First Lesson

Posted on by Thor

My friend Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón, got out a lesson book and started taking piano lessons. First came shaking out the hands and stretching them. Like any creative endeavor, you begin on page one and progress slowly. Being alone allows the freedom to do whatever you want, so why not tickle the ivories.

A metronome was set up to keep the beat. It ticked with mechanical precision and the hope was to play the notes along with the set beat.

Since it was the first lesson there were quite a few hiccups, but in the end there was music. I found it quite thrilling to sit back and hear the progress being made in the first lesson.

All the first lessons were for the right hand. The next set of lessons will be for the left hand and then ultimately both hands. I still type by pecking a the keys with an assortment of fingers. My pinkies are only used to enter passwords by tapping the enter key. If the pinky isn’t used the password is never accepted.

Once I get a home studio of my own, I might want to get a small piano as well. I am learning Spanish slowly with Duolingo so why not also learn to become a concert pianist? I am looking for homes in New York State right now and it would be nice to find a place where I cold park a Steinway and set up a large studio. So far the places feel claustrophobic. I keep hitting my head on light fixtures and top floor ceilings.

 

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

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When teaching the Crealde Urban Sketching class, I would always do a quick sketch as my students worked. This is a rare case where I dashed out a quick digital sketch. I would always sharer the sketch with everyone at each stage, ruff block in, clean line work, and final color.

We always do a sketch in the class where the students draw the room and as many other students as possible. I demonstrate how to get all the students in a sketch. It always involves book ends, drawing the student furthest to left and then drawing the student furthest to the right. Like an accordion, the middle of the sketch can be stretched or squished to adjust. I am always encouraging students to change things if needed.

The Vessel

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A pregnant woman in Georgia was declared brain dead after a failed medical procedure. She was on life support for months. Due to a strict abortion ban, in Georgia the woman, who is only living because of the machines hooked up to her body, must be kept alive until the fetus be “born” with a c-section.

Georgia’s “Heartbeat Law” is one of the most strict abortion statues put in place since the supreme court overturned Roe V. Wade.

The woman who was a nurse, was declared brain dead has 3 more month before the forced birth.

The family, who is shocked by the state stepping in, was hoping the woman could die in peace. There is no law saying a woman must be kept on life support after brain death. Removing breathing tubes is not the same as an abortion.

The woman’s family has no say in the matter. State law dictates that the brain dead body must remain a vessel for the full duration of the pregnancy. The brain dead woman will be kept alive for three more months. She is just a vessel and a test case of extreme anti abortion laws.

 

Diamond Dawgs vs. Leesburg Lighting

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I went to a baseball game at Buddy Lowe Field, Pat Thomas Stadium for a Florida Collegiate Summer League (FCSL) game. The Winter park Diamond Dawgs  were playing the Leesbug Lightning.

I sat in the back row of the stadium so I could capture the crowd in my sketch. As I blocked in the sketch the stadium filled up.

My Prius was parked just past the home run fence at the end of the first base foul line. I started to fear that it might be in line for getting hit by a foul ball. Any time there was a foul ball the announcer would play the sound of breaking glass.

I had parked my Prius next to a red pick up truck and a woman who might have been the boys mom was sitting in a lawn chair. Her distant first base line view of the game was unique. Admission free. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t go into the stadium.

Between innings there were small playful games between kids on the field. One such game had two young black boys put on large inflatable balls. The goal of the game was for them to run at each other gladiator style and the one who fell down the most would win. One boy was smaller than the other and he rolled around on his back most of the time. Any time he stood back up he was immediately was knocked back down again. I looked around the stands and saw that there were absolutely no black fans. The white fans were hooting and hollering. For me the moment took on a dark undertone. This was a twilight zone moment.

Another one of these between inning moments had the announcer shouting, here come the lightning bugs! Children of all ages and sizes ran around the bases. I am not sure if the two black boys were among the kids running the bases.

