Masters Thesis Defense

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By Thomas Thorspecken

I went to the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Dr, Orlando, Fl.) to sketch Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón, who presented her thesis defense at the UCF Art Gallery 

The sculpture in the foreground of this sketch is called The Broken Woman. To create this piece a  mannequin was busted open with a sledge hammer. The distressed surface is covered in gold and hot pink. A sacred heart is in the open chest cavity representing sacrifice. Golden beams radiate from the heart. The crotch is busted open and dollar bills rest chaotically, illuminated from inside, representing the commodification of woman. The broken cage where the head would be is also broken open while a cell phone played static until it shorted out and died.

Stella talked about the concept of a work’s aura, of bringing the presence of it into your life. Her work is about healing. When asked if the healing is for her or others, she pointed out that she hopes to connect to others, but as she is not one of them, she can not know what a person viewing her work might feel. She just wants to be honest about what she feels. She hopes the work will be healing to others.

The Cathedral, was set up on the lawn outside the gallery. It is comprised of over 20 foot high bamboo stalks arranged in a circle outside the gallery. In The Cathedral the visitor is greeted by the sounds of chirping birds when they enter into the circle, which would usually  be silent in the evening. The feeling is of being engulfed by nature. Several people I overheard at the opening, expressed a sense of peace. The person is meant to feel elevated as if transported elsewhere. One thought to make the piece more permanent, was to recreate the cathedral with live bamboo, but the artist is also considering the option of recreating it in bronze. The Cathedral reminded me of the bird cage which was broken open above The Broken Woman.

Some work in the exhibition was small in size like intimate etchings of Memories of a Dead Love. Whereas The Cathedral was monumental in size. Stella feels that her work is moving from the micro to the macro. The larger work can be seen and experienced by more people. Each piece dictated its size. She wanted to experience the labor of chopping down the bamboo with a machete, it is physical sweet labor. Much of the bamboo was already collapsed in her yard, after hurricane Milton. When discussing the materials she used, she said, “This is me, I am the cell phone, I am that bamboo. The choice of materials is important to each piece.” The perfect home for The Cathedral would be as a permanent installation in a garden or museum. She also feels a good location would be in a large city where it could have a large outreach.

In 2020, the artist walked the whole length of the Florida Scenic Trail which is over 1,100 miles, and it was a reset for her after the trauma of divorce. Her work reflects her journey of healing and growth. Soon after walking the trail, she created a persona called The Nature Goddess. She wore a black gown, had horns and a found animal skull on her staff.  She performed in a park lying on the ground and crying for the devastation of nature imposed by humanity.  She was asked why she does not do more performance art. She feels the action of physically moving the materials is in itself a performance. Painting is a private act of performance. These acts of performance are done as the work is created. She does imagine more performance art in her future.

Her work has begun to act as an advocate for the preservation of nature. The job of stopping humanities destruction of nature is too large for one person, so she has become a part of a movement. She wants to help make people aware so they can heal themselves and the earth they are a part of.

The artist is a semi finalist for the 2025-2026 Fulbright Grant and hopes to research the role that technology and media play in an indigenous community there. She wants to share her knowledge of 2D animation and sees herself as a tool. She is part indigenous herself and wants to contribute to the empowerment and dissemination of their voices, while they author their own stories.

The work shown is just the beginning of her artistic journey. The work will continue to evolve. Three years ago she had no idea she would be producing the monumental work that is on exhibit today. She is excited to see what is yet to come. The art is intending to spark peoples empathy. Even a one degree shift towards empathy can make a difference in a world intent on division. Her work lets the viewer know that there is a way out, and there is hope. Anyone can overcome feelings of entrapment. When she moves her studio back to her house, the work might scale down, but  she knows that as life happens, she will continue to grow and large scale work will take form and evolve as she does. For her, monumentality contributes to the presence of a piece.

Studio for a Day

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Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón had an amazing turn out of friends who came to support her Masters in Fine art gallery opening at UCF. There was a large contingent of artists and friends she met on her hike on the Florida Trail which she hiked from Cypress National Preserve in the south up to Fort Pickins in the North.

