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.

 

 

Old Church: Portland Oregon

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While in Portland Oregon I sketched The Old Church (1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR).

While living in NYC, I sketched the 50 oldest churches in the 5 boroughs, so of course I would have to sketch a church called simply, “The Old Church.”

It isn’t actually a church anymore, but, a  performance venue in a Gothic, former church with a pipe organ and stained-glass windows. It was built in 1883. It is also knows as the Sanctuary of Sound. It was, saved from demolition by community activists and volunteers in 1967. Concerts are a mix of musical performances, including rare opportunities to see groundbreaking national and international artists, in an intimate setting. They also produce and host free Summer Concerts and monthly Lunchtime Concerts, community social justice conversations (through We Can Listen), and ambient music concerts during new and full moons. If I lived in Portland, I know this would be one of my regular venues to sketch. It has a welcoming vibe. I was immediately drawn to it.

Teddy

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On a trip to Portland Oregon I took a stolen moment to sketch the Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider Statue. is a bronze sculpture by American artist Alexander Phimister Proctor.

The equestrian statue was completed in 1922 and depicts Theodore Roosevelt as the leader of the cavalry regiment that fought during the Spanish–American War called the Rough Riders. The sculpture was cast in Brooklyn, New York, and was shipped by sea via the Panama Canal to avoid cutting the work into pieces.It was toppled by demonstrators during the Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage in October 2020. The statue is set to be restored and re-installed at a yet to be determined date.

The creation of the statue was documented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in its 1922 film, The Making of a Bronze Statue.

The Football

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I woke up this morning and felt inspired to do another sunrise sketch at the Yalaha studio. Front and center in the sketch is the ginormous pine tree root ball that I have been cutting roots off of for the past several weeks. Looking at the sketch it looks like I have accomplished nothing and yet I light a root fueled fire every evening.

The bamboo are so tall and graceful. They clatter together with any breeze. Stella Arbelaez used these bamboo as inspiration and as the building material for her sculpture, The Cathedral: Within and Without. Some bamboo were knocked down with hurricane Milton, and others were cut and treated for the sculpture.

A compost pile is started in hay under the shed. I just realized that it needs to be watered and the last couple of days I did that and the thermometer temperature in the pile spiked up. The heat shows that the composting is taking place.

My Instagram feed is full of idyllic homesteads with lush gardens. I am starting my journey to start learning what to plant and when. I placed garlic in a cup held in place with toothpicks to see if I can get it to root and I am doing the same with a carrot top. I wanted to start a potato tower but I have to wait until November to start that project since it likes cold soil. Hopefully there will be mature compost by then. I am just starting to grow the vegetables I tend to eat every week and will expand from there assuming I have success. The Yalaha studio, homestead is starting to show signs of new growth.

Sunrise over Yalaha

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I seem to be following celestial movements with my last few sketches. I have been following the phases of the moon on each evenings fire pit burn and this morning I woke up before a bit early to sit on the front porch and watch the sunrise over Yalaha.

I seem to be trying to ground myself to the earthly movements as we hurdle on this little rock through space.

It was interesting trying to sketch the sun rise. I was just finishing drawing the homes when the sun first peak up above the roof line of the house across the street. I immediately switched to painting and added the brilliant sun. Then when the sun was fully exposed, my sight whited out because I was starting right at the bright light. I lowered the brim of my baseball cap to keep from being blinded and switched to painting the foreground. The lighting switched from dark to light and I had to decide what looked right for each passage of the painting.

When the sun sets, I am still online with virtual students. I often have to use a black curtain too help block the light from allowing me to see the computer screen. Because if this I have become quite familiar with the movement of the sun. There are many tall pine trees that block an unobstructed view of the sunset each evening. On past vacations as hoards of tourists lined up to take cell phone photos of sunsets, I would sit and sketch the tourists, completely missing the sunset myself. Painting a sunrise or painting a sunset are the most challenging painting assignments when on location.

Root Ball Blaze

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A huge pine tree fell next to the Yalaha studio because of the winds from Hurricane Milton which blew through central Florida in October of 2024. Milton was the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico.

I have been cutting off roots from the seven foot tall unearthed root ball. Native plants have already started to grow on top of the football shaped ball, like a chia pet. If only my balding head could be so resilient. I gather the roots I cut off and set a fire in the fire pit each evening. It is a slow mesmerizing way to get rid of the storm damage. I have started cutting off the larger roots now, so the fire burns brighter and longer each night.

I felt an incredible sense of peace tonight as I watched the blaze and worked on this painting. I have fallen in love with this hidden slice of Florida. The lot next door is completely undeveloped and I could hear critters foraging around in the woods. The gentle wind caused large bamboo stalks to sway and clatter against each other. Bamboo and tall pines pointed to the stars. The fire would snap and sparks would rise up also leading the eternal gaze to the night sky. These quiet moments are helping me ground myself. After four hours of virtual teaching the fire help me wind down.

