After 16 years here in Wyoming, I just received full professor and am thrilled to share what I have learned in academia and in the art world. You learn a lot about yourself in these situations and definitely what you are not. I am not someone who is willing to step on someone else to get what I want. Maybe that is the southern in me, coming from New Orleans, but I hope it is the human in me. I am earnest and honest in my work whether in the classroom or a gallery space. This is not always the case in others I work with and maybe one day this will not surprise me but I have this nasty habit of thinking others should be kind and helpful. Now, of course, this is not everyone, but academia is full of competition for funding and students and everything always seems to have an agenda attached to it. This may exist in the art world but I see it less where I choose to exhibit. There was only one gallery in New Orleans I experienced this and it was where the gallery owner also was a listed artist in the gallery. Maybe it is just me, but I don't think you should dip your quill in the company ink. It confuses things. He begrudgingly wrote me a check when I sold all of the work in my given space and refused to give me access to the buyers when asked. It may be why I attempt to target kids with my artwork. Kids are rarely not what they appear to be. Regardless, I am always excited to get comments on my website and when I do gallery talks that my work offers some hope and a silver lining when applicable to someone going through a tough move/ transition or has been through a natural disaster. You can put yourself mentally in my seeds and imagine floating off into the wind to a new and better situation.
I think about all of the people hit by tornados lately and how scary that must be.
My childhood home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
The students and I did a small exhibition together that utilized Altoids tins into sculptural works. This was my homage to my home town and the beautiful french doors in the Quarter.
