New Mural in Downtown Orlando

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I learned from the Bungalower that a new mural was in the works in downtown Orlando across from the Orange County Regional History Center. It is being painted on the back wall of the historic building at 1 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando Florida.

The mural was commissioned by Launch That, a digital marketing and branding firm that owns the building, and made possible through a partnership with City District Orlando Main Street and the Downtown Development Board. The mural depicts a female astronaut and a rocket launch.

I once did a sketch of this building for the Orange County Regional History Center to help promote a show that had some of my sketches on exhibit. The show was called The Accidental Historian. I like the name of the show since the Accidental Tourist is one of my favorite films. I identify with William Hurt who was upended by divorce and slowly learned to start living his life again.

The Red Tape Studio team was hired to install the multi-story mural. What I sketch was just the initial plan of what is yet to come. I was hoping I might sketch someone on scaffolding, or hanging out a window, with a paint brush in hand. But I had no such luck. Individual colors and values are all outlined in blue line just like one of this paint by number kits my brother Art used to use as a kid. We used to have his happy and sad clown paintings in the basement of our childhood home.

Mower Medic

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Across county road 48 from the Yalaha Florida General Store is the Mower Medic (8721 FL-48, Yalaha, FL 34797) which is a lawn mower repair shop offering fast turnaround times and is recommended by customers.

I sketched a rusty truck yesterday so I decided I should sketch another rusty truck and a rusty metal roof. The Mower Medic does a brisk business. During the course of doing this sketch 4 or 5 people drove up to drop off or pick up mowers.

Besides working on mowers, the medic also helps out with automotive issues. The red jeep to the right of the building needed work and two men were working on it. One of them shouted out to me, “Is that going to be a famous sketch someday?” I shouted back, “It is famous now!” He chuckled and got back to work. Finally one of the two decided to walk across the street to see what I was up to.

We shook hands and he introduced himself. He was Steve Russel the owner, head operator-head surgeon. He pointed out that he didn’t own the property. That was owned by his next door neighbor. Steve has a daughter who loved to draw. She had a poster of a movie actress and she drew her twice. once with her left hand and the other with her right hand. I kind of wish I had that talent, I could be doing two sketches at once. When not working on mowers, Steve likes to work on jig saw puzzles. He had a huge collection of puzzles, and he sold them all for $300. While sketching, I was attracted to a vintage car parked behind and the the right of the building. It had a rounded rear window and round red wheel wells. It was a classic car and clearly well loved and cared for. It resembled a 1950s Chevrolet classic. The exact make and model I can not be sure of since all the online photos show the cars from the front and I only sketched this car from behind.

Moonshine

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Down the street a block from the Yalaha Studio is Blue Bayou Farms, ( 8222A County Rd 48, Yalaha, FL 34797), the home of Yalaha Bootlegging Company. If you get three bottles of moonshine there you get the fourth bottle free.

This classy rusty truck sits roadside to attract the attention of passers by. The road is 48 which has constant traffic including 18 wheelers. As I was sketching a truck driver fired off his horn, perhaps expecting a wave or just trying to distract me.

I know that in the farm stand there are many flavors of moonshine. I imagine that a redneck margarita is a special blend of moonshine.

Blue Bayou Farms is right next to the infamous Yalaha Bakery. A large fence was put up between the properties I suppose to avoid cross pollination between the two venues. I should think that someone ordering a German pastry might want to wash it down with moonshine. Yalaha Bootlegging Company is now serving craft cocktails at the distillery. You can enjoy award-winning moonshine, brandy, and rum while you visit and shop.

Rather than using grains to make their moonshine the Bootlegging Company used blueberries, watermelons, peaches, and cranberries. The fruit, sugar and yeast are combined in an airtight tank to make the mash needed for distilling. That large garbage can sized tank is distilled for 8 to 10 hours to get about 5 gallons of moonshine. I was told that in blueberry season they offer people the option to pick their own blueberries. That sounds fun but it would be even more fun to distill your own moonshine.

Pioneer Statue

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In Portland Oregon, I sketched the pioneer sculpture which reminded me of my first ancestor who settled in Grand Island Nebraska in the 1950’s named Augustus Thorspecken. He thought that Grand Island, Nebraska would likely become the nations capital since it was in the center of the country.

