Post Milton

Posted on by Thor

Hurricane Milton knocked down 4 trees in at the Lake County Studio. One tree fell up against the shed in this sketch damaging the roof line but not yet hitting the ground.

I consulted with Paul, the leader of the tree removal crew of 3 and he felt I would be fine sketching from this location.

Paul had a thick utility belt with more gadgets than batman. He clipped on a chainsaw to the belt and kicked the metal cleats on his boots into the thick pine bark.

At the base of the tree a thick rope was braided and tied with a sort of  Tee shaped metal device that the rope could be wound around. Paul made his way up cutting off smaller branches as he went. His goal was to get to the very top and tie another road braid which must have had a pulley set up.

Paul had a blue rope tied to his utility belt. Large branched would be securely tied to the blue rope and at the ground level, a red rope was tied to the blue rope to allow one or two men to use the pulley system to lower the branch to keep it from crashing down at full force. They were a well oiled machine and Paul was always in charge making sure no one was under a branch that might fall. Paul was also always secured to the top knotted rope so he would only fall a few feet and swing rather than fall all the way to the ground. When he came down to climb another tree, he said the trees were swaying at least a foot at the very top. It was a windy day. That is a job I would never have the nerve to do myself.

The most exciting moment came when Paul cut off a large group of branches at the top of the tree all at once. The ground shook when it hit, only a few feet in front of me. After that I decided to pick up my artist stool and move back a few feet. With the largest branches they would do what was called a quarter turn with the red rope which would cause the fallen branch to swing around the main trunk away from Paul. It would then be lowered slowly to the ground by the ground crew.

When all the side branches were down, then the main trunk came down in about 16 foot sections, which fell with brute force shaking the ground each time. They were then cut on the ground into 4 foot sections which were transported to the street. It rained twice, which interrupted the work. It took a day to safely cut down 2 trees. Another smaller tree is slated to be cut down and the large root balls from large fallen trees will eventually be removed with a large crane. A neighbor across the street asked Paul to split the large logs and dump it all on his front lawn. It is a shame this house doesn’t have a fireplace, because nights have been cold this week and it is a shame to waste such a massive source of fuel.

I am excited by the possibilities at the Lake County studio. I’ve learned quite a bit about composing, and the myriad of uses of bamboo for construction. I am going to start making some bamboo path edging soon which should look awesome, while keeping leaves from littering the pathway. While large tree roots were ripped up by the hurricane, Maybe it is just a dream, but it is nice to dip my toe into the infinite possibilities of sustainable homesteading.

Post Eye Surgery

Posted on by Thor

After my eye surgery for Macular Degeneration, I returned to the Orlando Eye Center for a second check up. Macular degeneration is a condition that results in gradual vision loss in the center of the field of vision. The result for me right now is double vision. When I drive I now squint or close my left eye so that I do not see too many lines on the roads. Night driving is a bit of a bear now.

The surgery done involved inserting tiny instruments into my left eyeball and removing a film which had developed on the back surface of the eye. Of course my hope was that the vision would improve after surgery. Dr. Kumar who performed the surgery told me that structurally my eye was as good as it could get to. Unfortunately there is nothing else that the doctor can do. The next thing I need to do is get new eye glasses. He thinks that glasses might be able to equalize the vision a little more. After the membrane was removed, the swelling at the back of the eye is supposed to have come down, but looking at the images shown I saw no difference. He told me that corrugations and bends in the retina were now gone. He then showed me the right eye which had a nice smooth dip which he told me will never return for my left eye. The doctor knows that I am an artist, and since I am an artist, it might me more noticeable that for others.

Having had the surgery, I am now also likely to develop a cataract in the left eye. Put simply the operation was an abject failure. I need to find ways to adjust my art to make room for the double vision.

Of course everyone was unmasked except for me. This was before I was infected with COVID-19 on a flight back from the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival. I am guessing the mask didn’t fit tight enough with my goatee.

Lake County Florida Studio

Posted on by Thor

In the driveway of the Lake County studio is a pile of sand for sandbags acquired before Hurricane Milton hit. That sand will be used to fill the hols left behind once the root balls are removed from the fallen trees.