The day after the opening, Stella invited friends to her home including, James Parris, a former Disney Feature Animation colleague, and her daughter.  New Bear had a car which he had driven down from Maryland and he brought Just Jeff. They were both hiking buddies from Stella’s hike on the Florida National Scenic Trail. Since I was working back at my studio virtually, I missed much of the gathering.

With my last student, I was teaching contour drawing methods, and she was in a coffee shop, so our last prompt was to use contour to draw the room around us. Since I was in bed, I drew my feet extended On the Pulse comforter. At 6pm I threw on my art bag and rushed over to Stella’s to join her friends.

The plan was to have dinner at my Alex Alberaez’s home which was a short drive away. I got to catch up James Parris there.

Stella set up her power point on her brothers big screen TV and we got to experience what she would be presenting at her thesis presentation for her professors and committee members. At the beginning of her presentation she thanked those who had helped her on her journey towards getting her masters degree. Then she started talking about her family and she had to pause. There was so much love in the room with family and friends and she must have felt that. Then her presentation hit it’s full flow. The story is profound, universal and moving, and it is fueling some amazing art.

Soon she will be giving the presentation to the actual committee and professors whose job is to cross examine her and ask questions. Her job at this rehearsal was to defend her positions when asked challenging questions by friends and family. My few questions were rather soft balls.

This is her artist statement: “I explore the relationship between Nature (viewed as a living entity) and mental health through the intersections of personal experience and societal constructs. I share my evolution while healing from emotional trauma and after having walked 1,130 miles (1,818kn) as a through-hiker of the Florida National Scenic Trail. The work aims to be of service and entice a higher level of consciousness, directed to the nurturing of the self and protection of nature. while increasing appreciation and respect for it.

UCF MFA Spring Midterm Critique

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By Thomas Thorspecken

I was invited to go to the UCF Spring Mid Term Critique. It was great for me to meet the graduate students and talk art. Artist Zoe Nestlie had invited me once before, but at the time I was recovering from a COVID-19 infection.

Zoe had two paintings on display. Both were self portraits. In one a clown in white face had red rings around her eyes and a painted on smile while she face reflected sadness. An extra triangular canvas sat on top extending the blue clown’s had upward. Actual blue pom poms adorned the hat. Above the  painting was a round canvas painted red representing a balloon. One professor advised Zoe to use an actual balloon while another advised against the idea. It is up to Zoe to figure out what would work best. A second self portrait titled Facade, had heart shapes rose colored glasses. On that piece red orange and yellow flowers acted as a physical bouquet. Her work is about the psychological impact of emotional abuse within an intimate partner relationship.

The previous time I had sketched the the UCF Critique, Zoe was showing off her first painted explorations. She is still a first year student and this is her third time showing her work to the School of Visual Arts and Design, (SVAD)  faculty at large, for a formal critique. I happened to do my sketch quite close to her work. All of her work had been digital at the first critique. She had done a very consistent series of digital paintings of large eyed girls in uncomfortable positions. I asked Zoe if she preferred working digitally or traditionally. She still does some studies for paintings in the digital medium but now prefers to work larger on canvas. She likes the physicality of working on large paintings that have three dimensional elements. It is interesting to see her work progress as she moves through the masters program.

One female artist was talking about how women artists have been marginalized throughout the history of art. She followed up with the fact that she was in the masters program and that meant that the tide had turned. There are 3 men in the masters program, but only one guy made into my sketch. He is looking at his cell phone.

As I was sketching, Anna Vic Webb asked if I could stop back and visit her studio when I was done with the sketch. When I got back to her studio, she was just wrapping up with several professors. She had a self portrait on display. The eyes were a disturbing red but impossible to avoid looking at. As I was talking to Anna. I kept glancing back at those red piercing eyes in the painting. Sections of the painting vibrated with florescent brightness. Hair was painted on the legs in a spiraling pattern similar to Van Gogh’s nigh sky. A lone wolf was peaking printed on her tee shirt in the painting. We had a long talk about art which was quite rewarding. I didn’t really critique the work but instead offered suggestions on techniques she might like to try to tie all the elements together. I lost track of time getting to chat about art. I finally slipped away when a professor came in to offer her critique.

