Family History

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On Sunday, Pam Schwartz held a zoom meeting with a former museum colleague whose family history she had researched. When Pam begins researching a person’s genealogy she works incredibly fast scouring though millions of online resources to look deep into the family’s past.

Many evenings we sit together on the couch and work on each of our family trees. Back in the 1990s I started researching my tree using the New York public library in New York City to find links to the past. Pam introduced me to online research and I re-worked my research entirely using online documents to verify each fact found. It is possible to find the smallest details of a persons life at the touch of a button.

I lost two relatives recently and their loss renewed a need to piece together moments from their lives. I feel like that is an artists propose to document personal history through sketches and paintings. It is rewarding each time I find that a distant relative left behind a paper trail that has hints about what their life must have been like. Very often they are stories of human resilience and perseverance all of which offer lessons for life today.

After Pulse: Geoffrey Paquette

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content. Post written with narrator’s consent.

Geoffrey Paquette is a union leader and is one of the protestors who was arrested for a sit in Marco Rubio‘s office.

On Sunday Geoff went to Centra Care because he was sick. His wife was away in Atlantic City. She texted to ask if he was OK. He called her back and she asked, “Did you hear the news?” He hadn’t. He turned on the news to find out what had happened. He hadn’t been to Pulse before but they lived just a mile from the club.

He went to the vigil downtown. there were about 50,000 people there. There were so many people, you couldn’t even really move. It was incredible. Then there was the vigil in front of the new performing arts center.

The union began to pull together with the activist groups, like Organize Now and Jobs for Justice, CWA, and the Unitarian Church in Orlando after Pulse. There were weekly meetings. There was an outpouring of support where people felt that had to do something.

Marco Rubio was one of the first politicians to stand in front of camera to say how horrible the Pulse shooting was. However he does nothing to help Floridians in terms of better paying jobs. Laws are needed to benefit working people in the state. He didn’t support any bill to outlaw assault weapons. Prayers for the families are empty without meaningful actions.

The union was involved in the planning for the Marco Rubio sit in. Most of the Union staff of about 25 who went to the sit in are hotel workers. About half the staff went. They met at Organize Now’s office prior to the sit in. They were not even sure if they could get in the building. They filed into the building in s line. The security guards must have been on a bathroom break. The lobby was empty. Everyone sat don in the lobby. When the guard got back from the bathroom, he found 80 to 100 people sitting in the lobby. He shouted, “OK, everyone out!” This was a way to apply pressure against those, like Rubio,  who did nothing following the Pulse shooting. It was a way to push for what is right. You have to put your money here your mouth is. Geoff was arrested and he is proud that he stood up for what he believes in. It was the right thing to do. Unfortunately Rubio is still in office.

Let COVID Burn!

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Ottawa, Canada has been under siege form a truck convoy since January 26, 2022. The truckers are protesting a vaccine mandate for truckers, implemented in mid-January on both sides of the US-Canada border. They want the freedom to spread disease.

Protester demands include an end to all Covid-19 restrictions in Canada and the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Much like the insurrection at the United States Capitol some protestors carry Trump, Nazi and Confederate flags.

Ottawa Mayor, Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency, and Trudeau’s government has deployed hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the protests. This has not stopped the protest from expanding and shitting don several bridges which are important trading routes between the United States and Canada.

The protest in Canada has inspired copycat truck protests. CNN reported that the Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement across the country that a convoy of truckers protesting Covid-19 vaccine mandates could soon begin in the U.S., with the potential to affect Sunday’s Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area and cause other disruptions. “The convoy will potentially begin in California as early as mid-February and arrive in Washington, DC, as late as mid-March, potentially impacting the Super Bowl LVI scheduled for February 13 and the State of the Union Address scheduled for March 1.” the bulletin said. Law enforcement and security officials guarding the Super Bowl in Inglewood, California, are preparing for any possible disruptions.

Red Alert

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As hospitalizations drop across the country states have begun to drop mask mandates. Governors have begun to feel that they can not stay in a state of Red Alert indefinitely. However hospitalizations are still higher than they even have been in any previous wave of the pandemic.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, people are done with COVID, but “COVID isn’t finished with us.” He appealing for more support to fight the pandemic after his agency reported that new infections fell but virus deaths rose worldwide over the past week.

“Depending on where you live, it might feel like the COVID-19 pandemic is almost over, or, it might feel like it is at its worst,” Tedros said. “But wherever you live, COVID isn’t finished with us.” In all, WHO reported more than 19 million new COVID-19 cases and just under 68,000 new deaths from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, 2022. Experts say the figures are believed to greatly underestimate the real toll from the pandemic.

“If you want to ensure vaccinations for everyone to end this pandemic, we must first inject fairness into the system,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. ”Vaccine inequity is the biggest moral failure of our times, and people and countries are paying the price.” “The end of this pandemic is in sight, but only if we act together for equity, and for solidarity,” he said.

COVID Convoy

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COVID Omicron cases in Canada are coming down but they are still higher than any previous wave of the pandemic. Deaths peaked around January 29, 2022 but are still higher that the second and third waves of the Pandemic.Those numbers of course pale to the over 900,000 who have died in America.

Canadians are done with COVID but COVID is not done with them. The virus can not be wished away with the notion of individual freedom.

