The Delgado Ponzi Scheme

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I was called in to do a courtroom sketch in the case of the United States vs, Christopher Delgado of Goliath Ventures at the Orlando Federal Courthouse. Christopher Delgado stands accused of building a $300 million dollar Ponzi scheme that bilked thousands people out of millions of dollars. The scheme was paying off for Delgado who bought himself fancy cars a milti-million dollar Winter Park home and fancy jewelry.

Investors were promised incredible returns on their crypto currency investments. At first the funds brought in by new investors helped pay for the returns expected by early investors. But then the returns on investments stopped coming. Shallow excuses replaced returns on investments. One client invested well over a million dollars which vanished.

In the hallway leading to the courtroom, I saw Delgado dressed in a tight designer suit that made it look like it could not contain his chest. Funds were raised from doctors, educators, firefighters and blue collar workers, many of whom lost their life savings. At least 328 million dollars  was pocketed rather than invested. The vast majority of the money is gone at this stage. There were about 2000 victims and only 50 million made its way back to investors. That left over 250 million that may never be recovered for the investors.

Much of this court case was a discussion about where those funds might be and if Delgado was a flight risk. Despite his designer suit, he was wearing an ankle monitor and his lawyers stressed that he has been cooperating. Delgado had transferred funds to a bank in Dubai and since the United States and Israel had attacked Iran, Dubai was under missile  attack from Iran. Freezing the Dubai finds would require a pause in the hostilities.

The judge didn’t want to be responsible for policing the many luxury cars and accounts that needed to be seized. The prosecutors and defense had to come to an agreement on how the frozen assets could be held until the court case. Luxury cars included a 2024 Rolls Royce Ghost, a 2024 Lamborghini Hurricán,  2023 Ferrari GTS, some diamond encrusted Rolex watches, some Tiffany and Company diamond gold and titanium necklaces and cufflinks. Prosecutors pointed out that all these items were evidence of money laundering since they were purchased by Delgado’s corporate account. The hope is that these luxury items would not be sold by Delgado in an attempt to flee the country.

Milk District Christmas Market

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I was giving serious consideration to buying a property on Forest Avenue in the Audubon Park district of Orlando. After walking the home and taking measurements, I decided to then walk the neighborhood. Several blocks away was North Bumby Avenue. I walked towards the Plaza Live Theater. Within a block I ran into this Christmas market set up in a parking lot. I decided to just sit down and sketch. This is exactly the type of event I tend to seek out and sketch anyway.

It had rained recently and there was a big puddle in front of me. On sale were vintage records and various arts and crafts. This neighborhood where the home was located felt right. A short walk from the front yard and I was already finding sketch able subjects. The Plaza Live down the street was having a Krampus event and I was excited to get there to sketch as well.

The home I was looking at had a wild and overgrown front and back lawn area. There was no grass, which I like. It had all native plants including bamboo which grows like wildfire. The house is a small 1 bathroom and two bedroom place. I had already drawn out a map of the rooms to see if I could fit my art studio furniture into the place. It was a tight fit. A huge live oak tree cut off much of the light that could make its way through the studio windows. Looking back the place was kind of dark. I could have controlled the light with natural electric lights but that would have run up the electric bill.

After spending $700 on an inspection, I decided the place wasn’t for me. Termites had infested the carport and they made their way up into the roof rafters. Though the roof hadn’t leaked yet it was structurally unsound. Rats had also taken up residence in the insulation in the attic. I figured that I would have to invest well over $100,000 to put on a new roof and it is also possible that interior walls were infested. What I would have been buying was a pile of cinder blocks. It would be a long time before I could move in. This was far more work than I wanted to get my studio set up. It is a good fit for a contractor who wants to flip the place.