Augustus came to America in his 20s, studied to be a doctor in Saint Louis and met his future wife, Lucinda in Iowa. The town he met her in flooded when the river changed course. He was a founding member of a German singing society in Grand Island and he is mentioned often in the town newspaper.

The tongue in cheek stories are fun and not always factual. In one, the doctor found a man sawed in half in his saw mill. Augustus  assessed the situation and simply sewed the man back together. He was described as a man who offered advice but that advice would often do more harm than good. He died in his early 40s, likely from an airborne virus he picked up from a patient. He gave a lecture on virology to local doctors at a conference, but masking was just not a thing that was practiced in those days.

Boo Boo

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While Stella Arbelaez was down in Miami trying to get into the Colombian Consulate for three consecutive nights to get her Colombian ID and passport, I got to watch Boo Boo at the Yalaha Studio.

On the third evening she went there at about 9:50pm the night before. She was 4th in line and stayed overnight for when the consulate opened at 9am the next morning. Ultimately her 3 nights of perseverance paid off and she got both her Colombian ID and her passport which would be mailed to her when completed. In crazy uncertain times having the right documents offers peace of mind.

Boo Boo is an adorable hand sized pup with tons of personality. He joined me on my walk each morning, then we would have breakfast together. Since I work at my desk all day long, he was good about letting me know when I needed to play. One day he had the zoomies like I had never seen in him before. He reared up on his hind legs resembling a mini grizzly bear. I threw his small aqua colored stuffed rabbit and he went wild in pursuit. Each day I looked forward to his high energy play time.

Since my princess and the pea bed is so high off the ground, Boo could not safely jump off. I decided to sleep on the couch so Boo could get up and off each night. He slept curled up in the nape of my neck while lying on his little sheepskin rug. The added warmth helped me drop off to sleep. I grew attached to him so quickly.

Today I will be driving to Orlando to sketch a theater performance. I am feeling guilty leaving Boo on his own for a little bit. I have been given very specific instructions on turning on music for him to listen to and to reassure him and say good by when I leave. I know that he once tore a hole through a doorway when he was left alone. Despite the assurances and instructions it breaks my heart to leave him. He has been stuck to my side like glue for the three days we have spent together. Leaving him seems like it will break the trust that we built.

That evening after catching up with Stella, I went to my bedroom to sleep in my own bed again. There was a tiny brown blob on the floor. I couldn’t figure out what it was. I poked it with my finger and it moved in a gelatinous way. Then I noticed a small clear puddle nearby. I looked at my finger and it dawned on me that I needed to wash my hands and get some paper towels. Boo Boo had expressed his annoyance that I had left him alone by leaving his calling cards. I feel his dissatisfaction with me was justified. I had let him down and broken our trust. Since he is such a tiny pup, the cleanup was simple.

C’est La Vie Inn

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On a trip to Eugene, Oregon I stayed at this quaint little Bed and Breakfast called C’est La Vie Inn (1006 Taylor St Eugene, OR 97402). Translated from Spanish the name is “It’s Life Inn.” It was an opulent gingerbread house with all the Victorian fixings.

I am studying Spanish every evening now so it is appropriate that I might stay at C’est La Vie. I am finding that the early stages of learning Spanish, I am mostly just mimicking the sounds I hear. When first faced with remembering the words I was pronouncing I drew a complete and terrifying blank. I have decided to start a sketchbook devoted to sketching the words I am memorizing. I figure that by sketching the object I might commit the word to memory. We all learn differently and I am assuming that I am a visual learner.

Duolingo was sad and despondent for many months but now the little green own is ecstatic that I am studying a new language so diligently. Tonight I am trying to watch the original Star Wars in Spanish. A narrator pronounced each line in the script slowly and then explains the meaning in detail. It turns out You Tube is a good resource for learning new languages. I taught online art courses for eight hours today and then finished the above painting.  Rather than relax my plan is to learn something new.

The Elk

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The Elk Fountain is located  in Portland Oregon. The Elk, is a  bronze sculpture by American artist Roland Hinton Perry. The fountain and bronze sculpture was donated by former Portland mayor David P. Thompson in 1900 to commemorate the elk that once lived in the area.

