Santa Shortage

Posted on by Thor

Have you been desperate to have your child photographed with Santa this year? Well CNN reported that Santa is fully booked through the Omicron season. The number of trained and available Santas has gone down, which is  another disruption in the supply chain caused by the pandemic.

There are 10% fewer Santas available this year while requests for Santas have more than doubled when compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The problem is that Santa schools are seeing less enrollment. Santa trainees don’t want to travel to the indoor school settings or sit in crowded Santa conferences. Just like health care workers around the country, experienced long time Santas are retiring their red coats. 18% are taking 2021 off.

Being over weight and over 60 years old, Santa is at a high risk category when it comes to getting COVID-19. More than 335 Santa’s have died this year from coronavirus and other ailments, according to Mitch Allen of Hire Santa. Santas these days must show proof of vaccination, and he must take coronavirus rapid test twice a week. Some Santas are fearful of the potentially infested children. With the Omicron variant more children are being infected and requiring hospitalization.

The obvious solution is to have Krampus sit in. He might bite, scratch and breath COVID on your scamp but think of the photo opportunity. Krampus doesn’t give a crap about his own health or anyone else’s health. If your child has not been good, Krampus had the solution.

Memory of a Goldfish

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Americans have the memory of a goldfish. We will all be exposed to Omicron by Christmas. It is doubling every day and a half which is faster that any of the previous waves. Because of America and the world’s failed response to the virus, herd Immunity is off the table.

It is like we have returned to the first weeks of the pandemic. Superspreader events crop up faster than I can document them. A Norwegian cruise ship is again acting as a petri dish for spreading disease.

When death numbers fall a bit, Americans are in a mad rush to return to “life as normal.” They rush to crushing crowds at concerts and celebrate holidays with as many people as they can in enclosed spaces. Mindless selfishness is the norm. The virus has come to its senses and realized that it makes no sense to kill off it’s human host so quickly. It is best to keep the human host alive to incubate new and more exotic variants.

Do not panic. Early cases of Omicron though spreading faster, are presenting as less severe that previous waves. The numbers of hospitalizations and people needing oxygen are not rising exponentially in South Africa. However with so many people becoming infected around the world all at once, even a small percentage of deadly infections could be a horrifyingly high number. The good news is that this tsunami of infections, if not severe, could infect and thus give anti bodies to those that have refused to get vaccinated. The previously infected will be re-infected. This could create some semblance of normalcy as we learn to live with the virus, but future mutations could be more deadly.

Crealde Urban Sketchers

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Just before Christmas I sketched my Urban Sketching students hard at work at Crealde School of Art. I decided to hold all classes outside because of the pandemic. I was always double masked and often wore a face shield. My students were great about staying masked at all times.

More than 2 million people had traveled before the Christmas Holidays and that resulted in a huge spike in cases in January. By January 8, 2021 over 300,000 people were infected in a single day. Over 4,000 Americans were dying each day.

The Spring session of Crealde Urban Sketching is beginning about April 11, 2021 through May 30, 2021. My focus has always been to get students out of the studio and sketching life around them. The pandemic has brought a about a greater appreciation of the joys of sketching outside.

In this 6 week class, we focus on sketching clothed models and and the classroom environment. We focus on how to incorporate storytelling into your sketches when drawing on location. The assignments challenge you to use your sketchbook the way a photojournalist uses a camera. The sketches are completed using pencil, pen, and watercolor within two hours.

Supplies needed:

#2 HB pencil with an eraser, 05 and 08 micron pens, Stillman and Birn 9 x 12 inch spiral bound sketchbook (Alpha or Epsion series), Travel sized watercolor pallet (mine is a Windsor Newton with 14 color pans), Pentel water brush (water goes in the handle), Black Prismacolor pencil, and a compact artist stool.

 

F#ck Christmas Stuff

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In July of 2018, former top aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff secretly taped a conversation with first lady, Melania Trump that included several profanity-laced comments including: “”I’m working … my ass off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a fuck about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?””

Every Christmas Melania offers her apocalyptic vision of the holidays. In 2017 she chose to line the halls with F#cking dead white branches. In 2018 she decorated Christmas trees soaked in bright red cows blood. In 2019 she sucked any color out of the decorations and limited herself to pure white supremacy. The 2020 decorations come as her husband stamps his tiny feet and yells fraud. Golden tones permeate the halls as several thousand Americans die every day.

