01 SEPT 2020
Presently, as I scribble these notes and quick sketch, pencil in the pocket and a scrap of
wood subbing for paper, I am outside cutting siding – the skin on a new art studio addition
I’m building. For 1 ½ years I’ve poured all my creative efforts into my studio remodel adding
a sunroom and bathroom. I’m waiting for Tropical Storm Marco’s rain to drive me inside, anticipating more to come from Hurricane Laura, 1 ½ days away. I don’t want to stop for lunch and it’s 1:30. I’ll eat chicken spread from Calvin’s, atop a couple slices of artisan bread I baked. Another loaf of dough is rising in the kitchen, leavened from a sourdough starter I kickstarted with kombucha. Yes, I made the kombucha, but the chicken spread is from Calvins. No one can make it better in Baton Rouge. I’m certain of that.
When I’m done building, I’ll name the studio The Birdhouse, and it will have a Birdbath inside - Judith and I love birds. And when COVID-19 plays itself out, you’re welcome to stop by and view my art and studio. If the weather is nice, we can sip iced tea, coffee, or another stronger brew in the adjoining courtyard. You’ve never seen a deck like mine. If the weather is nasty, we can certainly visit in the sunroom.
I ink my graphic work in series. Every print series and every print has a story. For example, 39 years ago I named my first crawfish print Café de la Louisiane, and Doug Lambert shortened the name to Café La La. Bad coffee gave birth to Café La La in Memphis, Tennessee, where together my friend Kim and I sipped coffee. This coffee tastes nasty, too weak, Kim complained. Coffee we drink is like swamp water, I chuckled. I pictured home, sipping my swamp water, in the cup a male and female crawfish saluting me. Soon as I got home, I inked the picture, the two crawfish named Ovide and Julia after Maw Maw and Paw Paw. You see, I really know the swamp and crawfish.
Many crawfish seasons later I wrote a memoir summing my Atchafalaya years, and I illustrated the draft. I named the first ink drawing Craw de Lis and showed Craw de Lis to Crabnet Gallery owners Doug and Rita Lambert. They exclusively marketed my original prints in the New Orleans French Quarter for 30 something years. What you been smoking? Doug asked me. His remark discouraged me and, I tucked that series away…… until Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The French Quarter slowly recovered after the storm, and The Crabnet opened its doors. Rita called Judith. FOR THE LOVE of GOD tell Danny to publish that Craw de Lis. Zoom, Craw de Lis and Friends series blasted off, with Doug smiling, thinking, Sock It Too Me Danny!
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