Our Dear Dead Drug Lord

Posted on by Thor

Our Dear Drug Lord was performed by the Ensemble Company at Imagine Entertainment Art Center (1220 Oviedo Mall Boulevard, Oviedo Florida) from arch 6 to March 15, 2026. The show was directed by Matthew Macdermid. The show mostly featured 4 young female students in their school uniforms. These teens seemed sweet enough as they met in an abandoned tree house, but the sweet setting was home to their dark secret society. These private school girls used this tree house to worship the ghost of the dead Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The opening scene involved initiating Kit, (Louise Ortiz-Hernandez) to the group. She had to prove she was worthy to join the group by murdering a stray cat. Squeeze (Sarah Barthelemy) was allergic to cats, so she wanted the ceremony performed immediately, while Pipe, (Ana Gomes-Lugo) insisted the ceremony happen with all due pomp and circumstance. Zoo, (Maddy Poston) was the only girl with a conscience who felt the ceremony might be too much making them look like absolute psychopaths. I felt rather uneasy that the girls might perform the murderous deed in front of a live audience.

The play delves into the depths of teen angst. The new kid on the block, Kit was raised by her Colombian mother, and the other girls suspect that maybe she had ties to the infamous Pablo Escobar. Kits father died shortly after she was born and that further cemented the suspicions that she might have ties to the drug lord.

What tarted as an innocent Ouija board game soon spiraled into a truly haunting experience. Each of the girls has had to deal with painful deaths in their families and they have yet to fully process their grief. The ghost of Pablo Escsobar, (Luis Molina) made an appearance late in the play and he interacted with Pipe’s little sister, (Zoey Natal). That entire scene was in Spanish which I appreciate, but my comprehension is so limited. I know that Pipe was begging Pablo Escobar to bring her dead sister back. Pablo would aske her what else she wanted and each time she would ask to have her sister back. When Pablo insisted, she finally admitted that she wanted the part of her that died with her sister. Later Pipes’ little sister appeared and said that there was monster under her bed. She and Pipe soon realize that they are the monsters.  Pipes little sister made a deal with the devil to not be good. Good is to quiet and small, she wanted to be loud, loud, loud and to take what is hers.

All of the girls who were living through the pain of adolescence were going through the same process of wanting to live loudly. They created monstrous rites of passage as they grew towards a strange and violent world.

The set for this production, which was designed and constructed by Bonnie Sprung, looked amazing. Any time I get to sketch the creative process of a production before it hits the stage, I am excited.

Brooklyn’s Pizza Dining room

Posted on by Thor

After the Disney Feature Animation Reunion and the chaos of a film shoot at the Stella Arbelaéz studio, I settled back into a sketching routine in Lake County Florida.

My refrigerator was largely empty, so I treated myself to a night out at Brooklyn’s Pizza (27405 Us-27 Lake Harris Square, Leesburg, FL). I ordered a plate of Fettuccini Alfredo which is my favorite creamy pasta dish. The waitresses her were familiar with having an artist who would sit, eat and sketch for several hours.

I had gone out to eat early so the dining room only had a few people. A man and woman sat at the corner booth so at least there was some humans to be seen. The corner of the dining room is also where the waitress station was. The barricade made it so I wouldn’t see the waitress until she came to my table.

Meals and memories can be found at Brooklyn’s Pizza . I have strong memories of sketching with a friend in this dining room, and it makes me want to return often. My strongest memories are on paper put down with pencil, ink and watercolor. I have been unpacking my drawings from over the years, and I was truly on fire artistically right before I moved to Orlando. Drawings done with oil paint, and colored pencil were so expressive. I remember loving how luscious the pencil line felt as it melted into the oil paint.

Seeing that work makes me want to regain some of that angst filled energy. I suspect my work will begin to once again evolve after having looked back at my past.  Right now, I am doing a series of drawings of the best Vegetarian Restaurants in Orlando. Drawings of restaurants tend to be more about depicting the perspective of a room and less about the figure. I am feeling the urge to do more figurative work and may begin to hire models to pose in my Eola Heights Studio.

I am also doing a series of 49 paintings of Lake Eola. This series gets me up early at sunrise each day to get some painting under my belt at the start of each day. In the evening I then go out to sketch at some Orlando Event. It is by doing a whole lot of work that I hope to get to the point where the paintings and drawings get more expressive.

I ate maybe half of the Fettuccini Alfredo and took the rest back to the Lake County Studio. Today I would not longer consider ordering such a rich and creamy dish. My new plant-based diet doesn’t allow for dairy product. Eating out has become more of a challenge with the plant-based restrictions but I keep finding some dishes which foot the bill.