Right now I am in between residences. I need a roommate situation or rental so I can stay in Orlando through the end of May since I plan to sketch the Orlando International Fringe Festival which runs from May 12 to the 27th . I am paying top dollar to stay in an AirBnB next week in downtown Orlando but that is very expensive. Apartments often want an 8 month commitment for the lease. I want to drive north in June to look at the possibility of setting up a studio in New York State. If anyone knows about short-term rentals in Orlando Florida, please let me know. I am living out of a backpack and scrambling to find a place. My studio and art supplies are packed away in a storage container and my Prius has my backpack a few groceries and my bicycle. I can view this as a problem or an adventure. I hope it is an adventure.

UCF Finals 3

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The third master’s student I sketched was Anna Vic Webb at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr, Orlando, FL) . Anna was wearing a COVID mask which I highly respect because we might be done with COVID but COVID is not done with us. The United States might have declared the pandemic to be over and stopped tracking it’s spread but the virus is still spreading world wide. Trump lost an election due to his failed response to the virus so he would do anything to convince people that it never existed.

Most of the paintings @anna.vic.webb exhibited had a vibrant green glow. Her colors literally attack with their vibrancy. My favorite painting was the one to the right with two women standing in a room with fish eye perspective. In the masters program the students work side by side in small cubicles. They discuss art and learn from each other as well as the professors. There was some controversy with this presentation because a student claimed Anna’s work was derivative or based on another student’s work. I believe the accusation had to do with the quality of light being portrayed. I personally considered the accusation to be baseless. Anna’s work is highly unique and vibrant. Every artist is inspired by the work of others. Once the artists leave the pressure cooker of the masters program then they will be creating away from this environment of accusations and power plays. Those who continue to create for a lifetime will be inspired by many artists and environments, becoming a melting pot of influences. Artists need a thick skin and such false accusations  will help any artist ignore critics. The goal is to just keep creating regardless of what people say.

I recall that Stella Arbelaez had painted her bare feet standing in the mud. Another student painted bare feet and was also accused of being derivative of Stella’s painting by a professor. But does Stella have a copyright on bare feet? Of course not. People have been painting bare feet since the days of cave paintings. Stella let the artist know that she didn’t consider the painting in question to be derivative. Artists need to support one another, not be accusing one another, especially with AI being a digital medium built on being derivative.

School shooting paintings by Mya Osborne are visible on the left side of the sketch. “No light up shoes” refers to the sneakers which children wear which light up. Those can not be worn in school since they would bake a very visible target for a school shooter. “Faith without deeds is Death” Refers to the politicians who always offer their prayers after each school shooting while doing nothing to curb access to high powered weapons that are used the shootings. The empty words just promote more school shootings.

On the right side of the sketch is the Boeing B-29 Superfortress by @ally.artistic. The plane was still in the process of it’s creation. When complete it would be a candy coated fortress in bright pinks and jewels, contrasting its deadly mission.

UCF Finals 2

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At the UCF Finals at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr. Visual Arts Building 140 Orlando, FL) each masters art student would speak about their work in turn. Once a presentation was finished, another artist would present in front of their work and everyone would move their folding chairs to the new location.

In this sketch an artist is presenting her digital painting on a large screen TV on the back wall. Her work has a classical feel tying into ancient myths. I was impressed with her highly polished work and her explanation of where her work was going. Since I am often working digitally I appreciated her accomplishments in the medium. To me the medium isn’t as important as the message and her message resonates. When it came time for questions from the audience, a professor cut into her work hard saying it looked to much like other polished digital art. There was a clear bias against the use of the digital medium. No other artist was presenting work that was digital. To me, this bias seemed unfounded and the artist defended her work with absolute grace. Her defense proves that she has a message that will resonate in the future.

The B-29 Super-fortress is also visible in the sketch. I decided to have it visible in each sketch I did.

Colorful soft sculptures cover one wall. These are done by Abigail (@artby.AMF) a female artist whose work was largely about women’s reproductive issues. The multi media work glows with bright pinks and reds. For some women the egg does not make the journey down the Fallopian tubes each month. This would result in the woman not having a period for that month. The eggs just congregate in the ovary like pearls. I say that since some of her soft form sculptures have pearls sewn onto the ovaries. The conversation was fascinating and her work helps bring to light issues that even many doctors are unfamiliar with.

