The Football

Posted on by Thor

I woke up this morning and felt inspired to do another sunrise sketch at the Yalaha studio. Front and center in the sketch is the ginormous pine tree root ball that I have been cutting roots off of for the past several weeks. Looking at the sketch it looks like I have accomplished nothing and yet I light a root fueled fire every evening.

The bamboo are so tall and graceful. They clatter together with any breeze. Stella Arbelaez used these bamboo as inspiration and as the building material for her sculpture, The Cathedral: Within and Without. Some bamboo were knocked down with hurricane Milton, and others were cut and treated for the sculpture.

A compost pile is started in hay under the shed. I just realized that it needs to be watered and the last couple of days I did that and the thermometer temperature in the pile spiked up. The heat shows that the composting is taking place.

My Instagram feed is full of idyllic homesteads with lush gardens. I am starting my journey to start learning what to plant and when. I placed garlic in a cup held in place with toothpicks to see if I can get it to root and I am doing the same with a carrot top. I wanted to start a potato tower but I have to wait until November to start that project since it likes cold soil. Hopefully there will be mature compost by then. I am just starting to grow the vegetables I tend to eat every week and will expand from there assuming I have success. The Yalaha studio, homestead is starting to show signs of new growth.

Sunrise over Yalaha

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I seem to be following celestial movements with my last few sketches. I have been following the phases of the moon on each evenings fire pit burn and this morning I woke up before a bit early to sit on the front porch and watch the sunrise over Yalaha.

I seem to be trying to ground myself to the earthly movements as we hurdle on this little rock through space.

It was interesting trying to sketch the sun rise. I was just finishing drawing the homes when the sun first peak up above the roof line of the house across the street. I immediately switched to painting and added the brilliant sun. Then when the sun was fully exposed, my sight whited out because I was starting right at the bright light. I lowered the brim of my baseball cap to keep from being blinded and switched to painting the foreground. The lighting switched from dark to light and I had to decide what looked right for each passage of the painting.

When the sun sets, I am still online with virtual students. I often have to use a black curtain too help block the light from allowing me to see the computer screen. Because if this I have become quite familiar with the movement of the sun. There are many tall pine trees that block an unobstructed view of the sunset each evening. On past vacations as hoards of tourists lined up to take cell phone photos of sunsets, I would sit and sketch the tourists, completely missing the sunset myself. Painting a sunrise or painting a sunset are the most challenging painting assignments when on location.

Root Ball Blaze

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A huge pine tree fell next to the Yalaha studio because of the winds from Hurricane Milton which blew through central Florida in October of 2024. Milton was the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico.

I have been cutting off roots from the seven foot tall unearthed root ball. Native plants have already started to grow on top of the football shaped ball, like a chia pet. If only my balding head could be so resilient. I gather the roots I cut off and set a fire in the fire pit each evening. It is a slow mesmerizing way to get rid of the storm damage. I have started cutting off the larger roots now, so the fire burns brighter and longer each night.

I felt an incredible sense of peace tonight as I watched the blaze and worked on this painting. I have fallen in love with this hidden slice of Florida. The lot next door is completely undeveloped and I could hear critters foraging around in the woods. The gentle wind caused large bamboo stalks to sway and clatter against each other. Bamboo and tall pines pointed to the stars. The fire would snap and sparks would rise up also leading the eternal gaze to the night sky. These quiet moments are helping me ground myself. After four hours of virtual teaching the fire help me wind down.

A rain storm yesterday showed that the gutters to the home are clogged in one spot. In the afternoon I got the ladder out and cleaned the gutters.  I am also digging a trench to bring roof rain water away from the home to the edge of the property. I found that the gutter had a mesh on top of one of the downspouts to keep pine needles and other debris from clogging the spillover. The other side had no mesh so I added some screen as a stop gap solution. I also up-righted a fence that had been knocked down by the fallen pine tree. I just used 4 by 4s to shore up the fence until I dig new fence posts. It felt good to be outdoors and doing physical labor. I worked up a good sweat and it felt awesome.

Perhaps the physical labor is why I felt so at peace sitting by the fire. I had earned this moment of bliss and happiness.

Oregon Tree Stump

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I have been working on breaking down giant root ball for the last couple of weeks which is from a fallen pine tree knocked down by Hurricane Milton next to the Yalaha studio.

I am a bit like an ant trying to move a mountain. Each night I burn the roots that I have clipped off with sheers.

The section of the pine tree that fell in the yard was cut with chainsaws and carted away. The tree cutters were supposed to return to grind down the root ball, but they haven’t returned yet. In the mean time I am using the roots as fuel for the fire which  I  enjoy each night.

