Turkish Festival

The Turkish Festival was held near the Lake Eola band shell on a steamy hot afternoon. Food vendors were lined up along Robinson Avenue. Terry joined me on this sketch outing. She wanted to see the menu for each food vendor. I of course was hunting for my sketch. While she went booth to booth, I stood in the shade and surveyed all the activity. Kids were bouncing on the inflatable fort which had been set up on the grass. Dancers were performing on stage but the sun beat down on the audience. I finally found a spot near this vendor who offered to shoot photos with the ornate middle eastern garments. There were several tables full of robes and turbans.

Perhaps three different families got dressed up as I sketched. Ismail Altintas wearing a large turban coached people on what they should wear and he shot the photos. A mother got her daughter to wear a bright red robe. I wondered were the father was. A young couple dressed up as royal sultans, then stood arm in arm for the photographer. Turkish and American flags fluttered in the breeze along with red and white balloons. When I finished sketching I found Terry so we could order some lunch. We got several gyros and sat in the food tent to eat. A large Turkish family was seated next to us. Little children pressed in to get close to a little baby cradled in the cloaked woman’s arms. The children made faces at the baby and had him clutch their fingers. Terry was hot and tired. I agonized about doing another sketch of the folk dancers on the stage but decided I couldn’t bake in the direct sunlight for the sake of a sketch.

United Arts Annual Meeting

The United Arts Annual Meeting was held at the Orlando Museum of Art. I arrived a little early and tried to enter the auditorium but it was locked. The front gallery was set up for a buffet lunch and there was a podium. I started sketching in there until someone let me know that the meeting was in the main auditorium as I first suspected. On the stage were canvases on easels and painters supplies. Ironically most of the supplies were for house painter’s rather than fine artists. I know very few artists who use a roller to paint with. No wonder it is hard for Central Floridians to pay market value for art. They just want the walls covered.

Cory Warren showed slides from a new M.D. Anderson Cancer Center artist in residence program that he helped spearhead.Funded in part by the Livestrong foundation this program brings working artists into the hospital to help cancer patients express themselves through art. Patricia Charpentier is helping patients write their life stories and Andrea Canny is helping patients create art. Art can inspire, enlighten and be a comfort when faced with so many overwhelming issues of mortality.

Elaine Hinsdales campaign report was funny, light hearted and to the point. Her first slide of Eduard Munch’s “Scream” showed the challenge of raising several million dollars. “Dogs Playing Poker” showed the committee dealing with the hand they had been dwelt. The end result was that they met their goal raising over two million dollars and raising o.8% more than last year.

Several $5000 awards were handed out. One went to the Enzian Theater. They plan to use the money to purchase a new screen for the free outdoor screenings they do on the sloped lawn beside the theater. The second award went to Dario Moore who is the choreographer for “Slave Stories”, and he teaches children the importance of expressing themselves through dance. This was the second time in two weeks that I had watched him accept awards.

Dandelion

I went to Dandelion Communitea Cafe after work with the notion that I would sketch their weekly potluck dinner. There was no potluck when I arrived so I ordered a chili and a cinnamon apple tea. I sat in the corner and surveyed the main dining room. I had just started the sketch when my chili and tea arrived. The chili was sooo good and piping hot. My iced tea was good as well. I always get intimidated when there are so many teas to choose from. I dread getting some weird hippie blend that tastes like dirt. Not that I have ever tasted a dirt tea mind you. The point being, I was pleasantly surprised.

Beside me a young college girl was talking to her mom about the challenging classes she was taking. She is also a DJ at the school radio station, playing music at some ungodly hour. I sketched the two couples, a child and young man seated around the table in the center of the room. I love the orange and yellow fabric ceiling which slopes up like a tent towards the globe shaped light fixture. I was delighted to see that one of my invitations for models to join the Mennello Museum mural line was up on the bulletin board in the hallway.

All the art on the walls was by Brian MacGregor. There were waves inspired by the Japanese wood prints of Hokusai, and exotic women floated in surreal skys. Brian described his work as figurative surrealism. The paintings looked like oil on a smooth surface like wood. They all had a high level of polish and they were very affordable.