The Cathedral

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By Thomas Thorspecken

Back in October, I visited Stella P. Arbelaez Tascon, a UCF Masters program art student in her studio where she quickly sketched out an idea of an installation titled, The Cathedral: Within and Without for me, while I watched. It was an idea that had been living in her head, rent free, for a very long time, and she now wanted to make it a reality. Hurricane Milton had ripped through Central Florida and knocked over several trees on her property. Huge root balls forced fence posts up into the sky. Large stalks of bamboo were scattered in the yard. After destruction, comes recovery and  creation.

I volunteered in my small way to help bring the vision to life. It was exciting getting to watch her problem solve at every step of the process. She knew exactly how she wanted it to turn out, and the engineering involved would be adjusted based on the demands of the naturally sourced materials. The Cathedral was constructed of heat treated bamboo, solar lights, natural rope, steel fence posts, rebar, wire and a motion sensor box. It was 8 feet in diameter by 22 feet high.

All the bamboo for the installation was sourced right from the artist’s yard. Many were already fallen and she cut the others down using a machete.  A few months later, while I sketched the work on the opening night of her MFA exhibit, I heard some students asking one another where where the artist had sourced so much bamboo. I wanted to shout out, but decided to remain the silent witness.

This is how she described the piece: “In this piece, I capture the experience of being enveloped by towering cathedral like trees, where the enormity of the natural world brings forth a profound awareness of one’s own smallness. The simplicity of the lines within the work invites the viewers  gaze upward, toward the heavens, offering a pathway to the transcendence beyond the physical self, without the distractions of earthly possessions. It encourages a deeper appreciation of life by prompting reflection on the fleeting nature of human existence, contrasted against the timeless and majestic  presence of the environment that surround us.”

It was a cold night as I sketched. I wanted to sketch the cathedral against the pitch black night sky. I deeply respected Alex, the undergrad student, who was on duty as docent to the piece. She was the only person wearing a mask protecting herself and others in the ongoing pandemic. She encouraged everyone who left the warmth of the UCF Art Gallery to enter the Cathedral. All were invited to lie on their backs and look upwards. Many did. Before sketching, I entered myself and looked upwards. The bold lines of the bamboo pointed to the stars. It felt like a more elegant, refined Stonehenge.

As I sketched I could hear  everyone’s comments. When people entered the structure they were greeted with the sounds of birds chirping. A motion sensor would play the audio when people were inside. Mostly people felt peace when they entered the Cathedral. One woman told her boyfriend that she would love to have one in her back yard. She could use it for reflection and meditation. Most people exiting the UCF Masters exhibition titled Haunt, made their way to the installation and experienced it first hand. It became a place where people congregated, adjusting to the cold evening and sparked excited conversations to warm up. It also became the place where people hugged for the last time as they went their separate ways. It was a portal back to reality.

Haunt was on display until March 7, 2025 at the UCF Art Gallery (12400 Aquarius Agora Drive Orlando Florida.) Unfortunately The Cathedral was only on display through February 25th. I will be helping the artist dismantle the piece that day. The logistics of moving such a large piece are incredible. The U-Haul Truck she rented to move it is just barely large enough for the tall bamboo poles. One pole in particular had to be put in the truck at just the right angle, corner to corner, for it to fit. She has been keeping the installation in a storage facility and once again the poles just manage to fit. The stalks were protected from Florida’s humidity by being heat treated with a flame thrower and covered in varnish to protect them. Fans were placed to keep the air moving. It would be nice if the installation found a more permanent home where others could experience the peace and wonder it inspires.

