Crealde Parking

Posted on by Thor

It has been a while since I taught a Crealde Urban Sketching class.

Our class was usually held outside and we would sketch the Crealde campus. Each class was built around a single premise and we built our sketches up from line to line and wash then fully developed sketches.

I never forced my style of sketching on my students, preferring instead to encourage what is unique in each of their sketches. When we shared our sketches at the end of each class the variety was always something to celebrate. I would always do one sketch myself but I would walk it around and share it with each student at each phase to show progress. I would then also do thumbnail sketched with suggestions to share what I would focus on with each of their unique views.

I will be moving further north in January, so I am not sure if it will be worth it to drive back to Winter Park on Sunday’s to conduct classes.

Dr. Phillips House

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A student and I went to sketch the Dr. Phillips House (135 N Lucerne Cir E, Orlando, FL 32801).

I had an argument with my former wife at this venue. I decided to sketch the backyard social gathering and when we were to go inside my wife told me she didn’t want me there. She disposed when I sketched events she considered important to her. I left as everyone moved inside to eat dinner so I never looked around inside.

My student and I sketched the front facade. The home with it’s Queen Ann Style architecture, was built in 1893, by Colonel Peleg Peckham. He presented it as a wedding present for his daughter. This house was purchased by Dr. Philip Phillips in 1912, a prominent figure in the citrus agricultural industry in Central Florida, where he resided until his death in 1959. In 1979 the house was added to the U.S. Register of Historic Places.

As we sketched a truck pulled up and supplied for a wedding reception were being loaded in through the front door. In the past the house was painted a cheerful yellow color, but it has since been painted a militaristic looking light blue.

Flying Delta

Posted on by Thor

I flew to and from the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival to help promote my short animated film, COVID Dystopia. I wore a KN-95 mask while I traveled and anytime I was indoors.

I believe I was infected on Delta flight 1652 between Detroit and Orlando Florida.I think my facial hair caused a leak in the mask seal.

On that long flight where every passenger but myself went unmasked, several people were coughing up their lungs the entire two hour flight. Airlines are supposed to have HEPA filters for the air piped into the cabin, so I had my air vent blowing directly at me. My eyes went unprotected. In the future I plan to get some goggles.

Several days after this flight, on Thanksgiving, I started to get a sore throat. I tested myself and was relieved to test negative with the at home test by Binax Now. Thinking I just had a slight cold, I spent the weekend helping a friend with an art project. I realize now I should have stayed home. Though most of the work was done outside, my friend caught the cold and got incredibly tired.

Seeing my fried crash, I decided to test myself again for COVID when I got back to my studio. This test was done with the OHC free test supplied by the US government. This time I tested positive for COVID-19. The first Binax Now test had offered a false negative result. It offered false hope.

I had managed to avoid the virus for 5 years but promoting COVID Dystopia turned out to be the most dangerous thing I have done since the start of the pandemic. The film tries to warn people that the pandemic is not over, and that the virus is circulating freely among us all year long. The tag line for the film is, “We might be done with COVID but COVID is not done with us.” It is ironic that I was infected while shouting into the void that message that no one at any film festival wants to hear.

After testing positive for COVID, I went into 5 days of isolation. Ironically it was a Delta executive who cut down the CDC’s recommendation of 10 days of isolation to just 5 days of isolation. The Delta executive could not keep pilots and stewardesses in the air since they kept getting sick. He felt it was better that they return to flight even if they were infected with COVID-19. The planes, had to run on time, to help spread the virus all across America and the world. Executives and politicians across America quickly adopted the 5 day rule though it is not based on science, just wishful thinking.

After 5 days of isolation, I tested again and tested positive for COVID-19 again. I will therefor be going into isolation for 5 more days. Since I had not shopped for food since well before Thanksgiving, I learned to use Instacart to restock the my food supplies. I wasn’t about to shop while infected.

If I didn’t know better I might think COVID was just like a bad cold. But I know COVID is a vascular disease more like HIV than a cold. The initial infection no longer caused the horrifying lung infections from the early days of the pandemic. COVID is a vascular disease that breaks down immunity and causes damage to the heart and brain and  just about every organ in the body. All of this goes unseen so people can ignore it and pretend that life has returned to pre-2019 normal until it is too late. I have to wonder how many of my brain cells have now fused and died, thanks to COVID.

