Poetry Rocks, Dude

No, really- I carved these two adjoining poetry rocks out of white bead foam, hard-coated it with a portland cement/wood glue/water combination, then painted them to make them look like the genuine article. Rebar inserted into the rocks and then into the ground help stabilize them where they reside, which is in the Jaguar Jungle exhibit. The original poem is in Nahuatl, the native language of Mexico, which is actually the language of the Aztecs, I believe. I think it is a lovely poem, and the project was part of the poetry exhibit at the Zoo, which opened in April. Obviously, I am still playing "catch-up" with my posts.

McMillian's Domed Ceiling

Before heading out of town for some R & R, Harold McMillian called me and asked if I could paint something on his ceiling before they removed the scaffolding from his entrance stairwell. It was construceted especially to hang the chandelier before the railing was installed. Originally, he wanted to simply add a flexible moulding to the outer edges of the domed portions to add interest and disguise the subtle flaws to its construction. I think I added a little flair to its overall beauty. Can't wait to see it with all the crystals hung on the chandelier!

Christian Science Monitor: My Moment in the Spotlight

While I was working on the mural for International House of Blues Foundation in the alleyway leading to the House of Blues' restaurant and music venue, a reporter and photographer from the Christian Science Monitor stopped to ask me how I felt about New Orleans post-Katrina. I am thrilled that they chose to feature me in their photo essay.

To see more photos from the essay, click on http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/New-Orleans/(photo)/2

Going Round & Round!

I began work on refurbishing the Carousel at the Audubon Zoo back in May. Here are a few pics of the finished work.

It is called the "Endangered Species" Carousel. It has both a white and green alligator (hardly endangered), lions, tigers, hippos and rhinos, gorillas, jaguars, giraffes, ostriches, flamingoes, six zebras and a few horses, to name a few!
My favorite things are the fantastical touches, such as the benches' combination lion/fish becomin winged creature attached to the tiger/griffin.

I've Got Balls!

Or should I say... "The Fly" at Audubon Park has twelve new column capitals that happen to be 2' round baseball sculptures. Brent Barnidge did the sculpting, and I did the painting on them. We also collaborated on 8 baseball glove column capitals, and I'm not sure why I don't have their mug shots.

Sorry, I have a lot of catching up to do in the posting department. These photos date back to February.

Howdy, Y'all!

I recently painted some scenery for a cowboy-themed party. Kinda cute...

Just finished redoing the shelves in the Aquarium's main Gift Shop. They were made to look like stone but the rough surface kept tearing up the books the shelves were built to house. My assistant, Jim O'Donnell, and I spent hours sanding them down with belt-sanders, then palm-sanders, then applying a two-part epoxy-resin to the surface to level and smooth it out. I then repainted it to its faux-stone glory. Not the most glamorous of projects and certainly not the most photogenic, but I love working with power tools and discovering new materials. My recent experimentation with hard-coating carved styrofoam may be the start of a new foray into sculpting.

Mood-Setter!

Now the

"Dinosaur

Adventure"

entrance is

finally

complete

with a

prehistoric

scene to set

the mood.

That's a Europlesaphalus front and center, with my daughter's favorite dino, a Parasauralaphus guarding her nest as another late-Cretacious creature swoops in from above. It was fun but I always wish I had more time to make it "perfectement"!