original skylight in the b & b 

sculpture along the river 

cabildo iron work 

love the color juxtaposition 

a few more

px. one of the highlights for my hubby was running into leah chase , one of the *grande dames* of new orleans cooking. he had met and photographed her while he was workign at nicholls, so was glad to be able to visit with her and buy her newest cookbook, which she graciously autographed to me (the NON cook!). we will definately be on the lookout for the restarant;s re-opening, hopefully the first of the year.

i made a few relaly fun purchases including this little critter which i bought at the french market. i wish i remember it's name...it's a *good spirit*. tho frankly i love it cus it makes me smile! however if it wants to keep the bad spirits away that is perfectly fine with me. in that vein, he's sitting on top of my computer monitor, hopefully protecting me from crashes and nasty bugs.

saturday we were heading for magazine street when we passed a park with white tents set up, and stopped to see what was going on. and to my delight, it was an art fair! how cool was that? there was lots of really nice stuff but the first thing that caught my eye that i had to have was a print of a watercolor of mr. bingle! if you're from down here no further explanation is needed. if you're not you can find it here and/or here.

and here are a few more photos :

well. it won't let me upload any more px....so i'll send this and add some more later...

wonderful weekend

just getting back to reality after a wonderful thanksgiving weekend. we did a non-traditional tg day; brunch instead of the usual turkey adn trimmings. it was just right. and friday we headed off to new orleans for my birthday...stayed at the block keller house b&b which was the best! it was the first time we had been there but won't be the last. it's built way up off the ground so even tho they had 5 feet of water during the storm there wasn't a lot of damage. i think there's mostly storage on the ground floor. the're on the fringes of lakeview, and i'd say the area right where they are is @ 50/50 as far as getting back to normal goes. they even had some really cool fiber art hung upstairs

we spent a gorgeous afternoon in the french quarter which was full of people -- a glorious site! and enjoyed the sounds and sights down there; the calliope was playing as we pulled up and there was music everywhere we walked, so things seem fairly back to normal there. walked around and took some photos. my favorite is this one....and it's NOT manipulated...(only cropped the teeniest bit):

lots of wrought iron photos too....this one is already a screen:

lots more architectural photos to be turned into screens; and lots of inspiration. in fact, time to get back to work! more later

red nest 3  

still untitled...any ideas??
well its now SOLD so the new owner can name it....;-)

and art imitating life

about a month ago i sent 4 of my katrina pieces (chaos , maelstrom, prayer flag, and the longest year) north of the lake to the berry patch quilt and art expo in pontchatoula. i have to admit i did feel a little anxiety over having them hanging outside but knew they'd be in capable hands, so off they went. when they were delivered back to my daughter the day before halloween i suggested she should bring them up to her room (sorority house) rather than leave them in her car, figuring they'd be safer there. which she did.

2 days later i got the phone call... you know the one that starts with: *everything's ok but....* expecting it to be another fender bender, i was somewhat shocked when the next phrase came out: "your quilts flooded".

???? flooded? on the 2nd floor? when it hadn't even been raining?? surely she's kidding, but no, she wasn't..... as it turns out, her roommate (hi katie) fell asleep in the bathtub with the water running after returning home from a halloween party. and with a new twist to the phrase trick or treat, my Hurricane Katrina ( o, the irony) quilts proceeded to get trapped in their own personal little flood.

she's SO like her dad- who flooded house #1 while *fixing the shower* many years ago... an event that was brilliantly depicted in a cartoon drawn by our neighbor, which unfortunately i can't find at the moment or it would be displayed here in living color.

she did manage to deal with it well.....hung them up all over the living area downstairs with signs attached proclaiming: "My Mom's Art; Don't Touch", and proceeded to stand watch over them while they dripped and dried.. figuratively speaking. she was awakened at 4 am from her cozy little perch on the sofa to find all the lights on and her sorority sisters ooooohing and ahhhing (and, yes, touching them too), but they were safe and sound.

she was Very glad to bring them home the next evening.

they survived quite nicely; they were only temporarily traumatized.

and they are now truly Authentic Katrina Quilts having endured their own personal flood....

never a dull moment around here.