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In October of 2006 I pulled an all-night-marathon in order to meet a drop off deadline for The Poydras Home Art Show and Sale. The three 20” x 20”’s were a little different from the previous large dot paintings. Adding dots to them took a while. After the show I received some enthusiastic feedback from people that had seen the show.




acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

So, in making this piece I decided to combine colors and patterns from the three paintings. Since I was working smaller, I found the process a little more difficult. Also, I applied the dots on the same day lightning hit the Westwego Art Center. This piece turned out well too. It did not take long for this one to sell.

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In the summer of 2006, Tulane Summer Lyric Theater included the musical “Pippin.” The first song included people dressed in black wearing white gloves under a black light. They moved the gloves around as they sang. Thus was the inspiration for this piece.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Dark backgrounds are hard to paint on - as I reminded myself in creating this painting. Hand shapes are difficult as well. Anyway, it took some patience on my part to make them the way I wanted them. I was over at the Westwego Art Center painting this one when lightning hit the building. The radio went off and lights were at half illumination. That’s the tale of the purple gloves.

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What better theme for me to begin with than “Carnival.” New Orleans is one of several cities, from around the globe, which has this particular celebration. From October 14, 2006 - January 6, 2007, the New Orleans Museum of Art featured an exhibit called, what else but, “¡Carnival!” The exhibit included carnival costumes, photos and explanations from various cultures both past and present.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

For my painting, I picked some colors from costumes in the show and decided to create a circle of cone hats with white masks. The masks proved a bit tricky on the edges of the composition. I chose not make the color alternation consistent. Then, I finished the piece with dots a bit darker than the background colors. This first piece got me excited about what I was doing.

Change

This is a recent piece I painted for a small group show at the Louisiana State Archives. The show's title was "Products of Higher Education." Tomorrow I have to go to Baton Rouge to pick up the art.

For this show I aimed at a masculine look for my pieces. In doing so I worked with some colors I don't use as often - which creating these works a challenge.


watercolor on paper, 11.75" x 14.625"

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Riccobono's Peppermill Restaurant is a local restaurant
that I frequented before Hurricane Katrina. Upon my
return to the New Orleans area, I drove around with my list places. I marked off what was open. When I rode by the Peppermill, I noticed kitchen equipment outside in front. After some time the restaurant re-opened. The inside had been redone. Besides some dark greens and reds and browns, there were some murals on the walls across from the front entrance. They depicted columns and archways with Italian cypress along a hillside.




acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The murals and décor inspired this painting. The background is made up of colors from the curtains, chairs and walls. I then painted Italian cypress with a light blue background I saw in the mural. Originally I had an archway framing everything. However, it became problematic. So, I eliminated it. This is the last piece in this batch.

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Back in April I wrote about a friend who visited me and brought me a metal lizard with brightly colored dots on it. Well, the day she came, she wore a blouse that was a pastel derivation of red-orange – I guess that’s how I’d best describe the color. In the course of correspondence she had talked about a blanket she made her grandson. It had bubbles and rubber ducks on it.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

Thus you have the visual ingredients for this painting: the background color, bubbles and ducks. I figured combining these elements would be a fun way to remember her visit. Working on the composition took some thought. This was a fun piece to paint.

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As I stated in my last post I explored Blogger’s Top Ten List when I first started using Blogger. I quickly found a blog called Google Video of the Day (later GoogleTube Video of the Day). Each day at least one new video was posted. Readers were also encouraged to submit videos they found and site creator Michael Martine would credit videos suggested. Then in March of 2006 I was asked to participate as a team blogger on the site. This lasted until May when Michael decided to return to a solo act.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

This painting concerns the feel of the site during that period. I used the colors and a few of the Internet smiley graphics that appeared at the time. The site has been re-designed since that time. Unlike my other dot paintings this one is a lot more specific in appearance. But then again, someone out there might make an individual interpretation I don’t expect. It’s happened before.

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When I first started blogging back in October of 2005, I looked at a number of blogs including the ones on the Blogger’s Top Ten List. It was at that time I first encountered Google Video and became excited about the videos that were uploaded. Soon I was creating blogs to highlight videos I found. For these blogs I used a design called “Moto” which came in three versions: “Son of Moto,” “Mr. Moto” and “Ms. Moto” – green, gray and pink respectively


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

This painting has to do with my enthusiasm for video online when I started blogging. While working with my own design, I combined the colors from the “Moto” designs. In making this painting I am highlighting a shift that occurred in my online experiences.

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One of the last days I spent in Chicago, I made a day trip to the Ukrainian Village. One of the places I visited was the Ukrainian National Museum. A woman took me on a tour of the museum and explained some of the history of the Ukrainians who settled in Chicago. At the conclusion of the tour, I bought some wooden Easter eggs that were decorated with roosters.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The stylized brush strokes used on the eggs provoked me to do an interpretation using dots. I simplified the plumage on my rooster image and came up with my own background color. This one ended up being one of my favorites of this group of dot paintings.

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One place I spent a lot of time as young person was the New Orleans Country Club. My siblings and I enjoyed swimming there in the summer and playing tag with the other kids. We knew the place well. Some years ago there were some renovations that involved changing the hallways from pastel green to a red-orange. The damage from Katrina involved repainting. The interior halls are again green pastel and the furnishings are coordinated to go with them. I wish this color wasn’t so commonly used, however. Yes, I miss the red-orange.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

For this painting I used the greens I saw, but I didn’t worry about picking up any specific design. This is kind of a sequel to the red and yellow rug piece, which I consider of breakthrough work. There are certain pieces that surprise in good way.

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In July of 2006, I attended an art guild banquet at Smilie’s Restaurant. After the meal and the officer installation, names were pulled for the vases with flowers. The bouquets of flowers were tied together with ribbons. I won one of the vases.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

The ribbons became a souvenir of that night. The ribbons inspired me to make this painting. I took the colors of the striped ribbon and created my own striped pattern.

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After playing cards, I met my sister, my two aunts and my uncle for dinner at Dick and Jenny’s. We went early since the place doesn’t take reservations. The restaurant is located at 4501 Tchoupitoulas (chop-i-two-lass) near Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. Dick and Jenny Benz based their restaurant on ones they like from this area and abroad. The building is a mid-nineteenth century barge-board-cottage that was formerly a grocery store and later on a poboy shop. The walls inside are covered with dinner plates bearing the names of the founding customers of the restaurant.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

As you might have guessed from my painting, the walls are orange. As for the design, it is a decorated dinner plate made of dots. This is not based any specific plate, but a general symbol for all the plates.

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Several times during 2006 a cousin of mine had several trips to the hospital. During one of her stays, I happened to visit when my mother’s two sisters were visiting. My cousin asked that I join them in a game of “Crazy Eights.” It’s been a while since I played. So, had to re-learn the game. It’s not often I’ve had a chance to play cards lately.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

For this painting I decided to use the four suits that appear on a set of cards: clubs, diamond, hearts and spaces. I also managed to squeeze some crazy eights in there. For this painting I kept to mostly red and black. The trick was trying to make them contrast one another without getting too dark.

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My family enjoys trying out new restaurants in the New Orleans area. For my birthday in 2006, we went to Fulton on 7, which is located in the Wyndham Riverfront New Orleans Hotel. The place had recently undergone a renovation. Anyway we enjoyed dining there.


acrylic on canvas, 5" x 5"

When I walked around a bit, I noticed variances in grays in the lobby, restaurant and restroom. The artworks in the restaurant served as accents of color. In the painting I had several nuances of gray. Then for my image I put a still life in front of a window. I used bright colors to depict the fruit. Again, I was after the feel of the place.