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.

Dealership

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When I left for Europe for three months, I packed up my studio and put everything in a U-Haul storage unit in September of 2025. It costs me $175 a month to store away my life while I live out of a backpack. The car was more tricky to store. I found a site called Neighbor where people allow you to park your car on their property for a monthly rate. It cost about $60 a month to park mu car in a field in Okahumpka Florida. The owner of the land has a wood workshop and at the time I left in November of 2025, he was working on decorations for a Christmas parade. At the head of his driveway which is a long dirt drive was a wooden gnome and a six-foot-tall silhouette of a big foot. Since he was running a creative workshop, I felt comfortable keeping my Prius there.

I read online article about how to safely store a car for many months. I got a large tarp to put on the ground so that weeds would not grow up into the chassis of the car. I had plastic stakes to secure the corners so it would not blow around in the high winds. I got a car cover, which unfortunately blew off several times. The lot owner said he replaced the cover each time. If or when I travel again, I will need to get rope of bungees to secure the cover under the car, front and back and side to side. I let the gas get very low before I parked and I put an additive in with the oil which is supposed to help when the car sits idle.

I disconnected the car battery which I had never done before so that the battery would not drain. I heard that having a trickle charger was the best option to keep the battery charges, but that was not an option since there was no outlet in the empty field. Besides my Prius there were several campers parked on the lot.

When I got back to the states, I needed the help of the property owner to jump my battery once I had it hooked back up. Despite being unhooked the battery had been completely drained over the three months. When I drove away from the Okahumpka empty field, a warning light flashed on the dashboard. The battery would not get back to a full charge. Since I was in a rural county, the car is super important just to run basic survival errands, so I decided to immediately drive to the dealership to have the car go through an all points inspection. I was advised to replace the smaller battery which is the one needed each time the engine is turned over. This was an unexpected $700 expense to add to my car storage fee on the spreadsheet.

All of my art supplies and studio equipment are still in storage. I lived out of a backpack in Europe and I have been living out of the same backpack since I got back. I almost bought a house in Azalia Park in Orlando but discovered it had termites in the roof rafters. I realized I would not be able to live in the place for about a year while the roof was replaced and major renovations were made. I backed out of the deal after the inspection which also cost about $700.

At the end of this week I will be heading to Sarasota where I am having a hernia operation. I discovered the hernia when I was in Germany and since I got back my primary goal has been to get this diagnosed and taken care of. The surgeon who will perform the operation is the same surgeon who performed the same operation on my sister who lives down in Port Charlotte, Florida. She and her husband have agreed to take me to the hospital and then back to their place to be sure I recover without complications. From there place I plan to look for an AirB&B in Orlando for a month or an apartment. I want to be in Orlando in May so that I can document the Orlando International Fringe Festival. After the festival my plan right now is to drive north. I want to find a place north of NYC where I can commute by bus or train once a week or so into the city to sketch and paint. It is time to put down roots an build back up my studio practice. I have been on the road long enough. Sketching on location keeps my studio set up in my tiny day bag. I should probably start doing more finished works. I doubt I will ever be remembered for my sketches done in car dealerships.

Fat Ham at the Shakes

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Fat Ham is a serious yet humorous one two punch based loosely on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play is set at a barbecue in the backyard of a southern suburban home. Juicy is visited by the ghost of his dead father. This visitation reveals that Juicy’s father was murdered by The Rev who is Juicy’s uncle and now set dad. After the murder the Rev made his move to win his brother’s widow Tedra.

Juicy’s friend Rabby was the first to see the ghost. The ghost rose from the beer cooler set at the front of the stage. The ghost had a mission which was to convince his son Juicy to avenge his murder. Juicy however resists this long history of violence in the family. He wants to find happiness while embracing his queerness. His identity isn’t found by throwing a good punch but by accepting the flaws of the family around him and finding where he belongs.

