Ashlie Rolfe invited me to sketch “One Chic Fete” on May 30, 2014 from 8:30pm -1:30am at Firestone Live, (578 N. Orange Ave
Orlando, FL). The event was an incredible fusion of all things creative, including fashion, music, burlesque, visual art, photography and more! It was a night of creativity, cocktails, and a collaboration of over 40+ designers, artists, musicians, etc.
When I arrived, I quickly decided to sketch from the second floor overlooking all the festivities. A retro motorcycle and the band on stage became my centers of interest. Chain link fences were set up around the whole venue as a place to hang art. The last time I exhibited work on a chain link fence was at Grant Elementary school in Dumont New Jersey. At the time I was quite obsessed with the space program and I hung a sketch I did of the Mercury space capsule. I was sure that one day I would be an astronaut. The trouble is that I couldn’t stop sketching.
Upstairs at Firestone I bumped into Ruby Darling who founded Skill Focus Burlesque. They performed that evening in costumes based on video game characters. As Ruby explained, “We dress up as all the things, or characters you are hoping to see! And then we strip down to pasties.” There was also a costume contest and my favorite was The Alien and it walked down the runway with a puppy on a leash. It was the perfect blend of Harrow and cuteness. I started to sketch the Alien, but it went offstage long before I could catch its proportions, so I had to erase it. As always, I was surprised with how many people were looking at their cell phones the whole time. When I was done sketching, I did a walk about to see which artists were showcasing their work.