You probably know me, unless you just started following my blog. Either way, I put together a video of my porch, studio and me. I am using the video in my Etsy Shop. I love feeling like I have a “Shop” and not just a house. I am sometimes in a gallery with Where Y’Art and lately my paintings are hanging out (get it?) at Baldwin, Haspel, Burke & Mayer, a law firm in the Central Business District. Those paintings in the law offices have a better view than I do. By far. They are on the 36th floor and have a view of the bend in the river and the bridge to the west bank.
Many of my paintings are at my house. You are welcome to come by.
Spring has sprung in New Orleans. Jazz Fest is around the corner.
Billie Holiday didn’t have a sister, but if she had one, it would have made her life easier in my opinion. She had a tough time. If being born a black woman in America in 1915 wasn’t hard enough. Her parents were 13 and 15 years old. She worked as a prostitute before she was 14 and died at 44.
I found this out when I was looking to see what Billie Holiday’s sister looked like. No sister.
However, Shotgun Angel does have a sister.
I am painting Shotgun Angel’s Sister for someone who wanted the already in a private collection, Shotgun Angel.
I emailed the owners of Shotgun Angel and asked if they would mind if I painted sequel painting. They were very nice and said congratulations on the commission and please name it something else and change it up a little. I felt free to go ahead and am totally enjoying the sister idea.
Shotgun Angel’s Sister
My commission guarantee is… if you like it when I’m done, you can buy it at our agreed on price. (I hope they like it.) I painted this for 7 days straight. “Honey, can you make dinner?” I wanted to get it into the group of paintings that were photographed yesterday.
Shotgun Angel’s Sister frame wood
From now on I am going to pre-soak the wood for all frames. This wood seemed especially dirty, so I put it in the bathtub with Charlie’s Soap and Oxyclean for about 20 minutes before I scrubbed it. The wood came out looking beautiful.
I bought old skeleton keys on Etsy. I need to take a handle off of something else and add it to this frame.
She is almost complete.
Rabbit being blocked out.
This Easter bunny has a message for all y’all. Stay tuned and you will know what his important message is. He is standing to the side, so I can add the words.
We are between seasons now. Mardi Gras is over. AndHANSEN’S SNO BLIZ OPENS TUESDAY!I don’t know anyone who is more excited about this than my sweet darlin’. “Pleeease, I know. Hansen’s opens Tuesday”.
I hope you had a nice holiday. I know the experience differs between people and year to year. This year was a good year for our family.
In New Orleans, we are rushing into an early Mardi Gras. The Pussyfooter Blush Ball is a week from today and the parades start in January. I am at a loss to explain what Mardi Gras means to New Orleanians. I think it is something like God, family, Mardi Gras.
It was probably October when I started my Rollergirls painting. Faces are one of my favorite topics, so I thought I would paint a crowd behind the skaters. I hit a wall when I felt like it was never-ending. There are 15 people in the crowd, besides the main characters. I don’t know how people paint so small.
Then, I was struck by the sadness of the Holidays for the people who are alone, or broke, or sick. So I painted a holiday painting. I wanted the painting to be generically holiday and express mixed emotions. You will see it again next year on an e-card.
Holiday CardClose-up of Card
Here it is January, and I am back to Rollergirls.
I put different shades of skin-colors on my palate, aka paper plate, and worked all day on all the faces. I had to keep moving between faces so the paint on the canvas would dry, but my palate would not. Here I was, spritzing my palate with water and going face to face. And face to face.
I started using my charcoal pencils. I have white and black. I thought it would be great to have pencils that worked like charcoal with a fine point, but with lots of colors. I wanted to work on one face until I was happy with it. I started searching on-line.
These pencils were suggested to me at one time, but I had never used them.
The pencils when dry are like bright, slightly creamy colored pencils. When you brush with water they work like ink and are permanent. When dry you can erase the pencil. I layered the colors before I added water and they mix themselves. I added white to lighten, or lifted the color off with a clean, wet brush.
With these pencils I can finish one face or at least work on one face until I want to move on. I am not tied to a palate of drying paint.
I am about half done with Rollergirls. I am not a fan of sharing unfinished work, but here it is.
I hope 2016 is a happy and healthy year for all y’all.
Here it is September first. I think I am pretty organized, but sometimes I don’t get to my paint brushes.
Sometimes I get to my paint brushes, and I am embellishing giclées, not playing with a new painting.
Sometimes I have a million non-artistic errands.
Sometimes I look up and it is September first.
The painting that I started is Roller Girls. I have some of it blocked out. Here is a glimpse.
Roller Girls, the beginning
I listened to the soundtrack of Whip It, while I was painting. I love that movie. I love Drew Barrymore, too.
Maggie made me a paint brush out of pipe cleaners. It should come in handy. It is adjustable.
Paint Brush
One of my favorite topics about Cuba is the Medical program. Cuba will train American doctors at no cost to the USA or the students. The students are given free room and board with all of their meals prepared for them, their basic medical supplies, and basic toiletries. They are even given a stipend in their last two years when they are most valuable as a resource.