Others at the back yard BBQ also are coming to terms with their queerness. It turns out that Opal likes woman and Larry who arrives to the BBQ in a marine uniform wants deep a heart to be softer than the soldier he was trained to be. Each must find their way despite family expectations.

When I started this sketch, I thought a lighting tech or sound person might be working the board at house right. No one ever set up a that station. All the cues must have been locked in place. The set looked very much like the others sets I had seen for Fat Ham. In an interview I saw, James IJames the show’s author said that the set was very much like the backyard where he grew up. It is an unassuming setting where very heated family dynamics play out.

Unlike Hamlet where almost everyone dies, the  ending of this play celebrates acceptance and joy found despite the arrogant pigeonholing of gender. Larry the marine is seen resplendent like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The family finds joy in their imperfect world. I left the theater feeling a creative spirit can still bloom in this jaded and imperfect world.

Fat Ham is being performed live at the Shakespeare Theater through March 29, 20206. Trust me this is a show you do not want to miss.

Fat Ham Final Poster

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The final pass at the Fat Ham poster features the “to be or not to be” moment from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Granted there is no mirrored skull or crown in Fat Ham, but it allows for anyone to know that the play is an homage to Hamlet. I switched from depicting the glamorous lighting of the finale of the play and instead focused on depicting the back yard barbecue.

Juicy (Je’Shaun Jackson) fills in for Hamlet who is visited by the ghost of his dead father and tasked with killing his father’s brother who is the one who murdered his dad. Juicy however, has a pleasant disposition an couldn’t hurt a fly.

Juicy performing Karaoke fills in for the famous To be or not to be monologue. Juicy sings Creep by Radiohead. IT starts off awkwardly but the slips into a dream sequence in which Juicy fells completely in control of the world around him.  It is at first humorous and then gloriously empowering.  It shows a creative and expressive individual embracing his uniqueness and taking flight.

The final poster had to embrace lightness rather than the dark to be more successful. There are so many moments of absolute joy and humor in the play and that had to overpower the dark themes. The photo taken for the theater program slipped back towards the darkness of reflecting on mortality. Juicy wears a black turban head wrap in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater production and it is an awesome replacement for the crown. I wish I had thought of it when I was working on the poster.

Costuming was by Jos N. Banks who also played Larry in the production. Larry shows up to the barbecue in uniform. This crisp militaristic uniform defines how he is seen by everyone. The Rev (Essex O’Brian) respects a man who has killed others. When Larry is alone with Juicy, he expresses a desire to be more soft and caring.

By the end of Hamlet almost everyone has died including the protagonist Hamlet. Fat Ham turns that ending on it’s head, deciding to celebrate acceptance and inclusion with a rousing and glamorous musical number. Chandeliers drop down from the ceiling and the lighting turns hot and exotic. Queerness is celebrated like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Fat Ham runs through March 29, 2026 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E. Rollins St., Orlando, FL 32803). Ticket prices range from $70 for the A signature series seats to $48 for the C signature series seats. You don’t want to miss Fat Ham.

Fat Ham Theater Poster Second Pass

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For the second pass at the Fat Ham theater poster for the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, I tried the classic Hamlet pose of holding a skull while debating existence. In this case I used a mirrored skull but ultimately such a scene does not happen in the play. Fat Ham is a modern take on Hamlet staged at a southern back yard barbecue.

A difficulty in depicting the cast is that the poster is painted long before any auditions. In this play, Juicy (Je’Shawn Jackson) steps in for Hamlet but he embraces his fabulous self. There is less self reflection and more yearning for being somewhere where he can be openly accepted for show he is.

In this painting I had not yet resolved the back hand holding the skull. The shakes decided to use this concept for the theater programs by posing the actor holding a mirrored skull in a photo. In this painting I had the rest of the cast dancing in the background, which is similar to the karaoke scene in the play. The trouble with their poses is that they could be dancing excitedly or in pain. The dancing and dark theatrical lighting had to go.

