Weekend Top 6 Picks

Saturday February 1, 2014

 10am to 1pm $10. Dessin de Figures. Maitland Art Center. Maitland Art Center Studio 6 231 W Packwood Ave,  Maitland,, FL. This is the return of this workshop from last year. It will be an on going figure drawing session that has been offered by Steve Pi, one of the Sculpture Instructors at the Maitland Art Center and one of our members. This is part of the Orlando Artist inspiration activities that this group was founded on. This workshop will be open to any ORLANDO ARTIST MEMBER that wants to attend and pays the model fee . This is part of Steve’s Sculpture class with a figure model who is posing for that series of classes. Steve is the Host & moderator and will determine (First come) who can sit-in.

7pm to 11pm Free. Swingout Saturday. 644 Florida Central Parkway, Longwood, Fl. The music is hot and the dance floor will rock! Beginner dance lesson at 7pm. Dancing from 8 to 11pm. http://www.facebook.com/events/155347454601985/    More info: http://www.SwingoutSaturday.com/

8pm to 11pm Free, but grab a beer. Tattoo Art by Tattoo Artists. The Falcon 819 E. Washington Street, Suite 2, Orlando, Fl. The Falcon presents Tattoo art by Tattoo Artists show. The show will include art from some of the best and most talented artists in the business, including; Albert Diezhandino, Ant Iannucci, Brett J Barr, Chazz Hysell, Derek Jennings, Earl Funk, Edward Argibay, Gina Marie, Jeremy Scott, Randall Muntz, Scott White, Steven Alfieri, Steve Roberts, Timmy Dub …and more! Curated by “…And The Three Bears”

Sunday February 2, 2014 Groundhog Day!

10am to 12:30pm $10 Crealde Sketch Class. Crealdé School of Art, Saint Andrews Boulevard, Winter Park, FL. Life drawing from nude model.

1pm to 3pm Free Yoga. Eastern side of Lake Eola Park, Orlando, FL. Occurs weekly.

9pm to 11pm Free. Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee: 929 W Fairbanks Ave Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out & laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Peeing Man

The first stop at Art Basel in Miami Beach was to see the public art in Collins Park, a few blocks away from the convention center. The Bass Museum of Art is at the western foot of the park. Terry went inside the museum because she had to pee. She had several cups of coffee with breakfast. I found a shady spot and started to sketch. There were 29 sculptures scattered throughout the park. A few guards sat in shady spots. I had a premonition that I might get kicked out of the park for sketching so I didn’t sit too close to a guard.

The Peeing Man” by Tom Friedman is stainless steel, cast from a maquette made of crushed aluminum.  Tom Friedman, born in 1965, lives and works in Easthampton
Massachusetts. This sculpture is based on a self portrait of the artist. I was impressed with the length and girth of the streaming hose. The stream of pee glistened in the light. The urine stream measured 142 x 25 x 1 centimeters. I noticed a guard approaching me from my left. He slipped in behind me and looked over my shoulder. Terry said that he was there for the longest time. Soon I relaxed and forgot about him. Periodically people would stop next to the figure to have their picture taken with him. I took a photo of Terry kneeling with her head arched back and her mouth open so it looked like he was peeing in her mouth. It was good clean classless fun.

The most fun sculpture in the park was called “Appearing Rooms” by Jeppe Hein. This was a fountain that would shoot up streams of water that created walls. Terry walked inside and a sheet of water rose up enclosing her inside. It is possible to remain perfectly dry if you time your moves just right. Inside the overall square, more walls would rise up creating four rooms.  One dad walked inside with his fire year old son. They didn’t know about the inner wall streams and the young boy was straddling a wall that caught him off guard, soaking him. The dad yanked his son up quickly to his hip. I never went inside since I didn’t want any watercolors getting soaked. Terry however, had a blast.

Miami Beach

Every year Terry and I go to Art Basel in Miami Beach. We drove south on December 4th and returned on December 8th. Art Basel showcases the world’s top galleries. I read that over a billion dollars worth of art is sold here in one week. We stay with Terry’s friend Elaine Pasekoff and Derek Hewitt. Elaine is the host of a syndicated radio program called “The Book Report.” The couple have several condos in a high rise overlooking Miami Beach. The first thing I did when we arrived was to grab my sketchbook and take in the dusk view from their balcony.

