Post Milton

Posted on by Thor

Hurricane Milton knocked down 4 trees in Stella Arbelaez‘s Yahala studio yard. 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 Yahala 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, I am starting to realize how good it would be to put roots down, and start new growth, through hard work, while using materials already available on the property. Maybe it is just a dream, but it is nice to dip my toe into the infinite possibilities of sustainable homesteading.

Yalaha Florida Studio

Posted on by Thor

In the driveway of the Yalaha 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.

Stella drives a silver Prius which is identical to mine. Since she was parked a bit in front of my car it wasn’t visible from the spot where I did this sketch.

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. Stella purchased little decals that go on the outside of the windows which hopefully will discourage the birds from running into the glass.

Stella showed me around Yalaha. 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.

 

Milton Damage

Posted on by Thor

Hurricane Milton caused some major damage in Florida.

Stella Arbelaez, a former Disney Feature Animation effects artist, lives north west of Lake Apopka and I have been helping her constructing a large bamboo sculpture.

There are many tall pine trees in her back yard and Hurricane Milton knocked over a bunch of them. Luckily none of them hit her house, but one is leaning precariously against a shed and several other fell over taking out fencing.

Stella and I both had work accepted at FusionFest over the Thanksgiving weekend. Stella volunteered to paint on location during FusionFest. I thought I had a cold after going to the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival to promote COVID Dystopia. I actually was infected with COVID-19 for the first time when flying back to Orlando on Delta flight 1652. I tested myself the first night back and now know that the test was a false negative. I proceeded to help with Stella’s project thinking I just had a cold. I didn’t feel healthy enough to go to Fusion Fest, so I stayed behind while Stella went to paint in Downtown Orlando.

Later in the day I sketched this tree which had been uprooted by Milton. The ripped open root ball reminded me of how my insides felt. COVID is an airborne vascular disease that affects the heart, arteries and fuses brain cells killing off grey matter. It effects just about every organ in the body. The “cold” had knocked me on my ass. The sun started to set as I worked on the sketch, so I rushed to finish before it got too cold out. The ripped open root ball reminds me of the unseen damage being done to my inner vascular system.

Mygration Films

Posted on by Thor

I sketched the evening that the filmmakers met their subjects for the MYgradion film series. I was therefor excited to see the end results of these films that had to be shot and crafted over just 2 days.

At the filmmaker meet an greet, one filmmaker, David Yanovich, found out that because of a mix up, he didn’t have a subject to work with. He was asked to just hang out since sometimes a filmmaker might just not show up. Sure enough someone didn’t show and David was matched with a subject. This was his first time crafting a short documentary. He worked with Idrees Khan and created the film, Ties to Trinidad.

Of the 13 or so films I was most excited to see the film about Stella Abelaez by Michael Elliott called The Path to Healing. I had met Stella at Disney Feature animation back in the 1990s.  Of all the films shown at the screening, the film about Stella was the only one that had me wiping away tears and yet feeling absolute joy at the end of the journey. It was a five minute emotional roller-coaster. At the end of the screenings, the audience got to cast their vote for the best film of the series.

The winner of the best short film was Culture to Canvas, a film about artist Nelson Cardenas by Ariana Castillo. I met Nelson at an art opening of his large paintings on wood of healthcare workers wearing masks which were shown during the lull after the second wave of the pandemic at the Orange County Regional History Center. I liked the work since so few artists have documented the pandemic. At the time of that opening the number of COVID infections was far lower that they are today. Today we are coming down from the 9th wave of the pandemic and about every 45th person is infected. People have been groomed to think repeat infections are the new normal. I was the only person masked person at the screening.

In this film I got to see some of the amazing paintings Nelson created about his emigration experience from Columbia. One painting of three men lying in the trunk of a car really stood out. He paid particular attention to the detail of one of the men’s stylish cowboy boots. Nelson and his mother had to squeeze into the same trunk with the men. Part of me is thinking that just this aspect of his story could be crafted into a powerful short animated film. The seed is planted, we will see if it will grow.

Mygration Films Meet and Greet 2

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The first sketch I did of the Mygration Films meet and greet was done while the filmmakers were looking over the envelopes they had picked to learn about the subject of their documentaries. The room was quiet as they read and thought.

Once the artists entered the room and were introduced to the filmmakers the room buzzed to life. There was a definite excitement as plans were hatched for the following two days of shooting. Unfortunately I am not sure who the artists or the filmmaker was who was seated right in front of me. They stood in for all the excited conversations that were happening at all the tables in the room. I will learn the story about the creative people seated in front of me when the films are shown as part of the Global Peace Film Festival.