Yesterday I ordered a Subway sandwich with a friend and we both wanted only vegetables. Every sandwich description started out with a list of processed meats. The only vegetarian option was to order a sandwich and get the meat on the side. Filling up the sandwich with extra vegetables was then a fun process. I ordered a lemonade instead of a soda and I was instructed that I should water the lemonade down since it had too much sugar. I tasted the lemonade and it tasted delicious in a saccharine sweet way. I did water the drink down but not in a 50 to 50 proportion. I wanted and needed the sugar flavor blast.

I am learning what is good to put in my body a bit at a time. When I slip off the wagon my goal is to get right back on and train myself to eat a more healthy diet.

Procrasticare Pink Paint Scene

Posted on by Thor

I drove from my Air B&B to the Stella Arbelaéz studio where James Parris would be spending the day gathering shots for his Procrasticare short. After having her phone stolen by a Procraticare worker. Stella returned to her artist’s studio and paced the room annoyed. When her nerves were settled, she began to make marks on her canvas for the first time in a long time. Her annoyed expression turned to pleasure as the marks began to come together.

Before shooting began the set needed to be completed. Jennifer Gwynne Oliver brought along a friend who was an expert on movie history. He and James got along great. Jennifer worked for Disney Feature Animation Florida and without being asked, she realized that the set needed to look more lived in. She gathered some art books and a Tiffany lamp along with a bowl from another room, and arranged them on top of the flat files behind Stella. I was pleased that one of the books she picked out was my book, Urban Sketching the Complete Guide to Techniques. Probably no one seeing the short film will see my book, since it is likely out of focus but at least I know it was there.

Between shots, I walked behind Stella adding smoke to the set for a romantic glow of atmospheric perspective. The painting on the canvas was largely completed beforehand. I oversaw making sure the canvas had plenty of gesso, and Stella painted the abstract Pink and Blue pattern that James had made for the shot. I think the pink and blue art was an homage to another animated short film James had done called Pink and Blue .

At one point Stella threw an entire bucket of pink paint at the canvas. Though there were clear plastic drop clothes, she was so enthusiastic that paint went all over the room and beyond the drop cloth. Some paint even got on my sketch. After the paint spatter scene was over, I got on my hands and knees and wipes up stray puddles of paint off of Stella’s grey concrete floor. I do think there are hints of pink of the floor to this day.

Movie lights were scattered all around the set and James moved them as needed for each shot. James kept his hand-held and stabilized camera moving and the studio was a super active space. Stella has assembled a giant 14-foot-tall puppet in this studio space and she created Eco printed table runners for the Orlando Museum of Art in this space. She wasn’t acting when she was working in the studio as an artist.

The Procrasticare short is still in the editing bay. Special effects are still being done for the content that is seen on Stella’s phone screen. I’ll be excited to see the final edit and to see if the audience laughs where expected. Audiences are all unique. Some might laugh out loud while another audience is stone faced and neutral.

Procrasticare Master Living

Posted on by Thor

I drove from my Air B&B to the Stella Arbelaéz studio where James Parris would be spending the day gathering shots for his Procrasticare short. The first location of the day was in Stella’s Master Living room. I helped move the couch to the opposite wall in front of a window and then a set decorator came in and hung curtains and string lights. James had shipped purple and pink outfits for Stella to wear in each shot. The wardrobe was neatly arranged on a movable garment rack in the artist studio. Large lights were everywhere.

James shot the film using a stabilizer for the camera. I don’t think a singe shot required a tripod. My job, other than moving the couch, was to mist the room with smoke before each shot. This would add atmospheric perspective and soften the look. Now that I know this is done, I have started noticing it in films I watch.

This shot required Stella to relax on her couch and scroll on her phone. The couch is actually a recliner so she wouldn’t usually lay prove like an odalisque as she was being asked to do. She would  usually kick her legs up I front of her. She looked relaxed and Boo-Boo quickly got in character and lay attached to her hip. The room is blue and James picked a similar blue color as a throw over the leather recliner couch. I bet the warm glow of the Tiffany lamp looked good on screen.

Stella’s cow scull and a wooden hand holding a grass paper lantern stayed where she usually had them, but I don’t think they were in the shots. The wooden secretary in the corner of the room holds so many memories. Stella’s entire back story is housed in that gorgeous antique cabinetry.

Incense was burning on a small side table. That table was moved multiple times as a foreground element in shots. The audience might not notice that the table was moved. All that mattered was what appeared in the camera viewfinder. James was figuring out the final look as he worked. He knew exactly what each shot should look like since he had story-boarded every scene. But in camera he made sure the lighting matched his vision.

