Dirty Linen Night

Posted on July 28, 2016July 28, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Lulu White has been selected to be in the gallery at 1901 Royal Street for Dirty Linen Night.

Dirty Linen Night is a “… less fashion-conscious alternative to the city’s biggest art party, White Linen Night, which takes place a week earlier in the warehouse arts district.” (NOLA.com)

I am super excited to be in the gallery on Dirty Linen Night. Last year, 10,000 people attended.

I have an idea to paint this prostitute of Storyville leaning against the window frame, inside a reclaimed window frame. I am using a window screen, because the wood is lighter.

This is the beginning.

This is two steps backwards. I painted areas of black, gold and yellow ochre on the background. I wanted depth and a little intrigue, but not distraction. I added puddles of rubbing alcohol to disperse the paint and lend mystery.

I used this technique on Shotgun Angel for the starry sky. Because this painting is on birch plywood, it ran onto the woman, especially her face. When I wiped the alcohol off of her face, it pulled all of the paint off, down to the original black gesso. (Sorry, no photo)I am repairing and repainting. The repair is a layer of white gesso. Then light sanding to make it smooth.

Wood is a more difficult substrate to paint on. The paint sits on top of the wood, so I can’t be wild with the strokes.

Speaking of Dirty Linen, there is this…

Walt Handelsman‘s cartoon.

People often tell me that I sound so happy. This will balance that a little. David Duke is running for Senate from Louisiana. Lord help us.

Here in New Orleans, it is the last days of summer. Teachers in the parish where my daughter and sweet darlin’ teach go back to work on Wednesday.

Hate to see summer end.

Already reminiscent,

Gator Girl

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Lulu White, Storyville Madame

Posted on June 30, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

I had an idea to paint mug shots of Storyville prostitutes. I painted Lulu White and enjoyed painting her. She was arrested many times for all manner of things to do with her brothel. She was the madame of Mahogany Hall.

Let me backtrack with the assumption you might not be up on New Orleans history. I am not patient with a lot of details, but I will give it a try.

Storyville was a part of New Orleans, lakeside of Basin Street, between 1897 and 1917 where it was legal to be a prostitute and run a brothel. Prostitution was so legal they had a Blue Book advertising what the different girls offered. Mahogany Hall was an upscale brothel, boasting of Octoroon (1/8th black) prostitutes.

Mahogany Hall is the first building on the right. — Mahogany Hall was the first building on the right.

Lulu seemed like a outgoing, self-made, woman. She was born of two slaves in Alabama, but re-invented herself. She told people she was born in the Caribbean.

Even though I love portraits and I love to paint women, mugshots are a little bit sad. A child born into slavery is also sad. I am going to paint a prostitute or two from Storyville, because the women are beautiful, but I don’t think my heart can manage more than that. On the other hand, I don’t want these women to be forgotten.

This is Lulu White in 1920. It is a mugshot from one of her many arrests. I painted her with acrylic paint and charcoal pencil on 11 x 14 inch canvas. Her shawl was made with Liquitex Gloss Gel and a stencil. I put the gel on with a pallet knife through the holes in the stencil, lifting off the stencil carefully. Then, I let it dry over night. I painted the shawl with blue, orange and gold. (You can always message me for specific colors or more information in general.)

Lulu’s necklace is made to resemble clear glass beads, popular in the 1920’s.

I think she looks sad and annoyed.

Mahogany Hall Stomp for you, Miss Lulu.

Until next time,

Adoringly,

Gator Girl

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See Prince in Florida!

Posted on May 26, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I have “met” the nicest people. They live in Florida and have purchased 3 paintings. That is not why they are nice. (Well a little bit why.) We have 33 messages between us. I have high hopes for this relationship. They are coming to New Orleans in February 2017.

Seriously, I work alone all day and words of encouragement are priceless.

This is exactly how I met Rene and Amy. It started with a Rene buying Feathered Friends and turned into life-long friends. You can read about Rene and Amy. I highly recommend it. It is one of the coolest things that has happened in my life.

This is Melissa and Phillip’s wall in their house.

The following is how I made the frames. If you aren’t into making frames, feel free to skip this.

I framed the two Prince paintings in red oak plywood. The part you see in the front is nice looking red oak. The sides looked like plywood. I gessoed the sides to mimic the sides of a canvas. Then I painted them black with the same acrylic paint that I used on the paintings.

I bought some purple stain, but the oak was too hard for the stain to sink in like I wanted. I went back to my comfort zone and thinned out some permanent violet dark Golden acrylic paint with Liquitex varnish. I think the color is wonderful. That same violet is in some of the darker areas of the paintings. Lastly, I sealed the frames two times in varnish. Next time, I won’t even shop. I will just use my paints.

