An American Camp

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I took a train to Paris, France and then found a station that had a Eurocar rental. I drove the rental across France to a small farming town named Clamery, France which is west of Colmar, France. The directions to the military camp were rater vague, but the town was so small that it was impossible to miss.

I could hear American radio broadcasts from 1945. American officers and soldiers were all around the camp. I et up to sketch this view be cause the entire army had set up for a photo in front to the troop carrier truck to the right. I am not a camera, so knew I could not catch the whole outfit as they posed, but I sett about catching the scene. I jut hoped to catch a few soldiers after the group photo to flesh out my scene.

I originally planned to sketch the Colmar battle sites but found out that my father, Arthur Thorspecken had arrived in Europe just after fighting had stopped in Colmar. The 75th Infantry troops were being rushed up to the Netherlands to replace the British 6th Airborne division. During this time Dutch citizens in German occupied areas were enduring the “Winter of Hunger””. due to severe food shortages caused by the German occupation.

My father hat taken French in Leonia New Jersey High School and he was rather good at picking up the language. I think that is part of the reason he was promoted to become a 1st Lieutenant. I wish he had encouraged me to study French. I certainly could have used the help on this trip. The problem is that Arthur was quickly moved up north of France to Belgium and the Netherlands. He would not have had many opportunities to speak french other than in the port City of Le Havre.

I realized as I was sketching that I was the only one in the camp who fully understood all the lyrics to the songs being played on the loud speaker. Though dress in American Uniforms everyone spoke French. I was the odd duck out, an American in the American camp.

Le Havre: Outdoor Dining

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About February 17, 1945, my father, Arthur Thorspecken had arrived in Le Havre, France. Artur had studied French in High School and had picked up the language easily. Whereas, I had to use Google translator set to camera to interpret the menu, my dad could have read the menu and ordered in French. Of course if he was wearing a uniform that would have given him away as an American. Since the destruction was so widespread, I tend to think that there was no relaxed outdoor dining options.

Le Havre had been liberated by the Allies from the Nazis on September 12, 1944. It was the last Norman city to be liberated. By some accounts the liberation of Le Havre marked the end of the battle of Normandy, France. Le Havre had been liberated for 5 months and 5 days before Arthur Thorspecken arrived. Between 1939 and 1945 there were an estimated 2,900 civilian casualties in Le Havre.

Between 1939 and 1945 about 75,000 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps and death camps and 73,500 of them were murdered. During the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup on July 16, 1942, 13,000 Jews were arrested by the French police. Jews were sent eastward, their destinations unknown.

I would have to assume that Arthur would have been rushed to the front lines as fast as possible to join C-Company of the 75th infantry. After the battle of the bulge, C-Company had just 21 men left of the 200 or more troops and replacements that they once had.

There were four cities on the way up to the posing in the Netherlands where Arthur likely joined the 75th Infantry. I sketched in all four cities but Weert, Netherlands is the command post that Arthur Thorspecken most likely might have reported to before joining his troops on the front. Arthur’s mastery of the French language was likely wasted since he was probably quickly rushed up to the Netherlands where Dutch is the predominant language. Most locals today know quite a bit of English. Every person I have met while sketching in the Netherlands has been able to speak English, which has made my life so much easier.

Le Havre France: Aub Art

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I stayed in Le Havre, France for several days. The first night I arrived late and just crashed. The second evening I went out to the restaurant right next door called Aub Art.It is a newer restaurant that has a bar and some games as well as fine dining. Photos exhibited on the walls were by the father of the woman who opened the fine dining establishment. I was told there is often live music.

There is a second floor as well which seems to be a lounge area. The dining room was empty except for me. I started a sketch thinking people were sure to sow up and fill in the scene at some point. They never did. I dined alone.

The appetizer was a delicious tomato, Mozzarella, Basel dish with balsamic vinegar. That was delicious. The main course was a baked salmon that was also quite good. Water comes in tiny bottles in France and I always seem to be parched so I had several bottles.

