Shelter

Posted on by Thor

While hiking with Stella Arbelaéz Tascón, we stopped at the Gravel Springs Hut which is a shelter on the Appalachian Trail in Shanandoah State Park in Virginia. While Stella was hiking the trail alone a week before, events transpired here which resulted in her decision to take time off from the hike and stay in a hostel. The story is hers to tell, so I will not relate it here. She shared her story on an Appalachian Trail Community Forum and the comments from many hikers were both supportive and vicious. That one tread said so much about the human condition.

We returned to the shelter late in the day to do a painting. Stella was taking the opportunity to paint locations on the trail that she had not painted before because she was focused on making sure she met her mileage goals. With me around she could slow her role since I am an inexperienced hiker. The final days of the hike became about finding the perfect painting locations and I was very comfortable with that.

We did stay in a shelter almost identical to this one. We ate our dinner on the picnic table and set up our sleeping bags inside the shelter which had a nice wooden floor. After the sun set, the wilderness came alive with a cacophony of sounds. A young married couple was also at this site but they were camping at a site a short distance away. They had both been married previously and had children. Their Brady Bunch family had a baby sitter so that the couple could spend quality time alone.

During the night I became convinced that I heard a bear wandering behind the shelter. I wanted to wake Stella up, but thought better of it. The sound soon shuffled off into the woods. I had a bear bag to store my food and toiletries. Scent proof bags were used to store food and the bear bag was in a steal locker which no bear would be able to open. Bears have to know that only inexperienced hikers would leave food unattended. I think this was my third day of hiking, so I was now an expert thru hiker.

The Skyland Resort Stables

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A small sign on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia marked the end of Stella’s 107 mile hike northbound through the Shenandoah National Park. She wanted to continue hiking north to my Prius for my sake to give me a greater idea of what it was like to hike in the wilderness for many days. Her hiking trail runner shoes had no treads making them treacherous to wear over rocky and slippery terrain. She asked me to pick up an old pair of hiking shoes from her Florida home which I did. She switched to wearing her old hiking boots for the final 13 miles. Her feet must have grown since the last time she hiked in those old boots. Her toes kept pressing against the front of the boots making her feet ache. She actually developed a bruise on her big toenail. On top of that the souls of the shoes started flapping open like flip flops. We had to tape the heal to the boot using duct tape. The patch worked, but it would not last long. We both decided to stop the hike and explore the park by driving to locations that she had seen earlier on her hike that would make good painting subjects. I was happy that we would have more time to paint together.

Stella and I went to the stables at Skyland Resort at an elevation of 3697 feet. It started raining as we arrived. The horses were in a central corral between the stables which formed a U shape. A stable worker opened a gate and let all the horses out into a much larger open field with a feeding area filled with hay.

One horse was not allowed to go out with the others. His hoof was injured and he had to stay behind. This was lucky for us since it gave us a subject to potentially paint. The injured horse stayed at the gate wanting to join his friends. He grew more agitated. This made painting the horse a challenge. In painting his head, I had to decide which direction he would look the most. I decided he would look out at his friends the most. He never stood still. He kept hitting the gate with his front hooves. He desperately wanted to get out.

The stable hand had left which left us to paint uninterrupted. That left the injured horse unsupervised. At one point he almost had the gate kicked open to get out to the field to join his friends. Stella felt our presence might be escalating the situation. When the gate came loose, she took the initiative to make sure it stayed closed. When documenting with a sketch, I try and stay separated from the situation and just record with line and mass. Stella looked deeper into the situation and stepped in to help. I was clueless just focusing on covering the page with paint no matter what happened.

Thankfully we were under an awning which kept us from getting wet. Though I had an art stool, I could not use it since the fence would block my view. I stood and sometimes followed the injured horse to try and get the painting finished. Ultimately, Stella and I both decided the painting situation was fruitless. We both gave up without refining our initial impressions.

I have drawn horses hundreds of times with some of my online students, but in this case, I was painting rather than defining the shapes with line. Even painting, I could not resist trying to define a share with a bold line. This was a good exercise which forced me outside my comfort zone. Rain, an uncomfortable drawing angle and a very twitchy horse created the perfect storm of a difficult painting situation.