The bad news is… even with my new blade, I made a couple of errors in the cutting. It takes some practice to cut enough, but not too much. If you don’t look too closely, you won’t notice.

Melissa and Phillip are happy and that is what I wanted.

And I want all y’all to be happy, too. Let’s have a happy summer.

With loving wishes,

Gator Girl

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Queen of Bounce

Posted on May 5, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

We just had Jazz Fest in New Orleans. It is a pretty amazing experience with incredible music, delicious food and quality art. Most people talk about Music or Music and Food. I am there #1 for the art. I go one day each weekend, when it isn’t as crowded (not Saturday or Sunday) to see the art. The food vendors are there both weekends, but the artists change. When I need to rest, I stop in and listen to some music. I am pretty sure I am in the minority on this.

Jazz Fest the second weekend was pretty wet.

I am just about finished with the Queen of Bounce aka Big Freedia (pronounced Free-da) I ordered 2 jewels for her crown, amethyst and amber. I am nervous painting a living artist because I really want Big Freedia to relate to and like my painting. I will probably never know.

I choose Big Freedia because I was part of the Guinness Book of World Records for Twerking in 2014.

I woke up one morning and told my family that I had a dream that I needed to help Big Freedia win the twerking world record. My daughter said, I could still participate because it hadn’t happened yet. It was scheduled for later that day or the next day. Surprising everyone, including myself, I went. I am not sure if they counted my sweet darlin’ and me in the final number because you had to be continuously twerking correctly. Fortunately there is no video of that.

Big Freedia was the star of that contest. She is beautiful and her personality is bigger than the sky.

To read Freedia’s background in a snapshot… I found a lot of information on Wikipedia.

Right now, I am painting two paintings of Prince. He had so many looks in all the years he performed, I didn’t want to narrow it down to one. Prince is a commission painting. The same people who bought Shotgun Angel asked me to paint Prince. I am going to show them both of the paintings and they can choose one if they like it. I don’t take money for commissions until after they see the finished painting. Maybe they had a different idea. I don’t want them stuck with something they don’t love.

I’m back to the easel. See ya later alligator,

With a heart full of love,

Gator Girl

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Living in New Orleans

Posted on April 7, 2016April 7, 2016 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Often, I wonder why everyone doesn’t live in New Orleans. New Orleans is the only place I have lived where I have to choose between (often free) things to do. If you live here, you have to turn down parties, festivals, second lines… because you can’t be in two or three places at once.

I am not ordinarily a party girl, sometimes I choose to stay home all weekend and paint. Those times, it is nice that my sweet darlin’ has something to do.

Last weekend several tribes of Mardi Gras Indians were putting on their suits at Bayou St. John in preparation for parading. I am not a big fan of crowds, but I am a big fan of the Mardi Gras Indians. What? No crowds! Mardi Gras Indians are the coolest thing in the city. I thought there wold be huge crowds.

I made a video of the photos David and I took to show y’all.

Until later, alligator!

Gator Girl

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Flat Joe

Posted on July 5, 2015July 5, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

My nephew, Joe, in Pennsylvania had a school project. His teacher used the The original Flat Stanley Project, created in 1995 by Dale Hubert. The kids replaced “Stanley” with their name. Flat Joe came by mail to New Orleans for a week’s vacation with the responsibility to go back to school with photos, a letter and souvenir’s of his trip.

Flat Joe is a good demonstration of how New Orleans is child friendly. Joe was only limited in his adventures by his time constraint.

President Obama with another Flat Stanley — President Obama with Flat Stanley

I just added President Obama, because I thought it was cool.

So much to do in New Orleans.

Come back soon, Flat Joe! Next time bring regular Joe with you!

Lovingly,

Gator Girl (Click here to check out my website.)

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Moonlit Walk

Posted on June 30, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Heading into 4th of July weekend. I hope y’all are having a nice summer. I think it is pretty much hot in the United States now, with a few exceptions.

My ginger-haired girl is helping her friend embark on an adventure that leads them out of the swamp. It is the first time for the little gator to see something of the world beyond his home.

On a moonlit night, she hiked up her dress, and together they walked out of the swamp.

The painting is large, 24 x 36 inches, acrylic paint and varnish on canvas.

Best wishes for a fun and safe 4th!

All my love,

Gator Girl

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Alligators have dreams, too.

Posted on May 29, 2015November 6, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I hope you are enjoying the first days of summer. I know it isn’t really summer, but the kids are getting out of school around here and we are starting to get the air heating up followed by the afternoon thunder storms.

