Easter at Lake Eola

Posted on by Thor

I had to check out of an Air B&B at 10AM in Thornton Park Florida, and the check-in at the next Air B&B which was near the Falcon Bar and Gallery wasn’t until 3PM, so I found myself rather homeless for the day. I decided to take a walk to Lake Eola and just relax on the lawn and sketch. The weekly weekend farmers market was happening, so there were plenty of merchant tents set up. I didn’t feel the need to document any particular tent, so I found a shady spot under a Live Oak tree and sketched the historic home that sits on the south east corner of the park.

Many other people has the same idea as I did and they relaxed with their babies and dogs, just soaking up the daylight. People came and went in the time I was working on the sketch. There were so many beautiful people enjoying a beautiful day. I was felling like a tumbleweed, not sure if I should stay or if I should go. The one thing keeping me in Orlando Florida was the prospect of sketching the Fringe Festival in May. I had been invited to document the festival with sketches and the idea of sketching as many plays as is humanly possible was enticing. Several instances of people ordering work and not paying for it and having my work lifted offline and used to sell tickets to shows have disillusioned me to the pace of the deep south.

While sketching on the lawn, I felt myself slow down and relax into the day. I might feel uncertain about my future, but I felt certain about what I was meant to be doing in the moment. Life never holds still but by sketching I could capture a moment and feel grounded to a place. I wondered about the single people I saw. They seemed comfortable checking their phones or relaxing with their pets. I am always on edge needing to create in order to feel whole. Some day I might find someone who likes to share such quiet moments between the rush of keeping up with the demands of life.

AADW Art used to Promote Concert by Mistake

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I was surprised to find Timucua Arts Foundation of Orlando Florida used art from the Analog Artist Digital World website to promote a concert where tickets were sold for $30 each without my permission. There were about 60 people in attendance. That is $1,800 raised before expenses. Granted that isn’t like the earnings of a Taylor Swift Concert, but it was using the art for profit.

The art was cropped and then semi transparent shapes were thrown on top of the the sketch. Unfortunately that is the world we live in where everyone thinks they are a designer since they have Photoshop. and or In Design.

Leah Nash from Timucua reached out several times to apologize and Benoit Glaser the Timucua founder apologized from the stage when I attended the concert. Twice I was told that no one had any idea why the image was lifted. I reached out to Benoit via e-mail but he wasn’t sure why the art was used without my consent. Erik Branch at the venue was also unaware what happened. All I needed was some explanation, so I could avoid this happening again. My work has been lifted many times in the past by local organizations, and each time this happens the copyright symbol gets bigger and darker on what I post online. I heard that AI makes it easy to remove any watermarks so my attempts to control usage are becoming mute.

Charles Griffin the organizer of the Composer’s Forum reached out to me and he showed me digital paperwork from many years ago where permission was requested to run the image on their composer’s online Forum. I donated a one time usage and paperwork was filled out to that effect. I am guessing that organizers had forgotten that only the one time usage was granted. Charlie said that he and all the composers donate their time to make the concert happen. An olive branch was offered and accepted. I turned the flame down on the burner and the steam stopped hissing. The story had a resolution.

T

Electric Delaney

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While walking around downtown Orlando around the start of the 5pm rush hour, I passes Art2 where Electric Delaney performed on her electric guitar. She was just setting up her music stand and little speaker when I arrived.

Art2 is billed as Downtown Orlando’s New Hub for Creativity and Connection. The space features food vendors, craft beverages, murals, and digital art experiences, the park reimagines outdoor community space. What I saw were digital ads for the Enzian Film Festival and some benches and tables on concrete. I don’t see how that reimagines outdoor community space. The space was funded by the City of Orlando’s Community Redevelopment Agency,

Electric Delaney performed for well over an hour giving me plenty of time to sketch. I couldn’t fit the entire facade on my sketch page but I tried to fish eye it into place. DTO Live performances happen all over downtown Orlando around lunch time and when the work day ends. It it a good way to introduce 9 to 5ers to the diversity of arts available in the City Beautiful.

I got a tin of colored pencils out to scribble on the sketch as the sun set. The wind started picking up and a gust sent by tin of pencils flying onto the cement with a metallic crash. Delaney stopped her set and helped me pick up the pencils. I was honestly the only person specifically watching her perform. Others were inside having drinks or at tables having animated conversations. As a visual artist I don’t really see the indifference of the people who might see my work, As a performer on stage you look out and can witness the indifference first hand. It takes a special kind of bravery to create under those circumstances.