This scene only required a few shots of Stella sitting up, scrolling on her phone along with over the shoulder shots to see that she was looking at. I knew from having sketched on other film shoots that the amount of work that went into each shot meant that I would have more than an hour to sketch. Hugo Giraud who also worked at Disney Feature Animation, was also on set helping out. With so many worker bees, I could relax and sketch until the next shot needed to be set up.

Though shot over 9 moths ago,  Procrasticare is still in the editing bay. James had farmed out many effects shots that will appear on the phone Stella was holding. Once all that special effect work is complete, they will be added to the final edit of the film. All the acting in the film is silent. No one speaks. Coming from an animation background James knew that a story is best told through action rather than words. Stella would have done well as a silent era actress. Every emotion could be read on her face and gestures.

Disney Feature Animation Reunion

Posted on by Thor

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

Posted on by Thor

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.

Orlando’s Best Plant Based Restaurants: Market on South

Posted on by Thor

Since I have started a plant-based diet, I decided to do a series of sketches of Orlando’s Best Plant Based Restaurants.

Market on South (2603 East South Street Orlando Fl) is a short bike ride from my Eola Heights Art Studio. On Labor Day, I decided to venture over to have a taste. I had been to Market on South before with a former girlfriend and I assume restaurant ownership has changed since then. Back when I last sketched the Market there was a cute mural on the back wall that reminded me of old Florida citrus labels. The mural had bold outlines and bright colors. That mural is now gone.

The Vendor in the Market include, A Lo Vegano which prepared the all Plant Based meal and ice creams by Vegan Scoops. Market on South has about 5 booths along the wall and some seating in back for playing board games. A couple was playing Monopoly when I walked in. There was a bike rack out front but parking my bike at the rack, I felt a car might run into the back tire since the rack was right at the entrance to the parking lot, so I tilted the bike to make it less of a target. While researching the restaurant I found a clip of a car with a drunk driver who backed up into the front wall of the building at top speed. It was seeing the clip that made me wonder if my bike was safe.

There is one digital display for ordering food. I hate those bloody things, I have been known to walk out of fast food restaurants that have them. I was here on a mission, so I stood in line to place my order. The couple in front of me was taking forever to place their order. A human behind the counter told me I could scan a QR code and look at the menu online. I did that, but looking at the images on an iPhone is like trying to see the menu on a postage stamp. I knew what I wanted but the couple in front of me was still moving at a sloth’s pace. I reminded myself that my sketch would take several hours to do, so I calmed my New York City hardwired nerves.

I ordered a Loaded Island Mac and Cheese with Garlic Aïoli sauce along with a Hibiscus Lemonade. After I paid the digital kiosk, I found a booth and started my sketch. Midway through my doing the line work the lemonade came out. The waiter told me he used to sketch in the theme parks. Is everyone in town an artist? Lemons are certainly plant based so the drink should be fine. The drink was delicious. I was hot from my bike ride and I had to refrain from sucking the drink down in one long sip. I sucked so hard the paper straw collapsed. My diet has cut way back on refined sugar. Most dishes that I make that have some sweetness use Medjool dates as a sweetener. This lemonade must have had refined sugar because I wanted to suck it down the same way I used to suck down Mountain Dew. If drinking this lemonade was a sin then I needed to own it. I was going out for some new tastes and a flavor burst and I got that in spades.

As I was adding watercolor to my sketch the main dish came out. The Loaded Island Mac and Cheese was on a large dinner plate and stacked high. There were crunchy disks that reminded me of fried oysters. Of course they could not be oysters since I was assured that everything on the menu was plant based. Regardless they were delicious.The dish had 10 cheese mac & cheese with crispy mushroom based chicken, the house aïoli sauce, green onions, and crispy French fried onions.

I have been avoiding buying any oils and these looked like they were deep fried. I just hoped there was some cooking magic at play that made then seem deep fried by not using oils. There was so much delicious crunchiness that I really didn’t care, I just ate like a ravenous dog. I didn’t really notice the mac and cheese until I had dug much deeper into the dish. Of course cheese is another thing I am avoiding, but I assume there is some plant based magic that made this “Cheese” taste so good. In recipes at home I have been putting cashews in a blender and the resulting mix tastes a bit like cheese. I am left yearning to know what recipe that A Lo Vegano had used to prepare this flavor burst.

Since my plate was stacked high, I lingered on the painting of the sketch. I ran out of the lemonade which refused to be sipped slowly and got some water at a free water cooler next to the front counter.