This week was also Elaine’s birthday so plans were in place for a big Disco blow out of a party. Friends and relatives were all driving into town along with the Art Basel throngs. We all decided to go out to diner at a Cuban Restaurant only a few blocks from the condo. Although I have gotten press passes in the past, I didn’t manage to convince Art Basel management that I was a journalist. For that reason, most of my focus would be on the smaller art fairs that were scattered in large tents all around Miami.

Looking through the Art Basel pamphlet, I ran across a page that I had used to clean off my brush because I had forgotten a rag. It was one of the more abstract and expressive pages in the publication. Dinner with friends and watching the moon rise over the ocean made for a nice end cap to the day.

TrIP Home

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.

There Will Be TrIP

On January 14th, there was a reading by five different artists who had taken part in the Transit Interpretation Project (TrIP). TrIP asks artists to travel to destinations using the Lynx bus system. The poems, narratives, and images make there way to “The Corridor Project” TrIP site. Julian Chambliss, Patrick Greene, Dina Mack and Moriah Lorraine Russo read their stories. They posed for a photo with Lynx CEO John Lewis.

I sketched Patrick as he read about his bus TrIP. He romanticized the travels of the beat generation like Kerouac knowing full well he would be home that evening to a home cooked dinner from his mom. The most fascinating write up came from Julian who gave a brief history of public transportation in the south. It seems northern cities developed their public transport systems before the advent of the automobile so the systems they designed had to be robust and efficient. Southern cities urban sprawl came about after the advent of the automobile so public transit came just as an afterthought. He also spoke about the history of Eatonville Florida the first entirely African American community. Although it might have seemed like voluntary segregation, it also demonstrated that this community could not only survive but thrive.

Jesse Bradley was the host for the evening. Amazingly he has been taking the Lynx buses every day for 17 years. He tried to drive a car and he even tried a moped with apparently tragic consequences. The angry mobs on the Florida roads are intimidating. I always drive with the notion that no one else on the road is thinking and that they could do anything with no reason or thought of consequence. Even so, it is seems many drivers want to drive through the traffic in front of them. With people texting and talking on cell phones the incidences of full speed rear end crashes are escalating. This weekend I saw a car waiting at a red light get hit at full speed from behind. It is crazy out there people. A bus is a huge battering ram but there must be a high incidence of accidents from impatient, insane car drivers drying to swerve around the bus as it pulls up to each stop.

Chapbooks of the stories read are being made available for $8. There are 39 copies available as of this writing. As I left the reading I grew anxious knowing I would have to take the bus back home. I walked under I-4 into Parramore to the closest 21 bus stop.

The TrIP

Patrick Greene who is the curator at The Gallery at Avalon Island, 39 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL, asked me to be a part of the TrIP Project. The TrIP Project has artists and writers ride the Lynx bus system to report on the mass transit system in Orlando. The first plan was for me to sketch Benoit Glaser and several other musicians who were going to play their instruments on the bus. Unfortunately Patrick gave me the wrong date and I knocked on Benoit’s door a day early. A second option was to sketch Genevieve Bernard‘s Voci Dance who did an interpretive dance performance on a bus. However, a close friend and artistic spirit, Mary Hill, took her own life and I needed to go to her memorial service that day. The bus tickets sat in my pocket unused for the longest time.

Finally, I saw that there was going to be a reading at The Gallery at Avalon Island called, “There Will Be TrIP” on January 14th. I decided I would take the bus downtown for this reading. When I graduated high school, I decided to go to the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I stayed with my parents the first two years and took a bus to the city everyday. The bus ride and consequent subway rides took well over three hours out of the day. Since I also had to get back, that was six hours in transit. Sketchbooks at the time became filled with sketches of fellow passengers. I didn’t own or drive a car for the entire decade I commuted to and stayed in NYC. When I came to Orlando to work for Disney Feature Animation, I got off the plane, took one driving education course and then got my drivers license at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Within the first week I had purchased my very first car, a sweet Honda del Sole convertible. Not once did I ever take a bus in Orlando.