Falcon

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The first Air B&B I stayed in while I was trying to figure out where to settle in Orlando was in Thornton Park. The place I stayed in was o the third floor and looked down Washington Street towards Lake Eola. When I looked the opposite way I could see Falcon bar and Gallery a block away. While walking around the neighborhood, I decided to stop at Cavo’s Bar and Kitchen across the street so I could get a sketch of the Falcon Bar and Gallery. The mural on the side of the building had been done years a go and the paint was starting to fade. The image of a woman hugging a swan seemed iconic at the time.

Today all the swans in Lake Eola have been corralled and moved out of downtown. The swans had developed bird flu and many died. Were the swans to pass the flue to humans there would be the possibility of another pandemic. The swans had clipped wings and therefor could not fly away. It was easy therefor to corral the swans with dozens of kayaks.

There were instanced where police found that swans had been kidnapped. The captured swans were recovered for a backyard of a local home. The birds also suffered from constant harassment and attacks by dogs which ere walked around Lake Eola. The birds were taken to a facility approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Central Florida. There, they were welcomed by other swans that were also removed from the park. The era of the Lake Eola swans had passed. The swan paddle boats remain as a reminder of the city’s past.

Van Gogh Cafe

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While I was jumping between Air B&B‘s in Orlando, I decided to go to the Van Goghblin Café (805 W Central Blvd. Orlando, FL).   I ordered a Van Gogh themed coffee and settled in to sketch. This café is near the Orlando City Soccer Stadium in Orlando. Being on the west side of I-4, the neighborhood isn’t the best. I walked there from downtown, so I am not sure what the parking situation is like near the café.

Rather than being a stand-alone café, this seems like a coffee shop for the design firms that occupies the rest of the building. I got there late in the day and the staff was getting ready to leave. I had to rush the sketch since the staff wanted to leave.

In the café ordering area there was a faux window that looked out on a Van Gogh painted scene. Thee menu and Ordering counter were painted Van Gogh blue. Starry night sliced across a bright yellow walk in the communal area. Some chairs were in the style of the night café painting by Van Gogh while others were modern plush leather seats. The leather seating was more popular.

The coffee was decent, but the location makes going here less than appealing unless you are heading to an Orlando City Soccer game.

Disney Feature Animation Reunion

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The Disney Feature Animation Alum held a reunion In Orlando Florida on March 8, 2026. I drove Stella Arbelaéz and James Paris to the hotel in my Prius. It has been 22 years since the Florida Studio closed its doors, ending a long tradition of hand drawn animation. When we entered the hotel, the open lobby area was packed full of familiar faces. Large tables were set up with bites and there was a table for drinks. We had some free drink tickets and I decided to have a Coke so that I was flitting about like a Humming Bird.

Every time I turned around, I saw someone I had not seen in decades. There was a large screen set up which showed photos of life in the animation studio from years ago. I know now that what I really wanted to see was all the art that had been created by these amazing artists since the Disney Feature Animation Studio closed. I didn’t need to look back. I wanted to look forward.

I knew what James Paris had worked on since we had talked extensively at Stella’s studio, but for most folks I met at the reunion, I could only get an abbreviated elevator pitch of what they were working on. Being a visual artist, I wanted to see it all. I had been in talks with the Museum director at the Orange County History Center about having tables set up at the museum so that former Disney artists could showcase and sell their recent art work the day before or after the reunion. That idea fell through when the director got another job in NYC. I had just returned from 3 months in Europe where I had sketched the 70 or so cities that my father’s 75th Infantry Division had helped liberate in WWII so I found myself repeating that story often.

Kevin Deters had flown in from California. He had stayed with Disney and went on to direct Prep and Landing which was an animated short about elves helping Santa land his sleigh. Aaron Blaise has gone on to produce direct and animate his own short film called Snow Bear and he founded Creature Teacher which has taken off as an online an in-person way to encourage the next generation of animation artists. Xiangyuan (Jay) Jie had helped set the style of the gorgeous painterly backgrounds for Brother Bear. I admired his work on that film so much, and I got to paint beside him in the after-hours painting sessions with models. Jie speaks best through paint since he still isn’t fluent in speaking English. He spoke with me and his wife helped translate. He had images on his iPhone he wanted to show me. He had an amazing sketch of me from one of those after-hours paint sessions. I looked so focused in his sketch. He said there were images I should see on the big screen as well but there were so many pictures that I could not wait for the reel to make its way around again. I was quickly drawn into another conversation.