In the center of the room were painting that are about the all too common school shootings which happen in America. A large dark painting showed school children evacuating the school. None of the paintings show the grisly details of the shooting but they intend to keep the issue in the forefront of people’s minds. The question arose about where the work should be shown. One person suggested the work should be shown guerilla style on the streets rather than in galleries or museums. I know work has been shown in U-Hauls or driven around billboard style on the side of trucks.

Since I have sketched so many of the survivors and family of those shot at the Pulse Nightclub massacre, I identified with the work. The rest of the world is shocked at how crazy America is to allow children to be shooting children. In America the insane  solution seems to be more guns.  In March 2013, a former UCF student, James Seevakumaran, planned a mass shooting in a campus dorm, which was thwarted, resulting in his suicide.

 

UCF Finals

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I went to the UCF Masters Finals presentations at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr. Visual Arts Building, 140 Orlando, FL  32816-1342). Here Masters degree students display their work in the main gallery and get a chance to explain their process and meaning behind their work. The public is invited to sit in the gallery and hear each student describe their work in turn. Each presentation is kept short and to the point.

In the foreground of this sketch is the work of Ally Artistic. One piece resembles an opulent and exotic flaming crown. It is laser cut and then the negative spaces are filled with colorful clear resins that look like stained glass. Her work is often bright opulent and regal. A second piece of hers is a sculpted airplane. She described the physicality of carving the body of the B-29 plane which was an entirely new process for her. The masters program encourages student to work large and to experiment with new processes.

The B-29 Bomber was used primarily by the United States during World War II. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat. One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, which made the atomic bomb. The B-29 program was the the most expensive of the war.

Back in World War II America set up concentration camps for Japanese American citizens. Detaining American citizens seems to be an ongoing theme of American politics as ICE detention facilities are being set up all across America.

The body of the plane was sculpted with a large flat foam piece cut to shape the profile. From that half moon shaped pieces were added to create the 3D shape. Thin cardboard strip from things like cereal boxes were added to create a mesh to fill out the form. The whole thing was covered with silica and then coated with a hard resin. What was on display at this Masters Finals was the base before final coats were added. The wings would ultimately get a wild painting of pink wavy patterns covered with what looks like wedding cake icing and mini candies. Written along one of these wavy line was the saying, “Bite the hand that drops the bomb.”. A small disk said, “Perfectly moist.” Another said, “Floss sugar.”  For such a threatening military plane it looked delicious. The final piece had  a bite taken out of a wing.

Florida Film Festival Poster Second Pass

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It was pointed out to me that I got the dates wrong for the Florida Film Festival. The festival actually ran from April 10 to 19, 2026. When I was throwing together the comp, I just lifted type from previous posters to get the impression of what the final poster might look like.

From several Airbnb’s and hotels in Germany I made revisions to the Florida Film Festival poster. First the soldier from my first pass of the poster had to be replaced because America is a country which embraces peace rather than war.

Since racial diversity was called for, I added a Chinese man, and an Indian woman. I didn’t know how many races to add, so I tested the water and waited to see if more was needed. Many of the distant audience was still just blocked in without detail. The festival asked to add details that are unique to the Enzian Theater. I sketched inside the Enzian when renovations were being done, so I was familiar with the look of the interior. I have never sketched the theater looking back from the stage. I searched Google images to see what the back wall of the theater looks like. I held off on polishing the painting to a final look since I was certain that more changes were to come. Working digitally is ideal for changes. Each character in the audience was drawn and painted on their own layer. If a character had to be removed, I could do that with the touch of a button.

For the rest of my trip through Europe, I heard nothing about the need for more Florida Film Festival poster changes. My assumption is that another concept was approved for the festival poster and promotional materials. The concept I was working on was a mine field of possible problems with hundreds of possible revisions and refinements. The poster concept I had been assigned must have been been rejected.

My attention shifted back to a full time dedication of documenting a time in 1945 when America defeated fascism at the end of WWII.