The White House is hosting 20 mask less Christmas parties in 2020 despite warnings from Top health officials. A White House official said they’re “providing the safest environment possible” but many attendees at a holiday party on Tuesday November 2, 2020 did not wear masks. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany shrugged off the concerns, saying “If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in protests, you can also go to a Christmas party.” This is very strange reasoning for putting guests lives at stake. Never take responsibility and deflect. The White House remains one of Americas top super spreader hot spots. It is the American way for 49 more days until Joe Biden in inaugurated.

A White House coronavirus task force report distributed to states earlier this week  warned “the COVID risk to all Americans is at a historic high.

Holiday Travel

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Holiday travel this year is like holding a hot air balloon Festival during a tornado. This is 2020 so a firenado seemed more appropriate.

There are 37 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The constant refrain of holiday carols and commercialization leads to a desire for human companionship. Millions of Americans ignored warnings from health experts and decided to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. The CDC has said that small home gatherings are the primary source of spread of the COVID-19 virus.in a recent study it was found that the virus was spread 65% of the time at small gatherings. The coming weeks will be difficult, especially since so many traveled over the holiday and held in-person dinners indoors.

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost authority on infectious diseases, and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned about the potential for a spike in infections stemming from holiday parties, even if they’re small and only among relatives.

Nearly 3 million air travelers passed through security checkpoints on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving. Sunday was the single-busiest day at airport checkpoints since March. The Thanksgiving travel damage is done. It will take 7 to 10 days for people to discover if they have been infected. Dr. Anthony Fauci described what the United States will experience in the first weeks of December as “A surge upon a surge.”

Fauci said the arrival of vaccines offers a “light at the end of the tunnel.”However we all have to stay vigilant to help slow the spread of the virus until that vaccines can be distributed. Health care workers will likely be among the first to get the vaccine, with the first vaccinations happening before the end of December, followed by many more in January, February and March, he said.

In the mean time do not let your guard down leading up to Christmas. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said to think of COVID like the Grinch. If you practice social distancing, wear a mask in public and wash your hands often we can all celebrate the holidays safely. In many places, hospitals are being overwhelmed by rising case loads. More than 20 percent of U.S. hospitals expect critical staff shortages in the coming week, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Beds can be built but you still need enough doctors to handle the rise in cases. we are fast approaching 100,000 people who are hospitalized for COVID-19. Now the Midwest, Great Plains, and Mountain West are the new hot spots, but some former hot spots are warming back up as well, with cases and hospitalizations surging again. Florida which is third in terms of the number of deaths from COVID-19 is again becoming a hot spot. “Thanksgiving may be the beginning of a dark holiday season as the surge in coronavirus cases is likely to persist, or even get worse, through December, January and February.” said Dr. Fauci.

Christmas in Iowa

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Roger and Jenni had a new baby, Maxwell, who was the center of attention at the Schwartz abode this year at Christmas. This little bundle kicked and squirmed constantly. He also seemed to be consistently amazed by a ceiling fan. Jenni explained that it might just be the contrast of dark against light that caught his eye. Pam’s other nephew, Cooper, just two days older than Max, didn’t get to visit as long as he had to head off to other family engagements.

The Christmas tree was half sized this year and was entirely set up by Pam’s nephew Easton. The star on top was cocked to the side at just the right quizzical angle. When the whole family arrived on Christmas day there were so many loud, boisterous conversations and arguments happening at the same time that I was rather overwhelmed. The best way for me to maintain some straight forward train of thought was to keep adding lines to the sketch. Christmas movies flickered on the TV, including The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Klaus.

Christmas dinner included huge steaks and cheesy potatoes, followed by multiple pies and then games.

Christmas Day Baby Photos

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Christmas day followed a full day of High School Senior photos shot in scenic spots around Iowa. Kim was the photographer and Pam art directed, finding scenic spots to shoot the photos around the countryside. Over 700 photos were shot of Destiny in her new Christmas outfits that Pam helped her pick out. On Christmas day, family gradually trickled into the Schwartz abode with the anticipated present opening happening in the living room.

