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.

Printmaking Workshop

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The Mennello Museum of American Art (900 East Princeton Street) is exhibiting IMPRINTS: 20 Years of Flying Horse Editions through August 12th. Here in Orlando for the past 20 years, the University of Central Florida has nurtured Flying Horse Editions, a collaborative research studio committed to creating significant works of art by leading and emerging artists who fuse traditional and innovative printmaking processes. Artists come to Flying Horse Editions to work in the graphic media of intaglio, woodcut, lithography, letterpress and silkscreen.The results are highly collectible, limited-edition, handcrafted fine art prints and books. There are only a dozen or so fine art presses in the country, and Flying Horse Editions is one of the most distinguished on the East Coast.

Artists from Flying Horse Press have been offering workshops at the Mennello museum. This session was about making monotypes, which is the specialty of UCF “Artists in Action” Michelle Garay and Anna Cruz. Michelle showed us Nathan Redwood’s Like Air, as an example, the print used a lino-cut for the tree trunk, collograph for the ground and a mono-print for the sky. We learned
how to manipulate printer’s ink so that it looks like brushstrokes along with other tricks of the trade that make unique, one-of-a-kind prints.We were introduced to Reductive Mono-printing. Nathan’s a print on display in the Museum.

Students were given two sheets of paper. They cut out simple shapes on one sheet. For instance the woman seated in front of me cut out a leaf shape. The negative shape, or the paper outside the leaf shape, was placed on a sheet of Plexiglas and a brayer was used to roll the ink onto the Plexiglas. When the paper was removed, only the leaf shape was inked. Q tips were used to smear and remove some ink to add texture. The positive leaf shape was then placed over the inked leaf shape and a new color ink was rolled down. When the paper was removed the printing plate was ready. A clean sheet of paper was lightly spritzed with water and placed on top of the printing plate. The plate was rolled under pressure. Then came the reveal, as the paper was pealed off. Mono means there was only one print made. One student went so far as to print a rendition of the human brain. There is an undeniable childish delight when the print is finally seen.

Printmaking is not just for kids! The museum has set up its own print studio. Enjoy coffee and pastries in the morning while you create your own art prints, . No previous experience is necessary. Cost is just $12 per person. Each class will have a different focus.

You have one more opportunity to create art and treat yourself to something new!

Get up bright and early July 17, 9-10:30am, with coffee and pastry.

Printmaking Workshops for Adults

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Work with “Artist in Action” Cara Pentecost, UCF Print Collective, in the Mennello Museum’s Printmaking Studio. A group of industrious UCF students helped Cara with the workshop. Inspiration for the workshop came from the large-scale work by artist Tanja Softic. In A Morning of the World, 2006, Softic pairs images from the natural environment with an image from the man-made environment to provide a study in contrasts. Using “tools” from nature, such as plants, we’ll emulate Softic’s soft, blurry flowers and branches to create personal prints of our own. Later, you might wish to add a photograph of a man-made object to complete your artwork. Enjoy wine and cheese as we enter the world of printmaking. Printmaking is not just for kids!

The exhibition of “IMPRINTS: 20 Years of Flying Horse Editions” was in the entry hall with three dimensional prints housed in glass cubes. Large prints were to the right of the reception desk and then the back gallery was converted into a working print studio. Students started by doing loose watercolors on paper. These watercolors were then used as a background for a collograph print. The collograph print plate was a sheet of corrugated cardboard. Creating the plate was an additive process. Faux plant materials were hot glued to the surface creating an organic floral pattern. Anna demonstrated the inking process. She used a rubber roller to spread the ink out on a plexiglass sheet. The ink took on a velvety look as the roller thinned it down. The ink was then spread onto the plate touching all the high points. When the prints were done, then were hung on two strings with clothes pins.

Wine and cheese was on the reception desk for print-makers and patrons. No previous experience is necessary. I actually think I might go back to experiment with the process myself. Cost is $12 per person. Each class will have a different focus, so join us for all of them if you like!

Other dates and times are as follows:

April 17th, 9pm – 10:30am with coffee and pasty

May 1, 6pm – 7:30pm with wine and cheese

May 15, 9pm – 10:30am with coffee and pastry

June 5, 6pm – 7:30pm with wine and cheese

July 17, 9pm – 10:30am with coffee and pastry

What a great opportunity to create art and treat yourself!

Call the museum to RSVP: 407.246. 4278

Flying Horse Editions

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I had been told to sketch Flying Horse Editions by several readers. When I contacted them, Theo Lotz quickly said, “Yes, come on down!” Flying Horse Editions is located in the UCF Center of Emerging Media building right across from the Bob Carr and the old Amway Arena. For some reason there was an old steam locomotive in the parking lot of the Arena. I was happy I didn’t have to pay to park. Simple pleasures. The hallway leading to Flying Horse Editions had computer workstations for student. Right in the entry there was an old wooden press that could have been used for the Gutenberg bible. I immediately wanted to sketch, but no one was using the press so I went inside.