My virtual classes let out at 8pm and I quickly make dinner and then eat it outside beside the fire. The finest roots make the best flames. they ignite quick and furiously. The bulk of the pine tree that fell is in the undeveloped lot next door. Several other trees fell in that dense tropical forest of a lot. One of the fell on a house on the far side. Some roots develop into smooth pointy shapes that are quite menacing. I am saving them from the fire because they might be useful for a future sculpture or wood caving.

There was a huge rain storm the other day and I got to see what parts of the yard flood first. I am working on a drainage ditch but that only effects water coming from the roof gutters. The other areas that flood may have to be filled with sand, dirt or mulch so the water flows off to the edge of he pr0perty. The gutters seem to get filled with pine needles rather quickly. I clean out the back gutters yesterday and plan to clean the front gutters tomorrow.

From the chaos of destruction, comes the brilliant flames of inspiration for what may lie ahead. During the day, I have been doing theater poster designs. After class, I plan to start wandering out and paint nocturnes in oil or maybe digital. I will try both. The night time is when this artist gets to play and experiment.

Blood Moon

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Another night fire to burn away roots from an uprooted pine that fell from Hurricane Milton at the Yalaha studio. Sometimes rather than sate at the fire, I like to look up at the immensely tall pines that point up to the stars. On this night an owl kept hooting in the woods behind.

Sparks from the fire would ascend and then flicker out. The blaze was white hot on this night. The thinnest of roots are like kindling and they light up in a flash. After finishing the sketch I felt research was needed. It was a basic full moon but my curiosity told me to look deeper into the celestial happenings that night. I discovered that a full Lunar eclipse was going to happen.  There was a total lunar eclipse, or blood moon later in the evening. I didn’t want to miss it. I set my alarm to be sure to experience it first hand. Lunar eclipses occur when the earth is between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow across the lunar surface. During “totality,” the moon moves through Earth’s umbra, the dark center of its shadow, giving rise to the red-hued “Blood Moon”. The lunar eclipse reached its maximum phase, whereby the moon is fully obscured by Earth’s deepest darkest shadow, the umbra, at 2:59 a.m. eastern standard time. When the blood moon was at it’s zenith, I added it to my painting. A telescope was not needed the moon turned as red as mars.

I was feeling accomplished because I had worked my way out of a box I had painted myself into on the design of one of the Shakespeare Theater posters. At the start of the night the poster felt weird, but after many adjustments it is now my favorite poster of the season. It is unexpected but recognizable.

I bought some Masonite and a couple of thin wooden slats today. The plan is to constrict a very simple carrying case of oil paintings I do on location. Once the box is constructed and the oil paints are squeezed out on the portable palette, I plan to start doing oil paintings after class ends at 8pm each night. All the painting will be the same size which is just big enough to fit snugly into the shelves of my bookcase. If this world I will be able to store hundreds of paintings neatly shelved like books.

Today Stella Arbelaez hooked me up with the Leesburg Center for the Arts which has a membership support group called the Tropic Art Alliance. They meet every third Thursday. This month I have a class when the group meets, but I am hoping I can get to the meeting next month. Mysterious happenings are occurring on land and in the sky.

Las Vegas Airport

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The Las Vegas airport is unique in that slot machines can be found in every nook and cranny of the place. Obnoxious theme songs echo through the halls and waiting lounges. Even with all the noise,, some passengers with delayed flights, manage to sleep through it all.

I didn’t touch a slot machine for my entire stay in Las Vegas. I was there for stage shows and sketching opportunities. The Las Vegas strip is much like Epcot with faux hotels mimicking places from around the world. But for a full Las Vegas experience, you really don’t have to leave the airport, just start hitting the slots hard as soon as your flight arrives. I don’t see the appeal, but clearly many people do.

Werther at Sedonie

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Orlando Opera presented Werther, with music by Jules Massenet libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann at  Sydonie Mansion (5538 Sydonie Drive Mount Dora, FL 32757).

This mansion is just a 15 minute ride from the Yalaha Studio. The roads I traveled were the same one I take each day I head down to Orlando. The mansion is down a long dirt road and sits on a beautiful lake. It is such an unexpected beautiful surprise off of winding country roads. I am starting to fall in love with traveling these winding country roads.

There was valet parking in the parking lot and yet when I arrived the valets were off duty. A young assistant at the ticket table gave me the lowdown on how the opera would unfold but as we were speaking the music for the opera began. I jogged out back and found the audience seated as the opera unfolded on the large porch of the gorgeous home. The opera is set in the German town of Wetzlar around 1780.

I was only able to sketch the first act because the next act took place inside the home and I spent that time finishing the sketch I had started.