At the bottom of the 7th inning I felt my sketch was done. I decided to get a hot dog. You had to have a 9th inning hot dog. I went out to the concession stand and they were cleaning up the grill. A hot dog was not an option. The Leesburg Lighting was clearly going to win the game. People were filing out of the stadium. I decided to walk back to my Prius. final score of the game was  14-6. It was a clear blowout.

 

Oregon Lighthouse

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I made a trip to the coast of Oregon to watch wales as they migrated north. At the time I only did a quick pencil sketch of this lighthouse. I decided to go back and do a digital painting.

The scene reminds me of an Edward hopper painting, so I pulled up one of his paintings as a palette.

I am making no attempt at producing a finalized painting, instead preferring to keep the sketch intact.

This is the Heceta Head Lighthouse located on a rugged outcropping overlooking the ocean. It is one of the most popular and inspirational sites on the Oregon Coast.

The Heceta Head Lighthouse and Queen Ann style Light Keeper’s home, circa 1894, are both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It sits 205 feet above the ocean at the top of rugged cliffs.

Whale watchers with there binoculars in hand scanned the ocean hoping to see fine mist spouts from wales exhaling before they gathered another breath.

I never saw a whale but I am betting some if not all of the seasoned whale watchers caught a glimpse.

On this trip I also was looking for Kelp forests so I could see sea otters in their natural habitat. I was quite successful in seeing Otters. They would lie on their backs and smash shells on a stone they had lying on their stomach.

The otters were so far off shore that I didn’t try and catch a sketch of them. Now I have binocular opera glasses which I could use to get such a distant sketch.

Mount Dora Homestead

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On Sunday, several days after my birthday, I went to see the Mount Dora Homestead. I set up my art stool across the street and started sketching while I waited for my Real Estate Broker, Cheré Carr to arrive. She arrived right on time, so I interrupted my sketch to say hello. There was some technical difficulties with the codes for the key lock box, so I dashed back and completed the line work while she worked through the technical glitch.

The place feels so much like the Umatilla Homestead that slipped through my fingers several months ago. It was built in 1890 and has so many of the original touches while having been updates with modern appliances.

The living room is spacious and I have already begun planning where my Disney Desk, flat files and large art bookcases would go. I am in the process of drawing a map that shows the placement of studio furniture I have, and the  furniture I will need to get. In the Chatsworth Studio I had a couch right beside the Disney Desk so that I could relax after a long stint of animating, teaching or sketching. I hope to set up this new studio the same way as a living and creating space. There is a retractable movie screen on one wall and a notch in the opposite wall where the projector would go.

Upstairs there are two large bedrooms. Closet space is limited but I am just a single guy with a small pile of sweat shirts. With the last move, I threw out many pairs of pants ans shirts which had shrunk in the Florida humidity. They are called sweat shirts because the shirt gets dark with sweat any time I do yard work. There is plenty of space in the back yard for dreaming of planting a food forest. All the grass in front of the house would have to be replaced with ground cover and or wildflowers. Thankfully there is no grass behind the homestead or on the side yards.

All the walls are white clapboard which makes the rooms fill with light. There are long hallway rooms on the east and west side of the house. One I am planning to use as art storage and the other might be used for oil painting. I will be visiting former Disney Feature Animation Artist Ronnie Williford this weekend at his studio where he is doing very large paintings. I am hoping that seeing the space he has created will inspire me to start working larger.

The Mount Dora Homestead has been on the market for over 40 days and my broker feels that might be because the asking price is too high. I am taking a trip to New York State next week and hope to make a final decision about making an offer right after that trip. I hope the home is still on the market when I get back. So will I be moving onto the Mount Dora Homestead? A lot of stars would have to align for that to happen. But that doesn’t stop me from dreaming big.

Flaming Roots

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Hurricane Milton blew over several trees at the studio I am renting. To help out the landlady, I offered to pay 5 months rent up front so there could be a pool of money to help with the hurricane recovery efforts.