Some people have mentioned that I am painting more or faster now. The paintings are just smaller. They are smaller for the same reason I sell prints of my art. If someone likes my work, I want them to be able to afford something. These next two paintings go together (or not). They are 11 x 14 on canvas (smallish). I will sell them for $120 each or both for $225. I like a larger painting because it tells a bigger story. It took a little adjustment in my thoughts to go smaller.

I painted the canvas dark reddish-pink. Then I scraped gesso over the walls with a plastic motel key. Lastly, I “aged” the walls with some Titan Buff paint. I wanted the walls to look like old plaster.

The alligator has always had a dream of performing in a ballet. It looks like it was a huge success.

When I was growing up, I had two small paintings in my bedroom of young ballerinas. I am sure this influenced me.

This is the girl who made the gator’s dreams come true. Sometimes it is nice to share the stage.

May has been very busy. My youngest daughter moved back to New Orleans. My niece from California visited for a week. My oldest daughter graduated from Tulane Law. Maggie turned 7. Now Maggie and Raffi are both between school and summer camp. My sweet darlin’ is basically absent from home because it is the end of his school year.

If you are visiting New Orleans, I think you should make time to go on one of the tours that Christine Miller of Two Chicks Walking Tours offers. My favorite is Drop Dead Sexy. It meets at the visitor center… Marie Laveau’s tomb in St. Louis #1… and hits a bit of Storyville. She will also designs any tour that suits your fancy. Christine is both entertaining and knowledgeable.

Until next time,

Gator Girl

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Swamp Girl

Posted on April 18, 2015April 18, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all! My mini muse came through for me. I saw a drawing Maggie did in her notebook. I fell in love. The alligator was subtle. I noticed the girl first. She had no color or background, so I asked Maggie to tell me a story about the girl. She said the girl is in a long green dress. The dress is old and her hair is messy. She lives in a swamp. I asked if there were flowers in the background. She said I could paint flowers, but if I did, make it mostly green with both light and dark greens.

Maggie's Swamp Girl — Maggie’s Swamp Girl

Maggie and I generally copy each other if we like what we see. I painted a more realistic swamp background, but it made me unhappy. So I painted over-sized leaves and flowers. The painting reminds me of a page in a children’s book.

I added the eyelashes on the alligator and the freckles on the girl just like Maggie. I made her dress just a little shorter to show her toes. A friend wrote to me and said I seemed so happy on Facebook and in my blog. She was wondering if life here is really that wonderful. Well, yes. And also, I don’t want my blog to be a downer. I do struggle with waking up in the morning. I am slow to start. It takes at least 2 cups of coffee. I still have to take care of me. I have chores and responsibilities. I eat too many carbs. I need a certain amount of happiness to paint. So some days I don’t paint. I have to try not to compare my art to anyone else’s. While I was looking at realistic swamps, I ran across Adrian Deckbar. Adrian is a local artist that paints more beautiful than a photograph. My heart sinks just a little when I compare myself to others. But then I move on. Even with the ever-present road work on nearly every road, New Orleans rocks. The people are nice. My friends are interesting. I hope, if you are not there already, you find your happy place. I suggest writing down what you want, painting it, dancing it, speaking it every chance you get. There is a vehicle to get you there. lovingly,

Gator Girl

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A Learning Curve

Posted on March 11, 2015 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

Mardi Gras has come and gone (sigh). I signed up to dance with the Pussyfooters at the House of Blues for Friday. I feel pretty lucky.

GV_NOLA115_StPatricksDay_WG-1000x500 — xx

Saturday is the St. Patrick’s parade and the St. Joseph’s parade. The parades are very different from each other. The St. Patrick’s parade is in the Irish Channel in the afternoon. Friends who live near the parade route will open their house before and after the parade to offer drinks, snacks, and a bathroom. The floats throw vegetables along with the beads and toys.

The St. Joseph’s parade is in the evening in the French Quarter. My sweet darlin’ is in the Italian American Marching Club. I don’t have a photo to show you, because last time I saw the parade all the Italian men in tuxedos looked the same. I couldn’t find him.

Super Sunday is when the Mardi Gras Indians parade. This is one of those amazing things that is truly New Orleans.

So there you go. A quiet weekend after Mardi Gras.

In my art world… the original Joan of Arc was purchased for the new hospital. I am so excited to have her in a public place.

My friend just bought the original Garden Fairy aka City Park Fairy.

I am thinking that They didn’t know they were seeds is a learning painting. Learning how I feel about writing on the painting. I have liked words occasionally… in script along the side of the image, bananagrams, Pairs in Pears, a little piece of ripped paper with handwriting…

I made two more attempts to like the painting and call it done.

I printed on organza. The words shifted slightly.

I decided that I do like my handwriting, but I didn’t like the square shape. To be continued…

Raffi had an art show at his pre-school. His teacher is fabulous. When he painted part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, he laid on his back under a table.