Community Open House

On the day after the groundbreaking at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, I returned to the tent set up on Magnolia Street. The road’s yellow center dividing lines ran down the length of the tent. There was no huge crowd this time around. People lounged on the couches enjoying the free entertainment. Heather Alexander one of the owners of the Winter Park Playhouse introduced featured players from her theater. She joined three other women dressed in stylish 60’s mini skirts. They sang a hilarious medley of James Bond theme songs using their voices to mimic the flashy trumpet blasts.

The sparse audience was once again shown a flashy computer animated fly through of the proposed performing arts center. Stiff limbed computer generated zombies wandered the halls and sat stiff and erect in the theater seats. Superimposed shots of the Lion King being performed on Broadway in NYC made it seem like Orlando could become a cultural mecca overnight, and shots of children being taught about the arts made it seem like there could be a creative, vibrant, inspiring school of the arts associated with the project.

A photographer was shooting photos of the acts on stage constantly and occasionally people wandered up to the velvet ropes to shoot video on their iPhones. My wife texted an urgent message so I walked over to her office building a few blocks away.

Groundbreaking Celebration

A large tent was erected on the site for the groundbreaking celebration for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Located across from City Hall, the tent’s entrance was right where Magnolia bumps into South Street. I was directed to the media check in table where Jordana Lipkin gave me my press lanyard. The tent was air conditioned, but it was so hot out that everyone was waving their programs to stay cool.

There were rows of white folding chairs, all of which had “Reserved” signs. I bumped into Mark Baratelli of TheDailyCity.com. We took photos of ourselves shoveling the dirt. His face popped up periodically on video monitors so I was hanging out with “the talent.” We joked about all the reserved seats. No one was sitting. It seemed that, like the Emperor’s new clothes, the event was so exclusive that no one would be allowed to park their butt. The first act on the stage was a string quartet from the Orlando Philharmonic which is ironic since the performance hall will not benefit the Orchestra since it isn’t an acoustically designed hall. It will only be good for traveling Broadway shows that use microphones.

The second act, “Sovereign Brass” also had performers from the Orchestra. I wondered if any local performer at the groundbreaking would ever benefit from the new stage. A little girl in a black dress watched the musicians mesmerized.

Andrea Canny
joined Mark and I in our prime viewing spot. By now the tent was crowded full of several hundred people. Mayor Buddy Dyer started his speech with a quote from Michelangelo that I rather like…

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” He said that over 200 businesses have opened since the Amway Center opened. Many of them might be the bicycle driven handy cabs. He stressed that Arts and Culture are the soul of any city, and I couldn’t agree more. The tourism industry helped put the whole package together. I just hope they sprinkle enough pixie dust to somehow make the financial numbers work out. In three card Monti we eventually find the Ace of hearts if we bet enough money. Don’t we?

Davis Gaines sang “This is the Moment,” and for a moment, I believed. There was an orange band of sand in front of the stage. Several people walked on it and the orange crust broke showing the white sand beneath. We speculated that it might be some Tibetan sand art or perhaps it was an indication of the front wall of the new building. Our questions were answered when Buddy Dyer and city commissioners all lined up with shovels to break ground in the orange sand. Cannons fired sending streamers over the crowd and two tent panels were torn open showing huge bulldozers which fired up ready to work.

Food Truck Bazaar

On Father’s Day I met Terry and Amanda at the Food Truck Bazaar. The event took place at the Fashion Square Mall (East Colonial Drive and Maguire). I couldn’t find the event at first so I drove aimlessly through the Mall parking lot circling around the Mall as best I could. Anytime I am near a mall I feel like I am out of my element. I finally spotted a tent and then the trucks.

I sat in the shade of a tree and got to work. It was blisteringly hot. The Winter Park Fish Company truck was elaborately decorated so that became my focus. Mark Baratelli who organized the event came over to say hello. He was a bit nervous that attendance might be down. He suggested I sketch a few more people. The trucks were lined up on opposite sides of the parking lot. In the center of the lot Ford was offering test drives in a program called “Drive with Purpose.” Mark explained that they were giving away $8 vouchers good for any food truck if you took a test drive.

An RV full of friends and children drove from Coco Beach to experience the Bazaar. People sat in lawn chairs and folding tables they had carted from home. One family had their own tent set up in the parking lot. They kept angling the size of the four legs as the sun dipped lower toward the horizon. A large group of bikers sucked down water and calories.

