Cheese and flowers make me happy! It isn't unusual to swing onto Bienville from the bike path on a Thursday afternoon after teaching, to hit Whole Food on Broad Street. They never disappoint me.
This was a little different week for me. It didn't end on Thursday as usual. I went right on working Friday and then into the weekend on Saturday. I woke up Sunday morning, feeling like it was time to get some necessities into the house. But really, I felt like I deserved a little something special after working so hard. I packed up, got on my bike, and was at Whole Foods in under 15 minutes.
I scooped a pretty bunch of daffodils and a brightly colored floral mix, my usual cheeses, but then treated myself to a new favorite for dinner: Salmon Filet stuffed with a spinach dressing. It's big enough to carry you through 2 dinners, or you can even share it with a friend. What a nice way to start (and end) your Sunday!
Some days having my camera in my backpack when I'm on my to Tulane early in the morning really pays off. Yesterday was incredible! After a day and night of thunder storms and flash-flooding on Friday, I'd made a laborious trip home from that workshop on the St. Charles Streetcar and then the connection to the bus. I saw cab and finally caved. I was exhausted from teaching all day, had a Saturday ahead of another 8 hours, and decided it was time to treat myself and just get home as soon as possible. It was worth every penny.
Storms and thunder rolling through woke us up in the middle of the night. I hoped it wasn't a sign of what I had to look forward to for Saturday. Fortunately, the rain had stopped an hour or two before I'd have to leave on my bike. Not only was I grateful to be able to ride my bike on this morning after the storm, but the morning mist and fog gifted me with these beautiful scenes. Happy Sunday!
Having posted about my fruit/pastry paper collages earlier in the week, a friend asked how they were made and did I have any others at the Chatette? The answers are: easily and yes! (I must confess that the pastry paper came later.)
If you'd like to try this on your own, you will need: card stock; plastic wrap; a roll of paper towels (2, if you're particularly messy), an even surface, a pulpy fruit of your choice (plums, peaches, figs, pumpkin, etc.); pretty and interesting items from your garden that you'd like to use in your collage (leaves, tiny flowers, rose petals, clover, even weeds work well); and, most of all, a joy in letting yourself go and having fun with the fruit. First a layer of fruit, next arranging your pretties, then another layer of fruit that is essential because this is the layer than seals to the plastic wrap, and finally cover your creation with a sheet of plastic wrap. You will find that the plastic wrap gives added textures and swirls when you push, swirl, and play on top with the fruit that lies beneath. I'd usually hang them from the terrace clothes line to dry a bit before I'd take them to be pressed under a heavy book for evening out.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the secret is to get the collage as sealed as possible: first with your plastic wrap, and secondly when you frame them. This protects them and also prevents moisture from sneaking in. Then, you get a very unattractive fruit cobbler.
You will find that these are very pretty with light behind them. They take on an almost stained glass look. Natural light is nice, but lamp light works as well. Lamp shades can be very pretty using this technique...difficult to do, but very pretty.
So, there you have it. Take it, make it your own, and have fun with it. It's amazing how your own creativity and talent emerge in techniques that are free-flowing and fun. I know I felt like a kid again! Happy Saturday!
Being the stamp girl that I am, I was even more excited than usual when the French commemorated Louise Bourgeois on one of their stamps. I immediately headed to the big post office in Cahors and scooped a whole sheet. They were so pretty on my letters. Plus, Dad and Kat wanted a few so I had a very nice gift for them. Nothing like sitting in the Gare de Cahors, waiting for the bus home, and savoring that very reasonable glass of Cahors wine as you write notes to the states.
The fun thing about their choice of one of her spider sculptures, is that we actually have one of our very own here in the sculpture garden in City Park. During this last visit with Ron, I was able to get a couple of shots. What a challenge getting it all in the photo. And if you should ask, no, as far as I know we are not related. Happy Friday and loving Louise Bourgeois day for me!
Looking back at other fruit/pastry paper collages that I've done over the years, I stumbled across the photos from the 2009 vernissage at "La Galerie dans la Cave" that I'd held at the Chatette during the summers I've been home. It was eyeopening!
