Archives: Projects

Waiting for Comcast

FullSizeRender (43)

This is the latest update, with leaves and moss; it is a work in progress from a photograph by unknown of an old Live Oak tree in New Orleans.  The above name is how I will always think of it because it was mostly done while waiting for my internet provider to come and restore my internet after one of their contractors showed up unexpectedly to bury the cable line, but unhooked the cable connection instead, and left without saying a word. He left his shovel behind.  At any rate, I’m working on getting the suggestion of trees and shrubs in the background as they would look on a very foggy morning.  It’s harder than you would think!

Dancing Flowers

Dancing flowers

This was just a celebration of summer, last year, when we had such a lovely garden of flowers.  My honey has done wonders with the property where we live and it’s become such a fantastic slice of nature in the middle of the city.  I love flowers, and try to have them in my office/studio all the time.

 

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Ancient Oak Tree in New Orleans

Old oak tree in New Orleans - initial outline

the old Live Oak trees in New Orleans are simply breathtaking and magnificent.  This is my initial outline of one of them.

Grayton Beach

Grayton Beach

Growing up in New Orleans, we spent many holidays, weekends and vacations at the white sand beaches of the Florida panhandle.  When my beloved niece was about three or four, my sister and her then husband bought a house in Grayton Beach, which is one of the loveliest beaches in the U.S.   Those days with Shawn, Andre and the kids were some of the best times in my life.  I miss them, and the blue green waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  This painting could be almost anywhere, but Florida will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

Longing: A Lonely Planet

From the exhibit Fantasies of an Impossibly Hospitable Planet which took place at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, Indianapolis IN

Longing - a lonely planet

This was another painting I did strictly from a feeling.  I didn’t have words for what I was feeling at the time, but I started putting colors on the canvas that seemed congruent to my mood.  The painting became what is is, and only when I decided to give it a name was I able to identify what I had been feeling.  This was featured at an exhibit entitled  Fantasies of an Impossibly Hospitable Planet which took place at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library recently.

The Joshua Tree

Where the road meets the sky

the Joshua tree signed

I painted this for my beloved, who lived in Arizona for 20 years, and still misses the desert.  It is a Joshua Tree as depicted in a photograph I found online, whose creator was not named.

Peace: Part 3 of the Katrina Trilogy

Peace - part 3 of the Katrina series

This is the final painting in the Katrina trilogy, called “Peace.” After days of furiously painting in a whirlwind of emotion, I felt at peace. I was finally able to live with the grief, the anger, the frustration and the bitter disappointment in the way our country dealt with what was, in New Orleans, a man made tragedy that could have been prevented. The piece reminds me of the healing power of water and of the ancient and majestic cypress trees that live in the water of our swamps and bayous. This is home to me, still chaotic and wild, but returned to the cool green and blue shades of clean water. Thank you for participating in my story.

UPDATE:  This is now living at the U.S. Embassy in Latvia per the request of Ambassador John Carwile.

City in Flames

City in Flames - part 2 of the Katrina series

 

This was the second in the Katrina series, which I painted a day or so after I finished This is Katrina. It is the visual representation of the passion, the anger and the loss that New Orleanians felt during the days shortly after the storm, when it seemed as if we had been abandoned by our government and left to fend for ourselves in a world gone mad. There were actual fires, too, of course, with no one there to put them out. People watched their homes and their way of life burn to ashes. It is called City in Flames and like anything engulfed in flames, something new must emerge.

This is Katrina

This is Katrina - part 1 of the Katrina series

This was the first in the Katrina series, called This is Katrina, which I painted on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I am a native New Orleanian and was living in New Orleans at the time. We all thought we had dodged a bullet when we heard early on Monday morning, August 29, 2005 that Katrina had shifted slightly east and missed the city. I was in Baton Rouge at the time, at a friend’s house, along with my divorced parents, my sister, an old family friend, my cat and my dad’s dog, who I truly believe lost his mind. I had to rescue him from drowning more than once after he simply fell over into the swimming pool and didn’t even try to swim. Later that day, as we were packing up to go back home, we heard about the flooding, and before nightfall, we were stunned and horrified to hear that huge sections of the city were under water. There was to be no going back anytime soon. Ten years go by, and I am living in Indianapolis and not even thinking much about Katrina, but out of the blue I felt as if I had been hit by a wall of sorrow the size of Katrina’s 30-foot storm surge. I started furiously slapping paint on the canvas without any real image in mind. This is what came out of me. I am fascinated to hear what others see in it.

Hope: A Tribute to Paris

Stutz Artists Association exhibit

Hope - a Tribute to Paris

This piece is acrylic on canvas and was inspired by the terrorist attacks on Paris, which left me feeling blindsided and dysphoric about the future of life and beauty as we know it. As I started painting, my sadness lifted and I wanted to express a sense of light and unity, with a beacon of hope for the future. It is called Hope: A Tribute to Paris.  It seems appropriate to reintroduce it now, after the recent violence in Nice.  This painting, along with the Katrina Trilogy, were featured at an exhibit at the Stutz Artists Association/Raymond James Gallery, entitled “Can We Talk?  Miracles, Memories and the Power of Things Unsaid.”

Winter Wall

Winter Wall

This came straight out of a deep spot in my amygdala.  I just started putting colors on the canvas and it informed me of what it was.  Maybe I had been obsessively watching Game of Thrones.

Sunrise on the Marsh

bkgd_sunriseonthemarsh

This is from a photograph sent to me by one of my oldest friends, a New Orleans native who spends every minute he can in the bayous, swamps, marshes and lakes, hunting and fishing.  Because this pastime requires early awakening, he is able to get some of the most beautiful shots of very dramatic times of the day.  Here is my version of it.  It’s now living at his house.  I hope his wife likes it!

The Ashton Trees

Ashton Trees 2

My cousin, Ashton Shaw Despot, is a unique and wonderful artist who lives in New Orleans, where all of my immediate family live.  Her style of painting is unlike any I have ever seen, and I love it.  She projects a sense of wonder and serenity in her work that is almost childlike, in the best possible way.  This painting was inspired by one of hers.  It is not for sale and never will be, but hangs in my house as a tribute to the artistic genius of another woman in my family.  Please check out her work at http://ashtonshawdespot.com/  She is a genuine ray of light.