After dinner I had to book a room at my next destination. It was while booking that room that I found out my credit card had been hacked. I didn’t loose the card. It never left my sight, but a plane ticket purchase was attempted to Amsterdam. Since I have no plans to fly to Amsterdam, I had to admit to Seacoast Bank that their card had been hacked. Though I told Seacoast bank that I was on vacation, they have been treating me like I am the criminal rather than the victim of fraud. That battle is still ongoing. I still do not have access to the savings that were put aside for this trip.

The plane ticked was purchased in the states. I had a hot dog at the airport and purchased a train ticket to Le Havre and then this dinner at Aub Art. I cant figure out how the card was hacked with so few uses on the trip. Each evening is a series of calls trying to get past robots and pointless questionnaire loops that lead to no solutions. I had Seacoast Bank mail the new credit card the bank sent out to my brother in the north east. He is sending the card to a distant cousin who lives in Germany. In a few days I will be driving to that cousin to pick up the card. Without that piece of plastic I am assumed to be a criminal.

About February 17, 1945 Le Havre, France

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Traveling to Le Havre, France by train from Paris was a challenge. Le Havre is the French port city that the 75th Infantry history notes at the port troops arrived at from South Hampton, England. I might be flying to England later in this trip to sketch South Hampton and to buy several weeks away from Schengen European countries so that I can attend a huge WWII reenactment in Belgium which features the 75th Infantry. I have 90 days to finish this project and I might need to extend the time spent by skipping away to England for a time.

I got several hundred dollars in Euros at an ATM machine in the airport for emergencies. Today at a restaurant the waitress told me they don’t take credit cards. I tried a credit card, a debit card, and neither worked. Thankfully I still had a few Euros inn my pocket. I spent an afternoon trying to get Euros from Western Union but was tld, they can not use a credit card to exchange money. It has to be cash to cash. I don’t have much American cash, s I am stuck.

My first day in Le Havre, I sketched this WWII Memorial, called the Monument Aux Morts. It was built in 1924 to honor the dead from WWI but later plaques were added t honor the dead from WWII. This monument would have been standing when my father, Arthur Thorspecken first arrived in Europe. It commemorates the 6,638 residents of Le Havre who gave their lives in the first World War, the Second World Wat and in Indochina and Algeria. One plaque was a tribute to the resistance fighters of Le Havre who were deported and died for France during WWII. Another plaque was for the Soldiers who died for France between 1939 and 1945. Another plaque was for the civilian victims who died during theh bombings of Le Havre during WWII.

Besides the dark metal plaques at the foot of the sculpture the large stone base was covered with names of the dead carved into the stone. Lady liberty spreads her wings on one end of the sculpture while the grim reaper bows his shrouded head looking over the names of the dead.

This was a good first day of sketching. At night I ate at a restaurant right in the building I was staying in. Then I went upstairs and started to book a room for the next day. The next stop was several hundred miles east of Le Havre just West of Colmar France. While trying to book a room, Seacoast Bank contacted me and said they suspected fraud with my Debit card. I had only bought a train ticket and several meals. The Le Havre room had been booked from the United States. Looking through the expenses they questioned, everything checked out except an attempted purchase of a plane ticket to Amsterdam. I had no intention of flying to Amsterdam, so sure enough someone had somehow hacked into my debit card account. Maybe I should not have ordered a Nathans Hot Dog at the airport. I still had the card, but was told I had to cut it up. I had a Revolut card that I decided to get for emergencies before I left the states. It now became my life line. Seacoast Bank however is holding my savings hostage and will not let me transfer funds to my Revolut Visa travel card. I also have an American Express card but it keeps failing, when I try to use it. Every day has become a battle, wondering if I will end up homeless in Europe with no access to my bank account. Raymond, a service rep for my bank refused to help saying, “I don’t know anything about that Revolut card and neither does my supervisor.” It seems ignorance is a sad excuse for poor costumer service.  Though the victim of card fraud, I feel like I am being treated as the criminal. Fourteen days into my Europe WWII project and the banking battle continues.  I have started eating fallen pears and apples to keep food expenses down so that the funds don’t run out before a solution is found. I just keep moving forward and hopefully it will all work out.  “Always get there somehow.”

