Air Play

Posted on by Thor

Air Play presented by Orlando Health is set up in Senef Arts Plaza in front for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts through October 30, 2022. I went to sketch with my advanced Urban Sketching student and we found that everything was deflated on Sunday afternoon. It was like a large lawn of sad deflated Santas and snowmen that people have on their front lawns around Christmas time. We decided to sketch these large eyes of Sauron in the corner of the lawn since they were the only things that remained inflated.

Between the eyes is a large green generator. As we sketched a guy came out with a cart that had 10 to 15 gallons of gas to power the generator. When it roared to life all the structured on the lawn slowly began to inflate. The large structures were covered with brown tarps and those tarps had to be rolled back much like you might see at a baseball game after it rains.

Penis shaped mushrooms sprouted up behind one of the eyes along with a large red ant. Bright red and yellow flowers covered a hillside which was probably a kid’s slide. Someone then rolled the eyes away to the opposite side of the lawn. It turns out you can roll these eyeballs around and play a distorted game of eyeball soccer. Also on the lawn was a large 15 foot tall heart, lungs and what looked like human intestines. It was a bright, Gulliver sized recreation of Normandy beach on D-Day.

A young teen girl and her boyfriend rode by on those scooters they have downtown. She circled back and wanted to see our sketched. She didn’t know how to use the scooter, and when she stepped off, it did a wheelie and flipped over onto the lawn. They rode by a second time to check on our progress. As we sketched the theaters let out and a huge crowd pressed past us. I masked up as they all walked by talking about the shows.

As of March 7, 2022, The Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts lifted for all indoor shows and events both public and private. I saw maybe 2 masks in the crowd of hundreds who walked by. Orlando is done with the pandemic but the pandemic is not done with Orlando. The Orlando Sentinel reported that there were 22,592 new coronavirus cases recorded over the past two weeks among Florida residents, bringing the cumulative total to 7,129,245. There were 522 more COVID-19 deaths, bringing Florida’s total to 81,661 dead. When the Pulse nightclub shooting happened, people rushed to give blood. Now people are happy to ignore s literally hundreds of people die every week from COVID in Florida. The death baseline has shifted.

Crealde Thumbnails

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At my Crealde Urban Sketching course I always have the students do a series of thumbnail sketches so they can explore compositional possibilities before committing to a full page sketch. I do fast and car free sketches along with them to show them each stage of my process.

This was also a lesson in perspective. Anything man made is usually square and knowing where a vanishing point is helps to find the right angles in a cue shapes object. You can see I even drew lines in the grass hinting at where the vanishing point is across the lake.

In the fall the temperatures are just right for sketching outdoors. Fall classes start October 23, 2022.

 

Why are more Republicans dying of COVID-19?

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ABC News reported that average excess death rates in Florida and Ohio were 76% higher among Republicans than Democrats between March 2020 and December 2021, according to a working paper released last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Vaccine hesitancy among Republicans may be the biggest cause. The partisan gap in the deaths widened between April and December 2021, after all adults became eligible for COVID vaccines. Excess death rates in Florida and Ohio were 153% higher among Republicans than Democrats during that time, the paper showed.

The June study suggested that COVID vaccine uptake explained just 10% of the partisan gap in the deaths. Those researchers suggested that compliance with other public health measures such as mask use and social distancing was a significant factor. It is hard to imagine that people who deny the efficacy of getting vaccinated might also not wear a mask or social distance. This defies science and logic.

The research was limited to Florida and Ohio. It is possible that people from those states are just dumber that Americans from other states. More research is needed. About 20% of the U.S. population still hasn’t received a single Covid shot, according to the CDC. Only 2% of Americans have gotten the new Omicron specific booster shot. As the pandemic continues to play out, we will see more death among vaccine deniers most of whom happen to be Republicans.

 

COVID’s 3rd Act

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Plays and movies have three acts. The first act sets the scene and shows what life was life before an inciting incident happens like the spread of a deadly virus around the world. The second act is an active attempt to return life to normal but that act seems to have been botched by most politicians and public health experts. We are still in the second act of this pandemic play. The virus continues to kill 400 to 500 people every day in America however the actors on the stage seem content to accept this level of death as they dream of returning to life as normal. They wander the stage and breath in each others mask less faces satisfied that they have not died from the virus and therefor who cares about anyone else.

So how does the third act play out? Is a peaceful transition where everyone ignores that the pandemic even happened and the virus magically disappears? The fact is that the virus is here to stay and there will be more waves as variants change and adapt to infect more clueless actors. Even the COVID deniers are surprised when friends and loved ones become infected. America does a magnificent job of quietly disposing of the dead while the living remain happily ignorant.

