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.