Waiting for the Flight to Paris

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The flight out of Orlando went to Atlanta, Georgia. There was a several hour layover before the flight to Paris. I had read warnings that flight to and from Paris would be delayed once the air traffic controllers went on strike. Thankfully that strike would start a week after my flight. I did not book a return flight since I am not exactly sure where I will be once the 75th Infantry journey is complete. I know for sure that I will end up in Germany. I just need to figure out which airport is best to fly out of. that is a choice for another day. My goal right now it so keep pushing forward, following in my father’s footsteps.

I thought my subject for this sketch was sound asleep. He must have had one eye open however since he stopped by to see how the sketch turned out as I was packing it away. This is Robert Varis who is a very accomplished artist. He was returning from a convention where he sold his work which is bold and fluid n a style that is easy to read from a mile away.

I wish I had the ability to drop off to sleep like this. My mind races at a thousand miles an our contemplating all that can go wrong. I can’t turn that sound track off an relax. Trust me, if things can go wrong, they do go wrong in my world. Every sketch is just a compilation of thousands of mistakes.

There was a duty free store being Robert as e slept. Do people actually buy duty free alcohol at the airport? What is the point? I didn’t have a lick f alcohol the entire flight, though I bet a single glass of red wine would have knocked me out. But would it e a good cup of wine? If it was a fine beautifully blended wine I might have considered it. I think airplane wines come in a box. If I drank wine then I might have to pee before we landed.  Those airplane toilets have that strange trap door and I always think it might rip open and I would fall thousands of feet to my frozen death. I didn’t pee for 8 hours. I am quite proud of myself, my body couldn’t have done that months ago when I had a softball sized prostrate making me have to pee like a pregnant woman every half hour or so.

When we landed, I got several hundred dollars in Euros as pocket change for emergencies. I should have gotten more. It turns out the trip has been one endless emergency.

Flights to Europe

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my goal was to have everything in place so I could fly out of Orlando on the first week of September 2025. My roommate lease agreement was up so everything went into storage. The storage facility was actually rather nice since it was air conditioned. My Lake Country studio wasn’t air conditioned so my art was now in a better place for long term storage.

My goal for this a trip was to follow in my father’s footsteps as his 75th infantry, C-Company made its way through Europe. My original plan was to execute sketches over the course of 6 months. However in the last week of planning I learned about the Schlengen country rule which limited travel to 90 day or about 3 months. On the final 2 days in Orlando I researched and drew up a very concise plan which covers about 45 cities in 4 countries. I have maps and battle plans for many of the engagements but I learned that my father was a rather late replacement. The 75th Infantry had fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the Colmar pocket, but at that time my father was still in military training school in North Carolina. The 75th Infantry was at first referred to as the Diaper Division since the soldiers were so young. My father was 22 when he went overseas which was an old man for the 75th.

I at first was looking for ships that made the transatlantic trip but I get seasick and I absolutely hate cruise ships. My father left the states on February 10, 1945 and the sea voyage should have taken about 7 days. This was my key to cutting my trip back to 90 days. I would only look at cities and engagements that happened after February 17th. My father was a 1st Lieutenant so he would lead a company of about 50 men. The 75th Infantry was finishing the final battles in the Colmar Pocket where they pushed back Germans out of France. As the troops were being sent north, that is the time My father would have been arriving in Europe. The 75th Infantry map shows troops arriving in Europe via La Havre France, so that was my goal to get to La Havre on my first day. I flew into Paris and then found a Train heading to La Havre. It was an insanely long day, and I don’t think I slept a wink.

The Hound of the Baskervilles: Second Pass

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The second pass at the Hound of the Baskervilles poster was simply a sketch I had done several years ago of the production. My primary concern while sketching live in the theatre is always to catch the key characters in a scene together. It is less about character and expression and more about doing anything possible to get the sketch done during the course of the play.

i knew this sketch would not fly, but I like to offer plenty of options. If this sketch was approved, I would then refine the poses and push it to more of a polished look. I do remember laughing out loud at the show. There were obvious theater doorways and frames were used which actors would hold as if they were posing for a portrait.