The three collages that travel with me were part of the six panel, 24x36 collage presentation, whose arrangement (I'd hoped) looked a bit like looking in or out of our Chatette windows.
Look at the brilliance of the original color! The color seems to fade or deepen over time. And then, I did remove the plastic wrap covering and varnished my three traveling companions, so I'm guessing that added to the muting...almost antiquing of the colors.
2009 was a special year. I'd dedicated a wall to friends and family who'd been to visit entitled: Cadrieu Through Our Eyes. It was wonderful to have Stew and Eric, Kat and Tom, and Michel and Andre participate from afar. Mom, Dad, Kat, and Tom sent their usual floral bouquet that kept on giving. It was also during that year that Evelyn came to pilot my "Melange-ing Magic" experience and participate and help with the vernissage. As you can see, Dali and Sam were always a part of any events we held at the Chatette.
Even though I will be home this summer, I won't be planning and hosting a vernissage this year. Although we'll be there for four months, I don't want to have to rush with planning and promoting and then trying to wrap things up around the same time we're getting ready for return to the states at the end of August! It will be good to see how this summer unfolds, but I have a feeling that a 2015 vernissage is in our future!
You may have heard me rant and rave in the past about coffee shops without real cups. Well, last weekend I caved. Knowing I'd be meeting friends in a spot with no china...I brought my own from home. My next dilemma was what cup to bring. Do I bring my usual? Do I bring a cup that makes a statement? Does it really matter?
I walked up to the counter with my cup in hand. I'd chosen Marina's pretty birthday gift from last year, with the collage of home on the front. I put my cup on the counter and said: "I don't know what size cappuccino this is, but I'll take whatever size fits in my cup." The brewer and I smiled. It looked like a small to her, and we were off.
Ever since we lost Dali last April, she's been sitting on the bookshelf waiting. We didn't make it home last summer as I'd hoped, but this summer is a go for sure. This trip, Sammie Cat and I will be bringing Dali home to stay. My heart seizes up just thinking about it.
I've been reading up on what we ALL need for International Travel one more time. Most of it I know, but traveling with crematory remains is a first. Evidently, one of the most important things is that the remains be contained in something that is x-rayable . We have our cremation certificate...check. I've spokent to the crematorium a couple of times about containers. On this last call, they suggested a velvet pouch. I looked on line. There were lots to pick from at a very reasonable price. One even said: "We'll Meet at the Rainbow Bridge". Dali and I will be meeting in the Lot. That's for sure.
Remembering that I had some velvet, I thought that maybe I could make the pouch myself. Instead, I called Stew. Having Dali's travel container made by our friend just seems like the right thing to do. I loaded Dali up in the basket of my bike over the weekend and took her over to see my guys. Stew and I sat at the table and talked about what I wanted. He said he'd line it for me too...we both cried. I miss Dali. Even though Stew and Eric have our wonderful lovey Louie boy, we still miss Bruno too. Dali is going to have a very special velvet bag, made with love and memories. Sammie cat and I wouldn't have it any other way.
One of the things I've learned about being "on the move" is that it's always nice to bring pieces of home with you. When we left France in October of 2012, I brought these three collage pieces along with me to hang wherever I was. They've hung in the basement on Elizabeth for a couple of months. They've hung in New Orleans. And now, they'll be hitting the road with me once more. I won't be taking them to France, but I love having them with me as reminders of home and the kind of life that I am able to have there.
I've always loved collage. That first summer at Wendy's in Tour de Faure, I was making butterflies out of pastry paper and putting them in my journal. It was a summer of dancing the ballet to Mozart on butterfly wings. French pastry paper can be works of art all their own."
During the summer of 2005, I went to a show called "Reflections of Moist Triangles",where the artist used regional fruit (mostly strawberries) to paint a variety of pieces. By the summer of 2006, I'd decided that I wanted to try collaging regional fruit, pastry paper, and other items found in the garden and beside the road. Having a source for plums right there at the Chatette made it an easy project. Scouting pastry paper took a little more time and energy, but the rewards were worth it. Over the years, I discovered that pulpy fruits are best...plums, figs, peaches, pumpkins, and black berries in a pinch. Although I began with plums, figs became my favorite. The textures are incredilbe. The other discovery of importance: be sure to seal your plastic wrap as tight as possible over your handiwork...other-wise you end up with fruit cobbler! During the summer of 2008, we even had a collage class for the village at the Chatette. Their artwork dried on the terrace clothes line and then hung during our first vernissage later that summer.