Laurie Ashborne had a cameraman set up in the corner of the venue. She was asking each artist a few questions about their memories of the studio. This is what I decided to sketch quickly. While working on this sketch I was approached and I was amazed that someone was very familiar with my work. There was some honest reverence in the way my work was acknowledged. I don’t experience that very often. It was heartwarming. With the sketch finished I went and stood in line to offer Laurie my quick answers to her questions. It was a fun interview. I hope a sound bite makes it into her documentary about the Florida Feature Animation Studio.

The whole evening was such a whirlwind. It was like trying to digest hundreds of stories of artistic growth in just a few hours. Bill Silvers has made a career of doing large Disney character themed paintings that are sold at Disney Village. Ginger Wolf gave me her card. She has also become a painter. Former animator, Trey Finney lost his wife Christine Lawrence Finney who was my supervisor at Disney. They had both become painters after leaving Disney. She had a warm heart and was delightful to work for. Christine gave me the opportunity to supervise the final clean up on the director’s cut of Pocahontas. Scenes were added which had been left out of the original film. The largest scene was a love song (If I Never Knew You) sung by John Smith when he was being held captive and Pocahontas gently placed her head on his chest while he sang. The camera rotated  around the couple as he sang, making it a mechanically challenging scene to work on. I worked out long timing charts to keep the even timing of the rotation consistent. I was proud of the result. It was so rare to have complete control of both lead characters in a scene.

I was amazed by so many of the artists I got to meet again. The Disney Feature Animation Studio had truly been like catching lightning in a bottle. All that talent spread out across the country after the studio was shuddered in 2004, but I decided to stay and make my mark right here in Orlando.

Stella, James and I met near the hotel reception and made out way out to the parking lot. Good-byes lasted for at least an hour. It was a shame to leave, but we had an exciting ride back sharing stories of who we had caught up with.  The following morning, the main shooting would begin on James Paris’s short film. We all needed our rest. The caffeine had worn off, and I collapsed in my Air B&B and instantly fell asleep. As always I was an outsider looking in, even in my dreams.

Procrasticare Day 1

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The Disney Feature Animation Alum held a reunion In Orlando Florida on March 8, 2026. Former Disney artists from all over the country flew into Orlando for the one-night reunion.

James Paris was working at Disney Feature Animation when I first began doing drawings for the feature film Pocahontas. Animation in those days was done with pencil and paper. I worked in what was known as the “Fishbowl” where a glass wall allowed Hollywood Studio theme park tourists the chance to see the Disney magic firsthand. Little did they know that they had to watch the new kid on the block. My first desk was right against the glass and James had a more private cubicle inside the room, maybe 20 feet from the wall of curious by passers.

My first Feature Animation Clean up drawings were for what is called slow ins. That is where the drawings get closer and closer together until the lines literally touch and overlap. It was grueling line between line work, yet I found it relaxing. The challenge was to keep these in-betweens just as aesthetically pleasing as the Key Drawings which the animator did to show the extremes of an action. James would clean up those Key drawings and then he needed to be sure my drawing matched the line quality and aesthetic of his drawings.

I was assigned to the Powhattan unit and James was put in charge of checking my drawings. Powhattan was the father of Pocahontas, and he had stoic and controlled movements. All that slow movement required 12 to 24 drawings per second which kept me quite busy. At first all the tourists watching me draw was distracting but with so many drawings to do I soon forgot they were there, looking over my shoulder through the thick glass wall.

James was meticulous in checking my drawings, at times completely redrawing an in-between. I adopted the same level of methodical control as I moved up the ladder and began checking the work of other artists. I liked this check in process since it was a chance to get away from the drawing desk and interact with another artist. I probably learned quite a bit watching James rework my drawings.

To justify the expense of flying to Orlando from Las Angeles California, James decided he would shoot a live action short at Stella Arbelaéz’s home studio. He story boarded the whole film in LA and had a shot list prepared so that he knew exactly what needed to be shot each day. Most of the shooting would be done on the day after the Feature Animation Reunion which was March 7, 2026. James arrived at Stella’s on March 7 and had all the movie lighting and equipment delivered to her place in the morning. That night before we all drove to the reunion, he had much of the equipment set up and he just wanted to capture a few shots of Stella’s hand painting on the canvas.