Originally a drinking fountain. The top section served humans, and the lower troughs were for horses, dogs, and goats. The unveiling of the sculpture was met with some controversy. “The Elks [Lodge] refused to come to the dedication because they thought the sculpture was a monstrosity of nature,” said Kendellen. The elk is disproportionate. The body, in relation to the head and gigantic antlers, is much smaller and skinnier than a real elk.

In 1974, Thompson’s Elk and the Plaza Blocks were designated as Historic Landmarks by the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission, under the name David P. Thompson Fountain.

Over the years, the statue has been vandalized many times. The elk was vandalized during the Occupy Portland protests (2011), and had the antlers repaired in early 2012. The statue was tagged with anti-Trump messages in 2016.

The monument became a gathering place for demonstrations by George Floyd protesters, who lit several fires in the troughs along the base in July 2020. The damaged bronze elk statue was removed for cleaning and safekeeping on July 2, 2020. The stone fountain was removed on July 17, 2020, after it was determined that there was severe damage to the stone and basin of the fountain. In 2024, the elk statue was repaired and construction on the fountain’s replacement is set to begin in this year.

 

 

Welcome to Matteson

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Welcome to Matteson is being performed at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater through March 29, 2025. Written by Inda Craig-Galván, the show is a welcome dinner for a couple who just moved to the suburb of  Matteson from the Cabrini projects in Chicago. The Cabrini projects are notorious for crime Regina and Cory Baker (Kerri Hollingsworth and Walter Riddle) make clear that there are also many positive aspects to the community from which they came.

Throwing the welcome party are Patricia and Gerald Griffith (Danja Le’Chelle’ and Christopher James Murry.) Gerald and Cory hit it off talking abut water heaters and plumbing and it turns out they came from very similar backgrounds.

Patricia is it turns out was a resentful host since she didn’t really want to see people from the projects settling in her neighborhood. Regina was taking communications courses and she and Patricia definitely didn’t get along. If anything can go wrong with a welcome dinner party, it does, although there are moments of absolute playful joy. The couples are trapped in their perceived places in the social class structure. I had read the script when I was working on the poster for the show, by the performances from this stellar cast truly brought the show to life. I love getting to see the seed which germinates into a stellar production.

The play was playful and fun while also having moments that are absolutely shocking. The audience would actually gasp. I would highly advise you get your tickets and see it for yourself.

Preservation Partnership

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On a trip to Portland Oregon, I sketched this sweet historic brownstone. For hundreds of years my family on my mothers side lived in old brownstones in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Therefor these old building hold a sweet spot in my heart.

Time was limited, so I dashed off the sketch rather quickly. I recall that downtown Portland had quite a few of these types of historic gems.

I love traveling and exploring a new city with my sketchbook. I thought I might be exploring quite a few cities when my film COVID Dystopia did it’s round in the film festival circuit, but lets face it, no one wants to be reminded of the pandemic. Certainly no one wants to be told the virus is still circulating and causing incurable long COVID symptoms.

Exploring new places is a joy with a sketchbook in hand. I will continue to explore Yalaha after I finish up the series of theater posters I am now working on.

 

 

 

Follow Up

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This morning I went to the hospital for a follow up meeting to see how I have recovered from the Laser Enucleation of the Prostate with Morcellation Bladder Botox. The procedure is a minimally invasive procedure that uses pulses of laser beam to remove tissue from the inside of the prostate, which surrounds the urethra (the tube leading from the bladder to the urinary opening). The waiting room was empty.

The first day of recovery, I was peeing blood while I was in the hospital. The procedure to be released was a whole day affair, and by the end of the day I had stopped peeing blood. More importantly I was peeing like a race horse rather than the trickle I had to endure prior to the operation. Prior to the operation my PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) was 128 and after the operation it went down to 65. Prior to surgery my prostate was the size of a softball and it strangled the urethra making it difficult to pee. After surgery I was told my prostate was the size of a chestnut or what you might expect in a 35 year old.

My recovery has been swift but I was told that epithelial cells still need to grow inside the bladder. Until that healing happens, I still need to get up several times each evening. My hope is that healing will continue.