A rain storm yesterday showed that the gutters to the home are clogged in one spot. In the afternoon I got the ladder out and cleaned the gutters.  I am also digging a trench to bring roof rain water away from the home to the edge of the property. I found that the gutter had a mesh on top of one of the downspouts to keep pine needles and other debris from clogging the spillover. The other side had no mesh so I added some screen as a stop gap solution. I also up-righted a fence that had been knocked down by the fallen pine tree. I just used 4 by 4s to shore up the fence until I dig new fence posts. It felt good to be outdoors and doing physical labor. I worked up a good sweat and it felt awesome.

Perhaps the physical labor is why I felt so at peace sitting by the fire. I had earned this moment of bliss and happiness.

Oregon Tree Stump

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I have been working on breaking down giant root ball for the last couple of weeks which is from a fallen pine tree knocked down by Hurricane Milton next to the Yalaha studio.

I am a bit like an ant trying to move a mountain. Each night I burn the roots that I have clipped off with sheers.

The section of the pine tree that fell in the yard was cut with chainsaws and carted away. The tree cutters were supposed to return to grind down the root ball, but they haven’t returned yet. In the mean time I am using the roots as fuel for the fire which  I  enjoy each night.

My virtual classes let out at 8pm and I quickly make dinner and then eat it outside beside the fire. The finest roots make the best flames. they ignite quick and furiously. The bulk of the pine tree that fell is in the undeveloped lot next door. Several other trees fell in that dense tropical forest of a lot. One of the fell on a house on the far side. Some roots develop into smooth pointy shapes that are quite menacing. I am saving them from the fire because they might be useful for a future sculpture or wood caving.

There was a huge rain storm the other day and I got to see what parts of the yard flood first. I am working on a drainage ditch but that only effects water coming from the roof gutters. The other areas that flood may have to be filled with sand, dirt or mulch so the water flows off to the edge of he pr0perty. The gutters seem to get filled with pine needles rather quickly. I clean out the back gutters yesterday and plan to clean the front gutters tomorrow.

From the chaos of destruction, comes the brilliant flames of inspiration for what may lie ahead. During the day, I have been doing theater poster designs. After class, I plan to start wandering out and paint nocturnes in oil or maybe digital. I will try both. The night time is when this artist gets to play and experiment.

Blood Moon

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Another night fire to burn away roots from an uprooted pine that fell from Hurricane Milton at the Yalaha studio. Sometimes rather than sate at the fire, I like to look up at the immensely tall pines that point up to the stars. On this night an owl kept hooting in the woods behind.

Sparks from the fire would ascend and then flicker out. The blaze was white hot on this night. The thinnest of roots are like kindling and they light up in a flash. After finishing the sketch I felt research was needed. It was a basic full moon but my curiosity told me to look deeper into the celestial happenings that night. I discovered that a full Lunar eclipse was going to happen.  There was a total lunar eclipse, or blood moon later in the evening. I didn’t want to miss it. I set my alarm to be sure to experience it first hand. Lunar eclipses occur when the earth is between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow across the lunar surface. During “totality,” the moon moves through Earth’s umbra, the dark center of its shadow, giving rise to the red-hued “Blood Moon”. The lunar eclipse reached its maximum phase, whereby the moon is fully obscured by Earth’s deepest darkest shadow, the umbra, at 2:59 a.m. eastern standard time. When the blood moon was at it’s zenith, I added it to my painting. A telescope was not needed the moon turned as red as mars.

I was feeling accomplished because I had worked my way out of a box I had painted myself into on the design of one of the Shakespeare Theater posters. At the start of the night the poster felt weird, but after many adjustments it is now my favorite poster of the season. It is unexpected but recognizable.

I bought some Masonite and a couple of thin wooden slats today. The plan is to constrict a very simple carrying case of oil paintings I do on location. Once the box is constructed and the oil paints are squeezed out on the portable palette, I plan to start doing oil paintings after class ends at 8pm each night. All the painting will be the same size which is just big enough to fit snugly into the shelves of my bookcase. If this world I will be able to store hundreds of paintings neatly shelved like books.

Today Stella Arbelaez hooked me up with the Leesburg Center for the Arts which has a membership support group called the Tropic Art Alliance. They meet every third Thursday. This month I have a class when the group meets, but I am hoping I can get to the meeting next month. Mysterious happenings are occurring on land and in the sky.

Las Vegas Airport

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The Las Vegas airport is unique in that slot machines can be found in every nook and cranny of the place. Obnoxious theme songs echo through the halls and waiting lounges. Even with all the noise,, some passengers with delayed flights, manage to sleep through it all.

I didn’t touch a slot machine for my entire stay in Las Vegas. I was there for stage shows and sketching opportunities. The Las Vegas strip is much like Epcot with faux hotels mimicking places from around the world. But for a full Las Vegas experience, you really don’t have to leave the airport, just start hitting the slots hard as soon as your flight arrives. I don’t see the appeal, but clearly many people do.