Mark went back to a table where he was selling water. He must have been coaching his volunteers on how to best sell water because he started doing a hilarious jig and he tossed a water bottle in the air like a baton. He missed and the water crashed to the pavement. Terry and Amanda arrived and I finished up my sketch. We ordered several Salvadorian meat filled pupusas. Then we tried several fish tacos from the Winter Park Fish Company truck as well as a delicious Tuna kabob. Baxter, Amanda’s dog was a nervous wreck. His tail was curled under between his hind legs and he wasn’t happy unless he sat in her lap like a cat.

Just as I finished my fish taco it began to rain. We all dashed to our cars for cover.

If you want to catch a Food Truck Bazaar, here are future dates…

June 26 | 6-10pm | Parliament House

JULY

July 10 | 6-10pm | Oviedo Mall

July 17 | 6-10pm | Fashion Square Mall

July 24 | 6-10pm | Parliament House

AUGUST

Aug 14 | 6-10pm | Oviedo Mall

Aug 21 | 6-10pm | Fashion Square Mall

Aug 28 | 6-10pm | Parliament House

Shut Up and Play

Last year the organizers of “Shut Up and Play”, Jeremy Birdsall and Thuan Nguyen, invited me to sketch at the all day all acoustic concert. The next week must have been a busy one since those sketches never made it to the blog until now. This year’s “Shut Up and Play” concert presented by Presented by Kavode Entertainment & 11/12 Lounge looks like it will pack a punch. More than 20 bands will perform on three indoor stages. Headlining the event will be the jaw-dropping Regi Wooten Band from Nashville, and there will be an all-star jam at the end of the night! The variety of acoustic music on the menu is astounding. There is fusion, funk, jazz, new age, rock, groove, hip hop, blues, Latin, new age, 70’s progressive, ambient, world, flamenco and classical! Obviously there is something for any musical taste and palate.

I had so much fun sketching at the event last year. First I got to meet and work with Louise Bova and Dawn Schreiner, several visual artists whose work I respect and admire. Louise and Dawn worked live on stage as the bands performed. Dawn worked on a whimsically decorated room divider while Louise painted a portrait. I sketched from the wings of the stage and then from the open area in front of the stage. The music from “Bucket of Shrimp Ears” was energetic and a blast to sketch to. This amazing music festival will leave you dancing in the aisles. I intend to sketch till I drop while enjoying the music.

Some of the bands I have seen before, like the Absinthe Trio, Shak Nasti, and the Forefathers. I look forward to hearing them again. There is body painting, live art, massages and prizes. Come on out to “Shut Up and Play” Saturday June 26th from 2pm to 2am at 11/12 Lounge (843 Lee Road Winter Park).

The Attack of the Jellies!

Over the Memorial day weekend Terry and I met Elaine Pasekoff and Derrek Hewitt at Coco Beach. We stuffed quarters in the parking meters and hiked over the small boardwalk to the beach. We were surprised that the strip of beach we were on wasn’t crowded. A huge sea turtle lay on the dry sand its shell broken. The stench of death overpowered us and we moved up the beach. The umbrella and chairs that Derrek had carried were set up. I was the first to walk to the water’s edge. There I was shocked to find billions of jelly fish being washed up in the surf. These were mauve stingers which are usually native to the Mediterranean. The wet sand was littered with jellies each one being the size of a ping pong ball. There was no way I was going in the water. When I looked up and down the beach I realized that there was no one in the water. The pink blobs had taken back the ocean on one of the busiest weekends of the summer season.

Lifeguards treated over 1,800 people for stings. Though not as potent as the sting from a blue Portuguese man-of-war, the stings were painful. Local convenience stores ran out of Benadryl and vinegar. We joked that we might have to pee on each other if we got stung. A few people were sent to local hospitals after suffering from allergic reactions. It wasn’t safe in the water. The four of us huddled under the beach umbrella. I sketched the view to the north.

The attack of the jellies was unprecedented. This species of jellyfish had never been seen on these beaches. Jellies are flourishing in the warmer ocean waters, being washed up on beaches more often. After invading the beach for the weekend, the smack of jellyfish disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared.

Casey Anthony Case

A little more than two years ago, when I first started doing a sketch a day, I found myself sketching at the damp uprooted woods where Caylee Anthony’s body was found. I also attended a memorial service in her honor at the First Baptist Church. For me the endless media coverage of the trial seems ridiculous in the face of the human tragedy that is being flaunted for profit.The empty lot across from the courthouse was over run with TV media trucks with their satellite disks pointing to the heavens. As I approached the site I bumped into Louise Bova who bikes past the courthouse every day on her way home. She pointed out that there were even more trucks parked in another empty lot across from where we stood.

