Life: The Ocean

Posted on by Thor

The new Life exhibit at the Orlando Science Center, 777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL, features three habitats, the Swamp, the Amazon, and the Ocean.

The Ocean features a huge cylinder shaped aquarium. The top is open and I am left wondering how long it will take before people start throwing coins in the tank. Of course the exhibit is still under construction.

There was one lone hammerhead shark swimming in the tank the day I drew it. I knew that the rest of the fish were in quarantine, waiting to be introduced to their new home.

The coral isn’t live. It consists of sculpted replicas. To grow live coral would involve a huge investment in bright halide lighting or direct sun light. I am guessing that the challenge of keeping fish alive is enough without also trying to grow live coral. Live coral is so beautiful though. I had a live coral tank and it was rewarding but a challenge. Granted 180 gallons if far less that this huge 10,000 gallon tank in the museum.

Since the fish were not in the tank yet, I contented myself with sketching the metal fish silhouettes hanging from the ceiling.

Life at the Orlando Science Center

Posted on by Thor

The Orlando Science Center recently completed a huge installation called Life. The exhibits cost 13.5 million and was paid for by private donors along with $10 million from Orange County from Tourist Development Tax dollars.

I was asked to come in and sketch in the final days of construction. I started with the Swamp. The body of water and the huge cypress tree trunk at the base of the stairwells was already there but other animals were added along with the baby alligators and turtles. The gators spend much of their time sunning themselves under the heat lamps.

Life is the largest and most complex exhibit the Science Center has ever built. The exhibit teaches the story of the planet through the animals that call it home. The exhibit focuses on three distinct environments, the Swamp, the Rainforest and the Ocean.

A habitrail was set up in the ceiling of the Swamp which will allow squirrels to scamper above guests heads. The squirrels had just been introduced to their new home and were too shy to venture out while I was there sketching. A small owl watched me warily the whole time I sketched. Since the exhibit wasn’t yet open, I felt quite at peace working away on the sketches. I could hear crowds of screaming children running up the stairs of the museum but from where I was it was quite peaceful. I wondered what the owl though of all the screams.

Key West: Ghosts and Gravestones Tour

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At the end of Duval Street in Key West there is this Ghost and Gravestones Bus Tour that we all decided to take. Bartender Joe was our guide for the evening.

Though not on the bus, Robert the Doll was  another star of the tour. Robert is a creepy German made doll in a sailors suit who is on display in a museum. Robert is rumored to move things in the family home he resided in. If something was out of place, “Robert did it.”

We saw Robert on display in a pristine glass museum case. A flashlight was placed on top of the case to illuminate the doll. As the docent spoke the flashlight flickered and went out. Was this a paranormal occurrence or a faulty battery?

Of particular interest were the graves of babies that line Passover and Windsor streets. 167 babies are buried there. Many of the graves are over 100 years old with the families long gone. In the past couples would have many babies in the hope that some might survive and live into adulthood to help the family thrive. Many children died in their first year due to disease. A former Key West mom was returning to the island and wanted to visit her child’s grave. When she saw the sad run down state of the cemetery, she decided to restore not just her babies grave but all 167 the graves at the site.

We also stopped by the African Cemetery at Higgs Beach. Three illegal slave ships were intercepted in 1860 and diverted to Key West. Residents worked to feed and shelter the 1500 Africans. Despite the efforts hundreds died and were buried in a mass grave at Higgs Beach. Many of the bodies were moved when construction began on Fort Martello. There is paranormal activity reported in the area regularly.

Key West: The Strand

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My friend wanted to entertain her niece so we took a trip down to Key West. Ironically I spent much of the time teaching virtual classes from the Air B&B we rented while they explored the island. I have been to key West before so I know many of the typical sites. I did get out in the evenings and they wanted to hit up a posh restaurant on Duval Street which thankfully had outdoor seating.

The main drag of shops were constantly crowded. It was like navigating busy Manhattan sidewalks. My friend and her niece have both had COVID and they are over it. They dropped all basic mitigations. At first I tried regulating my breathing but then I put on my N-95 mask and forgot about it. I might be the only person on the island in a mask, but that is fine with me.

