Bear Hugs

Posted on by Thor

October 17, 2026 was the Come Out with Pride Parade in Orlando Florida. Stella P. Alberaéz Tascón had the thought to have the 14-foot Trump Puppet in an Orange Jump Suit in Lake Eola Park during the parade. We walked the route around the park and found that there were many spots where a 14-foot-tall puppet would have difficulty navigating.

She switched gears and decided to finish a puppet she had started which was a life sized bears. She already had the head made along   gloves and boots. There were only a few days left before the parade and she would have to sew a shirt, pants and the inner suit for the character.

She worked all night to complete some of the tasks the tasks needed. On the day of that parade she was still sewing the pants and shirt. She was working right until the moment the parade started. It was an incredible superhuman push to get the Pride Bear completed.

I was assigned to complete the HUGS and FREE LOVE sign. I used a painting pole to hold up a large heart. Stella managed to cover the pole and added fringe all around the heart. The pole could be expanded to elevate the sign high above the crowd. When we made our way into the park security had a long discussion as to whether they should allow the sign in. Maybe they thought the pole could be used as a weapon. Ultimately the security officer waved us in.

Stella added a rainbow bow tie on the bear and had pompoms and strings of tiny battery powered lights. I carried a hip pack which held two Smart bottles of water and I hooked up a tube system which would allow Stella to drink without taking her bear head off. I was pleased that my water supply system worked.

Stella was an absolute star during the parade. We walked down the block towards Lake Eola and found a location at the end of the street with no security fencing. The Pride Bear danced to the music on every float. When parade dancers saw the bear they had to come over for a hug. Huggy the Pride Bear must have given out hundreds of hugs.

Stella could not see straight ahead of her because of the bear muzzle. I had to shout out Bear Hug straight ahead any time someone approached for a hug. Stella had an adorable way of shuffling her feet in excitement and opening and closing her paws which invited people to come in for the hug. Everyone adored her. Several people cried while hugging the bear. Several said that Huggy gave the best hugs ever.

After the parade we made our way to the dance floor where Huggy got even more hugs. Huggy danced for hours right until it was time for the fireworks over Lake Eola. Even as the fireworks went off Huggy stayed in character looking on in amazement and joy.

I felt so much joy helping make the moment happen. I brought my art bag but there was never a moment where I could sketch. Both hands were needed to keep the sign vertical and clear of hitting anyone. When I danced I was essentially doing a tango with the sign pole. I felt like Fed Astaire dancing with the pole, but I probably looked more like Pewee Herman.

On young man said, “You remind me of my father.” I responded, Does your father attend Pride?” He said, “No, my father hates me.” Huggy gave the fellow a long hug.  A dance soared high above the dancing crowd on top of flowing light fabric. I am not sure how the device worked but it looked like pure magic. Blue Star was on stage as a DJ and her dance troupe was performing both on stage and close to the crowd.

Huggy gave away more hugs than we ever imagined he would. Stella had her website URL as a bar cove on the bear’s butt and hopefully some people scanned her butt. Several guys had too much to drink and leaned in with all their weight when hugging. Thankfully I never had to intervene. Huggy never spoke but communicated with pantomime. The whole night was magical.

DTO Live at City Arts Factory

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On April 7, 2026 I went to City Arts Factory to sketch. Johanna Lung who was performing on the little stage set up in the ground floor café. Coffee, wine and beer can be found at the bar. I was staying at a Thornton Park Air B&B but would have to find a new one for the following week. I wanted to be settled for when Fringe was set up in May so I planned to find an extended stay.

Johanna was performing as part of DTO Live which was set up by the City to offer performing artists opportunities to play while being paid by the city. Joanna Lung is a saxophonist based in Central Florida who plays jazz, pop, and more. She graduated from the UCF School of Performing Arts in 2024, and was winner of the 2023 UCF Concerto Competition, as well as runner-up for the 2023 UCF Performance Excellence Award. She plays throughout Central Florida both as a solo act and with her jazz trio, The Jazz Witnesses.

I always feel a little sad when performers seem to be ignored by an audience that is more focused on their laptops than the music. Of course I was looking at my sketchbook so I was just as guilty. I tend to hyper focus while sketching and the very act of placing lines and washes on paper helps me enjoy the music even more. Jazz in particular inspires me to let the lines dance on the page.

When I completed the sketch, I wandered upstairs to view al the art on display. There is always a large group show going on upstairs. I am guaranteed to see a variety of styles and levels of talent. I wish that large space cold be used to hang a more comprehensive solo show. I like seeing images in sequence all with a similar theme and focus. The great news is that hanging fees have been waved since Orlando Health has funded the expense.

