New Orleans: Roux

New Orleans:  Roux, 20 x 20" ©2010 Kim Hambric

Another "new" piece in the New Orleans series.  This series represents the rebuilding, the languishing, the heat and the lush growth of the city.  Roux also represents the cultural mix that makes that forms the city -- for good and bad.

This piece is now available on Etsy.  

Clean Slate?

New Orleans:  Renewal, 20 x 20" ©2009 Kim Hambric

Resolutions!  Lists!  Plans!  Burning of sage!  Prayers!  Sacrifices!  Ceremonial burying of 2011!

I have done none of these.  But I do plan on a new beginning of some sort.

Today, I turned on the studio heater in preparation of working after 3 weeks of holiday activities taking me away from the studio.  What a mess!  How did I work in all of that filth for the past several months?  Now, I must clear my slate before I create.  I'm heading up with the vacuum cleaner after posting.

Above is one of my newer wall quilts.  I did a large series of New Orleans quilts beginning after my 2008 visit.  We visited in late 2006 and returned in the spring of 2008.  While much progress had been made after Katrina, still so much was left to be done.  But there was much inspiration to be gathered from the hard work and new beginnings so visible, to some degree, almost everywhere.  I had plans for these quilts, but these plans did not pan out.  Now I will be adding them to my Etsy shop. It is time for them to see the light of day.

Now, off the the studio with the beast.  Every time I touch that vacuum, there is an injury.  I hate the vacuum.  It hates me.  If I never return to this blog, you will know who won today's battle.

Happy 2012!!

Blah, Blah, Blah

This is New Orleans: Languishing Muses II.
24 x 24"
$425.00

I have to do some blah, blah, blah about my work today. I like doing that less than I like putting hangers on the backs of my pieces. I do not hate it as much as speaking in public, but it comes close. Perhaps I would feel better about the whole idea if I called it writing rather than blah, blah, blah.

If I write about my work, I'm writing about myself. And then I will be judged. It makes me weak in the knees. Suppose I sound stupid. Ignorant. Mean and nasty.

I've made 11 pieces in this series so far. I feel I must do 12. I really wanted to do more when I first started, but now other fabrics and colors are creeping out and I'm not sure what to do next. But I know I must write about what I have already done.

Anybody who has tolerated reading this blog for a while, knows that I am a huge fan of New Orleans. I do not live there. Probably never will. But, I really don't like to say "never" if it limits my options too much.

I have lost count of the number of visits I have made. I believe it is 16. It is very unlikely I will get to visit this year, but I am planning on a visit next spring. The crime rate is definitely a deterrent. From what I have been reading, 1994 was one of the worst years for violent crime. Chances are good that I was there in 1994. However, I did not have a child then. I do feel more concerned about visiting now.

There are many places in the city that I have not visited. Like it or not, I am a tourist when I visit. No, I don't go and get drunk on Bourbon Street. But I do ride the streetcars and look at the big pretty houses. I visit the zoo and City Park. I shop on Magazine Street and stay in the Quarter. There is a lot of the city I have never seen. However, I do feel I have seen more than the average tourist.

So, now I must explain why I have made these 11 quilts. Why are these things relevant? Who would really care? How many Central Pennsylvanians would be interested? We're far too worried about the chicken zoning ordinance than the problems in the greatest city in the US. Well, we do have a New Orleans-style restaurant in town. I ate there once.

Hopefully, these pieces will appear on my website very soon. With some kind of explanation. I want to move people to think about New Orleans. I want something good to come out of what I have created.

Naturally, I would love these pieces to sell like hotcakes. I'm going to feel very positive about that. That will make it happen. Meanwhile, if anyone knows of an organization who is doing a lot of good in New Orleans, I'm looking to donate a percentage of my sales from the New Orleans series.

Now, off to write. Ha. Ha. Some of you will receive a comment from me on your blogs in the next few minutes. And hey, the sun is out. The snow (yes really) has stopped. It looks so nice outside.

New New Orleans Art

Here are the two newest pieces in my New Orleans series. These two are completely finished. Except, of course, for names. I have now completed seven pieces. Another has been cut out and is pending my approval. I have a cutting frenzy, then I have to walk away. I will return, tomorrow probably, and check for color and balance. However, I have vowed not to work in the studio one more minute until I have names for all of my pieces. Perhaps I should be like so many other artists and just label everything "untitled". Can't do it.

I do not feel today is going to be a good day for naming these quilts. I am very upset with what happened in New Orleans yesterday, on Fat Tuesday. Seven people were shot immediately following a parade yesterday. In broad daylight. No one was killed, but that is SO not the point.

I am amazed that so many of the citizens of New Orleans have been able to rebuild their lives and houses in the city, despite incredible obstacles. There are new businesses, new restaurants, new homes. So much work, energy, and hope has been poured (I really couldn't think of a better word) into the city since Katrina.

Yes, increasingly, the city is not run by its officials. It is being run by gangs of teenagers with guns. Little is being done to stop these kids from shooting in the streets. Now, if these people with guns were here from Afganistan, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, or even Canada, we would call it war, or terrorism, and something would be done about it.

It is not only happening in New Orleans. It's happening in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and every other major and minor city in this country. And our country spends far too much time laying blame than doing anything about it. Blame it on the NRA, blame it on guns, blame it on people who have guns, blame it on those who piss those people with guns off, blame it on mental illness, blame it on post traumtic stress disorder, blame it on deadbeat dads, blame it on welfare moms, blame it on drugs. Blame it on the lack of education. Blame it on racisim. My God, just laying the blame could take decades. Meanwhile, our country is experiencing urban warfare.