It was a very fun show to watch and sketch. The poster however serves a different purpose. It isn’t about portraying what happens on the stage but about conveying an idea of what you might expect to feel watching the production.My sketches from life are almost always a long shot trying to show what is happening on the entire stage. The poster image needs to be more of a close up, offering a chance to see the actor’s expression. The challenge for me of course is that aI never know who the actors will be. This created a catch 22 where I need to be specific but also generalized in the approach to the image.

Montreal Museum of Fine Art

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After the Convention, I went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art which was impressive. Back when I was an art student in NYC, I used to go to museums and stay so ling that I would be exhausted by the end of the day. I call that museum burn and I got to feel that luxury again in Montreal.

There was an amazing exhibit of the remaining sculptures of Camille Rosalie Claudel. She is known as being the mistress f of the famous sculptor, Rodin, but er sculptures are even more expressive and sensual than his. She was a true master in her own right, but she was thrust into the shadow of the famous sculptor.

Rodin mentored the young sculptor and she became an inspiration for him. She posed for him and he encouraged her to experiment in new mediums like plaster, bronze, marble, and onyx. A passionate love affair developed. Rodin could not bring himself to leave his 20 year marriage to Rose however.

Camille had to have an abortion and she ended the sexual aspect of her affair with Rodin. They continued to see one another for about 8 more years.

After the relationship ended, Camille could not get the funding needed to create large public works. Her work was considered to sexual while Rodin’s sensual sculptures were embraced.

After her father’s death, the family who inherited the wealth he had built, decided to let he live in poverty because they didn’t believe she should have become an artist. Camille is a true inspiration.

Poster Session

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I had joined several members of the Orange County Regional History Center at a conference abut oral histories. I have sat inn on perhaps hundreds of oral histories that History Center staff have conducted. I would sketch as the oral history would unfold. Every person has a story to tell and oral histories open a gateway to some amazing stories.

I always feel like I learn something about how I should be living my life, when listening to peoples stories. The struggles they faced and how they over came them are always inspiring. At time I feel like they are telling my story. It makes me want to take more chances.

The posters were maybe about 3 feet wide by 2 feet high. Each poster showcases imagery which highlighted each researchers area if interest. The History Center poster was bout the large series of interviews with Pulse Nightclub survivors and family after the tragic shooting that killed 49 people who were out having a wonderful time dancing.

I sketched from the upper balcony of the hotel. I always like this gods eye view of events. The space always feel so dimension when I get the sketch to work right. When I do a sketch like this of a crowded room of people, I inevitably end up sketching the same person several times. They move from one group to another and since I had fun sketching them the first time I often just sketch them again in the new position. The goal is to just keep adding figures to the page. At time I can catch several people in conversion at other times I just put two people together fro separate areas of the room.

 

Never Again

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I went to a conference with several embers of the staff of the Orange County History Center. Daniel Bradfield and Pamela Schwartz gave a presentation about the History Center’s collection efforts after the Pulse Nightclub massacre, where a gunman entered the nightclub with an AK47 and killed 49 people while injuring many others.

Spontaneous and large memorial popped up of flowers and  memorial items related to the victims. The collecting happened in the hottest months of the summer in Orlando. Flowers quickly wilted an died creating a tench that is quite memorable and perhaps unhealthy.

A few people were angered by the staff collecting at the memorial sites, thinking they were steeling items rather than preserving them for history. If the History Center had not collected items they would have all ended in the landfill.

There have been incredible exhibits each year honoring the victims of the mass shooting which happened on June 12, 2016. I sat in and sketched during the oral histories with survivors and family of the victims. Hearing all these life and death stories can be overwhelming and i helped to talk to staff to try and come to terms with the horrible situations that were presented. I can’t say I have fully come to terms with all that I learned about this and other mass shootings. Americas love affair with guns and mass murder is ard to digest.

I was just at a WWII American Military camp reconstruction in Clamercy, France and on a few occasion there were loud noises that must have been fireworks. Such noises can be triggering, making me think I should look for cover.