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In March of ’06 I traveled to Chicago for the National Art Education Convention. I arrived a couple of days early in order to visit the art centers and museums. At the Chicago Cultural Center there was an exhibit called “Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art.” The show featured conceptual works, by a group of artists, which included paintings, pop art, videos, mixed media, sculptures, found objects and installations.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Obviously you’ve noticed the LOL symbol and the bright pop colors in this painting. I figured it summed up the personality of this show. It was a
fun show.

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Almost five years ago, I went with my sister to a little comedy musical called “We’re Still Here, Me!” Le Chat Noir. The show revolved around a cast of characters portrayed by Ricky Graham who sang to music played by Jefferson Turner. All of the characters were residents from the Greater New Orleans Area. Each of them had a turn at commenting on Hurricane Katrina and the flood from the point of view from the different neighborhoods. We were in stitches. At the end of the show, Ricky Graham took the time to say goodbye to every single audience member.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

This piece was directly inspired by the production and the colors I saw that night. The red and black are from the interior of the theater. The pink and red come from the lighting used. Lastly, the fleur de lis was on the cover of the show’s program. This is only the second fleur de lis I’ve done among these paintings.

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Some of my paintings grow out of film experiences. This piece was inspired by the movie “The Chumscrubber.” The title comes from a video game in which the hero carries its head in its hand as a weapon in a post-apocalyptic world. But the video game is not the focus of the painting.

In the film there is a scene where Ralph Fiennes descends into a swimming pool fully clothed. The scene struck a chord with me. In general the characters of the film were coping with stress in their own strange ways. Glenn Close’s silent scream fascinated me too.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

And so I go back to the imagery of this piece. The base colors for the background come from ones used in the promotional imagery for the film: green and burnt orange. On top of those colors I painted dots to imply agitated swimming pool water.

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October 7, 2005 was the day I arrived back in the New Orleans area. The next day I drove around with a checklist of businesses and restaurants I frequented prior to the storm. Many places, that were not damaged, were up and running. With some of the places on list closed, I was forced to try
new places.

In creating this batch of paintings, I decided to stick to imagery that I encountered after the storm. King Buffet was a place I had never eaten prior to the storm. I like the fact that it had a nice selection of fresh fruit besides a vast assortment of other food choices. This image is an interpretation of one of the crystal chandeliers that is located in the recess of the ceiling. A blue light illuminates the area within the recess. The crystals capture a rainbow of colors across the chandelier.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

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Following Hurricane Katrina and the last five years of rebuilding, the
fleur de lis has become a visual symbol of pride for not only New Orleans, but the state of Louisiana. Businesses have gone out of their way to include it in their logo or put it in ads. It became a popular symbol used on everything imaginable.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

One banner I first noticed, at an art market, said “Louisiana Recover Rebuild Rebirth.” It had a yellow fleur de lis, white lettering and a blue background. But the color blue I picked for this painting came from the blue tarps that people had on their houses after the storm. Shortly after creating this painting, I learned that blue and yellow together was a very French combination. I was with my family at restaurant called Château du Lac. The interior had blue and yellow décor and table settings. Blue and yellow dominated the restaurant.

Some artists I know started pumping out fleur de lys in their artwork, one after the other. I was determined not to do that. It’s not something I want to be stuck doing over and over again. Whereas I do plan to make a few more, each one has specific reason for being. This is one of two in this batch of dot paintings. So here’s the first painting from the “o” series New Orleans.

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Another exhibit I saw at The Ogden Museum of Southern Art was a show of works by George Dunbar. Many of his pieces have geometric patterns involving gold leaf. However, I was surprised to see works that were more expressive than the controlled patterns. One piece I saw had large overlapping rock shapes.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

My process took a different direction this time. Sticking with my four square format, I chose four colors based on the exhibit. From there, I created an overlapping pattern of dots in each square that formed arcs. Lastly, I chose muted colors to paint the remaining portions of the squares. The result is my own tangent.