Volunteer Appreciation 2014

Artography by Dlonzo
“It’s not just a Photograph, it’s Art!”

At the volunteer appreciation party in 2013, I found out that my supervisor had performed and that everyone was really impressed by his singing. I would later find out that most of the people at ZACH had aspirations of entertaining in some form.

 When I found out about the party for 2014 I decided I would see if I could attend the only way I knew how. I asked if I might get invited to photograph and video my supervisor performing.

(Colleen shows off her new born to some of the volunteers.)

(The evening started with drinks in the lobby and were greeting by Kathy and Vanessa)

That in turn lead to me photographing as much of the evening as possible.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I enjoy capturing an event. This allows the viewer to relive it or to imagine what it might have been like to be there. I don’t like when pictures are posed unless it adds to the telling of the story. I like to get those candid moments. The element of surprise. Sometimes the moment someone might like to forget. LOL.

It was an evening of getting to know people. When I arrived I had no idea what to expect.

 I didn’t know what the lighting would be like or the layout of the room. I would only have a certain amount of time to get things together. I thought I’d sit at the table with the staff that I knew, but I found out that each staff member would sit at a table with volunteers. It surprised me, but at the same time gave me a chance to get to know some of the volunteers. It was an interesting concept and it made the volunteers comfortable around me.

(Volunteers Hank and Nancy)

Which always makes for great pictures.

(Ryan, who was selected the favorite volunteer by the SXSW team and Vickie)

Now I’ve made several new acquaintances as a result.

(Kim and Leta at the check in table)

It was a night of food, drink, entertainment, speeches, awards and fun. Here are a few of the images taken that night.

(Elisbeth welcoming everyone to the volunteer appreciation party.)

(Kyle giving his greeting to the guests.)

(Keith, who has racked up many volunteer hours and enjoys special priveledges.)

(Leland preformed during dinner as did Colleen and Daryl)

(Daryl and Vanessa posing after the event was over.)

Thanks for stopping by; and keep an open mind.

(Some of the volunteers that sat at the table with me.)

Check out some of my art at Bluecanvas.com/Oznol. Some of these are for sale. Remember Artist Trading Cards (ATC) are available simply by asking. Send an email with ATC in the subject and I can email one to you.

(Dave giving an incredible speech in regards to the future of ZACH Scott Theatre.)

The Art of Cooking

I've been experimenting in the kitchen as I do from time to time. Every now and then a person gets tired of the same dishes over and over. I like the routine because if I ever get sick I know exactly what I ate on which day. Of course the artist in me wants a little change and I get creative. Earlier in the week I bought some mushrooms and I put them in the fridge since I already had food prepared and as I mentioned I have a routine of things that I eat on certain days. Anyway, I didn't want the mushrooms to go bad so I decided to cook them all at one time. I made a pizza with mushrooms,tomatoes,pepperoni,olives,and three types of packaged cheese.
I put this on a 10" tortilla and it comes out great everytime.

With the remaining mushrooms I sauteed them in a large pan with onions, green pepers and jalepeno peppers. Then I tossed in the diced tomatoes and chopped some green olives. After it cooled down, I put it in the fridge to have another day. I decided to put the mixture over rice and topped with a piece of Talapia.

Today I'll put it over pasta with some sort of meat. The options are endless. Its a great idea for people who really don't like to cook, but don't have a problem with leftovers. You just have to decide what works best for you. If you have a big family then there may not be any leftovers.

Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind.

The art of cooking

There is an art to almost everything. When we think of art we think of paintings or photographs. We think of those ceramic vases or plates some of you might hang on your wall. Rarely do we think of art as a formula, but that’s exactly the way Da
Vinci saw it and Michelangelo. When you think things through and see it from all angles then you can create something beautiful. You can figure out the solutions to all of life’s problems. I was thinking about making an apple pie, but I didn’t feel like rolling out dough and I didn’t want to go to the store to get one of those store bought pie crusts. I also didn’t have any cookies to create a quick crust. What I decided to do was take a tortilla and line the pie plate. I then took a second tortilla and cut it in strips to create a lattice top. I scooped in the apple filling and placed my strips on top and then put it in the oven for 35 minutes. It smelled great and when I pulled it out it looked great. Today I will do a taste test.