I introduced myself to the filmmakers at Stella’s table briefly but didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the conversation.  A creative marathon was about to begin. Mygration films will capture the stories of Central Floridians who came here from around the world in short 3 to 5 minute documentaries. The filmmakers had just 2 days to shoot the films. The title of the film about Stella Arbelaez is titled Path to Healing and I can’t wait to see how it turned out. The films will be shown on September 22, 2024 starting at 5PM at Afro TV, 7220 International Drive Orlando Fl. Tickets are $10. Stella’s wrote her story in Footprint Magazine should you want to read more and see some of her art. I am curious to see how such an epic story can be told in a 5 minute short.

 

Mygration Filmmaker Meet and Greet

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Stella Arbelaez let me know about a filmmaker meet and greet happening at Full Sail. Lori Turchin was running the event.

Fusion Fest was having filmmakers create short documentaries about local creatives. The films had to be shot over the course of 2 days. It was to be a fast marathon of creativity.

I arrived at Full Sail a bit early to start the sketch. Lori explained that pairing so many creatives was an arduous process. Filmmakers would meet their prospective subjects in the Tree House, which was a student lounge with a small stage up front. When a filmmaker would arrive they would meet Lori who had a series of numbered envelopes they could choose from. Each envelope contained the name of a local artist along with biographies and other pertinent information. The filmmakers sat at their tables and poured over the material in the envelope.

Stella explained that she did quite a bit of work prior to the meet and greet. She acquired permits for the shooting locations and UCF required a script, so she essentially build a script around the questions the filmmakers would be asking. The theme of Stella’s short would evolve around her love of nature and the sense of place the brought her back to Orlando where she put down roots. She knows who she is creatively and she knows what brings her joy.

Stella’s filmmakers, M.D. Elliot and Ethen Paonessa, came from Ringling and after this initial met and greet they went out for dinner to continue to plan the filming production. The following day Stella’s daughter arrived. Five hours of footage might be shot which would need to be edited down to 3-5 minutes.

One aspect of Stella’s story  of healing that really fascinated me was her decision to walk the full 1,500 mile length of the Florida Trail. She had a home made backpack. Her small dog followed her on the journey. Hikers on this trail often are given nicknames and hers became acorn. She met up with other hikers along the way and there is a sense of community among those who feel the drive to walk the length of the trail. When blisters halted her progress, other hikers carried her gear so she could keep moving forward. COVID hit when she had just 80 miles to go to complete the trail. The trail was shut down. The open air of the trail was probably the safest place to be, but she had to return to civilization. That final 80 miles stretch was completed much later when lock downs were lifted. A person’s strength and resolve is tested on such a journey, and a love of nature is given room to blossom. The trail will provide.

All of the short films, which are referred to as Mygration films, will be screened as part of the Global Peace Film Festival on Sunday September 22, 2024 at Afrotainment, 7220 International Drive Orlando Fl. The screenings start at 5pm. Tickets are $10. I will be there to cheer on my fellow Florida Creatives.

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ODD at Elixer.

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The June Orlando Drink and Draw (ODD) was going to be held at another bar on Orange Avenue, but that bar was closed. At the last minute I sent out a message on Facebook letting artists know that we would have to go to Elixer (9 W Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801) right down the block. Pam Schwartz and I arrived first and I started working on the panoramic view of the bar right away.

I got a text from Stella Arbelaez saying she would be there soon with her daughter Laura. Laura is taking a summer theater class and so they were right nearby. She spent the duration of the ODD event going over her lines at the next table. I tried to arrange a chance to sketch a rehearsal but the schedule never worked out.

Anna Ast also managed to find our group. She recently moved here from Russia and according to her, my book is used as a text book there for a group of artists who gather to do Urban Sketches. This is pretty exciting news, and I am hoping to see a copy of the book in Russian at a future ODD outing. Anna founded a cake decoration business here in Central Florida and her husband is a pilot.

We all just drew the bar for the first hour, and then I decided we all needed to sketch each other. I timed the drawings at 5 minutes, and artists had to face off to sketch one another. The artist being drawn, would sign the sketch made of them which makes for a simple way to learn the names of everyone at the table. One of my sketches was done blind, which means that I never looked at the sketch as I put lines on the page, only at the person’s face. These sketches are always fun since you never know what you are going to get.

All sketches are available for sale as a print or original. Contact the artist for details.