On the morning of January 14th, I got ready for my TrIP adventure. It was raining, so I put my sketchbooks in a zip top plastic bag and put on a full set of rain gear that included plastic pants. I looked like I was ready for an Arctic Expedition. Google Maps on my iPhone said the closest bus stop would be near Universal Studios. It was a four mile hike. The reading downtown was going to be at 7pm. I left at 2pm since I had no clue what I was doing. I hiked through isolated suburban side streets and marveled at all the McMansions surrounding a lake I walked around. The rain was persistent but light. I felt a little uncomfortable walking with my hoodie up since Trevor Martin had been gunned down for walking in a neighborhood much like this I imagined. Someone was just recently shot for texting during the previews at a movie theater. People with guns are crazy in Florida.

Besides raining it was also hot and humid which meant I was getting wet from the inside out rather than from the outside in. When the rain became the faintest mist, I took off the rain jacket to vent some body heat. One of the side streets leading to the bus stop turned out to be the entrance to a gated community. I would have to walk around the gated community adding more miles to my hike. I realized when I was maybe one mile from the bus stop that, had I driven, I would already be downtown and parking,

I walked past a bustling middle school with long lines of cars waiting to pick up children. I realized this was a prime sketch opportunity although I imagined some parent might question my motives. When I arrived at the bus stop it was 3:30pm. I had been hiking for an hour and a half. Five construction workers in bright green vests were at the stop. Conversation was about car envy. A female worker lamented a friend who had a job and makes money on the side. Her friend could afford a Honda Civic. The construction workers make about $150 a day helping build a huge new motel right next to Universal. A large SUV driven by a fellow construction worker pulled up and they all piled in. The 21 bus that I was waiting for didn’t arrive for another hour at least.

On board, the large female driver had to help me figure out how to insert the ticket into the column shaped payment device. Digital lights and numbers gave me too much information to look at. The ticket got sucked in and then spit back out. On the back of the ticked, I found out I could board any bus until 3am in the evening, after that the ticket was void. On the bus, people sat in tight constrained poses clutching bags with arms crossed.  A mom boarded with her excited little girl. They likely had just been at Universal. The child’s eyes were filled with delight.  This bus trip was a fresh adventure for her. They sat next to me and I saw the girl motioning to her mom to look at what I was up to. She sat on her moms lap and watched every line and wash as it splashed on the page. At the Valencia College bus stop a gorgeous woman got on and stood right beside the driver checking her phone periodically. I sketched her quickly, so happy she had brightened the scene. Sketching on the bus got me motion sick. The bus lurched and pitched every time it stopped and it stopped 65 times on the route downtown. The driver also had a lead foot. Perhaps she had learned to drive at the Daytona racetrack.

At 5pm I arrived at Central and Garland Avenue downtown near Church Street Station. The walk to Avalon was less than a mile, so I figure the TrIP probably took three and a half hours whereas a drive downtown usually takes me half an hour but I park in the suburbs to avoid meters and being towed, so the walk can be an extra half an hour or so. So my assessment is, Bus = 3 1/2 hours and Car = 1 hour. The good news is that if I ever got drunk downtown, I know what bus would get me to within 4 miles of my home. But why would I get drunk downtown? Since I was early, I decided to go to Jimmy John’s to get a sandwich. I checked into Avalon where artwork and poetry was being hung on the walls. A poem by Naomi Butterfield was hung by a painting by Parker Sketch. The show is titled “I Believe.”

Peace River Seafood

Terry, Pat and myself went to Peace River Seafood, 5337 Duncan Road, Punta Gorda, FL, on the day after Thanksgiving. This small roadside crab shack is a real gem. Outside live crabs were being sold almost off the boat. Inside signed dollar bills littered the walls woven into fishing nets. It was a cold day and we had a tough time finding a table without a draft. I had to move away from the door since a cold wind was blowing off the river. I ordered a fish sandwich and Pat ordered something light.