The Strand Theater is gorgeous, but unfortunately it has been turned into a Walgreens. Entertainment venues might come and go, but people always need drugs.

Next to the Strand is a bar with tons of dollar bills hanging from the ceiling. Stickers covered every other surface. I didn’t try and sketch all that detail.

We ate at La Tratoria, a posh Italian Restaurant. They have flavored martinis, zuppa, antipasti, insalate, and of course lotsa pasta.

After diner, we walked to the west site of the island to watch the sunset with the rest of the crowd. Once the sun set, a bell was rung.

Memorial Day

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On Memorial Day a friend and I got away to the beach. I kind of miss beach days. Granted I spend most of the time under an umbrella with my legs covered with a towel. I am like a vampire, if the sun hit my skin it instantly burns. My friend can lay in the sun all day and not be effected in the least.

The couple to the left clearly did not wear sun screen. After several hours the guy was as red as a lobster. He was clearly a tourist and had no idea how strong the Florida sun is.

Being in the middle of the state of Florida, a drive to the beach is an hour in either direction. That drive is often enough of a hindrance to keep me from taking the trip.

The sound of the waves breaking on the shore is relaxing, but I never manage to relax. I always feel the need to sketch.

I am just noticing now that the book in this sketch looks like it is floating. I should have found a way to sketch in the far hand holding the book.

Taco Cheena

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I was near Taco Cheena on Mills Avenue in Orlando one morning to meet a student. As I waited, I sat down and finished off a sketch to pass the time. The student never showed up. When you are an urban sketcher such moments are never wasted.

Someone was waiting for a bus across the street in front of the Forest Gump mural. He was picked up long before I finished the sketch.

Taco Cheena wasn’t open yet but I saw someone moving trash out. It looks like they have a food truck as well. They open at noon. I have never eaten there but I will have to order food from there someday. I don’t eat in restaurants anymore since I know too much about the COVID virus which is still circulating but unreported. There is outdoor seating which I appreciate.

Maybe someday all restaurants will have strong HEPA air filtration systems so that patrons can breath clean air indoors while they eat. I am not holding my breath however.

Cyclops

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For the day of the out Macular Degeneration patient Eye surgery I had to wear a plastic Eye shield. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to do a Van Gogh inspired self portrait.

The eye patch was removed the following morning at the doctors office by a nurse. She waved her hand in front of my face to see if I could see and then held up one finger to see if I knew how to count. She pulled her hand away with the one finger and asked if I could still see her finger and I let her know that it was still attached to her hand.

What had been a red blob in my patch covered vision was now a blurry and wet view of the office. The lower half of my vision was till a grey air bubble. I can see through the grey air bubble but it is like looking through gauze of a thick fog.

My eye looks like I was punched by Mike Tyson without a boxing glove on. There is no white to my eye, it is all a bloody mess. I was told the bubble sloshing around in my eye will disappear in several weeks. In the mean time I tend to get sea sick whenever I move my head. It turns out I am always moving my head except when I sleep.

I will not be venturing out to sketch on location for a few weeks. My Sunday Crealde classes were canceled, not because I look like a monster, but because not enough students signed up. I am thankful to have the Sundays off to recover, but I have a dozen virtual classes each week that I need to pace myself through. I had rescheduled virtual classes that were slated for the day of the surgery to the following day. I am very glad I did that because I felt nauseous and rested most of the day after surgery. The make up classes went alright but I rested between the classes. Today I have 8 hours of virtual classes back to back. It will be an adventure to see how I hold up.

Eye Surgery

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I have been seeing double and no it is not because I had too much to drink. It has gotten to the point where I hesitate to drive at night because there are far too many lines on the road.

Going to a regular eye doctor, I was diagnosed with macular degeneration. What that means is that the retina inside my eyeball is swollen and therefor my vision is distorted in that eye. since one eye is unaffected, by binocular vision causes me to see two of everything. This is not an idea situation for a visual artist.