Anything but ICE Job Fair

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On May 30, I went to the ICE Offices (9495 Delegates Drive Orlando Florida) to sketch the Anything but ICE Job Fair. I did a drive by and found a few people gathered outside the heavily fortified warehouse facility. Finding parking was a challenge but I found what looked like legal parking on a side street nearby. I had a thought that officers would most certainly be scouting around the area looking for any infraction to ticket protestors.

A friend had informed me of these protests. The goal of the Job Fair was to convince any ICE officers within ear shot to stop working for an administration that believes it is above the law and for any ice staff to “Leave by example.”

Orlando citizens who are detained are taken to this facility and then transferred to other facilities. There is a time limit on how long a person can be held without legal representation at the Orlando Sub-Field Office. According to a report, between July 17, 2025, and Jan. 18, 2026, the facility confined 79 detainees in the small metal enclosures. They were held for periods of time ranging from several minutes to just shy of two hours. It was “a practice unlike any U.S. Department of Health and Human Services team has observed in ICE facilities.” Detainees in immigrant detention facilities in Orlando are living in extremely overcrowded cells, using bathrooms overflowing with waste, and sleeping chained on the floor, according to a whistleblower report first reported by the Miami Herald.

In the parking lot of the ICE facility behind the there was a blue SUV with ICE emblazoned on it’s side.  A STOP sign stood before the loading bay door.

Protestors used megaphones to shout out job listings that might appeal to the ICE staff inside. One woman kept shouting that mom would not be pleased. There were also kind offers for food and drink should any staff want to come outside to talk. No officer ever appeared. The folks in the loading bay could certainly hear the job listings being offered. Some jobs offered a little less pay but it would be a small compensation to work for a company that doesn’t present endless guilt.

These protests are ongoing and I will likely return to see if reason can be presented to people who sanction hate and profiling in a well-funded organization that is being treated like the personal militia of a dictator. The end goal isn’t to make America great, but to stay in office with force if necessary.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offered up to $50,000 in signing bonuses split over three years, plus up to $60,000 in student loan repayment and forgiveness, on top of a base salary ranging from $49,739 to $89,528 a year DHS placed an asterisk on the $50,000 figure in its own recruitment materials without clearly explaining the terms. Only retired employees returning to the job are eligible for the full $50,000 bonus, and that it comes in $10,000 installments rather than a lump sum.

More than 20,600 people were arrested by ICE in Florida from Jan. 20 to Oct 15, 2025, with 24% having no criminal record. Government data was provided by ICE in response to a Freedom of Information Act request to the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by WUSF Public Media, an NPR station in Tampa Florida.

“Uncle Lou”, a longtime Orlando music venue owner and community figure behind Uncle Lou’s Entertainment Hall was arrested and detained in May 2026. Uncle Lou’s Entertainment Hall was a venue that supported and helped launch the music careers of many local musicians. The news shocked Orlando’s music and arts community, which rallied around him during his detention. A Go Fund me raised over $60,000 to help Lou in his move to Jamaca.

Uncle Lou was charged with serving alcohol to a minor agent. He was booked into Orange County jail under an ICE detainer and held for nearly 10 days before being transferred to the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, north of Orlando. The case was ultimately a misdemeanor, but the deportation was the result of the ICE hold, a denied bond, and his own decision to self-deport to Jamaica. The popular music venue now sits silent.

 

 

Funding a Pulse Memorial

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I went to the Orlando City Hall to witness the Orlando City Council Meeting which would fund the building of a Pulse memorial at the former site of the Pulse Nightclub at 1912 South Orange Avenue Orlando Florida. On June 12, 2016, a gunman entered the club and murdered 49 people and injured 58 others who were out for the night to celebrate and dance.

After the Pulse massacre, the club owner, Barbara Poma founded the onePulse Foundation with the intention of building a memorial and museum dedicated the memory of the 49 lives lost.  According to tax filings, the onePulse Foundation raised more than $20 million during its operation, with over $11 million of that spent toward building a memorial and museum project. The international design competition resulted some incredible designs which would require sizable funding to make a reality.

The onePULSE Foundation dissolved in November 2023 after years of fundraising, stalled projects, and mounting challenges, according to its board of trustees. Reasons for the foundation dissolving included, The COVID‑19 pandemic, which severely limited fundraising and disrupted operations, Rising costs, as the original vision which included a museum, caused increasing financial demands. Reports cited leadership changes and resignations in the organization. Survivors and community members called for transparency and accountability, including third‑party audits, over how public and private funds were spent. I know that people who helped consult for the project were ridiculed for accepting a pay check for trying to make the memorial and museum a reality.

By the end of 2023, the foundation had zero assets and owed over $500,000 in liabilities, including a mortgage and unpaid bills. The City of Orlando has since taken over memorial planning. Patty Sheehan at this City Council meeting implied that the dissolution of the OnePulse Foundation might not be a criminal act, but it should have been.