Some day scientists should be able to bring the devastating nature of this virus more under control. But for now, no one knows what lies ahead. Europe is once again seeing a spike in cases of COVID-19. 9 countries are seeing their hospitalizations increase. In France case numbers have doubled in the last couple of weeks. The levels are still rather low compared to the huge spikes earlier in the pandemic. In the past, Europe has offered the United States and early look at what is coming.

The bottom line is that Americans are done with the virus. The virus however is not done with Americans. Personally I went in to get my 5th shot of COVID vaccine which is intended to combat the latest Omicron variants. Only 2% of Americans have chosen to get this extra jab. To me it is a no brainer, but for so many, denial is the considered the better option.

Phantasmagoria XIII: Poe Through the Tales Darkly

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Tonight is the final performance of Phantasmagoria XIII: Poe Through the Tales Darkly at the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater in the Dr. Phillips Center of the Performing Arts. Tickets are about $35. The cast performs the haunted stirrings of The Raven to the sheer terror of The Tell Tale Heart. . . and from the grim tolling of The Bells to the bittersweet grieving of Anabelle Lee along with a selection of other whimsical, macabre, and terrifying stories and poems, you are invited to celebrate an evening of Poe’s works. The perfect way to usher in the Halloween season!

I knew going into this sketch that I would not have time to finish, so the paint was added back at the studio. This is a rather panicked, making of sketch that was done in a carriage house as the cast of Phantasmagoria posed for a photo for the promotional materials for Phantasmagoria XIII: Poe Through the Tales Darkly. It was a hot day and the carriage house was set up to look like a long abandoned attic. Items in the set are often reminders of past performances. Everything on hand had a taste of the macabre.  Thin fabric veils and spider webs dangled from hard mannequins and the rafters. Two dolls occupied an ancient wheel chair. Madness permeated the very wall boards and electrical conduits that ran along the rafters.

You could cower in the darkness or delight in it’s pure dark insanity.

Phantasmagoria Dress Rehearsal

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Phantasmagoria is presenting, Phantasmagoria XIII: Poe, Through the Tales Darkly at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. I went to sketch the final dress rehearsal. I unfortunately was running late but managed to get there for the final two scenes. The sketch therefor was a bit of a rush to complete since I usually pace myself to finish during the full run of a show. Regardless, I got something down.

Victorian Horror Troupe Phantasmagoria thunders onto the stage with the newest entry in their long running Halloween main stage series. They bring to life the tales and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe through their evocative storytelling, Phantastical dance, explosive stage combat, puppetry, projections, original music and MUCH more!

From the haunted stirrings of The Raven to the sheer terror of The Tell Tale Heart. . . and from the grim tolling of The Bells to the bittersweet grieving of Anabelle Lee along with a selection of other whimsical, macabre, and terrifying stories and poems, you are invited to celebrate an evening of Poe’s works. The perfect way to usher in the Halloween season!

The show runs October 6-8  at the Alexis and Pugh theater. Tickets are $35.

Eye of Ian

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The 24 hour leading up to Hurricane Ian making landfall were stressful for all on the south west coast.Early projections showed the storm would hit up near Tampa, Florida. I have a sister who lives in Port Charlotte and she lived through Hurricane Charley back in August of 2004. In that hurricane she hunkered down in a bathtub and the winds ripped off the roof of her home. Charlie was also supposed to head up to Tampa but it hooked off at the last minute and tore right through Port Charlotte.

There was a mandatory evacuation for the zone she lived in with Hurricane Ian. I asked her to come to our guest bedroom in Orlando but she really can’t travel that far. She therefor moved to a neighbors house which was larger and had a generator. The home was maybe a mile from where she lived at the end of a canal. Early reports are that her home suffered only minor damage and a tarp has already been put on the roof. Storm surge waters had water coming right up to her front and back doorways but it stopped short of going inside her home. A fence was blown down and there are trees down in the neighborhood. Ironically her umbrella style clothes line went unscathed. Power has been down.

The local sports complex is offering ice and large container of water as well as several BBQ dinners. That was the first hot meal since Wednesday. The primary concerns seem to be no hot water and no gas for the grill. Everything had to be emptied from the fridge since it started to smell.

Here in Orlando we were nervous because there is a large dead tree in the back yard. A neighbor told us it might have been hit by lightning but a contractor said that beetles had killed it. There are vines growing all over the branches and we thought until about a week ago that it was alive. So our concern was that the whole tree could fall.

