Wednesday, August 31, 2011

UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY


This summer, I got a call from my boss/friend Scott.  He asked me if I would be interested in taking some pictures of the closing ceremonies of an art camp his friend (AD) was hosting.  The art camp was for a boys and girls club run by the Homeless Coalition.  I was more than happy to help out.

Now, the coalition's facility is on Paramore, a street smack in the middle of a very rough/impoverished part of town.  I mean, there was a man just straight peein' on the side of the road as I drove by.  I was able to park inside the compound, which was nice, though rough territory really doesn't bother me that much. 

Once inside the compound, I ran into Shawn Welcome, a local [amazing] poet that I know.  He was teaching a poetry/spoken word workshop for the art camp, so he led me to the building where the festivities were being held.  Upon entering the building I was met with a sea of children of varying ages.  Hyper elementary schoolers, stand-offish teens and camp instructors doing their best to maintain order.

One of the first things I noticed was that I was a severe minority.  Of the four white people I can recall seeing, one of the instructors and I were the only white males.  Again, things like that don't bother me, but it is sobering being on that side of the table for once.  I love it.

As soon as I pulled my camera from it's bag, a little boy of about seven or eight, shirt covered in dirt and eyes alight with the glory of God, began a volley of questions, each of which followed with a "Lemme do it!"  As soon as I had my flash on the sync cord, I quickly turned my camera on him and snapped a shot.  As soon as he saw the explosion of the flash, his desire to participate went through the drop ceiling.  So, I showed him the pilot button and he went nuts.  After holding his own little fireworks display and after multiple attempts to flash himself directly in the eyes, (most of which I was able to thwart) I let him hold the flash while I took a few shots.

(I wish I could show you the amazing shot I was able to get of this boy, but many of these kids come from at-risk homes and I do not want to reveal their identities without permission.  However, you can see some of the kids on the program's website.  Seriously, the love of God is spectacularly evident in these kids!)

The events went swimmingly.  Kids took turns displaying the skills they have learned in the various workshops in which they were enrolled.  There was rapping, African drums, poetry/spoken word, painting, guitar playing, even a room-wide rendition of the "Fresh Prince Theme."  With each act ending to a roar of cheers and applause.  (A glimpse of Heaven!)  And at the end, each kid who participated was given an award certificate.

Oh, something I can show:  the kids who participated in the art workshop painted a mural!


After the all the events were through, my little buddy came and found me as we were preparing to take a group photo.  His mantra hadn't changed.  So I draped the camera around his neck and showed him what button to press, and press it he did!  I had left it on continuous shooting, so as long as he press the button, the camera continued to take pictures.  Every time he took a picture, I literally had to pry his finger off the button after 5-7 pictures had fired off.

Once, the group photo was taken, I basically became a school portrait photographer.  Luckily, I had my assistant.  Every child wanted a picture!  Some wanted a full portfolio!  Natural models, they were.  Snap, pose, snap, pose, etc.  it's like they practiced beforehand.  Some of the little guys were already heads and shoulders cooler and suaver than I could even hope to be.

Needless to say, this experience has had an extraordinary impact on me.  I have experienced first hand, the dire needs of this city, and I have seen the Lord at work to fulfill these needs.  I want to give a huge thanks to AD and his staff for letting me be a part of all this and I look forward to what God will be doing through this program in the future, and I would love to be a part of it!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

ARTIST'S BLOCKS


Hey guys, sorry it's been a lil' while.  My sister moved in last weekend and it's been a perpetual line of activities since.  Good stuff!  By the way, tomorrow is her and her roommate's first day of college classes.  Pray that it goes well and that they can find interest and motivation in even their driest of Gen. Ed.'s!

Back to the title slide.

If you have ever glanced at my event's page, you'd already know that the evoke365 art show opened last Thursday.  If you have no idea what I am talking about, I suggest following the provided link in order to familiarize yourself with the topic at hand.

Now that we are all on the same page, the event went very smoothly and the turnout was tremendous! Praise God!  It did pour down rain for the first hour upon opening, so the outdoor events such as: break dancing, spoken word and sharing of testimonies did not come to fruition.  This however, was not as debilitating as it sounds.  The gallery was still packed.  I mean, I had a hard time navigating the congestion in the front hallway where our main display was and people were talking!

The main wall in the entrance hallway.
In the Orlando Magic sponsored room.

My pieces.  It tickles me that they were put next to the photography studio.

Also, we had a book of all the pieces in the show, along with descriptions of particular blocks and their intended meaning.  I was blessed with the opportunity to photograph all the panels of blocks for the book.  I am excited to have my photos published in a book for the first time!  The book is available at the gallery for $20.



By the way, if my calculations are correct there are about 1,603 blocks in the gallery.

It gives me immense joy seeing that many people exposed to the message and culture of Christianity in a rather disarming environment.  With the sheer quantity of topics and styles represented, every person had something to relate to.  My hope is that conversations do get started, that Jesus does get talked about in a real manner and that a culture that worships an open mind, applies that notion, even to something they view as antithetical and stale.





Wednesday, August 3, 2011

DRAWING TOO


Parenthetical Deemed Necessary by the Author
So, I found a force capable of stopping any current train of thought and/or stymieing all productive activity.  The '90s are All That on Teen Nick(Case and point: it took me almost ten minutes to write that last sentence. )  I just caught the second half of All That and am now currently watching Kenan & Kel, so this post could take some time.

Now, I love the fact that Teen Nick is showing all the old shows from my peers and mine's youth, but the commercials between the shows are downright unnerving.  Every break, there is a commercial for First Response Pregnancy Tests and I just saw a commercial for a text-in "love calculator" that literally depicted a bride being left sobbing at the altar because she didn't heed the 3% compatibility reading she got from the calculator earlier in her relationship.

Anyway, Drawing II...

In a previous post, I gave a pregame to this Drawing II class that I have been taking for the past 5 weeks.  The aforementioned post acts as a prequel to this current section, so I strongly suggest you skim the archives in order to get the most out of the following paragraphs.

So, this class was completely different than what I experienced in Drawing I.  A MUCH more relaxed environment, that took some getting used to.  Workload was tiny compared to the 100+ hrs I spent drawing in Drawing I.  We were expected to produce finished pieces, which was blasphemy in my previous class.  Much more creative freedom in this class.  Composition and style were also incorporated in critiques.  A lot like a 2D design class.  No figure drawing at all!  This really surprised me, considering Drawing II at UCF is almost strictly figure drawing.

Though, I did get frustrated with the lack of drill sergeant-style reprimands and crazy high expectations that I have come to love(?) about previous art teachers,  (A little masochistic, yes, but it really pushes you to accomplish and learn things at a remarkable pace.)  I did end up enjoying the class.  The teacher was amazingly nice, and you could tell she just loves art and knows her stuff.

It was a self-starter style class, mainly because we were a group of six Drawing II students that were mixed with about 15-20 Drawing I students.  I basically just practiced the contour line drawings I had learned the semester before.  However, the homework assignments required shading, another no-no in my Drawing I.  This is something I really do enjoy, though I have only really attempted to shade a handful of drawings.  The piece below, I just completed yesterday for our final. 

Abstract Realism was the assignment
Note:  I praise God for providing!  I had been frustrated with my work for a while now, but this piece really gave me some confidence, especially since I have very limited experience in traditional mediums.  I look forward seeing what God has in store for my art in the near future!  Just need to keep the correct goal in perspective.