If I am correct about getting infected on Delta flight 1652, then I have had COVID-19 for 16 days so far. I will be testing again on Friday the 13th of December 2024. If COVID kills me, I want the following carved on my headstone, Thomas John Thorspecken, Born May 22, 1961, Dumont N.J., Died ______ Orlando Florida, “We might be done with COVID, but COVID isn’t done with us.”

Framing

Posted on by Thor

On Thanksgiving day I felt a cold coming on. I didn’t feel like shopping for food so I was down to basics and just had a baked potato for dinner.

Stella and I both had art accepted into to Fusion Fest in Downtown Orlando. The theme for the art was Freedom, so I submitted Freedom from Want. Stella had 3 painting she needed to frame for Fusion Fest.

She worked at a large art table she had repurposed herself. It used to be an island in her kitchen but she put casters on it and reworked all the cabinetry so it became a solid artist work station. She painted it a deep blood red. T squares, rulers and a slot for assorted mats and boards were on the side. Framing and mating work is one of that hardest aspects of getting work ready for exhibition. I often have to rework the framing of a piece several times since something always goes wrong.

I volunteered to drop all of our art work since I live closer to downtown Orlando. Stella was in the final weeks of her masters program and had a long thesis to finish writing.

Isolation Chamber

Posted on by Thor

After testing positive for COVID–19, I went into 5 days of isolation. I decided I would test after those 5 days to see if the test would come up negative.

I was likely infected on Delta Flight 1652 from Detroit to Orlando. I suspect that flight since several unmasked passengers were coughing their lungs up the entire flight. I wore a kn-95 mask the entire trip but it must not have had a snug enough fit. I started showing symptoms of a cold 3 days after that flight. I spent Thanksgiving prone on the couch. I did an at home COVID test which came up negative. I was thankful that I only had a cold.

The next weekend I spent outside helping a friend with an art project. By the end of that weekend the cold had us both exhausted. I feel horrible that I infected my friend. When I got back to the studio I tested for COVID a second time since I have heard advice to re-test after 48 hours. That test came up positive. From that point I went into 5 days of lock down, to keep the virus from spreading any further.

After 5 days of lock down I tested again and the test came up positive for COVID-19. I will be self isolating for 5 more days and will test myself again at the end of the week. It is ironic that a Delta CEO decided to only allow for 5 days of isolation for pilots and air crew who have COVID. The CDC first recommended that people isolate for 10 days. Airline executives realized it was hard to keep planes in the air since pilots were constantly sick. Somehow his 5 day policy spread to everywhere in the country. Having the sick return to work is the only way to keep the gears of capitalism grinding forward. Health be damned, what matters is profits.

Today I have to figure out how to use Instacart or Door Dash since I am completely out of food. I had a series of Holiday themed location sketches planned for the week, but I will not go out in public while infected with COVID-19. I have to start packing up the studio, but that will have to wait until I test negative again.

The tests I have been using are the free ones that were distributed quietly by the government months ago. The first at home test that I used was from Wallgreens and cost me $20. I no longer trust that brand of test since it came up with a false positive. I have just one more government test and in 5 days I hope it comes up negative.

 

There is no Cure

Posted on by Thor

I am infected. I am on day 5 of self isolating after at at home test confirmed that I have COVID-19. I was infected on flight 1652 from Detroit to Orlando after screening COVID Dystopia at the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival.I know I was infected on that flight because passengers several seats behind me were coughing up their lings for the whole flight. My KN-95 mask failed, likely because my facial hair broke the seal.

A test done several days before came up negative, so I first thought I just had a cold. Thanks to that negative test I went on to infect a friend.

COVID hit like a wall of bricks taking me out for several days. I know COVID is not a cold, it is not the flu, it is a vascular disease that destroys brain grey matter, and attacked every organ in the body. My immunity is now lowered for all other infections. The initial infection isn’t what kills you it is the repeat infections that follow.

There is no cure for COVID. It weakens immunity from the inside out. The damage is never seen until it is too late.

Some people think that allowing snails to crawl on the face is a form of cure. It is not a cure. Snails should never go anywhere near your eyes nose or mouth. Skin salts, oils and soap residue are harmful to the nails. Snail secretions are not a cure for COVID or anything else. A far simpler preventive measure is to wear a well fitted N-95 mask.

Milton Damage

Posted on by Thor

Hurricane Milton caused some major damage in Florida.

Stella Arbelaez, a former Disney Feature Animation effects artist, lives north west of Lake Apopka and I have been helping her constructing a large bamboo sculpture.

There are many tall pine trees in her back yard and Hurricane Milton knocked over a bunch of them. Luckily none of them hit her house, but one is leaning precariously against a shed and several other fell over taking out fencing.