We lucked out in that only very large branches crashed to the ground during the storm. One fell while our dog was in the yard relieving himself. It missed him. We have been taking clean up slow. Each evening I burn tree limbs in the fire pit rather than waste all that fuel. We lost power for 24 hours and I had to cancel several virtual classes. Our refrigerator contents were moved to a building with a generator and promptly returned once power came back on.

Pam has had of deal with endless repair work because of water leaks in the History museum and the off site storage facility. I experienced a horrible irregular heart beat in the mad rush to clean the yard prior to the storm. I suddenly realize I am not as spry as I used to be. I have been taking the clean up of dead branches slow and steady in the mean time. My mini bon fires make it a more relaxing project.

Vandalized

Posted on by Thor

This statue called “Muse of Discovery”  in Lake Eola Park survived the rising flood waters as Lake Eola overflowed it’s banks due to the incredible amount of rainfall from Hurricane Ian. The flood water rose right to the base of the small hill in which she is wedged. Unfortunately she could not survive the incredibly stupid and irresponsible parents who allowed their daughter to paint the eyebrows and lips of the stature after the storm waters subsided.

I chose this spot to sketch with my weekend warrior Urban sketching student. Children clamored all over the statue while we sketched and I believe that is what is intended by the artist since the statue is so low to the ground. It is a favorite selfie and family photo spot.

However one dumb ass mom and dad allowed her daughter to start face painting the statue. When I am Urban sketching I tend to ignore areas where people block the view of my intended subject. So while this family was crowded around the face, I was sketching trees and background foliage.

At one point a parks worker approached the family and said, “please don’t let her do that, I will just have to come back and scrub it off.” The dad said something to the daughter and she tried to wipe the lips clean with her elbow. It was only after the family left that I noticed that one eyebrow was bright yellow and the other a faint purple. I had drawn the face prior to the family vandalism and it hadn’t been like that when I first sketched it.

So that became the lesson for the day. If you sit in one place long enough to do a sketch, you often get to witness the dumbest members of society teach their kids to do dumb shit.

Knowles Chapel 2

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I let my advanced Urban Sketching student decide what angle to sketch Knowles Chapel from. We sat under a line of trees which guaranteed shade. My first lesson, is always, “Never sketch while sitting in the sun in Florida.” It is kind of the most important rule of sketching in Florida, but you would be amazed at how many artists don’t predict the movement of shadows and get stuck sweating in the sun.

From this angle the rose garden in front of the church became a center of interest. The chapel tower is now a reduced feature in the background. In the courtyard behind all those arches is a statue of Mr. Rogers surrounded by children. If he wasn’t such a beloved entertainer, it might seem a bit creepy.

The vanishing point in this sketch is at the far left between several arches. The roof and the walls of the garden point to that spot. My fountain pen ran out of ink, so all the line work in this sketch was dome with a brown colored pencil. I kind of like the look it is a bit more subtle than my usual sketch. My advanced student had to recover from the hurricane this weekend, so we aren’t going on location. I have tons of large branches down as well. I managed to clear the driveway of debris before I had to come in to teach a virtual class. My hurricane recovery plan is in small incremental stages.

We did quite a bit of clean up before the storm but the city refused to pick up the pile of debris on the day before the storm. They want everything tucked neatly into small plastic lawn bags. They must have an agreement with a plastics company. Anyway all of today’s debris went into lawn bags which is insanely time consuming. I am thinking a bon fore would be far more fun to do over night.

Knowles Chapel

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Knowles Chapel on the Rollins College Campus is a beautiful structure. My advanced Urban Sketching student agreed to meet her to sketch. This largely became a lesson in one point perspective and I pointed out to the student that the red sculpture that was a block down the sidewalk was the vanishing point. For this reason I included the red sculpture in my sketch. The other lesson was that the Chapel did not need to be in the middle of the sketch. A large tree dominated the center of my sketch and I went with it, relegating the chapel to the background.

The campus had expanded since I sketched here last. I used to park down by the Rollins Museum but that parking lot was demolished to make way for another building. I had to drive several more blocks to park in a parking garage. By the time I hikes my way back to the chapel I was a sweaty mess but at least I am getting some exercise.

Construction on the chapel began on March 1931 and it was dedicated on March 19, 1932. At that time it was located in the center of the campus. The architect of the chapel was the famous ecclesiastical architect, Ralph Adams Cram of the firm of Cram and Ferguson of Boston. Cram also designed the Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. St. John the Divine opened in 1941 and thus didn’t make my list of the 50 oldest churches of NYC. Knowles is actually a rather modern building compared to the historic churches I sketched in NYC.