Another dish that I prepared since it was so hot I decided to do something that would cool off the body. I boiled a dozen shrimp, made some rotini pasta and steamed some veggies. I let everything cool and placed it in the fridge until I was ready to eat. I placed the shrimp I a circle in the bottom of the plate. I then put in the veggies followed by the rotini. Then I poured ranch dressing on top. Just enough to coat it and then mixed it in. You can actually use any of your favorite salad dressings. It’s a great summer dish and it doesn’t take a lot of time.

http://www.dlonzo-OpenYourMind.blogspot.com

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=58144381
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=54325957
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=54365247

Transforming ordinary items

The image is a shadow created from the patio table.

Art can be found in virtually anything. As I’ve said many times, it’s only limited to your imagination. In a time of recycling and helping the environment there are some things we can use to make beautiful works of art. When I was in Hawaii, one of the wineries made candle holders out of the wine bottles. All wine drinkers have purchased wine that had beautiful decorative bottles and we didn’t want to get rid of the bottle after the wine was gone. You can buy a candle globe that can go over the bottle and put a small candle in the opening and you have a candle. You can also turn wine bottles into lamps. You can buy cords and drill a small hole into the bottle to run the cord. Had the socket for the bulb and you’ve created a unique lamp. Make several and give them as gifts or sell them. You can also take the plane bottles and remove the labels and then take some of your favorite scrapbook paper that matches the décor in the room and decorate the bottle with various strips around the top, center and bottom. Add some glitter or beads and sit on a window sill and let the light create art within the art on the walls and ceiling.

http://www.artbydlonzo.blogspot.com/

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54325957

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54365247

http://www.filmloverpg.blogspot.com/

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=38275088

http://www.n4cersworld.com/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/

Check out the above links if you haven’t already. Watch for new links.

Time to get back to reality. Rebuilding my life, one step at a time.
Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind. What is meant to be…

The day after

There was a lot to be thankful for yesterday and I shared it with some special people. I decided to stay home and enjoy my alone time cooking for myself. I tried a few things I hadn’t done in a long time and a few new takes on familiar dishes. I made potato salad using canned potatoes. The dish came out okay, and its less time consuming, but one of the joys of cooking is the boiling of the potatoes, touching the hot skin as you try to peel the potatoes before they get too cold. The other thing I hadn’t done in a while was to make corn bread. I was never a big cornbread eater, but on occasion… I made it in a larger pan than what the box called for which made the batter thin out. This made it only rise a little and when I cut it into square it looked like little cookies. It as quite tasty if I must say so myself.
The gumbo was the highlight of the day. I’ve now learned to master this both from scratch and using the box. I’m good at doctoring things up and making them my own with added touches. I always found the box gumbo to be too thick so I add more water and I add lots of shrimp and sausage. My mother used to make a file gumbo which you don’t find in many restaurants or homes in the south. File gumbo was more of a creole dish and most of the cooking that I do was handed down from my mother and grandmother. I’m not a fan of cajun cooking because they put so many foreign ingredients in their foods. I like to know what’s swimming around in the bottom of the pot. There are many dishes that traumatized me as a kid and it took a very long time for me to eat them when I got older. One such dish was cawan or turtle. The first time I ever had turtle soup was at Delmonico’s on St. Charles Ave in NOLA. It was a company function and I decided to give it a try. Anyway, the reason the dish was so traumatic is because my family used to cook the large turtles in a large pot. Their heads would be chopped off, but they would still be alive. They would try to claw their way out of the pot. Just the sound of the claws against the side of the pot were enough to scare a young kid to death. My grandmother would comfort me in the front room until finally they were ready to be prepared for dinner. Luckily this only happened during one of the holidays, either Christmas or Thanksgiving or some other big winter family gathering. Another dish was cubean, which was a large piece of fish cooked whole which included eyes and all. The piece of fish usually measured at least 2 feet in length and was place on a platter in the center of the table. The fix was lavishly decorated with many garnishes including lemon slices. As long as I didn’t have to look at the fish looking back at me I was okay with that. During those days we sat at the children’s table so I didn’t have to look at the fish while I was eating.
I am thankful for all the wonderful people that have come into my life and those that remain to this day. I appreciate all that you have done. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Time to get back to reality.
Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind. What is meant to be…