Sara Roahen Goodbye

This is a bit overdue. Sarah left awhile ago, but I was too sad to post it sooner! She was the food writer for the Gambit and came back to New Orleans after the storm to focus on a book project, which had to end sometime. She now has joined her husband in Philly.

Sara and Sarah

Happy Sara, Katy and Hector

Katy R. surprised her with a going away second line band salute. They snuck in through my side yard and started playing for her. She was very pleased.

Good job, Katy!

I was so excited when they first arrived that I took a sloppy picture, but it shows her shock...

Scenes from the party:







Dancing shots:





Me dancing:

Miss you, Sara!

Ruthie Monday XXVIII

Ruthie went to a great dinner party Saturday night. Lots of crumbs on the floor.

Yay! Children's Masterpieces!

Dreamer, 1945

Some of my students finished Marc Chagall*-inspired pieces last night. They are really big and beautiful. Students looked at Chagall's artwork and created a piece inspired by his paintings. They used ink, watercolor and chalk pastels. The focus was on experimentation with media and color.

Are they wonderful?!

Artist aged 5

Artist aged 7

Artist aged 7

Artist aged 8

*The painting came from this website

Katrina Anniversary Pictures X

A Grey Gardens Halloween

Well, I forgot to get a picture -hell I forgot my camera, period (very worrying), but I DID go to Frenchman to Check out costumes.

I went as Little Edie, from the documentary, called Grey Gardens, about Jackie O's wacked out aunt and cousin, but only a few people got it.



NOTE: When you are walking through a crowd with a shirt wrapped around your head and nobody can see the pretty-splash-of-color-silk-nightgown you safety-pinned over your control-top hose, you get mistaken for a Muslim --which I found disturbing.

But it was worth it when people got it!

I posted a video on my blog for you all to introduce you to Edie, if you have not met her. Someone
made a nice little montage of scenes from the documentary set to a Madonna song.

Madonna is Hung Up on Grey Gardens

Karina Anniversary Pictures IX

Ruthie Monday XXVII

WARNING: Ruth-Anne is a "kisser".*






*photos of Miranda and Ruth-Anne taken by Billy Sothern. He also took some of the duster photos.

Katrina Anniversary Pictures VIII

Memorial T-Shirts III

Katrina Anniversary Pictures VII

Anniversary-Memorial T-Shirts II*



I used a zoom lense, from far away. Some people always see a camera.

Katrina Anninversary Pictures VI

Anniversary-Memoriam T-shirts

When people get shot or otherwise murdered in NOLA, it is a relatively new tradition (as in other places) to memorialize the dead on T-shirts. At the anniversary, there were TONS and TONS of people wearing these to commerate the death of those loved ones who died due to the storm or events that occured as a result of it.

Please look for them in future anniversary photos.

And FYI, if you click on the pictures, they get huge.

Katrina Anniversary Photos V

Normalization

Ruthie Monday XXVI-Finally

We discovered a new toy for Ruth-Anne. The duster-thingy that we use to clean our fans... it makes her crazy. She cries and whines at the spot where we store it because she cannot get enough.

Ho-yeah! Crazed puppy!

Ruthie Monday XXVI

I cannot get the pictures to post!!!!!!

Katrina Anniversary Photos IV

double click this one for full Friday humor effect...

Katrina Anniversary Photos III

These Faces...

Children at the Lower Ninth Ward Ceremony and March, 8/29/06

Listening

"Power to the People"

Katrina Anniversary Photos II

Lower Ninth Ward Levee 8/29/06

Katrina Anniversary Photos

I think that I can finally post some shots from the anniversary.

The Lower Ninth March, @ St. Claude
New Orleans, August 29, 2006

Ruthie Monday XXV

Up North Friends

While we were Up North, our friends Dan and Annika came to visit us with their two wicked beautiful girls.

Dan + Annika =

Franziska &

Esmé

More Maine

This is view from a blueberry hill somewhere between Ellsworth and Belfast. What you see in the distance is Acadia National Park with its mountains rising into the low lying mist of the morning on a New England cloudy day.

Ruthie Monday XXIV

Another Day, Dozing in Siberia

Caught Ruthie in her bed-muff with her cheerleader-bear-chew-toy and Cookie Monster sweatshirt (which she swiped from Mabel). This was not a set up -that's how the bear was, I swear it. She has a number of items that she drags around and uses to build up a nest, here and there around the house. The blue-fur-thing glimpsed in the picture is a favorite -always around.

She was very sleepy.

Helen Hill Open Studio

Today is New Orleans Art For Art's Sake, a day for people to walk around town checking out what is going on in galleries and artist's studios.

We went to Helen's studio today, where I made a playdough mermaid with her baby Francis and checked out her current project. Helen makes animated films and started the New Orleans Film Collective (cannot find a website).

A tiny picture from one of her films

She is making a film inspired by a bunch of flooded dresses handsewn by an ancient New Orleanian who recently passed away. She threads her own flooded story into that of this amazingly creative seamstress, named Floristine, through an examination of these dresses and imagining the woman's life.

It is called The Florestine Collection, and I cannot wait to see it completed! The story board is great.

Links about Helen Hill:
Atlantic Film-makers Cooperative
Program for Media Artists
Best of New Orleans