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Snow Globe: Blower Exchange

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In this shot from Snow Globe, Big Birdie (Carrie Lauren) stood in her driveway and Guy (Neil Parren) had parked in the street, smugly leaning against his car. The couple had separated or were divorced.

At first Gregory Mohn, behind the camera considered having the red car parked diagonally in the driveway, but when it was backed up into the street to be repositioned, he decided it made sense for Guy to not even bother to use the driveway. I liked the look of the circular cul-de-sac, the definition of which is: a route or course leading nowhere. It was fitting.

Birdie offered to give guy the leaf  blower. She after all was civilized and would not need such a loud obnoxious device. The closest they got to one another is when she handed it to him, extended at arms length. There is a painful moment that happens when you realize that you are never going to see a person who you spent decades of your life with. There had been some good times. But Guy’s girlfriend, Her (Crystal Hanley) was in the passenger seat. He had already started building a life together with someone new. When he put the blower in the back seat of his car he realized he had something to return to Birdie. It was the snow globe. He casually threw it to her. They were about 12 feet apart. Now, keep in mind, this is the only snow globe prop available. To keep it safe multiple shot were done where he acted like he was throwing it but kept it in his hand. Similar shots were done of Birdie acting like she was catching it.

Then the critical shot had to be done where Birdie actually caught the snow globe and reacted. She was moved onto the grass and someone with serious baseball experience stood a few feet from her to lobe the snow globe to her. He coached her saying she should use her body to catch the globe and just cradle it with her hands. Multiple shots were done and I gasped every time. Then the fatal toss happened. The globe slipped through her hands and fell to the ground. There was absolute silence on the set. In slow motion, the globe bounced multiple times and settled between the Saint Augustine blades, unharmed. There was one toss which was a bit too high and Crystal reacted in absolute terror that the globe might fall again. I am certain that will be the shot that ends up in the final cut of the film.

In the next shot the hatchback of the red car was opened and cameraman Gregory sat looking back at Birdie. I had to quickly pack up my art supplies since I would have been visible in the long dolly shot. I hid in the garage with director, Tracey Jane and the mechanical garage door rolled shut. As the car slowly pulled away Birdie got small in the distance. The monitor was set up in the garage and the shot looked beautiful. Tracey was glowing.

There was another scene that was to be shot this day in the pool area after lunch, but I had to drive back to Lake County to teach virtual classes. There were delicious empanadas for the crew. I slipped one into a napkin for the road. This was the moment where I got to share my sketches with Tracey. Her excitement left me overjoyed. She called members of the crew over to look. Gregory kept saying he could not understand how I did what I do. But I have just as much respect for the entire crews mad skills.

This would be the final sketch of the three day short film shooting marathon. It was certainly an adventure for me and I am so grateful I was allowed into the creative fold. When the film premiers I plan to sketch the red carpet while cleaned up in a fresh tuxedo.

Snow Globe: Director’s Chair

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The film shoot for Snow Globe at the Semoran Skateway was going until late in the night. It would be past 5am before equipment would be packed back up.

At this point in the shoot, the two actresses, Grace Violla as Teen Birdie and Payton Hubert as Liv, Birdie’s best friend, were being shot skating around the rink.

Writer and director Tracey Jane was in the concessions area watching the shots on a monitor. Rather than a luxurious directors seat with a megaphone, she sat on  a humble packing crate. Most of the extras were also seated in the concessions area. These were die hard skaters who were itching to get back out on the rink. The rink house music was no longer playing and they just sat chatting at the tables. Interest waned since they couldn’t sit passively, and they started heading for the door. Each walked over the Step Down warning tape and past the Power Roll machine on their way to the exit. Tracey realized she was loosing her extras who wanted music and the rush of skating. There were other shots that required skaters in the background. There was no way stop the exodus.

The next shot that required extras had teen birdie fall and skaters rolled past her as if she didn’t exist. To accomplish this shot the few remaining extras simply roller skated in a tight circle around birdie and the camera. This kept the few remaining extras in the tight shots on birdie. The rink felt crowded on the monitor. That is movie magic right there.

