Terry and I drove up to Greensboro North Carolina to attend a wedding on her side of the family. Between rehearsal dinners and other family gatherings, Terry and I had one day all to ourselves to explore the historic downtown district. We explored a number of antiques shops before running across this store front. This five foot high Betty Boop had me transfixed. Several months ago I had driven to Honesdale, Pennsylvania for my step mothers funeral. At the head of her open casket Carol had placed a small Betty Boop figurine. My step mom had loved Betty Boop and had a small collection all around her house. On the morning of the funeral I watched animated short after animated short. The movement is strange and fluid limbs often being rubbery and flaccid.
As I was working one of the sales women came out and said I would have to stop back in when I was finished, so they could all see what I came up with. Inside the store is jam packed with fun trinkets and games. I could have stayed the rest of the day exploring all the intricate shapes. The owner loved the sketch and he asked about my schooling which was in NYC at the School of Visual Arts. Like a sketch I did of my step mothers vacant house this sketch is a rare instance where I didn’t sketch a person into the scene.
Orange TV
Emma Kruch of United Arts invited me to go to the Orange TV Studio for an on air interview. The TV studio is located just south of the Orlando Convention Center on a small service road. The white metal building looks like an old airplane hanger. When I entered the secretary told me to follow the “Studio” signs back to the green room. I walked past glass walls behind which were the infinite dials and screens of the editing suites. I yearned to sit down and start a sketch but of course all that detail would take hours to complete. The green room wasn’t green. It had a few couches and in the corner a TV was broadcasting a live feed from the studio where Cory Warren was about to conduct an interview. I sat down and then noticed that Emma was curled up in a chair next to the door. I have seen her at arts event all over town but we had never been introduced. She started talking about a recent move she had made which turned into the move from hell. She said she leaned up against a wall in the new place only to have her hand crunch through the termite infested wood. Well she said there were no bugs left but the wooden wall was like tissue paper. It was fun to joke and laugh to relieve some of the anticipation. She realized she was laughing so loud that they might hear her in the recording studio. She opened the studio door, poked her head in and asked the cameraman if he had hears her. She was in the clear but we kept it down from that point on.
With the first interviews over I was lead into the studio and set up with a mic. I felt surprisingly calm like I did this every day. After I sat down make up was applied to my face. Cory and I talked about possible questions and our relaxed conversation resulted in the questions that were to follow. The program by the way is called “Participate – The Cultural Advantage.” The interview will air July 15th through August 15th at different times during the day. Emma explained that a schedule can be found on the Orange TV website. I am also going to get a DVD of the interview so I will post that video her when I get it. From somewhere in the room a voice shouted out, “We are rolling, we have speed, and in 5, 4, 3, 2, ….. Cory read the prompter and the interview was off and running. The interview with Cory was relaxed and simple. I got to explain how this site came to be and how I offer a unique view of the Orlando arts scene as seen through the eyes of an artist. Cory wanted me to recount the events of September 2009 when I reported on an event at Lake Eola called “Push Play.” At this even a group of activists trying to raise funds for free school supplies thanks to “A Gift for Teaching“. At this event participants had MP3 players and they all listened to a file downloaded off the Internet. The audio told them to dance and other quirky behaviors. The problem was the police showed up and the behaviors like lying down on the benches and holding up piece signs looked like a demonstration. Police shouted to find out who was in charge but no one could hear. The participants all laughed as if mocking the police. Everyone was forced out of the outdoor stadium and Jane Thompson the president of “A Gift for Teaching” was issued a summons banning her from the park for one year.
With so many amazing stories collected over the year and a half, the most difficult question was, “What was your favorite event to sketch?” This sent my mind reeling and I finally just decided to relate the details of the post which had gone live that day which was about a fundraiser called Passport to Haiti. I was surprised at how fun it was to relate the stories that I collect each day. If you keep your eyes open and look where the action is there is so much to be discovered right in your own backyard. When my interview was over I sat down behind the cameras and watched Cory interview John DiDonna and Autumn Ames about the red chair project. I worked feverishly to get a sketch to document the occasion.
Gay Pride – Lake Eola
Gay Pride Day at Lake Eola is a colorful festive event that I enjoy getting out to sketch. All around the lake, tents and rainbow colored balloons spark color everywhere. As I did this sketch a man next to me kept shouting out information about time share deals. He was offering free water to anyone who would sign up for information. As I tried to stay cool in the shade of a large tree a young slender woman holding a single rose walked up to me and asked for an interview. She was working on a research paper and needed interviews. I gave her the usual information about this blog and how it all started. She thanked me and disappeared into the crowd. She never asked me if I was gay. I was of course gay for the day. Across from me Rangers Doggie Care offered pet sitting and dog training services. The Orlando Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had a display which had large black and white photos of men who had been killed due to hate crimes against gays. There must have been 40 or so photos and this was just the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to sketch this scene but it was in the direct sun and it was boiling out. I don’t know how the sisters survived in their black robes.