In the Clouds

Posted on by Thor
Stella Arbelaéz Tascón hiked the full length of the Appalachian Trail that runs through the Shenandoah National Park northbound. I joined her for the final 13 miles after my trip to Texas to go to the 75th Infantry Division Reunion. Stella was staying at a hostel which gave me a location to drive to. If she was on the trail and camping it would have been a challenge to find her. I would only have a mile marker an endless trail to search. We agreed that one car should be at the end of our planned hike, so that is where I ended up parking my Prius. That was our goal. The hostel was adorable, with boot drying devices on the front porch along with places to hang backpacks.  There was a large map of the entirety of the Appalachian trail in the living room. We were hiking just a section but Stella and Boo Boo her trusty hiking dog had hiked over 107 miles. Boo Boo’s trail name was One Gallon Ninja and Stella’s trail name was Acorn. This was my first time on the Appalachian Trail so I didn’t have a trail name yet. The first day hiking, we ended up starting late because I had forgotten my hiking poles in my Prius. Stella had to drive me back north to retrieve them. I had put the poles on the passenger seat so I would not forget them, and they managed to slip down between the seat and the door where they could not be seen. We got back to the trail head where Stella had last been hiking late in the day. Our hope was to find an hour or two each day to sketch at our campsite. Since we were starting late we had to push hard to make the miles to the planned camp site. A relaxing hike became a race against time Stella would take a rest every few hours and have a small bite to eat. On the last pit-stop I didn’t want to bother taking off my backpack and I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t have a bite. The Shenandoah section of the Trail climbs some steep grades all along a mountain ridge. Late in the day hiking, we were racing against the sunset to try and get to the top of a ridge to set up camp. My pace slowed and Stella with her hiking experience, pushed far ahead of me until I lost sight of her. I kept thinking I could pick up my pace and catch up but my feet felt like they were made of lead. Stella told me that if I faltered on the trail I would be on my own. She would carry Boo Boo out if he could not go on, but I would be left behind until a rescue team might later find me. The sun set and I would pause every few feet to regain some energy. From long distance biking, I know it is important not to look up at the steep grade ahead, but rather to only look at the patch of ground ahead. I had hit my wall and psychologically I had to push through. I shuffled upwards like I was climbing Mount Everest. Then I heard Stella’s chipper voice in the distance, and I knew she was setting up her tent up ahead. I was close and I was elated. When I got to the spot Stella had picked to pitch the camp, I managed to set up the one man tent I was carrying but I was spent and wanted to get some food in me. Stella saw that I was going to abandon the task and she helped me pound in the stakes for tent lines. In the dark, I got to try out the mini camping stove. I had brought a WWII style lighter to light the stove, but the flint just would not ignite the flame. I had to borrow Stella’s lighter.  Finally, I ate my planned Mountain House meal. Fireflies lit up in the woods all around us as we ate. In the morning a dear walked through our camp and was surprised to see us. This gouache painting was done at Little Stony Man at an elevation of 3697 feet. The clouds rolled in and would hide the distant trees and mountains. It was a beautiful and mysterious morning. It felt so good to share it with another artist. https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/stony-man.htm

Van Gogh Cafe

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While I was jumping between Air B&B‘s in Orlando, I decided to go to the Van Goghblin Café (805 W Central Blvd. Orlando, FL).   I ordered a Van Gogh themed coffee and settled in to sketch. This café is near the Orlando City Soccer Stadium in Orlando. Being on the west side of I-4, the neighborhood isn’t the best. I walked there from downtown, so I am not sure what the parking situation is like near the café.

Rather than being a stand-alone café, this seems like a coffee shop for the design firms that occupies the rest of the building. I got there late in the day and the staff was getting ready to leave. I had to rush the sketch since the staff wanted to leave.

In the café ordering area there was a faux window that looked out on a Van Gogh painted scene. Thee menu and Ordering counter were painted Van Gogh blue. Starry night sliced across a bright yellow walk in the communal area. Some chairs were in the style of the night café painting by Van Gogh while others were modern plush leather seats. The leather seating was more popular.

The coffee was decent, but the location makes going here less than appealing unless you are heading to an Orlando City Soccer game.

Port Charlotte Florida: Recovery

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After my hernia operation, my sister and her husband drove me back to their place in Port Charlotte Florida. I had pain meds and stool softeners although neither was really needed.