Two pine trees were removed from the back yard and this tree had been blown over, knocking over a fence and leaving a giant six foot high root ball.

Over several days I lit the roots on fire and kept the blazes contained by standing by with a garden hose. I was sure I could burn the entirety of the root ball to the ground.

The tree service guy, Paul,  who had cut down and carted off several other trees was supposed to grind down this root ball with a mechanical grinder. He abandoned the job for over four months and that is why I started by burn campaign.

The landlady was in contact with Paul who had some stellar excuses for not renting the grinder and getting the job done. One of the more inspired excuses was that the wife of a friend of his had driven onto his property and smashed her car into some of his equipment. His friend had been accused of abuse and Paul sided with him. Other excuses were less colorful but just as inspired.

My landlady told me to stop with my controlled burns. She said I shouldn’t make Paul’s job any easier, and she was certain her negotiations would get him back on the job. I have less faith in human nature.

Since the root ball had been abandoned for so long,  native plants had started to sprout on top. They were a crisp bright green showing signs of new life.

This burn didn’t last long. I didn’t have enough wood to keep the fire stoked. The interior roots were already charred and there was as much dirt as there was roots to burn.

The following month the grinding was finally completed. My landlady’s persistence and faith in human nature had prevailed.

With the huge root ball removed, there is now a hole in the ground and plenty of wood chips for mulch. I have been trying to level out the war torn landscape with a metal rake but progress is slow.

I have taken to wandering the yard bare foot to do the work. I feel more grounded but my feet are still tender and the wood chips are bloody sharp. I have one wood splinter in my left heel and I am wondering if it will ever come out. With every step the splinter is pushed deeper in. I have to assume my body will find a way to get the splinter out without me having to dig it out.

FRINGE: Naked at My Age

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Naked at My Age was a one woman show featuring  Charla Hathaway about sensual pleasure at every age. She recounted an early affair with a French Soldier and then an open marriage where she was free to meet and explore other partners.

It was inspiring to listen to a woman who is my age or maybe a little older discussing her sensuality. Americans seem to feel pleasure is only for the young. Every audience member was given a peacock’s feather and at one point in the performance, we were encouraged to caress our skin with it’s gently tip. I did so, but kept my sketching hand moving, an act which also gives me pleasure.

There were several original musical numbers where Charla strummed her guitar and sang about, well, sex of course. A song related to free sex of the 60s and later in life finding a partner who could not get erect. With patience and caring she learned how to give and receive pleasure. Chala openly talked about having to get an abortion before it was legal. Later in life She felt she had given all she could as a school teacher and she answered an ad as a senior sex worker.

What started part time after teaching school children developed into a Ph.D from Florida University, an online sex advice site and several books which she wrote on sexuality. Today Florida University is cutting any mention of women in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and related language. UF has removed women’s studies courses.

A sign on stage was a quote from May West which was, “If my panties aren’t wet, they don’t come off”. Young boys used to try to force themselves on Charla but she learned to set boundaries until she knew she was moist and ready.  She pointed out that most people are so concerned with giving pleasure that they never relax enough to receive pleasure. Sexual partners might come and go but her advice was to, “leave your partners better than you find them”. It is advice that everyone should take to heart. It was beautiful to see that as we age, our sexuality continues to bloom when we find the right partner.

Spiral Circle Jubilee

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Spiral Circle Bookstore and More (750 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL) celebrated it’s 5oth anniversary on May 17, 2025. To mark the occasion, Julie Wilder the owner and proprietor was introducing a new aspect to the magical shop called the Jubilee Tea Garden.

Crowd funding will soon end for the Jubilee Tea Garden. At the 50th celebration samples were offered for the first time. Tea and other delights are served in a small structure behind the bookstore.

