Prior to the Pandemic I was doing a series of sketches of Orlando’s Significant Trees. This was the final series f sketches I was doing before the sate wide lock down. Dickson Azalea Park (100 Rose Garden Drive) is a rare gem in Orlando. Of note in this scene are the Long Leaf Pine trees which are about 100 years old. They are extremely tall because they had to compete for light against the Oak trees which grow along the upper edge of the ravine.
The paths in this park follow a stream and the entire park is sunk because of erosion, sort of like a mini grand canyon only less orange. I have become infatuated with the pattern that tree branches make against the sky. Working with the complexity of natural forms I also have an excuse to just play with the paint, sometimes just splattering the page for pattern.
I have just 3 of these locations yet to visit, but I stopped after the stay at home order. I have no need to have my work labeled #floridamoron because I risk my life for the sake of any one painting. Instead, I stay in and paint the nightmare that is modern politics that first didn’t recognize the problem and then does as little as possible to resolve it.
On March 3, 2020 the day this sketch was done, California Governor Gavin Newsom released millions of N-95 face masks to be used in low emergency health settings. That state was mobilizing every level of government to address the impending threat of the virus. On March 3, the third case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in Florida. One was a 29-year-old Hillsborough County woman who had recently traveled
to Italy and the second was a 63-year-old Manatee County man who had
contact with someone who tested positive. The third patient, was a 22-year-old California woman, who was the sister of the
29-year-old Hillsborough County woman who was diagnosed after traveling
to Italy. On this day the Florida Department of Health first set up a Covid-19 hotline. On the day after this sketch was done Florida Governor Ron DeSantis informed Orlando residents, “that the risk of contracting the coronavirus is low for Floridians.” He was clearly WRONG, and should have been preparing for what was to come.
A few people have complained about my dark pandemic illustration series, so periodically I will just post a pretty tree for contrast with the harsh realities we face. There is good reason to someday, somehow return to a new normal. But this can not happen until our country gets serious about testing and tracing to isolate those that are infected. People are protesting the stay at home orders, but they are risking their own lives and the lives of others because anyone carrying a picket sign could be infected.
Today over 27,000 people are infected in Florida and 800 have died. The numbers don’t begin to hint at the precious lives lost and the creative potential of every person who died needlessly. One of my favorite artists, Egon Schile died in the pandemic of 1918. Who knows what he might have created had he survived.