Tracey Jane had two of her other short films at the Love Your Shorts Film Festival in Sanford, Florida. Those films are Life is Torture ( A Simply Medieval Musical) and The Heatbreak.  This was the Florida Premiere for both of those films. It seems to me Tracey Jane is on fire, and I am so happy I got to witness some of the creative magic first hand. I loved making my animated short film, but that was a solitary effort. Tracey works with a creative army and manages to keep all the demands and emotions of everyone involved in check. That is no small task.

Impotent or Important

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Today I went in for a Cystoscopy which involved shoving a camera up my penis to view my giant prostrate. The camera is in this sketch on the lower left, It was hooked up to an iPad so the doc could show me the incredible journey to the obstruction.

A nurse walked me back to the room and asked me questions with a sing song voice. At first it seemed condescending, but then it became reassuring since clearly this all was just procedure and had been done many times before. Her job was to ask a few questions and then ask me to undress. My 3 layers of jackets had to come off to get my blood pressure which was normal. It was freezing cold outside. Then she asked me to take off my pants, underwear and wrap a white paper gown around my waste. I kept my warm socks on. There was another strip of white paper with a hole in it for my meat puppet to poke through. She left to let me undress in private. Once on the mechanical throne I started sketching. I knew most everything would change position, so I worked in pencil.

Two female nurses entered the room. As I suspected, their job was to numb me downstairs. The chair I was in began to tilt waaaay back with a mechanical moan. I bunched up the little pillow under my head so I could keep looking down towards my feet. I wanted to see my shy member uncovered, and numbed, but all the crumpled paper gown in my lap blocked my view. One nurse said, I am going to touch you now. She grabbed the head and shaft poking through the hole in the paper gown, and immediately began injecting Lanacane into the mouth of the beast. HOLY SHIT! It BURNED! I curled my toes and restrained myself from slapping her hand away from Sam wise. The pain just kept coming in waves, as she kept injecting the fluid deep into the orifice. When the two nursed left, I regained some composure and started sketching again in ink. My thighs were wet with Lanacane.

It took quite a while for the doctor to enter, I managed to get most of the line work done on the sketch. When he did enter, the real adventure of pain began. The evil scope was immediately shoved up into my penis. My penis was numb, but deep inside I felt everything. Every muscle inside my body clamped down tight. As I writhed in pain he told me to breath deep and imagine that I was peeing. That advice helped. Through out this process I could not sketch. My eyelids were clamped down hard in pain. He joked about how large the prostrate was, as if he had never seen one quite so large. He said, the Cystoscope was shoved in right up to the hilt.  He tilted the iPad towards me so I could see the small slit that was the only egress for urine from my bladder. He said any time I went to the bathroom only half of the liquid in my bladder could make its way out. A reading of 128 meant that 95% of people had a healthier urinary system than me. When he pulled the camera out of me, Lanacane and other fluids gushed out. There was a small portable toilet behind the throne of torture and he let me dismount and pee.

Then came the back door entrance. A Vaseline covered finger thrust up towards my prostrate and then more imaging was done with an ultrasound device. My prostrate is supposed to be the size of a small chestnut but now it is bigger than a softball. That huge growth reduces the size of my bladder by half. The doctor’s plan is to remove all of the prostate with a laser which will once again be shoved up inside my penis. After that operation, I will no longer be able to have children. Sex and orgasm will be possible but I will never again ejaculate. I actually opened myself up to the possibility of having a child in January of last year. That was a fleeting moment. Now, it is more important that I can hold my bladder for several hours while I finish a sketch.

For the big operation I will be out cold under general anesthesia. I will have to stay in the hospital overnight with who knows what hanging out of the mouth of Shrunken Sam. I was told a nurse would call me and give me exercises that I should do before the operation. Perhaps my penis will need to do Jumping Jacks or Push Ups. What ever is needed, he will be trained and ready. Though I joke about the operation, it is terrifying to imagine a laser disintegrating a softball sized growth from inside my bladder. Is that even possible? It seems like my body and all aspects of my life are struggling to regain balance as I search for a new life moving forward.

