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Sometimes a certain icon will pop up in my daily life. If it repeats several times, there’s a good chance it will show up in my artwork. My story begins with rabbit images featured in an art show at Cheekwood Art & Gardens in Nashville. Artist Joseph Peragine chose a white rabbit as he explores the theme of “vulnerability” following 9/11. Also in the show included images of Sherman tanks. Apparently, the design did not do well in tank-to-tank combat.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

When I arrived back to Memphis, I thumbed through a book I bought at Cheekwood. In it I stumbled across a photo of a sculpture located on the grounds. Sophie Ryder built her sculpture, Crawling Lady Hare, in 1997, when she was an artist-in-residence. It was constructed out of tightly bundled galvanized wire supported by a steel armature.

The following day I met an art professor, my family put me in touch with, over at Rhodes College’s Clough-Hanson Gallery. There was an exhibit of T. L. Solien’s work. Several of his pieces included cartoon-like rabbits. I don’t remember if this one is in the show, but it was similar to the ones included in the brochure I picked up. His surreal images depict events in his life.

Some weeks later when I was back in New Orleans I noticed a newspaper story about a giant pink bunny sculpture erected on an Italian mountainside. A Viennese group of artists, calling themselves Gelitin (Gelatin until 2005) stated that the giant stuffed toy was “knitted by grannies of pink wool.” The idea was to give people the feeling that the rabbit was the giant, Gulliver. People who have visited the sculphttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifture have been invited by Gelitin to upload photos to the website photo album.

Well having encountered these four instances of rabbits, I decided it was a good symbol for me to represent my evacuation to Memphis. Also, the day I went to Cheekwood, I was trying to keep my mind off the fact that Rita was delaying return home. The excursion was an additional escape, if you will. For this painting I decided to paint a simplified white rabbit with a green background. The white rabbit was one I first saw At Cheekwood. The green background has to do with the Cheekwood gardens.

While in Memphis I saw a film entitled “Forty Shades of Blue.” It was filmed in Memphis and the director was on hand to take questions after the movie. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the movie enough to stay. In fact I hated the movie. In the plot, there was a love triangle with people that just did not interest me. Overall I found the film irritating and depressing.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

That being said, some of the background shots included flickering blue lights. I previously have discussed bokeh/circles of confusion. Well that part interested me. My order of canvases, beyond the first eight, did not arrive until the day before I left Memphis to go back home to Metairie.

Back in the New Orleans area I saw many roofs of houses covered with blue tarps. Well, that’s the blue I used to create a background color. My composition had a number of variations of that same blue color. This is the first instance where I consciously mixed something from Memphis and something from my return to the New Orleans area as I continued working on these dot paintings. As for the title, it is pure coincidence that "no" (New Orleans) was the title for this content. The title for each of my dot paintings, in this series, is assigned according to its date of completion.

mo

When I made my day trip to Nashville, I first stoped at The Frist Center for the Visual Arts. Inside this large modern building was a group show entitled The Fragile Species: the New Art Nashville. The shows theme was “vulnerability of the body and the transitory nature of life.”


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"


One piece, in the show, caught my eye; it was called Especially Considering Exposure by artist, Barbara Yontz. When I made my dot painting I imitated hanging threads with my dots. My colors choices were influenced by the show as a whole. Many of the works had a medical feel to them. Not every show I see moves me to make art, but this one did.

lo

lo” was inspired by Paulette’s, a French restaurant, in an Midtown Memphis. It is in walking distance of a movie theater and a performance theater. The interior tile work inspired my color choice. When I asked my server about the speedy service at the restaurant, she told me that the staff is aware that diners are anxious to get to a movie or play. I enjoyed the dishes I ordered both times I dined there.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ko

At the University of Memphis Art Museum, I attended the opening of an exhibit called “The Perfect Show.” All the pieces were by artists who worked in very detailed compulsive manner of perfectionism. There’s one piece that had black enamel dots that was the specific trigger for this one.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

An interesting point about the show was that it was originally supposed to show the at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center in the summer of 2005. However, the CAC did not have enough money to follow through. Anyway, I’m glad I had an opportunity to see it. I went to a program given by the curators of the show who talked about their experiences in pulling the show together.

In painting the dots on this piece, I mixed paint with acrylic polymer gloss; so these dots are translucent. When I finished I thought more about the green mold that plagued folks who had water in their house. I’m glad I did not have to contend with that issue.

mo

“mo” is another painting based on my day trip to Nashville. My first stop was at The Frist Center for the Visual Arts. The building is large, spacious and modern. There I viewed a group show entitled The Fragile Species: the New Art Nashville. In the show catalog, Director Susuan H. Edwards describes the works in this one sentence:

The Fragile Species: the New Art Nashville brings together the work of twenty-one artists who in various ways address the vulnerability of the body and the transitory nature of life.

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

My painting is a reaction to one piece, in the show, that I really liked. It is called Especially Considering Exposure and it is by artist, Barbara Yontz. Specifically I imitated hanging threads with my dots. My colors choices were a result of seeing the show as a whole. Many of the works had a medical feel to them.

Although the exhibit had its theme, my painting concerns my trip to The Frist, one of handful of stops in Nashville. Visiting Nashville was propelled by the fact Hurricane Rita forced closure of roads into New Orleans at a time when I was hoping to return home. It’s not every art exhibit that moves me to create art. However, this one did.

On a side note, this was the same week when I managed to contact my neighbor who was able to tell me my house fine except for some minor roof damage. This was in mid September of 2005.

lo

lo” was inspired by Paulette’s, a French restaurant, in an old section of Memphis. The restaurant is in walking distance of a movie theater and a performance theater. The interior tile work helped me choose my colors. Anyway I was surprised how quickly my order was served for each course. When I asked about that, my server told me that they know people are anxious to get to a movie or play. I enjoyed the dishes I ordered both times I dined there.



acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ko

As for this piece, it was based on an art show I saw while in Memphis. The show opened at the University of Memphis Art Museum. It was called “The Perfect Show.” All the pieces were by artists who worked in very detailed compulsive manner of perfectionism. There’s one piece that had black enamel dots that was the specific trigger for this one.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The other interesting point is that this show was originally supposed to show the at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center in the summer of 2005. However, the CAC did not have enough money to follow through. Anyway, I’m glad I had an opportunity to see it. I went to a program given by the curators of the show who talked about their experiences in pulling the show together.

In painting the dots on this piece, I mixed paint with acrylic polymer gloss; so these dots are translucent. When I finished I thought more about the green mold that plagued folks who had water in their house. I’m glad I did not have to contend with that issue.

Layered Meanings

Although this group of paintings is based on places and experiences in Memphis, I only completed eight of them while I was still there. Unfortunately the rest of the canvases I ordered did not arrive in Memphis until the day before I left. The rest of the works were created back home in Metairie (New Orleans area).

During the interim, I sketched thumbnails on Post-It notes. As I worked on this group of paintings, my process slowly evolved. Along the way my method did change gradually. I didn’t finish the series until August 9, 2006. The works are ordered according to when they were finished, not in the order of a places visited and/or experiences occurred.

Event though I had my main ideas worked out, I sometimes found myself including places and experiences from New Orleans as well. Just because I start in one direction doesn’t mean I’m only devoted to that one direction. Sometimes the meanings become layered.