Since the concept was not accepted, I never polished the details of the painting. This is like a thumbnail concept sketch, but I find it just as convenient to work full size to explore ideas. This season I worked the thumbnail ideas at ¼ size, and I found it was easier to crank out more possibilities.

In Fat Ham Juicy is visited by the ghost of his dead father and he is tasked with avenging his death. The Rev (Essex O’Brian) is the brother of Juicy’s dad and he murdered Juicy’s father. The Rev then immediately made moves on his brothers widow and married her. Juicy is to kind of a soul to murder his uncle. But when his uncle chokes on some BBQ he refuses help from his nephew who could have saved him with a Heimlich maneuver. The uncle’s refusal to accept help is what killed him.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, pretty much everyone dies including Hamlet. Fat Ham uses the familiar Hamlet plot as a framework to explore themes of Black masculinity, queerness, family trauma, and the cycle of violence, ultimately subverting the tragic ending with a celebration of joy, love, and self-acceptance.

This celebration is what I wanted to express in the painting for the poster, but I think I missed the mark. I needed to do another pass that focused more on the everyday aspect of a family BBQ in the deep south.

Fat Ham Theater Poster First Pass

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When I did this first pass at the Fat Ham theater poster, I had not read the entire script yet. I did see a few YouTube clips from the Broadway production, and I was intrigued by the fabulous and exotic ending to the show. Now that I have seen the show at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E Rollins St, Orlando, FL 32803), I know that there is no crown in the production. Juicy (Je’Shaun Jackson) the main character in the show, isn’t a prince and he doesn’t see himself that way. He just wants to get a job in Human resources which is a normal everyday ambition. The show deals with queer black identity and juicy doesn’t try to hide who he is deep inside.

Like in Hamlet. Juicy does meet his recently murdered father’s ghost. Through this meeting Juicy learns that, his uncle and strep father had his father murdered with a shiv in prison. The Rev (Essex O’Brian) then immediately hooked up with the widow of the man he had murdered, Juicy’s mom, the beautiful Tedra, (Patrece Bloomfield). Tedra would marry anyone to keep from being alone. She needs chaos in her life rather than time to reflect and feel lonely. Her mantra is that if you keep a man fed, he will always be happy. The Rev, however, is bullying and aggressive, particularly towards her son Juicy. She turns a blind eye when the Rev sucker punches her son in the stomach. I suspect that after honeymoon period, the Rev’s aggression would turn towards her as well.

The show follows Juicy’s self discovery as he navigates a family barbecue where he doesn’t feel like he belongs. The original Shakespeare production of Hamlet is a definite tragedy but Fat ham is is more of a celebration of embracing differences. Tedra, Juicy’s mom exuberantly embraces her son’s unique qualities. Where as the Rev despised those same qualities. The barbecue is staged to celebrate the marriage of the Rev to Tendra and their differing world views become glaringly obvious.

The barbecue in the production is from Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbako which is right down the street on Mills Avenue from the Theater (1326 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL 32803). Seeing how much the cast was enjoying the BBQ makes me want to stop by Pig Floyd’s to have a taste for myself.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater Lobby

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I have just finished the posters for next season at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater (812 E. Rollins St., Orlando, FL 32803). As I was crunching away painting the posters, I missed several sketch opportunities at the theater. Now that the work is done, I get to return to sketching theater live.

With Anna in the Tropics I was asked to depict the woman in a sensual nightgown with her lover behind her. It is ironic that a large box of typed information was placed over her chest. Perhaps my depiction was to sensual. I am learning what sells and what lines I should not cross.

The Hound of the Baskervilles was a comedy. I tried to make this clear with Watson holding a magnifying glass that made his eye super large, Sherlock’s quizzical expression as well as a dog with a big grin. Despite my efforts many members of the audience thought they were going to a dark mysterious show. I have seen the show before and it was hilarious. I am certain anyone who went to the Shakes performance was not disappointed.