The Gay Pride Parade started on the Northern edge of Lake Eola near Paneras. I focused on this stage coach and tried to capture some of the cross dressers and men in drag that walked by. There was plenty of excitement and men shouting and hooting as they piled onto the floats and waited for the parade to start. I thought I might come across some demonstrators but I didn’t see one person with a sign. All the signs I saw called for pride and unity.
9 Parts of Desire
Set in Iraq the play follows the lives of 9 women who struggle to keep hope and love alive in an insane war torn country. Directed by John Di Donna, it would be an understatement to say this play is hard hitting. These women grab your heart and then squeeze it inside the tightly clenched fist. I of course was fascinated by the woman who was an artist and who had enough money to flee the country, but because of traditional ties and a bit of fear of the unknown, she remained behind. The fact that she paints nudes is unexpected and quite dangerous considering the countries harsh moral codes especially towards women.
One particularly moving scene involved all the women on their knees crying out in pain using the only American words they know, “I love you.” I do not think there was a dry eye in the house. The play never lets go filled with hope despite the searingly depressing moral codes and love despite oppression against women. So upsetting, I really don’t think I can keep typing.
There are 2 performances left, Sunday June 27th at 2PM and at 8PM. At the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 East Rollins Street).
Neon Forest
Neon Forest Gallery (1741 South Orange Avenue) opened its doors for the first time with a gallery show entitled “Welcome to the Forest.” This show was four months in the making with floors being painted and walls prepared. The gallery partners are Dustin Orlando, Scott Donald, Sean Hartman and Jason Dwarzski. When I arrived, Scott Donald was out back in the parking lot putting finishing touches on the DRES13 piece entitled “Guerrera.” It was decided that it would be nice to match the colors between the pieces DRES13 was hanging in the show . So some washes of green and red were added along with a light dry brush effect of white in select spots.
TU TU Tango was setting up a food tent and there were plenty of drinks on ice. Dustin, one of the partners in the venture walked outside and looked at the looming clouds on the horizon. He said to himself, “Come on God, Work with me. Well at least it’s not windy.” When he went back inside thunder rumbled. He said they were expecting two hundred people to show up to this inaugural opening. Rain could dampen everything. He hoped it would just sweep through quickly and then dry up. A hard wind blew through the lot and lifted up one of the tents sending it into the air like a parachute. Three of us ran and grabbed the legs before it disappeared. Several people worked on strapping the tent down. Then the rain came.
Inside the gallery I discovered the work of Nicholas Gazin, a Brooklyn based artist who does amazing line drawings of people copulating and strange portraits with titles like, I want your Damage, Suicide Bombing Aftermath, and House of Spirits. Disturbing and thought provoking I wanted to see more. I spoke with Scott for a while and checked out his piece in the show called, “Spirit Bear in the Golden Age of Jihad. ” I then spoke to Tanya Dickie for quite sometime and I found out she posts a picture a day on flickr. This common thread of creating something everyday and posting it, I had to follow up on, and in time I convinced her to show me her work using the gallery’s computer. She started one of her series on September 11th because she had been in the World Trade Center a month before the attack. Like many people that day left a scar that has never fully healed. I sat in my camping chair and watched the limitless possibilities found in taking a photo a day. I felt I really got to learn something about each of the artists I met that night. This was one of the more rewarding openings I had attended lately. I felt elated that the arts are very much alive here in Orlando.
It was easy to drive by the gallery without noticing it and being in SODO it might not get the foot traffic of a downtown gallery. Still, the show was exciting and unexpected. I am hoping they have lasting success.
Apopla Community Center
I received an invitation to sketch at the Fran Carlton Community Center of Apopka. Art classes are held in the Community Center so the instructor thought the students might like to see several of my sketchbooks and learn about what it is I am doing everyday as I discover the arts in Orlando. Nancy, the instructor this day had a small still life set up on the counter leading to the kitchen. There was an old cowboy’s boot some bright red flowers and yellow drapery. No one in the room seemed interested in the still life however. Each artist was focused on their own projects. Each artist worked at their own level. One woman was working on a drawing of a football star, while another was working on a seascape with lobster pots and fishing nets.
After seeing my work, the one man in the group started documenting the people around him with his sketches.
When I was asked to talk, I kept it short and simple. I explained how this project began as a New Year’s resolution and how my one a day commitment had grown to the point where I don’t know when to put the pen down.
Ax Handle Saturday.