There is a property right next to this which is completely wild and undeveloped. As I sketched I felt calm and peaceful. Squirrels ran along the fence and birds were chirping It was a rare moment of absolute peace where I feel like I am part of the landscape. I need to search for such locations more often. The former neighborhood in Orlando where I had a studio that always had airplanes flying into and out of the Orlando airport. Being on the approach to the runway the airplanes roared over head.

Since being here I have slept like a baby every night. The only sound in the morning has come from a few cardinals who tap on the glass because of a mirrored surface.

An artist friend showed me around Lake County. There is a neighborhood behind the post office which has really old cracker style houses that are getting run down. It is a poorer neighborhood, but there are many buildings with plenty of character. I might start hiking out that way for the exercise and to sketch.

Workmen cutting down trees will be in the yard tomorrow, so I suspect I will be sketching men with chainsaws. A new location should bring new inspiration for my daily sketch routine. I still have tons of boxes I still need to unpack but that will happen slowly over the coming weeks.

Fallen

Posted on by Thor

I moved into the Lake County Florida studio. Most everything is still in boxes but My Disney Feature Animation desk is partially set up and running, so I can sit down and write.

This is a sketch done on the side of the property. Hurricane Milton ripped through Lake County and knocked down about 4 trees on this property. Thankfully none of them fell on the house. All of them fell to the south. The winds from the north blew over the lake with no obstructions and then slammed into Lake County. Since I moved in, work had started in cutting the fallen trees. This particular tree was cut into about 5 foot sections and those huge logs were moved to the roadside. It is hoped that they will remove the logs before the job is done. They will be returning to work on the other slightly smaller fallen trees later in the week.

Also visible in this sketch behind the tree is a composting station. This station had 3 stations of hay. Because this big tree was cut back to the roots, there was room to work on the compost pile. The primary composting area had gotten cold and so the compost was no longer breaking down. Also the wood palates that separated the sections had broken down and so it had to be reconstructed. While I broke apart pallets for the wood, A friend worked on rebuilding the bins. The sun set as we were working. I managed to kneel down on a rusty nail. Luckily I knelled down on the head of the nail so I didn’t draw blood. By the time the sun set we had two sections reconstructed.

My friend added new hay to the first bin and dug a hole down to the ground. The hay was compressed out to the outer edged of the bin and then the new hole was filled with food scraps. There were lots of scraps since the refrigerator held food that was purchased before Hurricane Milton hit. A whole chicken was added to the composter. I didn’t realize meat could be composted.

With everything inside. my friend spread hay over the top of what was added. A metal mesh was put on top of the pile and held down with stones so no critters could get inside.  The final touch was a thermometer to see how the compost was heating up inside. After a year, the food scraps should break down and then they will be added to another bin. Hay will then be added to the first bin and the process starts all over again.

Artist Arctic Plague Ship

Posted on by Thor

In August of 2024, which was the height of the 5th wave of the COVID pandemic, 100 artists, writers and musicians set sail from Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town. The Arctic Circle Cruise  sailed around Svalbard, a group of islands in the Arctic circle. This 15 cruise dubbed an artist residency has been sailing each year since 2009. There were many acclaimed artists and writers on the ship. Artists rely on their brains for creative inspiration. Despite this the cruise set out with no protocols inn place for COVID. The doctor on board had no COVID tests, masks or anti virals like Paxlovid. More than half the artists on board became infected with COVID-19.

A very accomplished author developed long COVID which causes brain fog, and it could completely disable the artist’s career. The cruise organizers chose to pretend that COVID was a thing of the past. Any mention of the virus would go against the feel good vibes that they were promoting for the cruise. Testing passengers on such a small cruise should have been an easy task, but instead the health of the passengers was ignored. If one artist is infected in such a tight space the infections would spread quickly which is what happened. People with symptoms weren’t encouraged to wear a mask or avoid contact. Instead they were encouraged to mix and mingle even if infected.

One passenger found out that another passenger tested positive the day before the ship set sail. The passenger that tested positive decided not to go on the cruise, but everyone was encouraged to board without any testing. The “You do you” attitude doesn’t work to contain the ongoing pandemic. The Arctic Cruise organizers were negligent and they put every passenger at risk for long term disability due to long COVID. Each repeat infection increases the chance of developing long COVID.

