RABBITS MOON STUDIO ON THE ROAD IN NEW ORLEANS/PART I

HELLO BIG EASY!

A golden haze over the New Orleans.  A view from our hotel room.  

 NEW ORLEANS IS NOT LIKE ANY OTHER CITY IN THE WORLD, IT IS UNIQUE UNTO ITSELF A WORK OF ART.  IT IS CONSTANT MUSIC, THE BLUES AND JAZZ FLOW IN THE BREEZE THAT MOVES THROUGH THE FRENCH QUARTER AND ENVELOPE YOU IN ITS MYSTERIOUSNESS. THE CITY OOZES MYSTERY. WRITERS AND ARTISTS HAVE FREQUENTED THIS CITY FOR CENTURIES. NAMES LIKE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS AND DEGAS FLOAT AMONG THE FAMOUS THAT HAVE BEEN CHARMED BY THIS WONDERFUL CITY.  TOURIST BY THE MULTIPLE MILLIONS VISIT THIS CITY AND AND LOOSEN UP AND PARTY.  

Canal Street Tourist Vendor          in color

Pralines/the Southern equivalent to sin

from google image

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 4 tbsp butter, cubed
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium saucepan combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and evaporated milk over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then insert a candy thermometer.

3. Cook the candy, stirring occasionally, until the candy reaches 240 degrees on the thermometer.

4. Once the proper temperature is reached, remove the pan from the heat and drop the chunks of butter on top, but do not stir. Allow the pan to sit for one minute.

Tourist Vendors   Black and White

IT IS A CITY THAT LETS YOU BE, THAT CALLS YOU OUT LET GO, LAY BACK, AND LIVE IN THE MOMENT.  

Mr. B's Restaurant on Royal    My favorite New Orleans Eatery

NEW ORLEANS EASILY, HANDS DOWN HAS THE BEST FOOD AMERICA OFFERS AND I THINK THE WORLD ALSO.  IT'S MIX OF FRENCH, ISLAND, CREOLE, ITALIAN AND SPANISH CULTURES OVER THE CENTURIES HAVE COME UP WITH THE PERFECT BLEND TO CREATE PERFECTION.  NEEDLESS TO SAY PERFECTION IS NOT REACHED WITHOUT  A LOT OF BUTTER, CREAM AND SUGAR!!! THERE IS A SECTION OF NEW ORLEANS CALLED FAT CITY, IT IS APTLY NAMED!

Jackson Square Artist in regular color

Jackson Square Artist in Purple and Blue Tones

Beignets and Cafe au laite/ a New Orleans favorite
google image

YOU HAVEN'T LIVED UNTIL YOU HAVE BBQ SHRIMP AT MR. B'S, OR CAFE AU LAITE AT THE CAFE DUMOND OR MY FAVORITE THE MORNING CALL IN METAIRIE.  YOU CAN NOT CALL IT A LIFE UNTIL YOU HAVE A NEW ORLEANS BEIGNET AND SIP YOUR CAFE AU LAITE OVER LOOKING THE QUARTER AND LISTENING TO NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ON BOURBON STREET.  EVERY BUCKET LIST SHOULD INCLUDE NEW ORLEANS AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED.  

New Orleans Inspires Writers and Artists

I was researching artists and writers who have lived and worked in New Orleans when I ran across this article and just love the description of the city.  I wish I could write like this, t is just delicious writing..so much said so succinctly. 

NEW ORLEANS — If cities were people, New Orleans would be the earthy and lovable old uncle who shows up drunk (and with a young thing at his side) at sedate family gatherings, all the while secretly reveling in his open defiance of polite society. It has had that attitude for centuries, way before its label "The City That Care Forgot" was mongrelized into the coarser sound bite of "The Big Easy."

Sprawled over both banks of a crescent formed by the Mississippi River Delta, New Orleans is really not North American at all. Its rhythms, smells, lusty ambience and complacency developed from a delicious mixture of French, Spanish, African, Creole and Cajun cultures spiced with the spirit of the American frontier. In its infancy, pirates, mercenaries, outcasts, drunks, religious fanatics, defrocked priests, gamblers and whores all found haven here and thrived in the warmth of its tolerance. To this day, the place reeks of hedonism, decadence and immorality--qualities long recognized as potent magnets for writers. By Sergio Ortiz of the Los Angeles Times

Writers like Faulkner, Whitman, and O'Henry to name a few, wrote about this wonderful magical city.  It is a gritty earthy city, it is not an easy city in many ways.  The crime rate is high and one must be aware of the neighborhood you are in.  But it is bawdy, it talented, it is fun and it defies all rules that would restrict its freedom to celebrate.  But as one of my friends said when I complained about the crime rate, yes it has always been that way, but that is what makes us unique!

 NEW ORLEANS ON SITE RABBIT'S MOON     STUDIO JOURNAL

During our stay here in the Big Easy we are trying to chronicle as much about the area as we can for you.  They one thing about a new environment for artist is that you have new eyes, nothing is common place.  In your own world one becomes used to seeing things and forgets to look closely at times.  When ever an artist is in a new environment, it is like you have fresh eyes, you see every thing anew.  It is a like a shot of adrenaline, hundreds of new images coming at you and every thing seems new..because it is to you.  We were coming out of Drago's Restaurant (a wonderful seafood restaurant) and across the parking lot these electric lines outside a building.  The white on white, the shapes forming an abstract composition of alien tentacle like soldiers, and the lines almost in motion..like wind blown...still frozen in motion from Katrina and the wake of destruction it left. The straight lined contrast of the bricks against the curved caps of current connectors makes for an interesting juxtaposition.
These make me think of Louise Nevelson and her mono toned collages in New York.  See what you think.  I will include some of Nevelson's work for you to compare.
I am not sure yet how I will use these photo's in my work, or just let the work be the photo...but I seem to want to do more, so we shall see where it leads. The more i look at them, the more they speak to me and seem to want to say more!  

STUDIES IN LINE, SHAPE AND TEXTURE 

Metairie Electric Lines         photo by elizabeth gordon  

Metarie  Electric Lines          photo by elizabeth gordon

Louise Nevelson                            from google image

from google image

GIVE YOURSELF A TREAT, GO TO A NEW AREA, A NEW ENVIRONMENT, TAKE A CAMERA OR SKETCH BOOK...AND THEN SIT BACK AND WAIT..IT WILL BE IMAGE ON IMAGE, NEW SMELLS, NEW SOUNDS, AND NEW IMAGES.  I PROMISE YOU IT IS A TREAT FOR THE ARTISTS'  SOUL.