The City Council meeting to approve of the city budgeting $12.6 million dollars towards completing the Memorial was incredibly crowded. I have sketched a City Council meeting in the past and they are not usually so crowded. I thought that there might be some push back from some members of the community on spending so much money on the memorial. Funding came from a combination of city budget allocations, state and county grants, and philanthropic contributions. The announcement that the funds were approved was very anti-climactic and the council quickly moved on to other business.

Construction on the Orlando Pulse Memorial is scheduled to begin on November 25, 2026. The project will be led by Winter Park’s Gomez Construction and Borrelli + Partners. Construction of the memorial should be complete by the end of 2027.

Lake Eola Farmers Market Portable Band-shell

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I had already done 2 sketches of the Lake Eola Farmer’s Market but it still was not time to check into my Air B&B in Thornton Park. I had no choice but to do another sketch. I heard a musician, and walked towards the sound of music. This portable stage had been set up by the City of Orlando on the Lake Eola south east lawn. A musician was performing with no audience. By the time I got the sketchbook out and had blocked in the stage, the musician left. I shifted my focus to the family eating at the picnic table in the foreground. A mom sat down on the grass with her stroller.

Doing 3 sketches to document a single day in the life of the Lake Eola Farmers Market seemed obsessive,  but it was nice to settle in for a day and just keep sketching. This was a perfect way to spend my Easter Sunday. In the distance the Greek church bells chimed, which helped slow my pulse.

Check in at the Air B&B was at about 3 PM. The place was on the third floor, and it felt luxurious after a day of camping out on the grass. The balcony looked back at Lake Eola though trees blocked any clear view and the view the opposite way was towards the Falcon Bar and Gallery. I would stay at an Air B&B for about a week at a time and then would need to find another place. I wanted to stay at the place near the Falcon a second week but unfortunately, it was booked up. I had to move on.

I grew accustomed to living near Lake Eola and my search of a home or rental was always centered around the lake access. I found a beautiful old rental home two blocks north of Lake Eola and since moving there I have started a series of 49 paintings of views around the lake. I was doing sunrise paintings by getting up at 7 AM, but now that I was approaching the west side of the lake, I found that I would be staring straight into the sun if I were to get up and paint each morning, I did one nocturne which was a fun challenge and will I likely start doing sunset paintings with the sunset at my back. The goal is to hang all these paintings together so a viewer will feel like they are walking around the lake.

Easter Sinday at Lake Eola

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I mistyped Sunday twice, so I decided each week needs a Sinday. After finishing my first sketch at Lake Eola, I realized it was too early to check in at the next Thornton Park Air B&B I was going to stay in. I was homeless for the day and decided to get a bite from a food truck and then do a second sketch.

This sketch shows all the food vendors and people relaxing in the grass. This location was just a few yards from where I did the previous sketch. I wasn’t trying to find the perfect view; I just needed to keep my hands busy while I watched the world go by.

While doing this sketch, I noticed a guy and girl sitting just past sketch right. She was petite and he was super muscular and fit. He lay on his back and then she did a handstand on his up stretched arms. They did several more positions that defied gravity. I really should have tried to sketch them, but I was just slack jawed and in awe watching them. There is a yoga class that happens on the Lake Eola lawn each week and these two must have been from that yoga group.

A large family was having a picnic on a blanket in front of me. They were also moving quite often but they were an easier bet to sketch. One girl was wearing Easter Bunny ears. That was the only visual hint that it was Easter Sunday.

I then started to notice the many beautiful people who were relaxing on the lawn all around me. This is actually a perfect way for any artist to spend their Sunday, by sketching as life rushes by. When this sketch was done there was still several hours to go before I could check in to the Thornton Park Air B&B.

I heard music in the distance, so I walked towards the music to do another sketch. I usually limit myself to one sketch to document any particular event but on this day, I had no studio to return to and I just kept documenting Lake Eola Park. It would be so nice to live near Lake Eola and I decided to make that a goal as I searched for an Apartment to rent or a home to buy. Home prices near Lake Eola are insane so I would likely instead find a rental to start.

Easter at Lake Eola

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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.

History Center: Tales of the RMS Titanic

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I went to a Lunch and Learn at the Orange County Regional History Center. The them of the presentation was the Titanic. Some folks seated in front of me were sharing conspiracy theories about the Pandemic. They didn’t die so the pandemic to them was a nothing-burger.

The Titanic sailed into infamy when it struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912. It has been 114 years since the sinking and we are still talking about it. Author Emily Coughton decided to find out what happened to the survivors after the media frenzy died down. Emily also found connections to Central Florida among the survivors.