Florida Film Festival Poster Sketch First Pass

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It was pointed out to me that I got the dates wrong for the Florida Film Festival. The festival actually ran from April 10 to 19, 2026. When I was throwing together the comp, I just lifted type from previous posters to get the impression of what the final poster might look like.

While in Europe I got an assignment to illustrate a poster for the Florida Film Festival byLure Design. I was given the concept of showing the audience in the Enzian Theater and each person in the audience would be from a different film genre. I knew this concept was a mine field. Each person should represent a genre while not looking like a particular actor. I knew that with such a vague yet specific idea there would be many alterations and adjustments.

This poster is a rough sketch of what I wanted to do. I limited my palate to blue and violet to keep the theater dark and cool.

There were many other concepts pitched by Lure Design and I was sure that one of those concepts would best represent the theme of the festival. I honestly wasn’t sure of the planned theme of the festival. I left a large area open in the upper part of the poster for a playful saying. The sample poster I had been given said, Mind Blowing Movies in that open area. Since that theme had been used it would likely not be used again.

Each night after sketching former war-torn cities in Germany, I would settle down in my Air B&B or hotel to write my article for the day, I would upload the previous days article on Facebook and Instagram and then I would paint away on the poster, late into the night. I felt like a true digital nomad.  It was exhausting yet invigorating.

Since I wasn’t working on the concept all day long, I broke the assignment into manageable chunks each night. I would research and paint several characters each evening. I am used to cranking out a concept in one sitting, but I adjusted to dividing up into shorter sprints of creative activity.

Though I was focused each day on troop movements in World War II, I would shut off that part of my brain each night and relax into the playful poster painting. In the lower left of my poster a single WWII soldier worked his way into the sketch. I had watched a series of war films prior to flying to Europe so that genre was fresh in my mind. I also wanted to honor my fathers contribution to crushing fascism in 1945. But I wanted to be sure of having adventure, romance, the wild west, princess, a mix of races, horror, and I wanted the entire audience laughing.

Laughter is also a challenge in that it can look like the person is in pain if the laughter isn’t depicted correctly. I always think of a performance piece I once sketch where the artist tried to smile for many hours while being  filmed.  When you smile for that long, your face experiences extreme pain since the muscles must work so hard to keep that smile in place. John Singer Sargent said, “A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.”

Serendipity in Mount Dora Florida

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Stella Arbelaez wanted to go to a public space to work. Being around people while writing can spark the creative juices. We drove to Mount Dora to find a place to sit and write and Serendipity fit the bill. It is a local artesian coffee shop and craft beer bar. What made Serendipity so appealing was that they have Karaoke night. We both ordered a cup of coffee and sat to sketch and then write. The room was rather small with 2 couches and three tables against the wall. A Santa doll was at the foot of the area where the DJ would be spinning the tunes. To our right was the bar where people could also sit, although most who crowded in, just stood in this area. The definition of serendipity is, to find something good without looking for it.

This was a challenging situation. I had no idea where singers might stand. I just started sketching the room and hoped for the best. People came and went rather quickly. The center table must have been repopulated three times during the course of my doing the sketch. All the Christmas decorations were already up, consisting of pictures covered in wrapping paper and a long green paper chain. Mount Dora goes hog wild decorating downtown with Christmas lights.

My sketch was completed before the first singer picked up a microphone. The three youngsters on the couch next to us turned out to be talented singers. The fellow with the torn jeans sang a song in a mockingly hilarious way. The music was incredibly loud, so Stella and I both put in ear plugs when we started tapping away on our laptops.

Singers came in waves. There was always some unexpected performance. Only a few singers made me cringe by hitting the wrong notes. One singer knocked over my coffee cup, but it had a cap and was mostly empty. There was no spillage.

It was a fun night and despite the intense volume I got plenty of sketching and writing done. I would gladly go back to Serendipity to experience Karaoke night again. Now that I know the layout and timing, I could go back to get a sketch of some singer at the microphone, and if I’m ambitious, I could put down the sketchbook and belt out a tune myself.