Terry however couldn’t resist getting a big plate of crabs. The waitress demonstrated a technique of breaking the shells using a carefully placed knife and hammer blow.  The incision had surgical accuracy. Terry however enjoyed simply bashing the shell with the hammer. Every morsel had to be wrestled from it’s shell. Terry is a slow eater anyway but this process slowed her down enough so that I had time to finish my sandwich and do a sketch. If we return, I will definitely get the crabs because Terry absolutely loved hers. In the end she couldn’t even finish what was on her plate. The carnage was everywhere, but she was satiated.

We also visited several antiques stores this day. The strangest thing we saw was a half sized animatronic Santa that sang and wiggled his hips. The Santa creeped Terry out. None of us found anything worth buying. I was on the lookout for vintage fountain pens but didn’t see one.

Weekend Top 6 Picks

Saturday January 25, 2014

9am to 5pm Free.  Saturday and Sunday. Free. Steam Punk Industrial Show. Renninger’s Market in Mount Dora FL. Live Musical Performance by The Cog Is Dead. Visit the Time Machine from Rod Raylor’s Movie, “The Time Machine” and the “Daimler Airship”. Food, Fun, and Music!

10am to 11:30pm $10 cover after 8pm. Acme’s Indie Creator Con and New Talent Showcase. Acme Superstore 905 E. SR 434, Longwood, Fl. From 10am-8pm comic creators, independent publishers, indie filmmakers, and artists will be set up in Acme’s Danger Room with booths to sell their work or showcase their projects. The gallery walls will be hung with artists’ original creations featuring their own characters or unique works. We’ll also have indie film-screenings, workshops and family friendly activities throughout the day. All ages welcome and FREE to attend! Then, from 8pm-12am, 18+ can join us for our Acme After Hours: New Talent Showcase. Singing, dancing, live bands, comedians, freak show acts… If you’ve got a talent, BRING IT ON!!! Prizes awarded to audience favorites! Free beer & sangria for 21+ w/ID. Free sodas and water also included with cover. (Registered talent get in free.)

 6:30pm to 11pm General Admission: $95 per person. VIP admission: $300 per couple
(includes unlimited beer/wine, and name recognition).  PARTY AT THE PLAZA! a benefit for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra & The Plaza Live. Dress code is
informal/casual; no tie required. Join other Orlando music lovers for 5 stages of live music, silent auction, food and drink, dancing and more at this benefit for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra & The Plaza Live! https://orlandophil.org/events/party-at-the-plaza-2/

7pm to 11pm Admission is $10. Andy Matchett and the Minks Last Show, with Random Encounter Public. Cardboard Art Festival.The Orange Studio 1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Fl. One last Andy Matchett & The Minks show. This will get you access to the Cardboard Art Fest Gallery ( large modern warehouse space in the Mills/50 District will be filled with cardboard art hanging from the ceiling, stuck to the walls and sprouting up from the ground) and performances by Random Encounter and AM/TM. We’ll be playing The Apple Tree Circle, by Andy Matchett and The Minks in its entirety and pulling out all the stops. If you’ve seen one of our shows before, you know what that means…

Sunday January 26, 2014

 10am to Noon. Free. Super Joy Riders. Eastern entrance of the Lake Eola Farmers’ Market. You + Superhero Costume + Bike = Best Sunday Ever! Participants dress as superheroes and ride en masse around the city as they check off their scavenger hunt-like list of Do Gooder Duties; collecting litter, helping senior citizens cross the road, returning shopping carts, basically performing small acts of kindness for an hour and a half of hilarity and love. The Super Joy Riders: Do Gooder Bike Ride is an exercise in community organizing and active engagement. We hope to use the ride as an opportunity to show how helping people can be simple, fun, and easy, especially while wearing a cape.

http://www.superjoyriders.com/

6pm to 9pm $40.  Confectionfest. The Orange Studio, 1121 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, FL 32803. Enter in the rear. Come sample the best of Orlando’s dessert culture at Cardboard Art Festival! The entrance fee will give attendees an all-you-can eat pass to Sweetstown: population you. Then kick back and watch a movie with us on our Green Lawn of Awesomeness.