At 20 minutes to midnight on April 14, a lookout reported an iceberg straight ahead. The order was issued for hard to starboard. At 11:40pm the ship hits the iceberg. At 11:46pm the ships engines are put to stop. Water rushed into hold 1. At12:12am the first life boats were swung out and passengers are told to put life jackets on. Many believe the request is a hoax since the Titanic was believed to be unsinkable. At 12:40am the first lifeboat was launched on the starboard side forward.

1500 passengers of the Titanic died from the freezing waters that night. About 491 passengers survived.

Gerturde Mabelle Thorne was a first class passenger who survived. She was born with the last name of McMinn in San Francisco in 1875. In 1899 Gertrude married Harry Thorne. When she boarded the Titanic, she was the mistress of George Rosenshine. To hide the affair they boarded under the assumed names of George and Gertrude Thorne. George perished in the tragedy. Gertrude escaped in the last life boat. She sent a message from the Carpathia after being rescued, “Am safe – pray God George was rescued by another boat with the rest of the men.”

In 1913 Mabelle returned to the site of the sinking with two other widows. They threw Baskets of flowers into the water. A Chaplin conducted a short service.

In 1913, Gertrude married Richard Yanke in Stanford Connecticut. In the 1920 census they were listed as living together with a maid in Manhattan. Richard and Gertrude traveled extensively. Later in life they settled in Paris. Mabelle died in 1947 in Nice France. She would have lived 72 years having survived the sinking of the Titanic and WWII in German occupied France.

Grazie Modern Italian

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I had gone to Audubon Park to sketch Night Owl First Thurday. Exactly what the event was supposed to be, I am not sure, but I assumed there might be live music. Walking around I didn’t find anything going on worth sketching. The Night Owl event must have been canceled. Then again, it was still light, so maybe the night owls come out much later at night.

As an older single guy, I need to get used to dining out alone. I walked past Gazie Modern Italian (3101 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL ) and decided to stop and eat dinner on the outdoor patio. It was threatening to rain, so the cover was appreciated as I blocked out a sketch. I ordered a Pasta Alfredo. By the time the dish came out I was close to finishing the sketch but I kept adding watercolor washes.

An older lady sat alone and nursed her cup of wine. I empathized with her. Other tables filled up with adults and teens. An after-school program must have just ended, and the parents were taking their daughters out for a bite to eat.

I did this sketch before I started my series of sketches of Orlando’s best plant-based restaurants. The pasta I ate at Gazie would have eggs in it, and the creamy Alfredo sauce, although delicious, had dairy which I am trying to avoid now. The outdoor dining experience wasn’t ideal since traffic roared by at a loud and fast pace. A large table was set up for a large party. Unfortunately, that party didn’t arrive while I was sketching. Sometimes I start a sketch hoping for something dynamic to happen.

The pasta was decent, but my roommate reminded me that I could have had just as good a meal with store bought pasta and sauce for a fraction of the cost. Dining out isn’t always about the food, it is also about the sketching opportunities. I don’t know if I would return to Grazi for a meal. I am more tempted by the East End Market dining options one block away. Looking at the web site, the pizza options look tasty at Grazi but pizza falls outside the limits of my plant based diet plans.

April Fools Day Story Club

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On April 1, 2026 I went to the City Arts Factory, Rogers Building (39 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando Florida) to sketch Orlando Story Club. The theme for the evening was Gotcha! Orlando Story Club is a unique gem of an event where people put their names in a hat and then the names are drawn so people can get up and tell a personal story. It is framed as a competition, but the real joy comes from so many unique, heartfelt, and honest stories. 10 names were drawn at random, and the names went up on the white board. The first story tellers for this night were Julia, JJ, Greg, Jack and Taylor. Story tellers then had 5 minutes to share their story. For the competition aspect, three random people were picked in the audience to vote between 1 and 10 for their favorite stories.

Bobby Wesley and Danielle Ziss were the hosts for the evening. They keep the evening moving with humorous takes and fast transitions between storytellers. If a storyteller ran long, Bobby politely rang a bell to remind the storyteller to wrap it up. Maybe it wasn’t a bell it might have been one of those slider whistles. Anyway, he didn’t need to use it very often.

I love these evenings. Hearing from so many different people helps me feel that I am part of a thriving community in Orlando. Another Urban Sketchers Orlando, artist, Joy Choi, or, poorly_drawn_plans, frequents the Story Club as a magnificent storyteller. She also does sketches of all the storyteller’s lined up across her sketch page.  I had never considered doing that, so I admire her approach. Her story on this evening also ranked way up on the score card. Joy gives her sketches away, which is quite unique in our consumer society.

I try and get to as many Story Club evenings as I can. It is a good chance to catch up on what is being exhibited in City Arts Factory and to listen to some truly inspiring stories.