“Life is a support system for art, not the other way around.” – Stephen King
Each year, the Red Chair Project in Central Florida kicks off the arts season with a fundraiser called the Red Chair Affair. It is one of those things that our community really didn’t even know it needed until it started happening; an evening of coming together as a community and recognizing that there is culture everywhere in our area. In the process, the evening raises funds for the Red Chair Project which provides people a one-stop-shop, if you will, for arts and cultural offerings here.
The event takes place in the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, a space I like because the lobby is an addition to the building and basically they enclosed the front edifice of the original building. No idea why I like that exactly, but I think it has something to do with my childhood and being fascinated with terrariums. As long as I’ve lived here, people have complained about the Carr with the primary complaint being the acoustics, even though most of us couldn’t really explain what that means. So there is an ongoing movement to have a new performing arts center built, after which they’ll raze the Carr – that’s how we like to do it in ’merica. Time will tell if it all comes to pass…but I digress.
Part of the Red Chair Affair is a silent auction of red chair that various entities have made into pieces of art. When the Affair rolled around this year, I had the bright idea that there should be a Scottie Saves the World chair. Since I have an artist in-house, I enlisted Brendan to help me. And by help me, I mean have him make it.
Funny how creative things happen: we had one idea in the beginning that we came to through sketching and counter-sketching. We were hoping to incorporate a little raku pottery in the execution. Brendan has recently dabbled in raku with some of our friends, but being new to it, he would need their help, and also access to a kiln. So our best intentions met their usual foe: scheduling. Everyone is busy trying to make a living and trying to, well, live, so time begins slipping away.
The Red Chair’s first deadline loomed and passed, so we missed the opportunity to have the chair displayed at CityArts Factory. Not a huge deal since the final deadline was nearly a month away, but the marketing whore in me sighed heavily (many times) at the missed opportunity.
Fastforward to the week of the final deadline, July 30. In the time that passed, Brendan had sculpted a head and hands from clay to be fired and passed them along to our friends who tried to fit a firing in the aforementioned process of making a living and, well, living, but time was running out. So Brendan’s creative mind whipped up the creation you see here using a material called Sculpey, a styrofoam ring, duct tape, felt, stuffing, and a repurposed globe (which he acquired by sending out a bat-signal through Facebook). It wasn’t what we set out to do, but I think it’s adorable.
A few days after turning in the chair, I was corresponding with Jennifer Bonner, IKEA Red Chair Coordinator, to make sure everything was in order. She assured us it was and loves the chair. That was exactly what our fragile artist/world saver hearts needed, particularly since she said LOVE in all caps confirming one simple fact for us: she REALLY means it!
Now, back to my original sketch, my thought was the little guy in the concept was me – you know, Scottie Saves the World – but this elderly gentleman looks nothing like me. Then I realized that after spending three years with me this week, Brendan has realized a truth about me: while most people have an inner child, I have always had an inner grumpy old man. He sits around dormant and pokes his head up every so often – some days more often than not. (When I’m drinking, the little guy is in full force…and full voice.) So this chair, as I see it, is Brendan’s loving artistic interpretation of me. One thing I certainly share with my likeness is that look of determination in the task at hand.
The online auction for this fabulous chair is currently underway. In addition to the chair, Watermark’s publisher Tom Dyer is throwing in a half-page full-color ad in Watermark! That’s a $645 value, and the starting bid is only $75! You could get a bargain on an ad for your business, or you could buy it and donate it to a deserving charity or arts organization. Heck, you could just make an ad announcing you’re fabulous.
Oh, by the way, lest you think I was completely lazy during this process, I painted all the writing on the sides. Fantastic, I know. I was also the brave person who put the little red IKEA chair together. If you’ve ever put together anything from IKEA, you know that the process is equal parts patience and profanity. As you can imagine, my inner grumpy old man helped put the chair together, the expletives were plentiful and quite creative.
To bid on our chair and advertising package, click here. For information on attending the Red Chair Affair on August 28, visit here.
