People like to say that kids say the most at amazing and honest things, but I disagree. I find children horrifically boring. And I find that the truth tends to topple the tower of delusion on which I have built my life.
Art
The Human Canvas: Fine Art Body Painting
December 07, 2021
Craig Tracy, born and raised in New Orleans, is the owner of Craig Tracy’s Fine Art Body Painting Gallery. He has always known he would be an artist, and credits New Orleans’ authentic and vibrant culture as a significant factor in his passion, creativity and bliss. His family’s photo album is filled with images, capturing moments of the family members ritually painting each other’s faces for Mardi Gras, when individuality and self-adornment are considered standard practice.
Life Is Like a Ham Sandwich...
December 07, 2021
There is a very valid reason I refuse to run. If I think about it, I am sure I could come up with 72 valid reasons why I don’t run. But only this one applies here: I was running when I broke my foot in the second grade. Doctor Turner called it a clean break and said I would be in a cast for eight weeks while my broken foot healed. What? Eight weeks? I had chickens to feed, cousins to make jealous, and a father to raise. To boot, literally, I wasn’t given one of those super sleek boot things everyone gets today.
Well, that was interesting!
September 30, 2021
While it makes my heart sing to listen to people’s stories about how being quarantined changed their lives and enlightened them about their diets, their marriages, and their affinity for positive affirmation YouTube videos (insert eye roll here), it really excites me to see the changes in the world of art that were a result of artists and gallerists witnessing an unsure, uncertain future staring them in the face. It’s not any specially kept secret that art has had it fair share of growth after global hysterics scared the mixed media out of us in the community. 2020 was no different.
Festive Libations
January 29, 2020
New Orleans may well have invented the festival. This is a town that throws parties to honor the homely mirliton and local Creole tomato. We celebrate oysters, fried chicken, gumbo and Louisiana seafood. Neighborhood fêtes abound–more than 130 every year--with toes tapping from the Treme to Uptown on Freret. Diversity is heralded at Greek Fest, Southern Decadence and Soul Fest. Local art, inspired literature, live music, and good eats are the common denominators and usually entrance is free.
Teamwork Makes the Art Dream Work
January 28, 2020
Artist Emilie Rhys will be celebrating the start of 2020 with a historic exhibit at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Featuring her work together with that of her father, Noel Rockmore, this will be the first time the two artists have been celebrated in one showing. Rhys brings her live oil portraiture to the event in a magnificent scale; the sizes of the pieces are notable with some as large as 30 x 40 inches. Emilie has gained fame for her live sitting portraits, and this show is no exception. The work has been created over multiple sittings with musicians in her studio.
It Doesn’t Always Feel As New As It Looks
January 28, 2020
Once upon time in a land known as Southeast Louisiana, there lived a little prince who had an unusual relationship with a pair of Winnie the Pooh shorts. The prince’s most-favored shorts had a waistband adorned with a fabric inner lining depicting Winnie the Pooh tumbling along with a bowl of honey spilling over. The little prince wore the shorts to church; he wore them to birthday parties and to crawfish boils. He wore them to vacation in Grand Isle and even wore them to sleep, when he could get away with it.
It’s Just Art
November 01, 2019
The life of an art writer is not always easy. Gallerists waiting until the last minute to send me high resolution images, saucy assistants pretending they can’t attach a PDF, and let’s not forget the artists. We love you; you’re great. Who are YOU again?
Sometimes I just have to sit back and remind myself that it isn’t the end of the world, and that, inevitably, IT’S JUST ART.
So why do I keep throwing myself onto this sword for the sake of art, you ask? Good question.
I wish I had an answer for you that did not involve my low self-esteem and Catholic guilt!
Sometimes I just have to sit back and remind myself that it isn’t the end of the world, and that, inevitably, IT’S JUST ART.
So why do I keep throwing myself onto this sword for the sake of art, you ask? Good question.
I wish I had an answer for you that did not involve my low self-esteem and Catholic guilt!
Artist Spotlight LeLuna
July 30, 2019
I must admit, that until now, my only real fascination with superheroes was the spandex. I mean think about it: that smooth colorful fabric stretched across perfect biceps or tightly spread over a good six pack. Would any of us really think that Superman could fly if he were dressed in grey flannel pajamas? Hardly! See, I knew you’d see it my way. Now, what about those masks? You know the ones covering one eye, both eyes, their whole face, making them look like bats (which is kinda messed up, but I get it). The masks keep their identities a secret.
Wait For It
July 30, 2019
Being impatient is a cross I have to bear on a regular basis. I detest lines, I despise the words ‘please hold,’ and I rarely allow myself to look at a clock. When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to be a teenager, when I was a teenager, I couldn’t wait to be 30 and when I was thirty, I thought 50 was forever away. Growing old never bothered me and the faster I could get it done the better off I would be. Until June 20, 2019 when I finally reached my 50th birthday. (Wink, wink.)
Excellence... Anything but Plain & Simple THNOC Art of the City: Postmodern to Post-Katrina
May 01, 2019
Once upon a time, on a flight to a faraway land, a boy met a very wise man who shared a bit of knowledge. As the boy complained about stiff seats, weak cocktails, and being bumped to coach, the man told the boy that, often times, the best part about getting to a new place is the how you get there, more so than the destination itself. When the flight was over, and the boy decided that he had sat next to a crazy person all the way to London, he stopped and thought about the man’s words. Yes, the boy thought, I most definitely sat next to a crazy person.