I nestled myself in the shadow of the Bank of America building. In the courtyard behind me a musician was setting up the amplifiers for his guitar to sing to patrons at the bar. He began singing “Let it be” by John Lennon. For me the music was soothing, appropriate and somewhat comical relating to the scene spread out before me. A homeless man who I had just seen sleeping under an I-4 overpass walked on the sidewalk in front of the media trucks. He saw some trash and picked it up and put it in a trash basket attached to a light pole. Peter Murphy waved to me as he biked by. Moments later my phone vibrated and there was a tweet from Peter announcing that he had just seem me sketching. “Keep Orlando awesome” he tweeted.

To be honest I am not following the constant TV coverage of the trial. In the morning I asked a teacher who was watching all the TV courtroom drama what she thought. “Guilty” she said. There are lines of people that start forming at 4am and yesterday a fight broke out when someone tried to cut into the line. This kind of spectacle certainly doesn’t make Orlando look good. People keep suggesting I should sketch the trial. That would involve getting up at 4am and standing in line with those lunatics. I think not. If any media wants to issue me a press pass then I’ll be there in a heart beat.

As I sketched a tourist stood taking photos. He became curious in what I was doing. He told me his girlfriend used to live right next to the JonBenet Ramsey home. That was a case where a little girl who competed in beauty pageants disappeared. He was annoyed that such cases become a media circus while many other children go missing with hardly a headline and other children go hungry.

24 Hour Embrace (after Young Sun Han)

On Father’s Day, conceptual artist Brian Feldman vowed that he would hug his father for 24 hours straight. “24 Hour Embrace” was first performed by artist Young Sun Han at Swimming Pool Project Space in Chicago, Illinois on December 31, 2008. 24 Hour Embrace (after Young Sun Han)” marked the first time that Young Sun Han had granted permission to re-perform this piece, as well as the first time that Brian Feldman had re-performed another artist’s work.
I arrived at Orange Ave Gym (1616 North Orange Avenue) just before midnight on the eve of Father’s Day. Brian was a nervous spinning dervish. He kept knocking over his “Best of Orlando” award plaques as he adjusted them. He coached volunteers David Mooney and Christin Carlow on admission prices and the media press comp list. I was thankful that I was on that list. Admission was $10 for an all day wristband. Christin slipped the wristband snugly around my wrist. I asked where the boxing ring was and she directed me to a cavernous back room to the left. When I entered the back gym, Brian’s dad Edward was getting changed by a locker. He asked me to shoot several photos on his iPhone when he and Brian first embraced.

This was going to be one of Brian’s last major projects of 2011. I felt a sense of urgency and wanted to fully document this piece. I considered doing 12 to 24 sketches, staying with Brian and his dad through the whole embrace. After talking to Terry, I altered my plan, deciding to just sketch the beginning and end of the hug. As I was filling my watercolor brushes with water in the bathroom, Brian and his father entered the ring. Edward opened his arms and said, “I love you Brian.” and the hug began.

The event rules stated that I could enter the ring at anytime. I took off my boots and crawled under the ropes. I set up my stool and leaned back in the corner. Brian and his dad shifted their weight leaning back and forth into each other. They twisted and rotated always searching for a new more comfortable angle. David shouted, “Good night!” and soon Al Pergande came in and shot some digital photos. Orlando Live had a video camera set up to record all 24 hours. Two videographers shot cutaway shots constantly during the first hour. Halfway into my first sketch I was alone with father and son. One of the rules was, “No talking inside the ring.” The embrace continued in silence.

I began my second sketch around 8pm on Father’s Day. Brian looked green and exhausted, relying of his father’s blocky solid stance for support. Omar Delarosa and his mom Virginia Brown sat and watched for a while. Then they crawled into the ring and embracedfor perhaps 15 minutes before leaving. In the final hours, a crowd began to gather. A rowdy young man put on some boxing gloves and danced around the ring like a gorilla to his girlfriend’s delight. His antics actually caused Brian to laugh. A freelance photographer shot endlessly. With my second sketch finished, I exited the ring and laced up my boots. I didn’t need to see them exit the ring. The drama was not in the smattering of applause but in the long tedious moments of pain and reflection that happened when there was no audience. I was a proud witness.