Julie opened Dandelion Communitea Cafe 20 years ago with a partner. That tea house became a hub where people came together to share ideas. I went there often to sketch. When Julie became a mother, she had to sell her share of Dandelion. After she left, that amazing place was shut down after being mismanaged.

Jubilee will bring back the magic of sipping tea and relaxing with friends. Food is ordered from a blue and gold window behind the bookstore. People then can sit on the front porch or find their way back to the shade of the side garden. The bookstore already offers inspiring workshops tarot card and palm readings and events. The Mills 50 neighborhood around the bookstore is developing into a humming hub with fine dining and now Spiral Circle offers a fantastic place where people can sit, slow down and relax.

I arrived at the Jubilee several hours early. As I started the sketch, work was started to touch up the new golden yellow lettering. The painter also touched up the green trim around the windows. A woman introduced herself to me. She worked at the bookstore back in the day when when the bookstore was called The Sky Mother. She loved that name of the place and was sad when it was changed. She was adorable describing to me how much she loved the bookstore which gave her a job shortly after High School. The sign painter offered to take her picture. She was delighted and posed beside the now historic blue Sky Mother sign. The past flickered to life in her delighted smile and bright eyes as Spiral Circle expands into the future.

Later that day the actual celebration began with comments from politicians and community leaders. Light bites and teas were on hand and people gathered in the rocking chairs on the porch and in the side garden. Spiral Circle continues to be a true oasis and haven in the hustle and bustle of the Mills 50 District.

Salt of the Earth

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My dear friend Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón, was looking for a piece of furniture and found it on Facebook Marketplace. She went to pick it up at a garage sale. Chris, who was conducting the sale had the item neatly tucked away and they closed the sale.

I let Chris know that I would be doing a sketch, saying “don’t mind me, I’m the weird guy sketching in the shade of the tree.” He said, “You must get that a lot.” Which I do. I don’t usually announce that I will be sketching, but I would be sketching his private property, so I thought it was the polite thing to do.

In the front yard, hundreds of items were organized on folding tables on the lawn. I noticed a beautiful bright yellow hammock and Stella noticed it about the same time. She purchased it, along with several other small items for about $5. She was stunned. “Are you sure?” she asked. “For you, absolutely.” He said. Some people are destined for sweet deals.

Stella had an appointment and left, but I stayed behind to sketch. I liked the look of the giant oak tree that dwarfed the home and all the activity as people came and went.

Some people seemed quite seasoned to garage sales and estate sales. One woman regretted not buying an item that had sold the previous week for dirt cheap. Another woman purchased a large piece of furniture which he helped her tie down on top of her car roof.

Chris must also collect items at estate sales, I can’t imagine any other reason he would have so many knick-knacks. He had to run down the street to fix a garage sale sign which had fallen over. One of the shoppers must have told him about it. While he was gone, I wondered if I was in charge. Maybe I could close a sale! However it was very quiet while he was away. There were no shoppers inspecting items. I didn’t sell a thing. Typical.

A husband and wife searched the sale together. She joked that it took her 30 years to train him into the obedient man he is today. He wore a T-shirt that said,” I turn wood into things, what’s your superpower?.” Chris asked how I was doing. We spoke for a bit and he said to me, “Folks that show up to garage sales are the salt of the earth.” I added that they are also creative. After I said that, it sounded self serving, but I was thinking of the guy with the “I turn wood into things” t-shirt. It would be fun to sketch that guy’s woodworking shop.

Chris had worked with Lon Smart a former Disney Feature Animation colleague of mine years ago. It therefor stands to reason that Chris must be creative himself. He is moving next month and I have to wonder what new adventure he is embarking on. One of the shoppers was a return visitor and he said, “Why did we meet only last week? You are someone I would have liked to have as a friend.”

I showed Chris the sketch when I was done. I thought it would be rude to just leave. He was delighted and said, “I am a new fan.” As I drove away I spotted the garage sale sign, several blocks away, standing perfectly erect.