So much fun. So many fond memories. Is it any wonder that I want to carry these three musketeers around with me to remind me of heart, home, peace, and love?
And, the wheels are turning...ways to use these pieces in other projects that Kat and I have been working on together. Patience, if you please!
Ron arrived from St. Louis on the Saturday afternoon before Mardi Gras...Endymion for sure!
We headed over to Stew and Eric's, and then Eric dropped us all off at a friend's house close to the route. He then went home and returned on his bike. (There is a method to the madness at Mardi Gras, especially where parade going is concerned.) Ron and I took off on our own. I dragged him all the way up Marconi searching for the Clydesdales, who turned out to be at the front of the parade and were leaving just as we got there. We watched some of the parade from inside a coffee shop, crossed the route, and were lucky to find Eric and Stew right where they said they would be. (Actually, Eric found us.) It was a great way to kick-off a virgin Mardi Gras visit.
We'd planned for Sunday to be a Quarter Day...lunch at the Napoleon House, a jam session with some friends at 3pm in the Marigny, and then who knew? We had time till we had to get the Jackson-Esplanade downtown, so:
Morning Called; we wandered through the Sculpture Garden; and even oggled some vintage cars parked nearby.
Our Napoleon House lunch was not to be: Closed on Sundays, but it was just as well because seafood was calling and Ralph and Cacoo's was a great next choice just around the corner on Toulouse. I hadn't been there in ages, so I was excited to discover that they still had their amazing corn bread deep fried hush-puppies. We shared a seafood platter, 2 sides of hush-puppies, a couple of Corona's, and headed out to wander our way through the Quarter to get to the Marigny Jam session in time.
Seeing the Quarter through someone else's eyes is always fun. Even if they've been here before, like Ron...it's a whole different energy during Mardi Gras. We went over to the river and walked down the Moon Walk, still trying to figure out where he and Jeff docked their John Boat back in the 70's when they came down the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans together. We enjoyed the shops, the French Market, the color, and the characters along the way. (Dancing children always make my day!) And, we still made it to the jam session on time.
...just because it's the day after Mardi Gras. Having stayed in Mardi Gras day with the bad weather, Ron and I decided to park the rental car down near the Quarter and head out on our expedition for the day from there.
We began with cafe au lait and pastries at Croissant D'Or, and then meandered our way up through the Quarter to eventually catch the St. Charles Streetcar.
Wednesday was a much prettier day than Tuesday, so we took our time up Chartres Street, through Jackson Square and checked to make sure that the Napoleon House would be open for lunch. Chartres Street has so many wonderful shops to enjoy.
It was a bit of a run to the streetcar, but we made it and even got a seat! Lots of people were still here, and probably had the same idea for "the day after". We rode all the way up to the turn around at Carrolton and Claiborne, and then made our way back to Canal Street.
I was on a mission to the Napoleon House. But, you just can't pass up Felix's when you're walking by and your company mentions oysters. Felix's is surrounded by other seafood and oyster houses, but Felix's is the best. Our oyster shucker gave us a lesson on how to tell the gender of the oyster and fixed our cocktail sauce up good. Add in a couple of beers to douse that fire-breathing cocktail sauce, and we were primed for a leisurely lunch at the Napoleon House.
Every step you take and stop you make in New Orleans is an event...passing through Pirates Alley, horse and buggy drivers, favorite corners, and favorite fare at the Napoleon House. The Napoleon House sandwich side of jambalaya is always a must for me and a treat for my friends from out of town. And, it's always just enough!
As if we hadn't squeezed enough into one day, we decided to hit St. Louis Cemetery #1 on our way back to the car. Note: The St. Louis Cemetery #1 closes at 3pm. We were disappointed, but made our way back through an almost blooming Armstrong Park, passed an old familiar favorite Treme residence, and even got to give musical directions to a few tourists from Michigan who were looking a little lost. Stick with me-I can always promise you a very full, fun, and interesting day in New Orleans...the local way!