What I did discover is that Werther, Gabriel Preisser, falls desperately in love with Charlotte, Chelsea Laggan, a woman he could never possibly have. Their affection is mutual, but she was set up in an arranged marriage by her parents to an older man named Albert, Thandolwethu Mamba, that she would never love. The opera explores the themes of impossible love, rebellion, and the consequences of convention. I felt heart broken for Werther because societal norms would keep him from his true love.

By the time I was adding color to the sketch the actors and audience had moved inside. There was another staging area on the far side of the hose staged around a beautiful fountain. As I worked all the chairs that were in front of the porch were moved to a gorgeous sloping lawn behind be that overlooked a lake. There was lighting set up so it is possible that the opera might go until the moment the sun set.

I considered sketching the outdoor scene but the setting was so panoramic that I decided I had my sketch for the moment. It was such a beautiful setting and such a heartbreaking story. I decided my heart was full and I left before the final act. I knew that tragedy would ensure and I preferred to leave with hope in my heart that love might find a way to endure, but being an opera, I ran from what I assumed would be a tragic finale. I came to experience the beauty of the first act and I was satisfied.

Laughs in Spanish

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Mariana, (Marasol Robles), runs an in the Wynwood Arts District in Miami. Art Basel, is a huge week long international art Market, and the stakes are high for her gallery.

When Mariana’s movie-star mother Estella,  Angela Cotto, tries to help out, things get even more complicado. Laughs in Spanish is a fast-paced,  comedy about art and success, and mothers and (lesbian) daughters.

Caro, Mariana’s assistant, (Isabel Bernal) has just graduated with her masters degree in art. The play opens with Maraina discovering that all the art she was going to show at Basel has been stolen. Caro was dating a cop, Juan, Jonathan Gardon. The only option is for Mariana to show Caro’s art at Basel.

The play is largely about forgiveness, family and love. Mariana’s mom Estella,  is larger than life. Her mom became pregnant and had to give up her dreams of one day being a singer. When Estella became pregnant she decided she would never give up on her dreams. She wanted her daughter to know that you can have it all as a mom and a star.

Mariana sacrifice her dreams when she gave up on her art career. She built her career out of selling other artists work. Her love life was on hold until she met a blast from the past, Jenny, Daniella Bloom. Their blossoming romance offered some of the most romantic moments of the play. By the end the play all have found the love they so richly deserve. When the entire cast danced to vibrant salsa music on stage, the audience stood and danced along with a standing ovation. This was a glorious life affirming production.

Portland Trail

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I am searching for a home. One, I called the Umatilla Homestead. I was making plans to turn an   pool into a greenhouse and I wanted to build a col retractable staircase up to the attic which is large enough to house a studio.

Anyway this place was just sold before I made an offer. So I am back to the search. There are several I saw that are habitable, but I want something that sings to me.

Last week Just Jeff started his cross country hike. He will start in Delaware where he will take a quick dip in the Atlantic. He will then hike across America and then jump in the Pacific ocean when he gets to California. The American Discovery Trail is 4,834 miles.  He tends to walk 25 miles a day, so he may be hiking 193 days or 6 to 7 months if he doesn’t stop in communities along the way.

Before he left, he showed me how he packs his bag. I paid close attention to the supplies needed and how to pack them. He used to pack neatly but realized over time that just shoving everything in the pack better utilized the space. I am starting to think that the open trail might be calling my name rather than buying a studio right now. I have camping equipment from my cross country trek way back in the 1980s. The studios I fall in love with seem to sell out from under me before I commit. Maybe it is a sign.

I found am amazing home in Ithica, New York but it is light years from NYC. The chimney if falling apart, but that could be fixed with staples and some ductape. Taxes on that property are over $10,000 a year. Yikes! But it is soooo pretty and built in 1912 so it has tons of character. Once again the place is much bigger than I need at this point in my life. Ithica is supposed to be a community that supports the arts. There are multiple theaters and visual art galleries. It could be a place to reestablish my sketch a day habit starting from scratch. I am searching in all directions for a place to call home.

Animating

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This is a sketch of a Full Sail University student animating. For several years I worked at Full sail in the traditional animation classroom. I mostly got the students up to speed on the computers that shot their work. As student animated, I would sketch. I do not think this traditional animation studio space still exists at Full Sail. We felt it was important for students to understand where the animation principles came from using traditional pencil and paper.

These days I believe students are thrown straight onto the computer and the art of making something come alive by hand is being lost.

The final day of class students had a chance to finish up their animation projects. Instructor, Kathy Blackmore would put on a film and mist students took the time to refine their animation. There are two types of students, those that want to create,and those who want to be entertained. The student in this sketch is a creator. I am drawn to creators, and drawn to life.