Pam’s nephews and nieces ripped through paper to unveil electronic furby styled toys and tiny foxes that hang onto fingers. The tiny creatures apparently learn phrases and repeat them. There are 2 new babies in the family and Kim bravely set up a photo studio in the entry hall to the house to take photos of the two well-behaved babies. When it came time to shoot the photos, however, both kids became cranky and uncooperative. One did not like the cushion bed set up and was more comfortable lying directly on the floor. Models are known for their face gymnastics but these two went red faced as they struggled to poop during the shoot. Large bulb Christmas lights were set up in a circle around the kids to make it clear that these were Christmas scenes. A Christmas ornament was used to get these would be models to focus.

Every minute of the shoot was a challenge with moms and the photographer struggling for the best possible shot.

Christmas Games

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We traveled to Iowa for the Christmas holidays. Pam’s parents live on top of a hill overlooking rolling hills in every direction. In the morning the ground was covered in frost with thick layer of fog creating a mysterious scene. It took several hours before the sun came up to burn off the fog. On Christmas day it was supposed to be 58 degrees during the day which is unheard of. Usually the temperatures are in the negative digits.

On the first night of Christmas the family gathered to play Tripoly. It seemed to be a combination of a few card games wrapped into one game. Poker played an important role to start and chips were placed on the board. I was so focused on sketching that I didn’t really follow all the rules. Pam’s brother Matt played boisterously and he is known for taking chances in his betting, sometimes placing large stakes bets even when he didn’t have a great hand.

Kim, his wife, was just learning the game so she consulted the poker cheat sheet to figure out how to play her hand. Pam and her nephew Easton played constant hands. This game can go on all night it turns out. Matt and Kim’s little girls started playing a game of tag, running in circles and using me as the home base. I had to brace myself once in a while knowing I was about to be body slammed as I sketched.

I had spent the whole day at shopping malls with Pam and Destiny. We ended up going to 15 different stores to get outfits for Destiny’s High School Senior photos. There is no activity more exhausting than shopping at a mall right before Christmas. Before the game was over that I was sketching, I decided to curl up on the couch over by the tiny Christmas tree. I immediately drifted off to sleep. At some point Pam must have put a purple leopard print blanket over me. Matt won the game and Pam decided to wake me up to actually go to bed. It was close to impossible to drag myself off the couch. Downstairs it was freezing cold and I went to bed fully dressed with my hoodie tied tight around my head so that just my nose stuck out into the cold.

Christmas Day in Iowa

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There is no internet reception in this small Iowa town except with a daily brief phone hot spot, so I didn’t write up the Christmas posts until I got back to Orlando. Christmas day the kids presents were boxed up under the tree. There was some attempt at setting order in opening the presents, but the kids had ideas of their own and it became a free-for-all of ripping paper as presents were opened. Allie got a pretty sweet mermaid’s tail from Pam, Jenni, and I. It is made of really warm fleece and is great for cuddling up on a cold night. It is also rather large because Pam demonstrated how it worked for her parents several days before Christmas. I am pretty certain it is far more hip that the bunny suit pajamas modeled in A Christmas Story. Pam and I ended up with some pretty great warm winter socks. They were needed to keep our feet warm at night since no amount of covers are quite warm enough.

This was the first Christmas where the family didn’t go to Grandmother’s house for a big family meal. Grandma Martha Schwartz passed away this year leaving a void in that holiday tradition.  Instead, a large roast was cooking in the oven all day. An extra table was brought out so everyone could find a seat. Luke ate two heaping plates of meat. I have never seen a man eat so much meat in one sitting. For me that was the Christmas miracle of the day. I helped in clearing the tables and then the games resumed for the rest of Christmas day.

Game Night in Iowa

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The night before, we had watched a West World marathon for who knows how many hours. This evening was set aside for games, be they board games, card games, what have you. Preston was over for part of the night. He sat on the recliner chair scrolling through his iPhone. Pam sat at the kitchen table, which is mission central for games. Since Preston was up for a game that meant I wouldn’t be needed to fill out a a four player set.  That left me time to complete this sketch.

For the first time, I re-cropped the sketch several time as I was working on it. This is a feature I have been waiting for. In this case I had to make the sketch a bit bigger since Preston sat in the foreground. I didn’t want to crop him off at the knees. The Christmas tree was to my left and can be seen reflected in the sliding glass door in the back of the scene.

I used the perspective tool to chisel in the composition quickly. When I started painting, the lights were off in the kitchen and when they were turned on, I kept painting to lighten up the scene. This was a good way to work guaranteeing that I progressed from dark to light. There is an inviting warmth to the scene as the family gathered around the table to play.