Then the sky opened up. Outside it turned a deep grey and rain pelted down as if in a hurricane. The Cuban flag waved in the high winds. I had biked to the Market, so I was stuck. The sketch was nearing completion. I decided my only option was to order a plant-based ice cream and wait out the storm. Why is life so HARD! I ordered the Guava Zest ice cream with two scoops since it was raining so hard (I had no choice). I was offered sprinkles which sounded like unneeded sugar, but then I was offered shredded coconut and I could not resist.

The Guava Zest was a delicious burst of flavor. I started adding gouache to my sketch since I was waiting out the storm. Using opaque colors opened up the subtle color possibilities and I suspect I will start using gouache more on future sketch outings. Who knew that an unexpected torrential rain could offer so much pleasure in taste and added color to my sketch.

My meal was so delicious that I am looking for an excuse to return to Market on South to sample something else on the menu with a friend. I just have to get used to facing the evil digital kiosk which makes it seem like I am ordering fast food that is prepared with love and takes time to prepare.

The rain started to slow down so I ventured outside. I wrapped my art bag with the seat material from my artist stool to protect the sketchbook from the rain. Watercolor and rain don’t get along. The bike ride back to the art studio was cool and pleasant. My butt got wet since I biked through some rather deep puddles and my tires send a spray upwards. I didn’t mind the spray. I was fully satiated.

Market on South gets 9 out of 10 strawberries.

Orlando’s Best Plant Based Restaurants: Winter Park Biscuit Company

Posted on by Thor

Since I have started a plant-based diet, I decided to do a series of sketches of Orlando’s Best Plant Based Restaurants. Winter Park Biscuit Company (3201 Corrine Dr. Orlando, FL) is conveniently located in the East End Market. When you enter the front door, they are the first vendor on the left. It is arranged as a counter with an order window to the kitchen. Most people who ordered took the meal to go. Only one other person sat at the counter with me.

You must order online or by using a digital display. I got stuck in a loop trying to order my meal, as did the couple ordering after me. The server behind the counter had to point out the mysterious button that needed to be found to complete the order to both of us. I decided to order a WPBC Burger which was an Impossible paddy with American cheese, lettuce tomatoes, onion, pickles and WPBC sauce on a toasted Brioche bun. The meatless burger was amazing. A friend of mine used to order Impossible Burgers from McDonalds and this WPBC burger was 10 times better. The meat alternative is made from Soy protein.

The “American Cheese” was a mystery to me. The whole point of a plant-based diet is to avoid dairy. I am not sure how this faux cheese was created. The cheese sauce is sold bottled, and I might buy some next time I am there. That is something I could use all the time in recipes I am making at home. The next step is to figure out what makes the WPBC burgers taste so good. The special sauce might be the secret. That sauce is also bottled. Once I figure out how to create my own impossible burger, I will be a happy plant-based camper.

To drink I had a Tractor Hibiscus Lemonade which was delicious and refreshing. Since I was sketching and thus lingering the server was very generous with the lemonade refills. There were sodas on the menu but I am not putting that battery acid in my body any more.

There was a TV above the counter showing what life was like right after Earth experienced an apocalyptic meteor event. The first life to return was fungai which slowly covered every surface. Life slowly evolved until giant lizards once again roamed the surface of the earth. Rather than killing each other they ate plants and thrived.

While politicians help to bring about the next extinction event, I am learning to eat the plant-based food that should be plentiful even after the grid shuts down.

I give Winter Park Biscuit Company, 9 out of 10 Impossible Burgers. I only took off one burger for the impossible digital ordering kiosk since I’m such an Analog Artist who would like some form of human interaction when I go out to eat. I refuse to offer a tip to a digital kiosk.

Lake Eola Farmers Market

Posted on by Thor

Every Sunday from 10AM to 3PM there is a Farmers’ Market at the South East corner of Lake Eola. I am doing oil paintings each morning of Lake Eola with the plan to do 49 paintings all around the circumference of the lake. I assume the fountain will be in each painting. I am not sure if the fountain is a requirement yet for the series. I took a break from the early morning painting session on Sunday and decided to get a sketch done at the Farmer’s Market.

While doing this sketch, the bells of the Greek Orthodox Church chimed for well over an hour. Something about that sound and the bustle of the crowds in the market made me feel very relaxed. For once, I felt at home. I feel very blessed to have this time in my life to focus on the activity and view the lake offers downtown Orlando residents. I have sketched the lake before but now it has become an obsession. The people I meet each morning are helping me feel more connected to the Orlando community.

Four of the tents on the left in my sketch are occupied by artists. One artist, Angelo Vasquez, I had just recently sketched as he gave an interview at the Science Center for the Elegy for the Unseen: The Art of Extinct Species exhibit now on display at the Orlando Science Center through November 15, 2026. Admission is free but museum admission is $29 for adults. Angelo had some large black and white prints on display. He works in graphite doing large renderings. At the Science Center he had an immense rendering of a dinosaur in the group exhibit.

