od

Two 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. 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.

oc

Some of my paintings grow out of film experiences. This piece began with watching 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.

Dot Update

Here are two more new paintings. I only have five more left to finish painting in this batch. Also, I’m making progress on the batch that will follow this one.

Two more of the small ones sold just before Mardi Gras weekend. The same buyer bought one of my 20” x 20” dot paintings as well. Hopefully that bodes well for the rest of
this year.

sa

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ta

acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

ob

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"

oa

The fleur de lis is nothing new or unusual in New Orleans, but after Hurricane Katrina residents adopted it as a symbol for the city. Businesses went out of their way to include it in their logo or put it in ads. It became a popular symbol used on everything imaginable.

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. I inquired about a blue tarp for mine, but I was advised that I did not need it and that adding it would probably create more damage. Fortunately for me I had very minor damage.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

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.

A Dot Art Update

It’s already a month and a half into the new year. I have yet
to finish the last ten of the current dot paintings. The designs for these paintings are much more difficult for me to complete. Several of them have dark background colors – and those
don’t appeal to people as much. I’m not totally sure how I
want to resolve them either. My habit is to work on the hardest ones last.

In the meantime I did sell a few more of the 5” x 5” s. But the biggest news is that I sold one of my 20” x 20” s. I guess I’ll have to complete the three from that group. Anyway, I’ll talk about the “o” Series New Orleans for now.

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The last painting in this group has to do with an annual festival that takes place in old Memphis during the month of September. It is known as the Cooper-Young Festival. Along both sides of two intersecting narrow roads, artists and charitable organizations set up their tents and tables. When I went that Saturday, it was crowded. Anyway, the 2005 festival poster lead me to this stained glass sun design. The painting didn’t go according to plan, but it captured the event for me.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

yo

On my first day in Memphis, August 28, 2005, I visited the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. That happened to be the last day of a show called, “Patrick Kelly: A Retrospective.” His clothes, made in the 80s, were known for their use of decorative buttons. Kelly was an African American who was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. In 1979, he moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design. In 1985 he showed his first collection. He died in 1990 of complications from AIDS at the age of thirty-five. The bright colors of the buttons I saw in the show lead to make this painting.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

xo

Perkin’s Restaurant and Barkery is a chain of restaurants I discovered while I was in Memphis. I ate breakfast at one of the locations most mornings. You pay as you leave the restaurant. While standing in line for the register, there is a display of bakery items in a display case. This painting is representative of a display of muffins.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

wo

On my last night in Memphis I went with a friend, and a couple of her friends, to a restaurant called Yia Yia’s Euro Bistro. It was one place I had not tried yet. The colors in this painting are from the colors of the inside décor – including mosaic tile work. We had a fun evening.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

vo

One of the first days I was in Memphis I visited the The Pink Palace Mansion, which is the headquarters for The Pink Palace Family of Museums. Before leaving I purchased a book on the mansion. When I started painting these paintings I seized upon a motif from a photo in the book. It was part of a decorative plasterwork located in one of the rooms of the house. That is the basis for the image you see in this painting. I went with pink for the color of the motif since came from the Pink House Mansion.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

uo

My second Nashville stop was the Tennessee State Museum where I saw the “Rau Collection: Six Centuries with the European Masters.” The show begins with the early Renaissance (1425) and goes through the mid-20th century (1955). Each room, of the exhibition, has a different color to denote specific artistic schools. I used the room colors for each stripe and background of my painting. Beginning with the “to” and continuing with this painting, I used a color and its tints. It an effect I now use in my dot art.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"