Committing to Cremation

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Some junk mail arrived at the Lake County Studio that offered a free Italian meal to attend a seminar hosted by the National Cremation Society.

I arrived a few minuted late and everyone else had ordered. I had expected a crowded room with a large screen Power Point presentation, but instead I found the presenter George and two women from The Villages. George had the 3 audience members across from him, so it wasn’t an ideal situation to sketch everyone. I focused on George. I had just learned about the “Loofah Code” at the Villages and desperately wanted to ask the women about it but the topic was death and ashes, so I held my tongue.

George was pleasant and informative. He once worked at Meryll Lynch in the twin towers in NYC. A friend of his was supposed to be in the Twin Towers on the day of the terrorist attack. The meeting was held at a nearby building instead and because of that his friend survived.

Did you know that 57% of burials these days are cremations? Cremation is a more affordable option since there are no expensive hearses or large brick and mortar funeral homes, the upkeep is just to keep a furnace running. From the start I was offered a form where I could commit to cremation which would lock in the price and save any loved ones from having to make plans about what to do with my body. If there is no will and no plans in place, then the body becomes the property of the state and is held in cold storage for months before becoming part of a mass cremation. None of this should of course concern me, since I would be dead. I loved that the woman seated next to me referred to herself in the third person as, “the body.”

Also offered was “the freedom to go with confidence.” This plan cost about $600. If I were to die while traveling in a foreign country, my remains would have to be repatriated back to America which could cost $11,000 and would involve lots of red tape for family. The Cremation Society would handle all documentation and diplomatic issues in getting the body back home. Local Cremation services would run about $2,800, and that includes an alternative cardboard container, packaging, and the shipping of ashes!

This was a lot to think about as I ate my ham and cheese hoagie with onion rings. Everyone else had ordered together and they all had salads. They finished well before me since my right hand was busy sketching. They left and I remained behind alone to finish the sketch in progress and half of my sandwich.

The Mount Dora Corn Festival

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The Zellwood Sweetcorn Festival has gone the way of the dodo. However Mount Dora held its inaugural sweet corn festival starting in 2024, featuring Zellwood Sweet Corn.

The Mount Dora Corn Festival happens in Elizabeth Evans Park, 100 North Donnelly Street, Mount Dora Florida. The dates will be sometime in May 2025. Blankets and chairs are encouraged and service dogs are welcome. Children 3 and under are free. The festival books country singers to perform on the outdoor stage.

Festival activities include…

  • Admission to BOTH days of the festival 
  • Corn shucking contest 
  • Corn on the cob eating contest (All  you can eat and hot corn.
  • Battle of the businesses corn bread cook-off
  • Corn hole 
  • Signature corn food vendors
  • Kids area
  • Crowning of the corn King and Queen
  • Hay ride
  • Petting zoo (Saturday 3-6pm)
  • Fireworks (Saturday at 9pm)
  • Free shuttle parking (Saturday Only)

Crealde Table Cloth Sketching

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6 months into the pandemic I was teaching an Urban Sketching course at Crealde School of Art on Sundays. Tables in the room were arranged in tight rows, but I would spread then out into an open circular layout just before class to allow for some social distancing. Masks were required at this point.

My mantra from the very first class is to “fill the page.”  I also want to encourage the students to draw from the hips, trough the shoulders and then to the hand rather than dainty lines put down with wrist or finger movement. To encourage this, I covered each table with white paper tablecloths which become the sketch that needed to be completed. The sketch above was also done on one of these large sheets of paper. You can see the ripped edges on the left and right. I painted the scene much later digitally.

The Crealde Urban Sketching course will start up again in the Spring. I am teaching 6 days a week for Elite Animation Academy and they have a course called “Sketching People Places and Things” which very much like the Urban Sketching course. There are virtual classes for adults now and I have students from as far away ad Borneo!