My sister and her husband each have recliners set up in front of a large screen TV and it is often on. I vegetated on the couch taking naps and watching the British antiques competition shows. I wasn’t supposed to eat any heavy food so I mostly drank liquids.

It was a relaxing several days at my sister’s. After being on the couch for so long, I needed to get out for a walk, so Pat and I walked around the block. I had packed some food in a cooler so I wasn’t infringing on Pat and Mike too much. I also treated them to diner and paid for the hotel since they were doing me a favor.

My doctor had warned that there could be complications, but My recovery went smoothly. I felt stabbing pain in my abdomen several times but over the counter aspirin kept that pain manageable. Shortly after this operation I would be moving to downtown Orlando.

All my belongings were in storage except for a backpack and my sketchbook. After the operation I went to Orlando because I was given the opportunity to sketch as many Fringe Shows as I could handle in May. I ended up sketching over 70 shows while jumping from one air B4B to the next. By moving from Air B&B each week, I figured out where I didn’t want to live in Orlando. Several of the places were on the flight paths to the airport and I refuse to listen to planes land in the morning. Each evening I would look at apartment listings in Orlando until I found what seemed like the perfect artist studio to move into.

I looked at 513 East Livingston Street with a group of college students. They were deciding who would move into which bedroom. I was figuring out what the light would be like coming in the studio windows. I opened up every window in the place to get a feel for the views. I tested light switches and the water to be sure things were working. When I got home, I immediately started mapping out where my art supplies would go. I knew I wanted to move in.

Moving would be a real test to see if the incisions would hold up. I decided to hire two movers for the job since lifting large boxes could cause the hernia to return. I loaded up my car several times. One load was all my sketchbooks. I decided that was the most important cargo. All the sketchbooks in their boxes just barely fit into my Prius.

One item disappeared during the move. That was my Hathaspace Hepa Air Filter. I am assuming the movers needed that item for their home. I purchased a new one for several hundred dollars. It was an expensive “tip”. I will of course never hire those movers again.

 

Dracula, A Comedy of Errors: Set Build

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There was just a week until Dracula, A Comedy of Errors opened at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E Rollins St Lowndes Shakespeare Center Orlando, FL) I got a call from Jim Helsinger letting me know that the stagehands were shorthanded. My virtual teaching courses at Elite Animation Academy had dried up, so I jumped at the chance to fill in as a stagehand. My roommate was also available for work, so I passed along the information. I did this sketch over multiple 15 minute breaks on the job.

The first day I met Alex K the TD for the production. He gave me a little blue spiral bound notebook, which I kept in my pocket to check off notes I had addressed. I added bendy board up above the central arched doorways to keep backstage light from seeping through. Even with the bendy board in place there were gaps which were addressed by another stage hand later on. My experience with power tools was limited in that I have done some work around the house, but I have never had to build a house from scratch.

There were two coffin shaped doors at either side of the stage. The doors lead to a wall. They could open but only partially. I was given the task of adding small door jams at the base to keep them from fully opening. Lighting strips were later added around the inner edge of the doors that allowed them to glow blood red. So far I was doing fine since I was just driving in some screws.

Alex assigned Carpenter, Miguel, and I with putting up the dimensional edging and shelves for a fake bookcase. We worked from the top arches downward to get the slats in place. We kept running into issues with the edging not lining up right. We later realized that it was better to build from the bottom upwards, which solved many of the leveling issues.

I then spent the rest of the day putting purple baseboards along the bottom of all the stage walls. This was made more complicated by the coffin doors which also had the molding at the base. It took some trail and error to get the angles on the baseboards to match the angles of the coffin. If I cut the baseboards to close to the door then opening the door could be problematic. The stage was a constant traffic jam of ladders as stagehands and the lighting crew did their work in a rush for the opening only a few days away.

Late in the day, I was told that the wood grain on the baseboards had to run horizontally. This was a note I had not been given. Most of the boards had to be removed since they had vertical grain. Luckily, I had made another mistake in using staples that were a bit too short to secure the boards to the walls. Since the staples extended into the wall only a quarter inch, the boards came off easily and I cut new boards quickly using the old boards as samples. All the new boards had horizontal wood grain. With the second install of the baseboards, I added much longer staples.

