CONVENTION REPORT OAX 2025 - PART TWO
Friday Night was the cocktail party and reception for VIP Guests and the invited artists— this was a lot of fun last year so we were looking forward to it— we had some great conversations with the team at ComicLink— one of the best Auction houses there is— and good friends and fellow artists and collectors Josh and Sherri Flanders. It was chilly outside— okay it was cold— and the cocktail party like last year (which was a hot humid night) was held in the outdoor courtyard— this year I hovered so close to the large heaters they had stationed that I singed the edge of my hair!
We were meeting friends and fellow art colleagues for dinner at a nearby restaurant so we walked over and had an amazing meal at an Indian Restaurant.
Walking back the real feel temp was 31— we were both dressed for Florida weather so it was a cold four block walk.
The next morning the show was off to a rocking start and we sold a ton of originals, did 6-8 commissions and talked to a lot of fans and art buyers. I wish I had a little more free time to shop all the art in the room but I did manage to pickup a piece of art I bought from Jiggy at Next Comic Art which was the Mark Torres BATMAN VAMPIRE piece I posted in Part One.
I also managed to find a great Michael Avon Oeming piece (shown above) from Anthony Snyder — I’m a big fan of Mike’s work and I’ve wanted to find something that both fits his style and captures what I like about it— this Wolverine and X-23 piece fit the bill.
Saturday night we had dinner with good friends (I’d go so far as to call them family) Mark and Aline Fornaris— for Mark’s birthday at Charley’s Steakhouse. The company was great— including Spider-Man artist Humberto Ramos, Kentucky State Trooper Dave, Cheryl and so many other members of Team Fornaris they’ve all become good friends.
Charley’s Steakhouse was out of this world. For starters we had broiled lobster tail— I don’t like lobster—I feel like all you can taste is whatever you dip it in to give it flavor— but broiled it was really good— didn’t need to dip it in anything. We also had some out of this world Crab Cakes— the last Crab Cakes I dealt with were in Baltimore where everyone raves about them and like the city itself they were terrible (sorry Baltimore friends— you need to work on your crime and your crab cakes—the excuse that “all big cities” have this problem is lame). These were amazing. We also had Escargot— which was my first try at snails— and believe it or not they are a new favorite. I could have eaten a whole plate of them.
My steak arrived perfectly medium rare— never order a steak any further done that that or you’ve killed the poor thing twice— and it was so tender I literally cut it with my fork. Easily the best steak I’ve ever had. The secret is they cook it on a 1200 degree grill— and these guys know what they’re doing.
We got back on the late side— and hit the hay for the final day of the show.