Serendipity 144 W 5th Ave, Mt Dora, FL 32757

Thanksgiving at the Eagles Lodge

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For Thanksgiving my sister and her husband brought me to the Eagles Lodge for our Thanksgiving meal. The lodge has a big open room which is ideal for setting up a series of tables, The room I sketch was near the bar and the larger room had long rectangular tables. Our table had about 4 couples and myself.

At the front of the room was a small stage and there was a guy at an electric piano and a woman singing. The volume was intense. We sat near the stage but once the music started everyone retreated to the back of the room in an attempt to be able to hear each other talk. Even back there, you had to shout real loud and lean close to hear in any attempted conversation.

The food was all pre-prepared and it came out very quickly. The turkey meat was all pre-cut and there was stuffing and potatoes. It was a good-sized meal. After we all ate, we moved into the bar area where it was easier to have a conversation, because the musicians were on a break. That is when I took the opportunity to sketch. A football game was on the large screen TVs and many in the bar were rooting for one team or another. One member of our party has since died. His widow is working to get his ashes moved to his home state up north.

I will be returning to Punta Gorda in a few days since my sister has volunteered to drive me to and from a hernia repair operation I am going to have. Since returning to the States this operation has been my primary goal. I am so grateful to have her nearby to help in my recovery. I will stay in her guest room to recover and then my life will once again have a hard restart as I hit the road in search of an apartment in Orlando.

If I recover fast enough, I hope to help my friend Stella Arbelaez Tascón who is building a 14-foot-tall Trump puppet she will showcase at the No Kings Rally in Orlando Florida on March 28, 2026. I helped make the hands for the puppet and I really want to see this behemoth walking in front of City Hall in his orange prison jumpsuit. The puppet construction is far from complete, and I feel bad having to leave during the final crunch to get the whole rig set up. Stella literally worked for 48 hours with no sleep. That is the level of dedication needed to complete such a monumental task. Right now, the puppet rig is set up so the puppet is 14 feet tall. She is debating weather that is too tall. I’m Thankful I have been able to be part of such a monumental build.

Hydroponics

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This hydroponics rig had just been set up when I left for Europe. The seeds had just been planted in the tiny pots with foam insets. Water is pumped to the top of the water tower and it trickles down to keep all the pots moistened. Nutrients are added to the water.

When I got back to Central Florida after three month in Europe the tower was overgrown with edible kale and a sort of Lettuce.  The plant on the top of the tower grew so large that it’s weight caused it to crack the plastic of the column and it fell over. The roots extended deep down into the plastic column sucking up tons of nutrients. The plant had to be harvested. The roots were about a half inch thick and I had to use a saw to cut through them.

I snipped off all the leaves and put them in plastic grocery bags. I use reusable bags when I get groceries, but somehow plastic bags still sneak their way into the studio. That one plant filled about 5 of those plastic bags and I put them in the refrigerator bottom shelf.

I have been cutting up one or two leaves every time I make a salad. I am amazed at how long the leaves have stayed fresh in the refrigerator. It must have been a month or two ago that I stored them away and I am still using them. There are two more bags of the leaves left. I mix them in with spinach or cut Lettuce that I get form the supermarket.

When that top plant crushed the plastic column due to it’s weight, the water started pouring down the outside of the column and the reservoir would have to be refilled every day or so. I did a quick fix by wrapping Saran wrap around the open wound so the water could stay contained and add nutrients to the other plants below instead of the ground.

At the end of this week I will be hitting the road again with my back pack , my Prius and my bike. I am having an operation down in Sarasota and then recovering with my sister in Port Charlotte. After what I hope is a  quick recovery I hope to find a rental in Orlando for a couple of months. I want to sketch at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in May. That might be my last sketching hurray in Orlando. The plan then is to drive north. And I hope to find a place in New York state just north of NYC. I will be driving up blind with no definite destination. It is a bit scary heading off to the unknown but I am sure I can establish a studio anywhere.