My next job was to add wood panel edging to a section of a wall. All the corners were cut at 45-degree angles to make the panel frames. This had me working the table saw and circular saws to get all the bits and pieces cut. I started gluing the corners but then learned that it would be easier to just staple the pieces to the wall. The circular saw tended to chip the wood, but the table saw gave much cleaner cuts. I didn’t use the table saw for angles cuts since I could not find a guide that allowed me to feed the boards at the needed 45 degree angle. I used a metal triangle running in the slot on top of the table saw when I needed angles cuts.  I learned that the job is made or broken from the moment the first piece of wood is stapled to the wall. I had drawn a chalk pattern using a T-square to get the horizontal and vertical lines in place. Getting at the rectangular box corners to line up needed adjustments. I found myself running back and forth to the scene shop multiple times to re-cut pieces to get them to look square. It was part measurements and part eyeballing how it looked. I was pleased when it was finally done. I felt it was my first day on the job masterpiece.

The next day there was a note that the panels I had obsessed over were not level. Another stagehand dismantled much of my work and put it back together. One thing that many people say to me when they see me sketching is, “I can’t draw a straight line.” It turns out I could not see a straight line if it kicked me in the head. The level is my new best friend. The main thing is that I am learning from every mistake, or so I hope.

Pre-Op

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I had blood tests and that test where they attached all those diodes to areas for the chest done before going to the hospital for my hernia surgery. When in the pre-op area I sketched this nurse who was very helpful. She shaved my chest and pubic hair so that there was no hair anywhere near where the robot would be operating. Another nurse came in and started to do the same test that I had done the week before. She had not checked the chart and was happy to double bill me for the procedure. The nurse I sketched checked and saw that the tests had already been done. She managed to get the charge removed for the redundant testing that was done. When the bill is over $11,000 that savings was lost in the insane expense for the day.

There was infantile beach scene wallpaper trim at the top of the wall in the pre-op room. Somehow that beach scene was not reassuring.

I could not sketch in the operating room. I was knocked out in minutes with anesthesia. I met the anesthesiologist, and my doctor and several other people who were in the room to watch the robot dig into my innards.

When I woke up my sister Pat was in the room and she and Mike drove me back to their place south of Sarasota. I had purchased pain meds and felt some nausea, but I quickly recovered. It was kind of nice to vegetate for a few days and watch British antiques road show programing. After two days, I decided I was strong enough to drive myself back to Orlando.

Now that my chest has grown back all it’s hair, the three bullet hole scars are no longer visible from the operation. The center scar was for a miniature camera and the other two scars were for probing mechanical hands that placed a mesh inside my abdomen at my pelvis and secured it in place. There were not stitches, but rather the holes were super glues shut.

Sarasota Motel

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After traveling through Europe, following the footsteps of my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, I developed a bilateral hernia at the base of my pelvis, below my bellybutton. My sister Pat Thorspecken-Napolitano told me about the two failed hernia repair operations she had and then the operation that finally succeeded. I decided to have the doctor who performed the successful operation on my sister, perform the operation on me.

The operation was on March 28, 2026 at the Sarasota Hospital. I was told that I would not be able to drive after the operation so I needed a ride. My sister Pat and her husband Mike volunteered to help get me to the hospital and get me to their home. We got a hotel room several blocks from the hospital the night before.

Some kid was bouncing a baseball off the wall that had the bed headboards for hours. It makes sense that the universe would be sure to create some havoc just before I would go under the knife. Check in went smoothly in terms of paperwork, but the nurses didn’t read the documents and they started getting me prepped for an EKG which I had done a few days before. My chest was shaved all the way down to my pubes. I was naked as a newborn for the operation.

A DaVinci Robot controlled by the doctor performed the operation. I only saw the robot for a moment before I was sedated and blanked out. The operation cost $11,000 out of pocket and my insurance company, Ambetter Health, didn’t reimburse me for any of the cost. The operation was done correctly and I healed quickly. Sometimes picking the low-budget doctor that insurance wants to use just isn’t an option. I didn’t want an inexperienced butcher cutting me open.