I have done A Christmas Carol poster every year I have been painting these posters. This design reverted back to the first year’s poster which depicted Stooge holding up tiny Tim. I felt that first poster caught lightning in a bottle. This poster used photos from previous years’ show to tie it in with the actual costuming used in the show. Minor changes were made to the design like having Tiny Tim’s head overlap the title. I like the choice which helps to keep the characters large.

I love returning to the Shakes because I get to see the audience gather in the lobby with all the posters on the lobby walls. It is my one chance to see the posters at their full size all together. As a whole they all pull together. I think anyone seeing the posters will know that the same human hand touched each concept. I have seen what AI can do when designing posters. The results can be impressive technically, but for me they seem a bit impersonal, like clip art.

When I was working on the last batch of posters, I considered typing in a few words into an AI interface and seeing what the computer would spit out. I could not figure out the log in information with codes and passwords, so I abandoned my first curious venture. Instead I returned to painting by hand. Though the results look analog, I am working digitally on an iPad. The reason is that changes can be done much quicker digitally. Every element of the painting is on a separate layer and if a layer has to be altered I can just turn it off and try something new.

I have taken three months to travel Europe and follow my father’s footsteps at the end of WWII. It felt good to sketch with pen and paper along with watercolors. Decisions had to be made on the fly and there was no control Z to undo a pen stroke. Decisions had to be bold and decisive. If mistakes were made they reminded on the sketch and part of the process. It is that imperfectness that I love. Hopefully each sketch gets better and the bold decisions come faster. Having a machine make those bold choices for me seems unappealing.

Orlando Shakes Embracing Inclusion

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Now that I am back in the United States, I returned to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater to see a performance of Black Ham. All the posters that I designed, and painted were in the lobby which is rewarding to see. This rounded wall is part of the Patrons Room, which was once a planetarium, when the building was a museum many years ago.

I haven’t been to many live performances since the worst of the pandemic. I remain cautious, preferring to sketch dress rehearsals. At this performance of Fat Ham, I asked to be seated in the furthest back row. This makes sure no one is distracted as I sketch because they will not be tempted to be looking over my shoulder. When the theater is completely dark, I use my iPhone to illuminate the sketch page. I turn the brightness down on my phone, but any illumination like that might distract anyone seated behind me. My goal is always to be completely clandestine.

The Orlando Shakespeare Theater always has multi racial cast.  They cast shows based on the best performer for the part.When I painted the Romeo and Juliet poster, I had no idea who would be cast in the roles. I depicted Romeo hugging Juliet from behind and their embrace creates a heart shape with their arms. I am not even sure if people seeing the poster would see the heart shape. Juliet’s face is largely hidden by a dagger. I depicted Juliet as white but I would have been just as happy to depict a darker skin tone. What matters to me is the concept with the tangle of arms in a heart shape and the shattered glass behind the couple. There is even some ambiguity as to whose arms are whose and that was purposeful. In love, light and dark become entangled creating a new more powerful whole.

The Orlando Shakes faced backlash in early 2026 over its “Romeo and Juliet” production, which featured a Black actor as Juliet opposite a White Romeo. The theater received racist comments on social media, prompting them to publicly condemn the hate speech, affirm their commitment to inclusive casting, and rally community support for the performers.

The Orlando Shakespeare statement reads in part: “At Orlando Shakes, we believe theater is a space for empathy, humanity, and connection…We do not tolerate or condone hate speech, harassment, or any language that demeans individuals or communities based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic… Shakespeare’s work endures not because it is frozen in time, but because each generation finds ways to see themselves within it.”

Hate is encouraged by the present administration in Washington D.C. The troll come out of the woodwork encouraged by the hate and vitriol they see coming from Washington. I am so proud to work for a theater that is inclusive. As I see the theater patrons tapping on their phones in front of my theater posters, I have to wonder if they are tapping in love and inclusion or hate into their social media feeds. Orlando embraced love after the Pulse nightclub massacre, and they once again rallied in support of the Shakes when trolls attacked the show online.