Carrie and Doug Gesiorski Reception

The reception was in a large clear tent behind Casa Feliz, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL. Heat trickled out of the Casa into the tent but it couldn’t keep up with the cold. The wedding planner suggested I stand at a table behind the wedding couple, but that made no sense to me to sketch them from behind, instead I sat on a low brick wall that looked across the space towards the wedding couple. The loose flaps of the tent billowed open in the cold breeze. The brick wall was cold, so I asked a server if they could just get me one of the chair seat cushions. That did help keep my butt warm.  

Carrie and Doug Gesiorski sat in large ornate wooden chairs. Carrie had a warm cream colored shawl to warm up her shoulders. The Cook Trio performed during the reception. They were in a large archway behind the wedding couple. There was no tent to block the cold wind from hitting the band. They were troopers and did an amazing set.

Couples who had never met before sat across from each other. Many couples were from Washington D.C. so I overheard some tips on great restaurants in D.C. The place was opulent.  The animated conversations slowly grew louder. There were full place settings with ivory and gold chargers, champagne linens on the tables with nugget crushed organza runners. Ivory draping and a chandelier illuminated the setting. Rose bouquets stood on tall wrought iron stands on each table.

At one point, guests at a table started a football stadium styled wave. The guests stood and raised their arms in the air while whooping. Not every table was on board, by by the third try, the wave had swept around the whole tent. I’m guessing it was a good way to warm up.After dinner everyone quickly went back inside to warm up. I heard the cake cutting going on inside as I finished this sketch. When I was done, I got a plate of ravioli. As I ate, Carrie and Doug came over to say hello and see my sketches. Carrie was digging out some wedding cake from between her cleavage. They had planned to serve each other wedding cake with quiet dignified reserve, but as Doug raised the fork to Carrie’s mouth, the cake slipped off the fork and down the v-neck her dress. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, but it doesn’t matter as long as you are still having fun. I left feeling truly honored to have documented this pivotal moment in the young couples life.

The Carrie Eshman / Doug Gesiorski Wedding

Carrie Eshman, a journalist from Washington D.C. asked me to document her wedding on Saturday, January 18th at Casa Feliz, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL. This is the second time I have been hired to sketch a wedding. It makes perfect sense since I document events every day and a wedding is fairly stationary. I discovered that the actual ceremony would only be half an hour which is too quick for a sketch. I went to Casa Feliz an hour early to sketch in the building and empty chairs. It was late in the afternoon and the golden light of the sun was just clipping the tops of the trees as it set. As guests arrived, I placed then in the sketch. No one ever sat in the front row, so I erased it.

Luis Alfredo Garcia was playing guitar as guests arrived. I have sketched Luis performing once before at the Casselberry House. His soothing music helped me relax into the sketch. Carrie greeted me in her wedding dress before people arrived. She was so much younger than I expected. Doug Gesiorski was just as young, excited to get the wedding started. Tony White was the officiant filling out his long dark robe. He smiled broadly to Doug setting the tone of the ceremony. It was a picture perfect story book wedding with the Spanish style tower looming behind the wedding party.

What was unexpected was how cold it was. For a while I used my Dickens styled glove with three finger tips cut off. The glove made my hand too bulky however, so I took it off and just blew hot air into my fist periodically.  Carrie and her brides maids must have been freezing. At least the groom and groomsmen had suits. Before I knew it, the wedding vows were over. People moved inside the Casa quickly to soak in the heat and get cocktails. I was only half finished with the sketch so I stayed until it was done. The sun set, and the temperature plummeted. I pulled out my book light, but it wouldn’t turn on. I finished the sketch in the darkness only seeing bold values. My cold fingers spilled the water in the grass. Fearing I would shiver and ruin the sketch I had, I finally went inside. I sat at a table in a courtyard away from the crowd and looked at what I had. A space heater near the table kept me warm as I added a few more color washes to finish up.