For the entire month of August, performance artist Brian Feldman has decided to make himself “Available” to do anything you need help with. Do you need your car washed? Laundry folded? Lawn mowed? Dog walked? Dinner prepared? Someone to go shopping with? Someone to see a movie with? Kids watched? Help crossing the road? Services of the self-proclaimed greatest designated driver of all time? Just fill out the form and he is available for you. It is like hiring a friend to help out for FREE!
One request caught my eye from the start. Karen Cali (KC), a figurative artist, wanted Brian to post nude for her. As KC wrote, “I do charcoal work from the figure and there’s a shortage of male models in general and my money to pay models in particular.” There was a mad flurry of e-mails as this private sketch session was arranged. Several sketch locations were considered and then discarded, including the Mobile Art Show and Blank Space. Since I was having a sketchbook display at Frames Forever & Art Gallery, we finally decided this would be the perfect spot for a quiet Sunday morning sketch session. Katie Windish, who owns the shop, is still offering huge clearance discounts on everything in stock. She even bought in a whole pile of art books, DVDs and other items from home. She had a tiny digital camera that she wanted to sell and before Brian got to the shop we duck taped it to the far wall opposite from where he was going to pose. We made no effort to disguise the camera, we just wanted to see if he would ever notice it. It took him about half an hour, but when he did notice it we all had a good laugh.
KC had bought her own artist sketch bench and a flood lamp. Brian hung a black drape over the windows of the shop door. KC and I dropped our cell phones off in the back room of the shop with Katie. She was busy working on a framing job and wasn’t prepared to see Brian nude, so she stayed hidden. She did stop out when Brian had a break and was in his bathrobe. I showed her my drawing but kept my thumb over the private parts. KC did a great job of posing Brian and reassuring him as he found his pose. He is actually a really good model since many of his performances involve stamina and patience. KC did two drawings and I worked on this blog sketch. The second pose was a standing pose, and offered the full monty. I decided to stick with this sketch where his clenched hands hide his privates. I have a newfound respect for the lengths Brian will go to for the sake of his art.
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Best of Orlando
The Orlando Weekly held a readers choice voting for the Best of Orlando. Analog Artist Digital World won third place as the Best Local Blog! The Weekly held a celebration party at Club Firestone for the winners. I wasn’t invited. I suppose only the first place winners were invited. Luckily Brian Feldman won first place as the Best Experimental Act; being in South Dakota he gave his two tickets to Katie Windish who then invited me, so I could get a sketch of the event. When we got to the club we had to text Lindy Shepherd, an Orlando Weekly writer, so she could come out and give us the tickets. As we were going in Swamburger was coming out complaining that none of the food inside was vegan. He was heading up to the Cameo to party. Once we got past the velvet red rope and entered the club we were hit with the pounding bass of the music. Certain beers were free and there was a long line for food so we muscled past Wonder Woman and Batman, up to the bar. Once we had our beers the food line was smaller so we grabbed some food and then searched for a spot to sit. I saw a spot at a counter but before we got there two guys moved in. We finally found large cushioned benches in a room where back massages were being offered.
After we finished eating, I started searching for a spot to draw from. I had seem a walkway that had an overview of the dance floor and we started going up stairways until we found it. It was hot up there and no one else was around which meant I could sketch in peace. Katie went downstairs to talk to people and I got to work. I placed my beer on the counter and got out my book light so I could see what I was doing. When I was about half way through my sketch, my bottle of beer crashed to the floor shattering everywhere. I couldn’t figure out why it fell. I hadn’t touched it since I started sketching. I picked up the shattered base and placed it back on the counter. I then realized that the bass of the music was so loud that the counter was vibrating and the bottle was once again making its way to the edge to jump. I had the same problem with my sketchbook which I had leaning up against the counter. I put two pencil erasers in my ears finally to cut back some of the volume.
Much of the focus of the sketch is on the card tables which were set up for gambling. In the upper left corner an area was set up where artists were working on a painting. The painting had Blue Moon Beer logos integrated into it so I considered it too commercial to get its own sketch. On the dance floor a giant taco was busting some moves. A photographer tapped me on the shoulder and asked if it was alright for him to shoot some photos. I guess he thought I was staff. He shot some flash photos of a beautiful model.
On three movie screens the names of the winners were being projected. I got to see my name when the Best Bog category came up, but I was at the bottom of the list with my bronze. Once my sketch was done I found Katie and she introduced me to several Orlando Weekly staff members who said I should approach the new editor about getting my work in the paper. With a new editor comes new ideas so anything is possible.
Tomorrow I will be sketching the Speakwasy at Will’s Pub on Mills Avenue between 9 and 11:30PM.
Something Worth Going To
The parking lot behind Frames Forever & Art Gallery became a large outdoor working studio for the Urban artist who came to Orlando from all over the country to showcase their work. In Progress Urban Arts Magazine hosted the event which would ultimately be staged at the Cameo Theater (1013 East Colonial Drive). In this sketch, local Urban Artist, Swamburger is seen working on a large sheet of Drywall. The old trees offer a perfect easel for the large works.