Theo, dressed all in black, introduced himself and showed me around. The room was immense and immaculate, filled with dozens of presses both old and new. They do limited edition fine art prints here of the highest caliber. They had just finished 2 run of 15 prints by artist Carmon Colangelo. The boxed set was bought by the Saint Lewis Museum of Art. Student Ashley Taylor was working the press right in front of me. She was experimenting on a way to reproduce some spiral patterns by artist Tom Nozkowski using relief printing techniques. Elizabeth Moorefield was in constant motion, talking on the phone and working on her laptop. Larry Cooper was building boxes that would hold prints.

Theo asked me if I wanted a scoop for my story. “Of course I do!” I said. “Well, Ashley just found out she is getting a full scholarship at the University of Florida. We are all so proud of her!” he said. Ashley smiled shyly. I was fascinated by the large trays of old letterpress leads. The typeface was an old western font. I wondered what they had been used for. Theo suggested I come back when there was an artist in residence. Things get crazy when an artist is given free reign and people stop sleeping. This place was a treasure trove of sketch opportunities and I look forward to returning. I congratulated Ashley as I left.

Gratefully Dead Again

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I got a tip from Mark Johnson via Facebook that Further was going to have a concert at the UCF Arena. This band has many of the former Grateful Dead band members. He suggested I get to the Arena early to sketch as the bad ass aging Dead Heads gathered. Walking through the UCF campus I began to see pockets of brightly colored hippies. I walked all the way around the Arena looking for just the right cluster of individuals to sketch. A parking garage right behind the Arena had Grateful Dead music coming from an upper floor. I saw an open SUV tailgate and two grey bearded men in tie dye. I was tempted to go up but there was little light in the garage. I had to look further.

I finally decided to sit outside Tail Gaters Smokehouse. A fellow with a grey beard looked like he had just arrived on his Harley Davidson. He chewed on a tooth pic and sipped his beer. A couple exited the bar. He wore a hat with flames dancing around the rim and an amazing technicolor coat with a rainbow of dancing skeletons. She wore a vibrant rainbow colored dress and a wreath of flowers on her head. I tried to fit her in the sketch twice but she was constantly on the move posing for photos. One fellow with a Grateful Dead messenger bag kept his hand raised with one finger extended. He was probably looking to buy or sell one ticket. Tickets went for $65 to over $100. I wasn’t tempted to buy. Two college girls who looked like flower children danced to the music flowing from the bar. The lyrics caught my attention, “Every picture tells a story don’t it!” A backpacker wandered into the bar looking like he had just hitchhiked to the concert.

I actually went to a Grateful Dead concert when I was in high school. I didn’t have a drivers license yet so I got a ride from a co-worker named George from Zip-Mailing. I was earning money at this part time job to go to college. George had worked there for years. There were some strange scents at the concert, and I remember an amazing never ending drum solo that had everyone dancing in the aisles. I remember dancing with my eyes closed just letting the tribal beat move me. George got wasted, drinking far too many beers. The drive home was terrifying. He stopped once to puke out his driver’s side door. He wouldn’t give up the wheel saying he was fine. I eventually did get home, grateful to be alive.

Holi Festival at UCF

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Last year I sketched Holi Fest at the Citrus Bowl and had a blast. I got a tip that there was a Holi Fest celebration at UCF this year so I had to go. Holi is an Indian springtime celebration that celebrates the triumph of good over bad. Brightly colored ‘gulal‘ and ‘abeer‘ is rubbed on each others’ faces. It was a beautiful spring day and I relaxed as I walked past a large fountain in front of the school’s library. Students were sunning themselves and reading on the grass. I regretted never having attended such a gorgeous campus. The Holi celebration was being held behind the arboretum, I presumed that was because there would be a large open field for the crowds. When I got there, I found three or four families gathered around a garden hose. I almost walked by thinking the larger Festival must be just a little further. Everyone was already splashed with bright colors, I was in the right place.

Holi is a playful fun celebration. The boys chased the girls trying to cover them in powder. A girl shrieked as she ran barefoot through some pine cones. I sat under a pine tree and started sketching. The smaller celebration had an advantage in that it was more intimate and direct, I wasn’t distracted by a huge crowd. Several times couples approached me wanting to see what I was working on. They complimented me but I remained outside the celebration since I wasn’t once tagged with pigment. I was wearing paint splattered jeans and a multi stained shirt I wore to a DRIP dance company party, so I was ready for anything.

After all the colorful powders were thrown, a water fight began. Pigmented water was dumped and sprayed playfully. There is an amazing beauty to this colorful celebration. As I finished up my sketch I considered sketching a particularly brightly pigmented couple. She was coated in bright pink, magenta and purple while he was covered in reds, yellows. Then everyone gathered around the hose and it was sprayed fountain like straight up and everyone took a group shower washing away the colors. My job was done. I waved goodbye to several people who had approached me and headed off to find my next sketch.