Rather than focus on the constantly milling crowd, I decided to sketch this van covered in graffiti by Black Chapel Tattoo parlor. The sun was setting so I worked fast. A bunch of motorcycles were also parked in this area and occasionally men would come over and examine the sleek lines of these slick machines. A very drunk woman approached me from behind and demanded to know what I was doing. Slurring her words, she said, “Hey thass not bad.” She then tromped off to the bar talking to a friend on her cell phone. She approached me three more times as I worked.
AS I was finishing up the sketch, Terry came over and sat on the running board of a hot red 1940’s pickup truck. Dina Peterson came over and joined her. They had a long discussion about buying food locally and the finer points of being a vegetarian. Vendors started striking their tents. A bombshell and her man started loading stuff into the Black Chapel van. When I finished, Terry decided she was tired so we headed home. From Dina I found out there had been costume contests in the pub. Oh well, I will have to catch that action next year.

Amanda in the Sky with Guy Mans

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The Met Life Snoopy One blimp came to Orlando to fly over the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Amanda Chadwick approached the folks who pilot the Met Life Blimp to see if she could go along for a ride, and believe it or not they said yes! She was told to invite two friends. She invited me to sketch the event and Brian Feldman to stream the flight live on TheDailyCity.com. The day prior to our flight, I saw the blimp while I was driving to work at Full Sail, so I decided to sketch it after work. The blimp was held in place by a strong red and white mooring mast and it would change positions like a weather vane every time the wind changed direction.
I was nervous and excited as the day approached. For Amanda, this was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Brian considered flying a remote control blimp inside the gondola, but that plan had been vetoed. The three of us decided to carpool to Orlando Executive Airport where the blimp was moored. She drove to the airport bundled with energy; playing a rap song on the radio which Brian then started making up blimp related lyrics to. She called her mom and explained where her will was, should that be needed, as Brian rolled his eyes. Since I had been to the launch site the day before, I navigated to the road which leads to the air traffic control tower. There were no security fences to worry about, we just drove right up to the blimp launch site. We were shocked, however, because upon arrival there was no blimp! We scanned the horizon in all directions, but it was nowhere in sight. Amanda drove right up to the trailers parked on the launch site and we piled out thinking our dreams of flying had been deflated. She asked a man who was resting in a trailer what the story was, and he explained that the pilot had taken the blimp for a spin and would be back in fifteen minutes. We let out a collective sigh.
While we waited, we wandered out to the mooring mast and checked out the portable air blowers which they must use to help keep the blimp inflated. There was also an assortment of Helium tanks strewn about near the airport fence. Then I saw it, a small bulbous shape on the horizon. I pointed and shouted, “Thar she blows!” The wind was fairly strong so the blimp’s nose kept diving down and then pulling back up as it fought it’s way up wind. A crew of about 8 men and women gathered on the field and grabbed the ropes hanging off the blimp when it landed on the grass with its nose in the wind. Small wheels were under the gondola and on the bottom tail fin. The handlers grabbed ropes which hung from the front of the blimp, and then they dragged the blimp over to its mooring mast keeping the nose facing into the wind the whole time. Within moments, Geoff, our pilot, got in and we loaded in. Amanda took the co-pilot seat, and Brian and I loaded in the back along with his marquee sign.
The moment the engines fired up and we began to move was exhilarating. The nose of the blimp pointed up and we were in the air. Each of us were given headphones with mics so we could talk to one another. My mic, however, didn’t work. The pilot suggested I wiggle the jacks where it plugged into the gondola. Great, things were already going wrong. What had I gotten myself into!? The blimp flies much faster than I thought it would. The pilot said we were going 45 miles an hour, and soon we were flying over the buildings of downtown. It seemed like every time we went over a lake, the nose of the blimp would point sharply down and we would start a nose dive. I had to put my foot on the back of Amanda’s chair and brace myself by grabbing the window latch. Brian pointed out that I was grabbing the emergency escape latch, so I grabbed the window frame instead! The pilot would pull back and make the correction and then the metal marquee sign would fall back and hit Brian and I in the knees. I was so worried I might not finish my sketch, that I lost track of our many close calls. I wiggled my headset jacks again and finally got a crackling signal. I could hear everybody in the cabin now but they didn’t seem to hear me. Isn’t that always the case? Brian said he saw a man running in a parking lot with a Batman cape on. He deduced it might be a crime taking place. We finally reached the golf tournament and could see all the cars parked on grass fields. It was a quiet green automotive oasis. We were a little too high up to see Tiger Woods, but I’m sure I found the street I live on.
When we finally made it back on solid ground, I was feeling a little queasy from all the movements of the blimp. Amanda and Brian both admitted that they got a bit motion sick as well. Amanda rested on the hood of her car talking to friends on her cell and Brian talked to the ground crew and drank plenty of water. We watched for an hour as the crew loaded a large TV camera in the blimp for shooting aerial footage of the golf tournament. As I sketched, members of the field crew came over to see what I was working on. We asked a crew member if he could take a photo of us to commemorate the day. As Amanda drove us back from the airport, she leaned back from the steering wheel and shouted, “I want more adventures!” Since she is looking, she is bound to find them.