Stella and I both had work accepted at FusionFest over the Thanksgiving weekend. Stella volunteered to paint on location during FusionFest. I thought I had a cold after going to the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival to promote COVID Dystopia. I actually was infected with COVID-19 for the first time when flying back to Orlando on Delta flight 1652. I tested myself the first night back and now know that the test was a false negative. I proceeded to help with Stella’s project thinking I just had a cold. I didn’t feel healthy enough to go to Fusion Fest, so I stayed behind while Stella went to paint in Downtown Orlando.

Later in the day I sketched this tree which had been uprooted by Milton. The ripped open root ball reminded me of how my insides felt. COVID is an airborne vascular disease that affects the heart, arteries and fuses brain cells killing off grey matter. It effects just about every organ in the body. The “cold” had knocked me on my ass. The sun started to set as I worked on the sketch, so I rushed to finish before it got too cold out. The ripped open root ball reminds me of the unseen damage being done to my inner vascular system.

Restaurant Demo

Posted on by Thor

This was a quick demo done for one of my online students. My goal is to convince students that carrying a sketchbook or iPad to a restaurant or any venue is preferable to scrolling through a phone.

The people are drawn a bit sloppier that what I might usually do when sketching on location.

Brush strikes were put down quickly to encourage the student to loosen up.

Having caught COVID, despite being masked, on flight 1652 between Detroit and Orlando, I am isolating myself in my studio. I have been sleeping on the couch, and I might do a self portrait of my couch sick bed today.

Middletown New York

Posted on by Thor

I have been house hunting for quite some time. My goal has been to find a place at the end of a bus or train line out of NYC.

This place in Middletown, New York was super appealing. The interior was intricately decorated with matching creamy colors. Rugs furniture and the walls all matched.

The place is honestly bigger than what I need as a single guy, and it would be intimidating to try and find just the right antiques to fit the decor. The house left the marked and it is just as well. I need a place that is a bit more utilitarian. The first thing I look for is northern facing windows for the studio. The yearly taxes for this home were also insane. I think it was in the ballpark of over $7,000 each year for the property taxes. Yikes!

My hope is to find a place with history and a working fireplace.

H5N1 killing California Cattle

Posted on by Thor

The H5N1 virus has been infecting America chickens. Over 90 million chickens have been killed because of the infection. There is some concern that the virus might be in eggs sold at the supermarket. Cooking eggs at a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit should kill the virus. It is best not to make runny eggs.  Chicken dropping are added to cattle feed and that might be how the virus spread to cows.

In Tulare, County California, cow carcasses are piling up on the roadsides. Farmers and veterinarians are surprised by the high mortality rates from H5N1 infections. Overt 600 cow herds have been infected. There are now 31 confirmed human cases in California. The virus has been found in raw milk which is still being sold cross America.

Since a 1970 outbreak in Hongcong, there have been 970 Human cases of H5N1. Of those cases 470 people died. That is a case fatality rate of about 48%. COVID -19 had a mortality rate of about 0.8% which resulted in well over a million Americans dying. More than 100 million birds have died due to the virus since 2022. It is hard to imagine the human devastation if the numbers are right and it starts spreading between people.

H5N1 has being detected in wastewater across America. It has been detected in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Tests being done on Ferrets are not promising. Ferrets closely resemble humans in the way they react to influenza infections. The virus has causing very severe disease in the lab animals. Media has been reporting mild cases in humans so far, except the teen in Canada who is in intensive care. One of the symptoms is conjunctivitis, or bloody eyes.

COVID -19 had a mortality rate of about 0.8% which resulted in well over a million seven hundred thousand Americans dying. more than 100 million birds have died due to the virus since 2022.

There have been over 55 confirmed cases of H5N1 in humans. Many work in the dairy industry, but there are some cases that are a mystery. A child in Canada is in critical condition and the cause of infection a complete mystery. The virus infecting this child has shown an ability for its binding receptors to infect humans. That fact alone is concerning. The possibility that H5N1 is airborne is a very real possibility.  If the virus starts to spread from human to human the outbreak will ignite.

My biggest concern is that the incoming administration will make all the same mistakes it made with the COVID-19 pandemic. The easiest action for any politician to take in a public health emergency is to deny, deflect and minimize the outcome. The stakes are much higher if H5N1 becomes a pandemic. People have decided that any form of mitigation is an infringement on the or personal freedom. They yearn  to be infected and to infect others.