I saw 4 recent US graduates from Cuba’s six-year training program discuss their experiences. One of the recent graduates is from the 9th ward in New Orleans.
Dr. Gigi Simmons
I will tell you the highlights of the medical program, as I remember them.
The program is taught in Spanish. Most people go to Cuba without any Spanish. The first semester is Spanish immersion. All of the exams are oral, which teaches the potential doctors to think on their feet. When they are stuck on something, they are told to help each other. They spend a full semester without any equipment so they can learn to diagnose with their 5 senses. As for paying Cuba back, they are told togo home and serve.
Medicine as a public service is just the approach that drew many US graduates to ELAM,(Latin American School of Medicine).
“When I learned about Cuba’s health system—free, universal, and with a focus on public and global health—I knew this is where I wanted to study,” Dr. Veronica Flake of Philadelphia told MEDICC, (Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba).
“I came to ELAM because I believe health is a human right, and so does Cuba,” said Dr. Tia Naquel Tucker of Sulphur, Louisiana. (medicc.org)
Before I went to Cuba, I would have thought a Cuban medical degree was inferior to a degree in the US. Now I can’t wait until Dr. Gigi Simmons puts her shingle out.
There is no smooth transition here.
We had a tragedy in our family. Although it is sad, I feel it needs to be said. My nephew passed on August 20th. My sweet darlin’ and I flew to California to be with the family. He was 27. It’s a sad story with a sad ending.
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.
Canal Street StreetcarGetting on the red street carKaty and Flat Joe at NOMAMorning Call (Do you see him?)with his beignetOrdering a snoballPaying for his snoballBubble Gum Snoball!Storyland
at StorylandLayfaette CemeteryPaying his respectsHoney Island Swamp Touruh oh!! Look behind you!President Obama with Flat Stanley
I just added President Obama, because I thought it was cool.
Joe and Flat Joe at home.
So much to do in New Orleans.
Come back soon, Flat Joe! Next time bring regular Joe with you!
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.
Moonlit Walk
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.
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 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.
Swamp Girl
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,
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.
xx
Saturday is the St. Patrick’s paradeand 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 Sundayis 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.
Joan of Arc
My friend just bought the original Garden Fairyaka City Park Fairy.
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.
Words on Organza
I printed on organza. The words shifted slightly.
handwriting
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.
Raffi Rodrigue
Raffi Chagall
Raffi Seurat
Raffi Warhol
Raffi Pollock
Raffi Picasso
Blue Dog 3-D
Raffi O’Keefe
Raffi Matisse
Raffi Van Gogh
I hope all y’all are having a nice end of winter, almost spring.
Today, I am combining my blog and Mardi Gras celebrations. Don’t you think one of the hardest things is to balance? Like balancing work and play, me-time and family, king cake and exercise. From the minute I wake up it is a puzzle to see what I can fit into my day. Give and take.
My recent painting has been fun and frustration. It started like this…
It started like this.
Indecision. I added colors that I liked. I was leaning towards an alligator among lily pads. Then I added Jesus on the cross that Maggie drew, a peace symbol, a note from my sweet darlin’, advice from mini Mags, a movie stub, a fortune, cute little deer. My collage items were all based on love.
Starting Over with a plan
My friend, Rene, posted on Facebook, “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” I Googled it and found out it was an old saying attributed to nobody in particular. It fit perfectly into my strong women theme.
We were seeds. Completed
I kept very little from the beginning. The colors are still mostly blue and orange. There is a little bird and most of the fortune. I was going to paint a lot of flowers, but the trees looked so strong.
This is what it looks like on the parade route near our house. Only, it will be more crowded tonight.
Our Mardi Gras Crew
My daughter, Angie, sets this all up for us every day. This year I decided to cook dinner and bring it down to the parade. Tonight is red beans and rice.
I thought I would welcome the New Year in with a little songbird. I had a plan to paint an alligator swimming among lily pads. I prepped a large canvas for this painting before Christmas.
When I got back into the studio, I felt like playing with art. I painted a few layers of abstract strokes and my favorite symbols. The key to playing with paint like this is to stick with the same temperature of colors in each layer and let the layer dry before the next layer.
I started with yellow, orange and red.
Then blues and greens.
Back to warm colors.
The fun part really begins when I added white.
Then black. I think white and black look great side by side.
I used a BIG canvas to let the New Year know that I am allowed to use materials however I want.
Song Bird, the beginning
I wanted a woman. So I painted a face shape with white gesso over the part of the painting that I liked least.
The rest was going to be hair, but the hair was just too big. I liked the rainbow colors in what is now the tail feathers of the bird as well as the breast area.
It was hard to paint out areas I still liked. I was happy to paint over areas that looked like big blotches.
I kind of want to keep her blue, but I might give her flesh tones. Leaning towards a natural skin tone.
I smoothed over the gesso with a plastic hotel key card.
Song Bird, Work In Progress
TheBlush Ball is this Friday. If you want to come, contact me. The tickets are $40 and $60 dollars. We are raising money for women with children who need to get to a safe place and start over.
You can also buy raffle tickets.
If you can’t attend, I will deliver your winnings.
Gator Girl Art 