The “Freedom Convoy“, a large protest in Ottawa, Ontario, that began with truck drivers opposing a cross-border vaccine mandate continues to snarl traffic and disrupt everyday life in the Canadian capital more than a week after it began.

Ottowa is now under a state of emergency. On February 7, 2022, some drivers blocked traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, a key crossing between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, CBC reported. They also got the backing of more than 100 Alaska truck drivers who rallied in support of the convoy, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Some protesters say they’re staying until all public health mandates are lifted, while others have called for the dissolution of the current government, as NPR‘s Emma Jacobs reported. In addition, signs for QAnon, right-wing militias and Confederate and Nazi flags have also appeared among the protesters, Jacobs said. Ottawa police made several arrests over the weekend, seized fuel from some protesters and issued more than 450 tickets. A judge ruled that truckers couldn’t sound their thunderous horns for 10 days.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who is recovering from COVID-19, has said that engaging the military in response to the protests is “not in the cards right now.”

Saddles and Stirrups

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After the riders left for their trail ride at Freedom Ride Inc. (1905 Lee Road Orlando Florida), I stayed behind and sketched in the barn.

For those who are into bondage, there is a kinky selection of straps saddles and stirrups. Honestly the possibilities of intricate still life’s is infinite.

This is the type of subject Andrew Wyeth would excel at. I knew my tie was limited because of how long the trail ride was going to take but I used every moment to get something on the page.

There was very little planning to the sketch and I might do a much better job today. That is part of the challenge and joy of sketching. The result is never exactly what was expected but the next sketch is sure to be better.

Crealde: Sketching the Tent

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For the second Urban Sketching Class at Crealde School of Art, we reviewed one point perspective and discussed two point perspective for blocking in a scene. For the first class we were indoors since it was so cold outside but this week we ventured outside where it was a bit chilly but tolerable.

I did drawing on a chalkboard on this back porch area and then asked everyone to turn around and draw the tent behind us. The only goal was to fit the tent on the page as best as possible.

This demo sketch which I walked around at each stage of it’s progression pointed out that the tent does not need to fill the page. I decided it just needed to fill half the sketch while the students in the foreground became the real center of interest for the story.

I had them commit to the sketch they were doing by using pencil to plan, then pen and ink to commit and finally watercolor. The challenge is always to get students to truly spend the time to develop a sketch towards becoming a painting. There are some real talents in this class and they are soaking up concepts I throw their way quickly. As the world returns to a new normal they will have a new tool (the sketchbook) to explore it with.

I am still working in an ancient sketchbook with horrible thin paper, but that means I can make a mess and not worry too much about the result.

Trail Ride

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Pre-pandemic, this is a sketch of a group of riders getting their horses saddled for a  trail ride at FreedomRide Inc. (1905 Lee Rd. Orlando, Florida.) I didn’t ride, I was just here to sketch. I love the subtle chaos in the stables.

The act of getting the horses saddled up happens rather fast so I had to rush to get people and horses on the page before they were gone.

Where I to do the sketch today, I am sure any unmasked riders would be breathing plumes of toxic COVID breath.

I have gotten requests online to be more of an ostrich, and ignore the pandemic, so here I present the lighter side of life with leather and confinement straps.

It was a sunny day but when the riders left, I stayed in the dark barn sketching.

A Trot

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This is a sketch done at a horse riding area on Lee Road in Orlando. I passed this spot after getting Mohs surgery to remove skin calendar on my right cheek.

I had mohs surgery once before and ended up with a small heart shaped scar on the bridge of my nose. This time, I am told, the scar runs from my ear lobe to the base of my nose. I suspect this will result in my looking like the Joker from Batman.

Pam took some photos of the gaping open wound but i haven’t had the stomach to look at them yet. I also haven’t seen the scar since I am still bandaged up.

Ironically the open wound never hurt but after getting sewn back up I can feel the pain seeping in. I have decoded that a fine tawny port is the best medicine for the night. I need to drink just enough so I don’t feel my skin anymore.

I have an offer to to fill a sketchbook at another local horse barn and look forward to the opportunity. It will be a good opportunity to improve on these informal sketches done back in 2009.

Choate Rosemary Hall

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Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present name and began a co-educational system with the 1971 merger of The Choate School for boys and Rosemary Hall for girls.

I did this quick sketch while listening to a spoken word and music session.

I have mountains of sketches like this which were never signed or shared online, so I will slip one in once in a while to lighten up the daily feed.

This was sketched pre-pandemic when it was nice to sit in an intimate enclosed space and enjoy the music. I wrote Nancy and Caroline’s names on the sketch probably with the idea of sharing it with them later but I never got around to it. It was just filed away like every other sketch.

In related news, Joni Mitchell is removing her music from Spotify following in the footsteps of Neal Young. They are protesting the platform that supports the misinformation of podcaster Joey Rogan. I am thankful that artists have begun to stand up and take a stand against misinformation which is killing Americans.

If more artists take a stand then streaming platforms like Spotify will eventually have to take notice, or eventually we will face a world of silence and conspiracy theories. Somewhere in my mountains of sketches I found several sketches done at a Simon and Garfunkel performance in Central Park in New York City on August 15, 1991.