N’Oleans

I have just returned from a five day exploration of the city of New Orleans. Though I wasn’t able to draw as much as I had hoped, I did get in a few solid hours of drawing. I used my fabulous Powershot for supplemental pics. Here are a few images.

St. Charles Street trolley

Cafe du Monde

Teddy at Cafe du Monde

House near Tonti

The people of New Orleans were some of the nicest I’ve ever met, and the food was scrumptious.

We stayed at the funky Le Cirque Hotel located in Lee Circle in the middle of the Arts District. The service was top notch and the food was impressive. Try the grilled shrimp with spinach and tomato risotto in the hotel’s Helix Restaurant and wine bar…yum. To top it all off I was able to see some great art. Right behind our hotel were rows of gallery spaces and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. I had no idea that New Orleans had such a thriving art community. Prospect 1, the New Orleans biennial is held through January. Sadly, I was only able to squeeze in one venue at the Contemporary Arts Center and an impromptu peek inside New Orleans Glassworks Studio. It would be worth the trip back to see the rest of the shows.

Wandering around the Arts District, we fell into the Arthur Roger Gallery where there was a moving exhibition of Katrina related paintings titled “The Storm” by David Bates.

The trip ended much too soon. In spite of losing half a day due to a twisted ankle (don’t ask), I was extremely productive during the short time that I was there. I am completely in love with New Orleans. I only wished I had been able to visit before the storms. With families moving back in slowly but surely, a lot of the Ninth Ward still feels like a ghost town. From what I gather from the new friends I met there, the city is slowly being rebuilt, but will never be the same.