As part of Juneteenth the Well’s Built Museum hosted a literary review where author Rodney L. Hurst S. spoke about his book, “It was never about a hot dog and a Coke!“. The book recounts Rodaney’s personal account of the 1960 sit in demonstrations in Jacksonville Florida. At age 11 he joined the National Association of Colored People (NAACP).
Woolworth Department store would accept a black persons money at one counter but not allow the same person the right to shop at another counter. The store had two lunch counters one had the sign that read, FOR WHITES ONLY. The other counter located in the far reaches of the store had 15 seats and no windows. This was FOR BLACKS ONLY. The plan was for the students to buy something in the store, which was easy enough to do, and then as a group they would sit down at the white lunch counter. The first sit in was on August 13th 1960. The students employed the philosophy of passive resistance being sure to keep the sit ins non violent. They wore their Sunday best. At the first sit in, the white waitress shouted out, “This is the white lunch counter. The colored lunch counter is in the back of the store.” The students continued to sit. A crowd of white onlookers assembled and started shouting racial slurs. When the lunch hour was over the students left the sit in one at a time but each student encountered some form of physical and verbal abuse from the assembled crowd. These sit ins continued for well over a week.
On August 27th 1960 several members of the NAACP drove past Hemming Park in downtown Jacksonville and noticed several white men dressed in confederate uniforms. More men walked around the park carrying ax handles with confederate flags tapped to them. A van parked on the street had a sign on it that read, “Free ax handles.” The 34 students gathered in the youth center that day were told about the men in the park and they had to decide if they would go on with the sit in that day. They voted unanimously to demonstrate. Rather than go to Woolworth which was right across from the park, the students decided to sit in at Grants Department store which also had a Whites only lunch counter. When the students sat in at Grants the store manager turned out all the store lights.
As the students exited Grants, they saw a mob of whites carrying ax handles running towards them from the park. They swung the ax handles at any black they encountered, many having nothing to do with the sit ins. The students scattered and ran but many were severely beaten that day. There were 34 students who demonstrated that day and 200 Whites with baseball bats and ax handles. The violence escalated that day with rocks thrown at cars and a few shots fired but there were no fatalities. 162 people were reported injured that day.
When most of the students were back at the youth center, the reverend offered an encompassing prayer in which he said, “No one can turn us around.” and “The die is cast.” As everyone joined in singing “We shall overcome,” the tears flowed. The demonstrations were never about being served food at a store counter, they were about human dignity and respect.
“Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
-George Santanyana
Passport to Haiti
Passport to Haiti was a fundraiser organized by REBUILD Globally and held at the Lockhaven Community Center (610 Lake Formosa Drive). Funds raised by the event would go to the relief efforts following the huge earthquake that devastated the country. The mission of REBUILD Globally is to help with community development and education as well as to stimulate the much needed economic and cultural growth in Haiti. Put more simply,”Helping Haitians help themselves.” There were silent auction items including original Haitian art. I sat down next to a table where fresh coconut juice was being offered. I tried a cup and it was sweet and delicious. Behind the staging area there were tents to represent the tent cities of Haiti.
I focused my attention on the table where sandals were being sold. Matthew Von Herbulis stood behind the table explaining the manufacturing process to anyone who was interested. These sandals called Re:Treads are made from old used tires. The company has been manufacturing these shoes for the last 4 months. The sandals are made locally now but they are going to train Hatians of Port au Prince to do the same. The tires used to make the sandals are just collected from dumps and roadsides. This small company has the goal of helping bankroll the Haitian economy by helping Haitians find work that involves craftsmanship and dignity. Although the country is in ruins thanks to centuries of poverty, Haitians are full of energy and drive and when given the opportunity to work towards building their own future they excel. A portion of all sales go towards putting shoes on the feet of orphans.
As I was sketching, Julie Colombino, who had organized the event, got behind the microphone and started describing the conditions she found on the last trip she took to Haiti. She got very choked up and was in tears as she described conditions that are beyond human comprehension. I later found out that Julie will be moving to Haiti for 6 months to help rebuild and restore a neighborhood. Sultana Fatima Ali showed up to the event after I finished my sketch and I found out that she is a part of a core group of activists who have been friends for years.
When my sketch was finished I didn’t linger much longer. As I walked out to my truck Julie ran out after me saying I had forgotten my gift basket. Inside was a Hershey’s kiss, a gift certificate for a beauty spa and a recycled bottle with a note inside. The note offered information about Rebuild Globally. I was touched by the generosity and thoughtfulness of the organizers. The note told the story of Zilice who has to travel a long distance to a city slum everyday to get water from a government water site. The water if not treated with bleach or boiled often causes fevers. Charcoal for a fire is a luxury and bleach is too expensive so she must take her chances. 10 percent of infant deaths in Haiti are attributed to dehydration according to government statistics. Several Haitian families were at the event and they told their stories of survival with the help of an interpreter. Each story was more heart wrenching than the last. When the speeches and stories were all told, a beautiful young blond woman and a 10 year old Haitian girl danced and laughed to the music.
