Direct from Paris

Here is a valet desk painted for a CBD hotel... the idea was to take the shell emblem from the column behind the desk and enlarge the design.  Personally, I think it's tres chic.... like it came straight from Paris, baby!  Oui, Oui, no?  Yet it is SOOO New Orleans- a little black, a little gold, a little like a feathered Mardi Gras mask AND a fleur de lis combined, not to mention that elegant decadence flair that "NO" is known for.

Check Out that Nutria!

Most people love the nutria almost as much as they love the 45' long alligator!  Diana Shortez helped with the basics and the leaves around him, Andrea helped add some shading, and I put the finishing touches on his furry back.  Thanks also to Brandon Paillant, who did about 80-90% of the trees, Amy Reuben and Wendi Berman for all their help prepping, priming and basicking.  

And thanks to every neighbor and passerby for telling me how much the love it!  It is your mural as much as mine.  Muah!

Breaux Mart Mural: A Celebration of Audubon Zoo's Swamp Exhibit

Okay, so it only took me two weeks to finally post these!  That's because I STILL want to work on it, though I'm "sort of" letting it go!  This mural is 17' tall x 160' wide... and took me and some assistants 5 weeks to complete in the Louisiana summer heat!  

Gulf Coast Bank Logo Mural- 28' x 32'

I have been so busy, I have some catching up to do with my posts.  In April, my assistant, Pedro and I painted the Gulf Coast Bank logo on their wall with a "vintage look".  For this one, I felt that it shouldn't have any missing areas as you sometimes see in truly older, faded murals, so I simply played with the concept of how color fades with time to different hues.  I think it came out with more of the look of a Venetian scumble, which I think suits the modern approach of this bank.

"The Old 77": Interior Sign Work

 My work with "The Old 77" started with the recreation of this old sign, which once graced the side of the building back in the late 1800's.  We agreed that I should paint it to look as if they had discovered it under the plaster wall they had just removed most of.  It's the favorite photo-op for nearly all the guests!

The image below is behind the bar of Nina Compton's restaurant at the hotel, "Compere Lapin".  I had to duck in close to avoid photographing the lights hanging over the bar.  I would have loved to "punch out" the bunny logo a bit more, but they preferred it more subtly stated.  It's definitely delightful in person, so make sure you go eat there sometime!

 The next two are part of a series of directional signs I'm doing through-out the first floor, some on drywall, some one brick as shown below.

"The Old 77" Blade Sign

The project manager of the "Old 77 Hotel" renovation asked me to age their brand new blade sign to make it look to be around 30 years old.  Most of my "faux" work was executed at A-1 Signs, Inc, the company that constructed and installed the sign.  I aged the white letter cans separately, then the white border and black background after all cans, and lighting were attached and wired.  The fellows in the shop shaking their heads in amazement, but the proof was the day they installed it.  Some passersby said, "Wow- where'd ya get that old sign?!"  Unfortunately, the camera didn't perfectly catch all the nuance, but if you zoom into the shop shots, you can see the rusty drizzle...

The Fruits of My Residency at Newman School

As some of you already know, I was selected to be the artist-in-residence at Isodore Newman School, the cream of the crop of New Orleans private schools, here in New Orleans.  The artist reception was held on April 29th, and it was fairly well-attended, despite being between the Jazz FEst weekends.  Here are the fruits of my labor with kids, along with some information about each of the two murals I completed there.  Caveat:  completed means as an artist, I retain the right to rework a couple things before they are finally installed in the exterior locations!

 How Do We Fit the Pieces Back Together?

8'x20'

In collaboration with Newman School’s high school art students, I was tasked with portraying a problem we currently face in Southern Louisiana, the “Diminishing Wetlands”.  This is a slow-motion disaster triggered by human activity as we altered the landscape by building levees and creating a network of canals.  The latter was first started to harvest cypress trees for construction, then later for oil and gas drilling.  No one could foresee the consequences of our actions. We all now grapple to understand the true scope of the disaster.  And even fewer of us know what we can personally do to repair the damage we have done.  This mural seeks to inspire all of us to face the imminence of the problem, and begin to work together to slow, if not reverse it. 

How do you portray a slow-motion disaster in a single image?  We developed our concept by brainstorming and sketching out various ideas.  It seemed there were many parts of the puzzle to fit together, and we knew we couldn’t fit them all in. One was that all of Louisiana itself was a puzzle that was falling to pieces.  One idea was to depict the past in color and the present in black and white, or vice versa.  We weren’t able to act on every idea, but many of the students thoughts were synthesized into the final image.        The things we did include were: a) a symbolic image of one man representing our collective selves enjoying the bounty of the wetlands before it was altered; b) the dredging that may be the actions most responsible for the disaster; c) the image of the land as it slowly dies away; and finally d) the hopeful act of planting trees that Newman students undertake annually under the direction of science instructor, Jennifer Williams.   

                                 Moving to Higher Ground

16'x12'

In collaboration with Newman School’s 8th grade art students, we chose to portray the wetland creatures as they move to higher ground due to saltwater intrusion.  Of course, there are too many animals to portray in a single image.  One such animal is the coyote, not shown here, but recently making an appearance due to habit loss.  Some we rarely see because they scurry the minute they hear us approaching.    

Two of Newman’s high school students conceptualized the animals using backpacks to pack up their belongings, and we decided to act on this idea because it would help younger students to connect with them.  It was also recently pointed out to me by more than one person (one was a Kindergartener!) that I failed to put any fish in the mural.  How could I forget!  I will fix that soon.

Baccatality, Unit 1

I had the honor of repainting Bacchus' "Baccatality" floats this year, at least Units A and C with a touch-up on Unit B.  Here is the way it looked before they added the sculpture, lights and skirting to it again.

"Endangered Species" Portrait Make-Over for Zoo's Carousel

Here are three different portraits for the Zoo's Carousel.  They are are various stages of being installed.  In the first, you can see the edge of my ladder.  In the last, you see the tiger from the ground looking up.  There will be 16 in all, so I have 13 more to go!  

When Pigs Fly...

I had the privilege of painting an interior wall at Gulf Coast Bank's branch, located at 3200 Magazine Street.  The room is currently designated as a meeting and event space for the bank, and has an incredibly airy feel.  The old brick wall was quite a challenge to paint on, with all its crevices and chiselled texture.  I think it all looks spectacular, if I do say so myself!