20 Big Cats Die from H5N1

Posted on by Thor

H5N1 or Bird Flu is spreading from California to surrounding states. A wildlife sanctuary in Shelton, Washington State has been hit hard. Twenty big cats which is half the population at the sanctuary have died from the infections.

The cats were in 30 by forty foot habitat enclosures. Those habitats are spread put across 5 acres. In other words the big cats were not extremely close together. The first death happened around Thanksgiving. The sanctuary has been put under quarantine and the public had been denied access. They don’t not yet know how the cats were infected. Could it be bird droppings, or perhaps the meat they were fed? Could the virus be airborne? No one is certain yet. Among the cats that dies were, five African servals, four bobcats, four cougars, two Canada Lynxes, one Amur-Bengal tiger.

H5N1 has had a mortality rate of about 50% while COVID has a much smaller mortality rate of about 0.28% which resulted in over a million American deaths. If H5N1 starts human to human transmission, a 50% mortality rate would be devastating.

Cabaret Final Poster

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This was the final version of the Orlando Shakes Cabaret Poster. The title was moved down covering the dancers. I suspect a decision was made the the poses of the dancers was too suggestive. The Joe Masterhoff credit then took top billing.

This poster probably went through more changes than any other I have done. This is actually quite an interesting solution and not one I would have considered on my own. The title became a form of censors stamp which makes perfect sense considering the political climate post WWII in Germany.

The Orlando Shakes will take you back to Berlin in the late 1920 where, inside the Kit Kat Club, a spotlight shines on the colorful, gritty, and hedonistic lives found inside. Don’t miss this landmark musical that is filled with iconic songs and electrifying dance, including Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Maybe This Time, Money and the title number Cabaret. It’s an astonishing and eye-popping tale that has renewed resonance in today’s political climate. Tickets are available online.

Cabaret: Third Pass

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With this pass at the Cabaret poster for the Orlando Shakes, the MC, or puppet master was added. The title was also changed to distress it as you might see in  run down seaside signage with illuminated bulbs. We considered the same image without the strings.

The revised title treatment was rejected and we went back to the brighter colors which popped more. The odd this about this version is that the title was moved down to cover the heads of the dancers. This was an unexpected change but I ran with it.

Notes I got on this version resulted in the final poster image.

The Orlando Shakes will take you back to Berlin in the late 1920’s where, inside the Kit Kat Club, a spotlight shines on the colorful, gritty, and hedonistic lives found inside. Don’t miss this landmark musical that is filled with iconic songs and electrifying dance, including Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Maybe This Time, Money and the title number Cabaret. It’s an astonishing and eye-popping tale that has renewed resonance in today’s political climate. Tickets are online.

Cabaret: Second Pass

Posted on by Thor

A request was made to have the central dancer look out at the viewer.It feels awkward. It could be made to work if I adjuster her entire gesture. This breaking of the 4th wall was rejected.

At this point a decision was made to incorporate the MC as a puppet master. The title would have to be lowered to make room for him. I embrace big changes and assume they will improve the final result.

The Orlando Shakes will take you back to Berlin in the late 1920’s inside the Kit Kat Club, where a spotlight shines on the colorful, gritty, and hedonistic lives found inside. Don’t miss this landmark musical that is filled with iconic songs and electrifying dance, including Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Maybe This Time, Money and the title number Cabaret. The show runs from February 5 to March 2, 2025. Tickets are online.

Cabaret: First Pass

Posted on by Thor

This was the first pass at the Orlando Shakes, Cabaret poster. Actually the broken bulbs came a bit later when there was a request to distress the title. With this first pass I also had a layer that showed a swastika in the shadow of the spotlight. The adverse reaction to that was so strong that I threw out the layer.

The paint application on this sketch is rather sloppy. I was working fast to get the idea down.

What mattered most was the title which closely followed the example of the title used for the movie.

Orlando Shakes will take you back to Berlin in the late 1920’s where, inside the Kit Kat Club, a spotlight shines on the colorful, gritty, and hedonistic lives found inside. Don’t miss this landmark musical that is filled with iconic songs and electrifying dance, including Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Maybe This Time, Money and the title number Cabaret. It’s an astonishing and eye-popping tale that has renewed resonance in today’s political climate. Tickets are online.