It was exhilarating to watch artists from all over the country all working together. While I was working on this sketch, a third panel was started just to the left of my view. This work of art was started with bold sharpies to block in the basic shapes. Then spray paint was used to throw in the dark’s and more drawing was added. Finally a wide brush was used to add bold drybrush highlights to the skulls which had taken form. I had a fantastic time watching this bold execution and I would have stayed longer if I didn’t have another event to sketch lined up. It is exciting to see this vibrant Urban Art being created right in white bread Orlando. The city and its art scene seem to be growing up. As I packed up to leave Katie Windish explained that she might be able to get me a press pass to the actual show the following night. I most certainly had to see the final results.
Sultana Stares
While I was at work at Full Sail, I got a text message from Hannah Miller saying she planned to stare at Brian Feldman that afternoon while wearing her wedding dress. Brian and Hannah got married several months ago when Brian put a invite on Facebook saying he would marry any woman that showed up at the Orange County Courthouse. I got off work early and rushed over to Frames Forever & Art Gallery to start the sketch. When I arrived Brian was relaxing with his head bowed after having just stared down Mike McDonnel. I had texted several times prior to my arrival just to let Katie Windish and Brian know that something special might happen involving Hannah. I started a sketch blocking in the big shapes and leaving the participant seat empty.
I began getting text messages from Hannah outlining a series of unfortunate incidents. Her hair had been died the wrong color, she got a ticket for turning left at a spot where left turns are not allowed, then she was helplessly stuck in traffic. She finally gave up and went home for a bit to eat before heading off to work at Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater. My plans to see husband and wife staring off went up in smoke. When it became clear that Hannah wouldn’t make it, I told everyone about the sketch that could have been.
A small crowd had gathered for the final hours of the staring competition. Emma Hughes took the contestant seat and lasted long enough for me to get a decent sketch. Then I begged Sultana to take the seat. She hesitated, but finally relented. I suspected with her triathlon training and a strong will, she would last longer than anyone suspected. I rushed the first sketch thinking she might give up at any time but she held strong. I then started a second sketch and I felt giddy. This was the perfect event for a sketch artist to record. There was a constant penetrating stillness. There was much to read in what went unsaid. Sultanas expression would light up with laughter sometimes as people joked around her but she never lost her gaze. Later her expression turned serious and then sad. I wanted to dash off a series of sketches trying to catch each subtle change but I remained committed to the two sketches I had started. There was something sublime about the time these two locked eyes. The air was electric and I soaked up some of that energy and directed it into the sketch. This was an important moment. Time stood still.
The record for staying seated opposite Brian had been set by Mike Maples two days prior, but Sultana easily cruised by that record by staring at Brian for 1 Hour 59 minutes and 50 seconds. She said that when she broke free of his gaze it was like she was coming up from under a blanket, or surfacing after being underwater for some time. She felt a total sense of seclusion as if in a cocoon. She came to realize that no one had ever looked at her for that length of time before. For a moment after an hour of starting she felt like he was looking straight into her soul. I was ecstatic and felt all the drama in the moment.
For being the person who could stare at Brian the longest, she won a free 4 by 7 inch frame. When she got up she stretched a bit and rubbed her neck. She had to leave right after she was done to get home and work on some homework.
Mobile Art Show
TheDailyCity.com hosts the Mobile Art Show every month parked outside the City Arts Factory (29 South Orange Avenue) during “Third Thursdays.” On Third Thursdays, the downtown art galleries all open new shows allowing for a solid night of gallery hopping. In February Mark Baratelli of the Daily City decided to fill the truck with the posters of LURE Design. This was a simple show to hand since all the posters were about the same size and they could be hung with bull clips zip tied to the existing rubber bumpers inside the truck. January 21st is when this show of posters took place.
Mark drove the rental U_Haul to Frames Forever where Katie Windish had promised to help hang the show. Mark started taping huge sheets of brown paper on the side of the truck that was going to face the City Arts Factory, while Katie was hanging the posters inside the truck. As I sketched it started to rain. Katie told me I could borrow an umbrella from inside her show so I ran in and got it. So part of this sketch was done in the pouring rain while I hunkered under her umbrella. Then the wind started to pick up causing to rain horizontally and I dashed inside the truck. The windy deluge didn’t last too long and I soon went back out to finish up the sketch.
That night I went downtown to see the Mobile Art Show in action for the first time. Brian Feldman was outside the City Arts Factory doing his latest performance which involved charging peoples cell phones. Because of the pending rain, I decided against sketching that night. This sketch would have to do for the day. Mark had decorated the inside of the U-Haul with white Christmas lights and it was really festive. I am trying to convince Mark to allow me to plaster the side of the truck with ink jet prints all 365 sketches from last year and then have the 2009 sketchbooks and some matted prints inside the truck. At the FRESH performances this month I have figured out how to offer any print from the sketchbooks by using a tablet PC and an ink jet printer. As Mark said when he say this set up, “That is bad ass!” So keep your eyes open downtown on the Third Thursday of March!