Go to the people,Live among them.Learn from them.Start with what they know.Build on what they have:But of the best of leaders,When their task is accomplished,Their work is done,The people all remarkWe have done it ourselves.-Old Chinese poem
Should you ever want to help,
REBUILD Globally
P.O. Box 3756
Winter Park, Fl 32790
Crealde Sunday Sketch Class
Every Sunday at Crealde there is a sketch class from 10AM to 12:30PM. I write it in my calender every week but usually there is some other arts related event that I end up going to sketch. This week they places one of my Crealde sketches on the invitation so I made an extra effort to show some solidarity and I headed out to the class.
The class starts out with 2 minute gestures then 5e minute gestures. By the end of the class the model is taking 20 minute poses. I started the sketch by blocking in a 5 minute gesture of the model on her stand. Then for the rest of the class I focused on the artists as they concentrated on the task at hand. The model named Jenny looked familiar to me but I couldn’t figure out where I had seen her before. Half way through the class when she was on a break I finally shouted out, “You were Alice!” She admitted that she had modeled for a group called “Sketchy Broads.”
There is another sketching event in town called “Dr. Sketchy’s.” A lot of new people going to Dr. Sketchy’s were really confused about the two sketching events– they had similar names, similar themes, they were both on Wednesdays, etc. Artists started thinking Sketchy Broads and Dr. Sketchy were the same group, or would get dates confused, showing up at Tatame (where Dr. Sketchy’s is usually held) on the wrong night. Because of this confusion, Molly Crabaapple who is the head of Dr. Sketchy’s, sent Jenny an e-mail explaining how Dr. Sketchy’s is a notable world-wide brand, and how there’s been confusion between the events, so she asked if Jenny could change the name. “Sketchy Broads” is now called “The Notorious Unnamed Sketch Club.” I plan to head out to their next event called “Lions Lindsays and Bears…Oh My!” on Wednesday, June 23rd at 6:30PM to 9:00PM at Stardust Video and Coffee. I like that new venues like this are popping up.
Since I kept working on this sketch even through the breaks, I never had a chance to see any other artists work. There were perhaps about 10 artists at the session. I need to go back more often to just sketch the model and experiment with different ways of working. Sketching the nude figure is always a great way to charge the creative battery.
The Bubble Room Monkey
I have become addicted to attending McRae Art Studios (904 Railroad Avenue) open houses. Some of these open houses offer the public the chance to watch the artists at work. The studios are located in a large warehouse and the space has been compartmentalized into working studios for 21 artists. The last open house I had attended, I found John Whipple working on a series of black and white illustrations which were rich and deep in tone. At the time I didn’t have the time to do another sketch. I returned with the hope of catching him at work. Unfortunately this open house just gave the public a chance to view the artists finished works and wander the studios.
John told me that he had just cleaned up his work space. This room is filled with antiques and assorted odds and ends for his many quirky and fun sculptures. I fell in love with this old animatronic monkey. John told me that he had bought the monkey at an estate sale when the Bubble Room closed down. For those of you who have been in Orlando for some time you might remember that the Bubble Room was a quirky restaurant with tons of antique toys and animatronics like this monkey. John explained that the monkey had been the drummer for an animatronic band. I love that this character has a string tied around its thumb as if he was intent on remembering something. Even more interesting is the fact that the monkeys other thumb is missing like he had tied that string to tight and the thumb just snapped off.
The entirely naked animatronic to the left was once a Santa Clause. The gears and leavers are simply designed like an old fashioned wind up wrist watch. Santa’s mask has been removed showing a lumpy malformed ball of Styrofoam. The arms also have Styrofoam tied down with twine. I have no doubt that when the lights go out, these characters live out a nightly drama before freezing in place the next morning. Also crammed in the space are old iron fireplace grills and aging yellow boxes. The bright red logo reminds me of the final scene in Citizen Kane when the sleigh is thrown in the fire with the name, Rose Bud.
John isn’t sure yet what is in store for the Bubble Room Monkey. He doesn’t want to alter the characters look until he is sure he has the proper artistic vision for it’s future. Prior to the clean up, the monkey wasn’t even visible. Now the space has a feeling of organized chaos. I asked John if he would allow me to sit in and sketch when he starts on the sculpture that the Bubble Room Monkey was meant for. I would love to see that piece find it’s final form.
After I finished this sketch I then went to visit Don Sondag who is a local portrait artist. Don told me about a Sunday morning painting group. I expressed an interest in getting out and doing some plein air paintings with that group, but both times something came up which kept me from going. I need to call Don, it would be nice to do some thick paintings using large blocks of color rather than the line work I use every day to complete my sketches.