Mike Lalone has drew several portraits of the people who have influenced him the most in life, like this rendering of Bob Hope, which was signed by the late actor.
Murphy
A person's life work is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the entire or main work of a person's life. For Mike Lalone, this statement is two-fold because on the surface, it seems his life's work has always been the arts – drawing or pottery – but his real life's work is helping others.
Lalone has been drawing since he was 2 years old. Growing up without today’s technology, like computers, he was able to find a creative way to express the things he loved as a child.
"My parents kept all my old drawings of birds, Mickey Mouse and anything that interested me as a child," he said. "My mom was a painter, and I got that from her and my work ethic from my dad."
Lalone said his parents were good influencers on his life because they were encouraging and positive in achieving his dreams.
"As long as it was positive, they would tell us to just do it," he said about his parents attitudes. "Everyone in my family was encouraged to do something positive. Mine was drawing and sports. We had six kids in the family and most of us could do a little art, and the rest were really left-brained and technical."
Lalone said he had to learn how to see what he wanted to draw and be able to put it on paper.
"Drawing is seeing," he said. "You have to be able to put down on paper what you see, unlike a stick figure, which is symbol of a person, you have to be able to see the lines of the cheek bones or the direction of the light coming in."
Favorite things
Lalone said his favorite things to draw are people because every face is different and every story about the people are different, too. He has drawn several portrait renderings of famous artists, actors and athletes, which he has in his own collection and has donated to specific charities.
One caricature is of Terry Bradshaw, former quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who was a featured speaker for the Boys & Girls Club in Orlando several years ago.
"He was so much fun to work with," Lalone said. "I had a chance to speak to him and he said, 'Boy, did you do that? Man, I wish I could draw like you!' and I replied, 'I wish I had four Super Bowl rings like you.’ He was so engaged and interested, it was terrific.”
The Boys & Girls Club is a national organization close to Lalone's heart. He said the organization was a positive place for kids to go and he would go there when he was younger.
"The club has grown incredibly, the clubs are there to benefit disadvantaged youth. I never saw myself as disadvantaged, but we were regular kids and we had a place to go," he said. "I donate every year to the organization. It’s a wonderful place to grow."
Lalone has also donated his 2D work to The Carter Foundation, Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando and Dan Maar BG Club.
First passion
Lalone, known locally as the pottery guru who organized the Empty Bowls fundraiser at John C. Campbell Folk School for several years, said many don't know his origin in arts was not forged in a kiln.
"Everyone knows me as the clay man, but what they don't know is drawing was my first passion and what I taught in schools for more than 21 years," he said.
At a young age, Lalone showed talent in drawing and took art classes all throughout school. He soon found that art could help him in more ways than he realized.
"I would draw all kinds of concepts that I didn't want to write down and in college. In my anatomy and physiology class, I would draw everything," he said. "I drew a knee joint, and my professor asked me to draw a sketch with lines to use as a test. I asked him if that meant I didn't need to take the test, and he said, ‘Of course you do, you should be able to make a 105 on it.' "
Lalone said drawing was a way of blending his academics and art. He has also illustrated books and magazines.
Lalone taught art at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando for 21 years and Orange County Public Schools for another 10 years. As well as teaching art, he was a coach and officiated games.
Lalone took recertification courses at Valencia Community College, where his advisor told him to take clay courses since the art courses were easy for him.
"I agreed to get it out of the way and I became enthralled with clay. thought, ‘wow, I can play in the mud again,' " Lalone said. "Del and Barbara Walker Seaman were my teachers and offered me so much, they predicted within a year I would give up coaching and be involved in clay full time. In a year and a half, I was asked to teach clay and physical education at the same time."
Whenever Lalone enters a new classroom, whether it is his own or not, he always draws a caricature of himself or students he finds behaving.
"I bring in my sketch book, and when I catch a student doing what they are supposed to be doing, I'll draw them and tear off the sketch and give it to them," Lalone said. "Some of the kids will see me out and say they still have their drawing, or the parents will frame it as a keepsake."
Art is life
Lalone knows the importance of art for students and even older people in the community. He has been involved with the Cherokee County Senior Games and is a board member of the Cherokee County Arts Council.
He taught pottery and drawing classes at the folk school for 15 years and today has a pottery class at Young Harris (Ga.) College.
"I stay in practice and sketch the pots I want to create," Lalone said. "There is definitely a difference between drawing and pottery. Drawing is more sedentary, and with clay you are moving all the time. The physicality of clay is attractive to me."
Lalone knows the importance of giving back to the community and acknowledgment of the positive in the action. He founded a local scholarship in his parent's names three years ago called the Marcel and Ellie Lalone Scholarship. The $500 scholarship is for supplies and needs for college for a Cherokee County student who shows artistic inclination.
"It all ties back together," Lalone said. "Because mom and dad really encouraged me and my siblings, I wanted them to be remembered and show how parents have a positive influence on their kids."
Donations can be made for the scholarship at United Community Bank in Murphy under the scholarship name.