The story of Procristicare is straight forward. Stella is on her couch scrolling and looking at social media posts. She is not creating. Time is being lost. She sees an online add for Procrasticare and is curious. She signed up for the service. Almost immediately a young woman showed up at her front door and announced that she is with Procrasticare. Stella was holding her phone when she opened the door and when the Procrasticare worker saw the phone, she grabbed it and ran. She rode away on a bicycle. I had just tuned up that bicycle, fixing a flat and getting the brakes aligned, and I put a phone holder on the handle bars. I am glad the bike got some screen time.

I drew Stella and James twice in my sketch. James spent a long time getting familiar with the camera and the motion stabilizer set up. While he was working out that tech, Stella was reviewing her student’s classwork on her computer. When the shooting began, Stella stood at the easel and added brush strokes to the canvas. James moved the camera around the room fluidly. It was all very physical.

With that shot done we all got ready for the reunion, and I drove James and Stella in my Prius to the hotel where the reunion was being held. Some Feature Animation artists had met earlier to see a screening of Mulan at a theater down near the hotel, but we were busy shooting a movie, we didn’t have time to play the part of being an audience.

Lake Eola Sunset

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I just moved to the North shore of Lake Eola in Eola Heights, Orlando Florida. Each day I take a walk to the lake and often do a sketch. I started with watercolor sketches but now I am doing oil paintings which take about 3 sessions to complete.

This watercolor sketch was done before all the swans were removed from Lake Eola. I managed to sketch one swan swimming across my field of view. The sun  was setting quickly so I tried to capture the light before everything went dark. The fountain lights turned on and the streams billowed up a blood red. It is an effect I am sure I will capture better using oil paint.

There was a crowd of people gathered on the deck that juts out over the water. They were taking pictures and talking. I wonder if they are there every night or if this was a tourist group. Being able to walk to the north shore of Lake Eola any day, morning or night is a thrill and my plan right now is to do 49 paintings all around the circumference of the lake. I have done 5 of those oil paintings so far.

There will also be plenty of small sketches like there. I want to break away from watercolor and start using gouache which can be applied opaque with layers of color overlapping. With the lake as a backdrop subject every day I hope to start experimenting more and taking chances.

Making mistakes and making some honestly ugly paintings is all part of the process.

Fringe: Flashlight Cabaret

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The Orlando Fringe from Orlando Florida presented Flashlight Cabaret at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. This was a variety show where Fringe artists presented unique songs and skits never seen before. Each act was lit only by the flashlights held by every member of the audience. This was a challenge to draw but a fun night to say the least.

Waiting to enter the show it seemed like the performers gathered and came up with their bits moments before the doors opened. It was fun and exuberant chaos. Since I was sketching, my flashlight helped illuminate the sketch while I worked. I am usually concerned that my lighting up the sketch might be distracting for other audience members around me but in this case, everyone had a flashlight, so all bets were off. With so many performers doing so many different bits, it was hard to decide what to sketch. No single moment would suffice.

There were some songs performed which was expected, but there was also burlesque, some truly Shakespearean monologues and at one point as I sketched, I was blinded when toilet paper which was blown in my face with a leaf blower.

Being in a dark room where every person in the audience projects their light center stage is truly a magical experience.

Fringe: Against Her Wishes

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So What? Who Cares? Productions from Orlando Florida presented Against Her Wishes at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. Emily Fontano the writer, director and star of the one woman show welcomed the audience to her mother Janet’s funeral. Janet had specifically stipulated in her will that there should not be a funeral but instead a dinner with friends. Family had other plans and now the packed audience were welcome to the funeral.

A slideshow of Janet’s life was projected on a screen but I was one of the last to enter and I could not see the screen from my angle. The whole show was a eulogy.  Emily spoke fondly of her mother but did not present her as a perfect angel. She outlines the highlights of her mother’s life with affection and honestly not every moment was perfect. Because of her flaws and exuberance for life, I fell in love with the woman we were all there to celebrate. The funeral wasn’t a sober affair. There was dancing and music, some of the songs had been picked by the deceased. Emily presented us all with humor and sadness.

I really liked the premise for the show. At a funeral you often learn more about a person than you ever do with a casual meeting. Art is often created to celebrate lives lost. This show was filled with laughter and joy as well as a feeling of loss. After hearing Emily talk about her mom in detail, I felt I began to know them both a little better.

I absolutely loved the show. It made me reflect on all I could say about those that I miss deeply.

Against Her Wishes won Patron Pick in the Brown Venue and had an extended run. The show won an award for Solo Show — Comedy.