A friend drove me to The Orlando Ophthalmology  Surgery Center. It was scheduled for 6:30am but was thankfully rescheduled for 8am. The receptionist asked which eye need surgery, I said my left eye and pointed at it. He responded with Right Eye, and we had to correct him. There was the usual agonizing wait in the waiting room. I had sketched this waiting room before since I took another fried in for an eye surgery years ago. I felt less inclined to sketch but once I put a few lines on the page I was called in.

There is no HEPA air filtration system in the waiting room or in the pre-op gurney waiting area as far as I could see. I was intubated. pointing my toes in pain when the needle was shoved into a vein in my hand. An anesthesiologist and nurse who would control the drip both asked me a series of questions. I was asked multiple times which eye needed surgery and they pasted a sticky note above that eye. My surgeon came in and asked me again and he signed off on the sticky note. A clear eye shield was placed over my other eye.I wonder how many incorrect eyes they jabbed before they developed this stream of checks and balances.

As I lay on the gurney the lights blacked out and then flickered back on. A nurse joked that they really should pay the power bill In another passing conversation a nurse said she would marry for money rather than love. None of the nurses wore masks though the anesthesiologist wore hers as a chin strap. I had to take off my quality N-95 mask and wear the baggy yellow surgical mask they offered. I know it is worthless against an airborne virus and it is amazing that doctors and nurses do not. I had a brand new n-95 mask in my bag, but I could not use that either. I breathed as shallow as possible especially since one nurse was coughing up a lung. I felt like I was in a horrific third world emergency room. Doctors and nurses who are not required to wear masks refuse to wear them because the do not care about the health of their patients. They are actively promoting and encouraging infection. In the surgery room, everyone wore their surgial masks which offered me some form of relief.

I was awake but groggy for the surgery. My doctor told me most patients don’t remember a thing. I however remember seeing everything as it happened. A blue bag was taped over my head. I saw a purple pitchfork shoved inside inside my eyeball from the left and it stabbed a sheet of film which waved in the fluid like a flag. After the surgery a patch was taped over the eye. when I tilt my head a black fluid line separates the red on top which is light shining though my eyelid, and grey below which I was told is a large air pocket in the eye. tilting my head makes that air pocked move up and down. Shaking my head makes it slosh around like an ocean wave. Watching that air pocket sloshing around tends to make me sea sick. I did some painting the first day after surgery but got sick to my stomach and had to lie on the couch for the rest of the day.

This is day two and I can type, but I need to keep the wonky eye closed so it doesn’t distract me too much.

 

Longwood Ranch Farmers Market

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A friend and I went to a crowed Longqwood Ranch Farmers Market in near Bradenton, Florida. I stayed masked the whole time but my friend went mask less like most in the crowd. I tend to leave my mask off outside but in a crowded situation like this it stays on.

My friend found a tent that had all sorts of pickled items and multiple jars were purchased to add to the baby brain shelf of the refrigerator.

I do recall that it was a gorgeous spring day. We also went to the Rollins Art Museum and saw some huge Peter Paul Rubens paintings.

For diner the plan was to go to The Mullets Fish Camp. The line to get in was insanely long. There was an outdoor patio but that filled up, so we left and found another restaurant with outdoor seating across form Morton’s Gourmet Market. The market was small but good. The food at Libbie’s neighborhood Brassiere wasn’t memorable and the service sucked.

Maitland Art Center Demo 2

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The point of this lesson at the Maitland Art Center was that the center of interest doesn’t need to be in the center. I was also pointing out that the beams up above all relate to a common vanishing point and the horizontal bean is not horizontal in the sketch.

I knew this would be a rushed sketch since we were already an hour into the lesson. Most of my sketches take about two hours to complete and I am happy if there is even more time to refine the sketch.

This was a fun morning of sketching with warm sunshine and cool weather.

The Mayan courtyard at the Maitland Art Center is a great location for taking the time to observe intricate detail and balancing that against wide open spaces.

I enjoy these one on one sessions with students. Contact me if you ever want to join me on sketch outings to learn something new.