My Journey began early Saturday morning, my bag packed and loaded into the “Man Van”.
I climbed in as Jethal took the drivers seat, and once settled he brought the van to life with a quick turn of the key. As we pulled out of our driveway I savored the last of my morning coffee and let my drift over the events that would happen later on, in a place that many people dream of visiting.
We had to make a quick stop and grab our friend Greg who had made taking this trip possible. No, not just a trip, but an Adventure.
Elquinjena was going to Hollywood!!
It was also more than just going to Hollywood, I was off to attend an once in a lifetime event, The Tutor’s Gallery!
Over the course of the past 4 months, myself and many other “Students” had been participating in a online art class of the most unusual nature. This class, dream child of Terrance Zdunich and Shem Andre Byron, brought to life our teacher, The Tutor.
It has been said that The Tutor is a cross between Bob Ross and Ted Bundy, and was this teacher, while under the watchful eye of Shem, who gave out weekly lessons and homework. The Tutor also took his roots from Terrance Zdunich latest project “The Molting Comic” a 12 part series which Terrance has been working on over the past year with 5 issues out to date.
This night, October 23rd 2010, was to be our graduation, a celebration of the work of the students, the ushering in of the 5th comic of the Molting series and a visit from The Tutor, who would offer up a Live performance of a lesson!
Once at the airport, Greg and I started off our adventure in a way we thought fitting of the event we were attending.
Nothing is more tasty than a bloody breakfast!!
Once on the ground we were taken to our polish accommodations at the LAX Hilton Hotel.
The view from the 13th floor was lovely!
Soon it was off to dinner with my guild-mate “Cheddarella”, also known as Sheryl Adsit. It was my birthday present from her to be our chauffeur and guide for the evening. Of course we had to kick things off with some tasty drinks!
With my entourage in tow we waited outside The Paul Gleason Theater on Hollywood Blvd for the event to start.
The front windows held a display of some of the items used in The Tutor’s lessons.
Once we were allowed in and properly stamped, the Roll Call of all the students names greeted us.
The foyer also offered a chance to view Testimonials created by students , about The Tutor’s lessons, an interesting offering of food and snacks, a place to purchase Tutor merchandise
The The Lovely and very talented Danica Bergagnini was at the merchandise table.
and some of the fresh new copies of issue 5 of the Molting Comic
and of course what all the best galleries offer, a bar!!
This was adorning the wall above said bar!
With Drinks in hand we moved further in to find the Tutor’s classroom waiting for us.
The dark walls were off set by original art work from the Molting comic, done by Terrance Zdunich, art work from the Tutor videos, and right along side these offerings were pictures of all the students artwork.
On a table in front of the main stage was the “Teachers Assistant” petting zoo, Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. These were offspring of Marv and the late Goldie Cockroach who also co-starred in the Tutor lesson plans.
Some students stepped up and adopted the offered offspring, and are now documenting their growth with a Show and Tell with The Tutor.
Along the back wall and above the stage was a large bank of set, all displaying clips from each and every student’s work who took part in the Tutor’s lesson plans.
There was a audience area for people to sit and watch as the students lessons as they were displayed on the tv sets above the stage.
The crowd grew thicker as time passed, people mixing and mingling, passing out smiles, hugs and warm greetings.
Students got to meet other fellow students who came from far and near to attend the evenings gala.
Few people knew that this black box theater was really a part of history, it was in this very theater that Repo! The Genetic Opera had first started out.
So it was wonderful to see not only Darren Smith, co-creator of Repo!, attending this event
but also Darren Bousman, director of Repo! , Saw 1-4, Motherday and creator of Abattoir
I was most honored when I asked SpookyDan if I might take his picture, but turned the tables on me by saying I should have mine taken with him.
Spooky Dan Walker is a self proclaimed Horror Culture Activist, heads up the Repo Army, , a film artist and director, among many other wondrous things.
Even while he was being pulled in a thousand different directions, shem took a moment to stop what he was doing and give me a hug. A bit later I snagged him for a photo. What you can’t see is that Shem is wearing a Death Record t-shirt!! Another fan of Phantom of the Paradise !!
Shem is the video director, editor and co creator of The Tutor series. He also spent 12-hour days for weeks editing content that was submitted by all the students during the course of the lessons which was then shown on the tv monitors which were above the stage area. Many hours of hard work, devotion and love went into bring the Gallery to life for all to enjoy.
Shem took the stage as the crowd packed in closer to listen to start things off with the costume contest. Many a brave soul mounted the stage to show off their costumes, with a lobster and guilty Susie taking the prizes for this event.
This is a short bit of the opening to the main part of the tutor gallery which was held on Oct 23rd 2010 done by Shem Andre Byron
Finally the Tutor took the stage to give all in attendance a lesson they would never forget.
After the lesson student graduation commenced along with awards given to to recognize some exceptional students.
The Tutor’s Live Lesson Terrance Zdunich
As the lights dimmed we headed out onto the street to reflect on the extravaganza we had been lucky to be a part of. The warm southern California air greeted us as we made our way back to our transport back to the Hilton Hotel and of course more drinks. It was an event of a lifetime and we were witness to it.
To check out the Tutor’s Lessons you can check them out here:
Lesson One, Lesson Two, Lesson Three, Lesson Four, Lesson Five, Lesson Six, Lesson Seven,
Lesson Eight, Lesson Nine, Lesson Ten, Lesson Eleven, Lesson Twelve, Lesson Thirteen, Lesson Fourteen
To view my homework you can check it out on Elquinjena’s Channel
Or start out with the First Homework Here, there are links in the description that will lead you to the next homework.