Three small incisions on my abdomen have since healed. Walking and biking have not caused any hint of the hernia to return. Having survived the operation, I am now focusing on improving my eating habits and getting to my ideal weight. A friend is helping me with the diet and I insist on biking or walking to many of my daily chores.

Little Big Econ

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I met my little sister Carol Thorspecken-Bishop and her daughter Anna Martindale up at the Maple Street Biscuit Company (978 City Walk Lane Oviedo Florida.) My sister lives in Upstate New York but comes down to Florida periodically since she has a time share.  Carol wanted to do a short hike at Little Big Econ. The trail was a short ride from the breakfast restaurant.

The Maple Street Biscuit Company serves biscuits with gravy and scrambled eggs and bacon. I wasn’t on my plant based diet yet but the breakfast was delicious and filling. It offered the perfect carbo loading before hitting the trail.

The trail followed this river and once we found this open vista, I decided to stop to get a sketch. Carol and Anna hiked a bit further. There was a large alligator in the water just a few yards from where I was painting. Two guys took off their shirts and were fishing from the shore up stream. They didn’t catch anything in the time I was working on the sketch and they packed up their rods and moved further upstream.

It is always good to see family, even in the wilds of Florida. Anna had some juicy gossip and I got to catch up with what my north east relatives were up to. I have been painting with gouache again and this scene is an example of how opaque paint could have helped in making the scene more painterly. In France a photographer joked with me saying you can paint any color you want as long as it is green. This scene reminds me of that joke.

Stella showed me some books of the Florida State Parks. I am now thinking it would be nice to go to each park and paint. Those paintings would be oil or gouache. Now that could be a fun series of paintings before the parks are raped and turned into golf courses. I wonder what the biking distance is between each park? I am an old man however and would likely burn gas to get between State Parks.

Jail Bird Trump Puppet Build

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I helped Stella Arbelaéz Tascón when she was working on a 14-foot-tall Jailbird in Chief puppet. She researched online videos and websites to figure out how to construct a the puppet. A walker was found and dismantled. She then added backpack straps to the walker frame which became the backpack that she would wear which supported the giant head and torso.

The head was constructed from white flexible plastic hose. She built a simple wooden base from scrap she found in her garage. A metal pipe was mounted to that base to support the head as she worked. She figured out how to take simple tubing and make it into a dimensional face. I didn’t do to many sketches of the process since my hands were busily helping. The puppet needed to be completed before a No Kings Rally just 13 days away.

Once the heads tubing structure was complete the “Skin” was added using paper mache. Stella added al the paper to the delicate features of the face, and I helped by doing the same for the rest of the head. Three layers of the paper mache were added to make the head feel solid to the touch. I was pleased and nervous when Stella asked me to paint the head. Making him look like Trump would be a challenge. I blocked in basic skin colors and added thick eyebrows using yarn. Stella stepped in to add warmth to the cheeks lips and ears. I liked her quick bold painting suggestions, and it affected how I painted moving forward.

I also was put in charge of building Trump’s hands. The hands were just as big as the face and were constructed of a cardboard form for the palms and pool noodles for fingers. Unfortunately, Stella didn’t have enough pink pool noodles for both hands, so I had to get more noodles from Family Dollar. Those noodles were blue and a bit thicker. I had to carve them down with an electric blade to try and match them with the thinner noodles. Spray foam filled al the empty spaces in the palm and helped keep the fingers in place. Like the head paper mache “Skin” was added. It was fun painting the Trumps bruised hands.

It was in the final days of the build that Stella had to figure out the puppet’s torso and jumpsuit. I helped by making a stencil and painting 666 as the prison number on the jumpsuit. She had multiple sleepless nights sewing that giant jumpsuit and assembling everything. I have no idea how she finished everything in time. Unlike her, I had to rest.

This was the second huge project to christen Stella’s new large studio space. Opening the space in the room allowed for larger than life ideas to take form.

The giant head was balanced on a pipe inside the puppet so it could nod. The puppet was so large that two people could fit inside. I needed to hold all the weight of the puppet as Stella strapped on the backpack. Once she was standing and balanced, I could duck out of the puppet. At that point, I would be in charge of holding a long stick which supported the bruised right hand.  It is so fun to be the friend of an artist who thinks so big. I am so happy for the time I had to collaborate.