Several artists have a cardboard box with a hole cut in it called a Doodle Box. It was meant to look like a vending machine. I am not sure what a doodle box is or what it does, but I think I need to find out and do a sketch. One artist had a sign saying that if you beat him at the board game he was playing you could win a free print. That is pure marketing genius. I am not great at playing any board game so if I were to use the marketing game technique, I would be giving away far too much art for free.

I was set up on pine needles under large palm trees. White Ibis were curious about what I was doing, and they marched up to me to look at my sketch. Since the colorful surface of my sketch wasn’t food, they soon lost interest and strutted away. They are more predominant in my watercolor than the crowds crushed together on the sidewalks.

After my sketch was complete, I walked around to look in all the tent booths. My hope was to pick up some farmers produce for my fridge. There were trinkets galore and food tents around the large live oak tree, but I didn’t find any farmers produce. I was disappointed that I didn’t find any fruits or vegetables, but I could hike up the block to Publix if I wanted to.

I didn’t buy anything since I had my hopes set on some blueberries and strawberries. I recently had a conversation with Jennifer Gwynne Oliver who said that cash is king. All digital exchanges are being tracked by AI. In this digital age we are constantly being surveilled. I only had two one-dollar bills in my pocket. I need to start carrying more cash for just these occasions. I need to just accept the market for the eclectic mix that it is. Next time I go to sketch, I am getting a coconut milk in the coconut shell and sip it while I work.

Hernia Repair Waiting Room

Posted on by Thor

While hiking and sketching in Europe, I developed a bilateral hernia below my belly button at the ridge of the pelvic bone. Because I was traveling in Europe for 3 months my insurance had been canceled. When I got back to the states, my first order of business was to get my insurance renewed since I knew that I would need an operation. My primary care doctor with the renewed Ambetter Insurance sent me to a doctor whose consultation made me believe he was an inexperienced butcher. He looked like he was straight out of high school, and his explanation was blunt and less than reassuring.

My sister from Port Charlotte Florida had a hernia several years ago and she had an operation like the Ambetter Insurance doctor was describing. That operation failed and the hernia returned. Another doctor tried to fix the botched operation and his patchwork also failed. She described the results like having our intestines pressing through chicken wire crudely sewn into the abdomen.

My sister then found Dr. Jonathan Yunis in Sarasota, Florida. He performed an intricate operation that was so complex that he invited medical interns to witness the procedure. This operation was a success and has lasted for many years.

I decided I had to have Dr. Yunis perfume the operation on my abdomen. I sketched the waiting room, hoping others might enter who wanted the same operation. I was the only consultation on that morning. Drawings on the wall showed the abdomen and pelvis.

I had just had an operation to remove my prostate gland, which adds enzymes and citric acid to semen, maintaining its fluidity and supporting sperm viability. I had seen electrocardiograms of my pelvis before that operation, so I was very familiar with what that region looked like from the inside. Having my prostate removed left me feeling asexual. I feel a bit like a dog that has been neutered. Finding friendship has become more important that finding a sexual partner.

Dr. Yunis gave a thorough explanation of what he would be doing, and I felt sure this was the right way to go. He isn’t on Ambetter’s list of doctors, however. He doesn’t want to deal with having to answer to insurance companies. Regardless, I moved forward hoping that the insurance would cover some fraction of the cost. They never did. I filled out multiple forms which were all denied. The operation cost $11,000 out of pocket.

The operation was a success. Yunis used a DaVinci Robot to perform the operation under his control. I was shaved completely free of any hair on my chest and groin. Three small incisions were made in my abdomen. Two were for robotic hands and the third for a camera. I wanted to sketch the DaVinci Robot, but I was put under anesthesia almost immediately.

Though this was an outpatient procedure, I was told I could not drive after the operation. My sister pan and her husband Mike were there to drive me back to their place in Port Charlotte Florida. I was told I might be in a lot of pain for several days but honestly, I was fine. It was a rare chance to sit and relax on ac ouch and just watch TV. I did take some Aleve each day since the incisions could be felt, like sandpaper against my belly. There were no stitches. Instead, glue held the wounds closed. I took off the bandages several days later. The three scars made it look like I had been shot in the stomach 3 times. I healed quickly. Today the scars are almost invisible. Despite the cost, I am glad I used this doctor. My instincts told me it is better to get the job done right the first time by an experienced doctor. Now I am biking and hiking around downtown Orlando and I am sure the abdomen is getting stronger.