Just look at what we do when we think another country has weapons of mass destruction. Look at what we do when terrorists fly planes into our buildings.

And then look what we do when teenagers and young adults with guns attack our cities.

Shouldn't we wage war on ourselves? Naw, that would take time and money. And it might hurt somebody's feelings. We might just violate the rights of a handful of criminals. And someone who actually has the right to own a handgun might just be denied one by accident. Oh, the horror of that!

I really would like the right to walk down the street and not fear getting shot. Is that really too much to ask?

Sorry for the tirade. I didn't know I was going to go there. But now that I've been there, I'm going to leave it there for you to read.

I do have a great deal of hope for the next eight years, even though I may not show it.

Nameless

The big one is finally finished, except for a name. Why does this seem to always be the hardest part? I would hate to saddle a piece that took so long to make with a lame name. All in this "series" represent New Orleans. I don't know if all will have the same name and then be given numbers, or should they all have different names?

Any help out there? I would really like to get these posted on my website as soon as possible. Perhaps if I broke the pieces down, I could come up with an idea.

Each of the pieces has some water imagery in it, representing rain, standing water, or hurricane. There are homes, restored and occupied or standing empty. Outlines of homes show that some are no longer there. There are representations of foliage, green and alive or brown and dead. Black figures on red represent the life of New Orleans -- its people. Pieces that are integrated into the artwork represent those who have returned to New Orleans. Pieces that have been sewn to the top after the artwork was quilted represent those who did not or cannot return.

When this piece was completed, I thought about the price I would like to receive for it. There aren't many artists out there who receive what they would like for a piece. I am one of them. I looked up a piece of equal size on my inventory list and was a bit surprised at the price. I do feel it is time for a change. So a change is going to come. I can't put so much time, energy, and emotion into a piece and not receive what I think is a fair price. So today, while my daughter is out of school sick and I am off of work sick as a result, I will go over my inventory list and work on prices. Some will remain the same -- the older ones and perhaps the smallest.

The television will be on for a bit today so I can visit the city through Google Maps. I do spend a good deal of time doing that each day. I can't tell if it makes me feel better, or if it only increases my longing for New Orleans. Whatever. It must be done. Today I'm going to visit the Riverbend section. And later I will force my daughter to take a nap so I can get at least an hour of work done. Away from the computer.

More More More

Well, here's the newest, laid out and ready to sew together. This one is so much brighter. I must have been in a good mood when I laid this one out. My mood has not been so good since.

The grim winter "doldrums" have firmly set in. I have been a cranky person lately.

More books have come in on New Orleans. My husband realizes I have become obsessed. Oh well. I'm just going to go with the flow. My husband thinks that I have this obsession the same time each year. I was thinking it came about every nine months or so. Perhaps he's right. I can't seem to get away from the snow and ice, so I just go away in my head. And now, through the computer. I do spend too much time on Google Maps, checking out the streets of New Orleans. This morning, I discovered my husband has opened his own Google Maps tab and is cruising New York City. He talks about retiring there. I do love it myself. I enjoy walking out the door of the hotel and getting caught up in the bustle. I'm not sure I could keep up with that pace for too long, though. I prefer the more lethargic pace at which New Orleans moves. I am more molasses than quicksilver. And I do enjoy being called darlin' or sweetie at a restaurant than just being handed the bill.

Anyway, back to the artwork. The first New Orleans piece I completed is a tiny one. I have yet to photograph it. I don't know why. While I was piecing together the largest piece, posted a few days ago, I realized that smaller sections might do well standing on their own. I may try to construct a few stand alone pieces that resemble these:

One of these days, you will see the finished pieces for sale somewhere. As usual, I do not have the backing fabric I want and either have to purchase it online and wait 10 days for delivery, or go to our teeny tiny local shop and hope to find the right color. Not going to that big box place. Not gonna do it.

Virtual Vacation

Whee!!! Experiencing the flu here. Perhaps just a cold. I don't know. I feel very woozy. It's kind of neat. I'm going to take whatever over-the-counter drugs I can and I am going to enjoy a virtual vacation.

I've been checking into New Orleans blogs and websites lately and I'm getting caught up in a bunch of interesting situations. There is an impending decision on whether to destroy an entire neighborhood to build a new VA hospital. I've been watching videos of residents and business people who do not want to see their homes taken from them. So much of the city is still so damaged. So much was damaged before Katrina. So much of that city is stunningly georgeous. So much needs to done and saved. I've also found some great flickr sites. I've been flipping through hundreds of photos.

After my virtual vacation, I will start to compile a list of sites for anyone interested. If not, I need the list myself to keep tabs.

I'm not too much of a computer person, so I'm sure it will not go smoothly. I hunted and pecked my way to Google Maps this morning. I'm sure I'm the last person to discover this amazing site. So I shall spend the rest of the morning, day, week, whatever, on my vacation. I have just visited the site of one of my favorite restaurants. I knew that it was long gone, but I just wanted to be there anyway. I aint too good with a map, but my instincts took me to the site immediately. Chez Helene, home of the best fried food I have ever eaten. Austin Leslie, you are MISSED.

I have also cruised the neighborhood supposedly slated for demolition. I am now going to visit some happy spots. I'm going to follow the streetcar up St. Charles Ave. Gonna have a look at some storefronts on Magazine Street. I'm gonna see if I can have a look at my new fave restaurant Lilette. Then I'm gonna see what I can see in City Park and fly over to the Zoo. I'm sooo excited. For once, technology is making me happy. Who would have thought?

Even More Progress

Another one cut out. I just finished laying this out yesterday afternoon. As soon as the last piece had been inserted, I placed the board on the floor and left the studio. This morning I went up and snapped a photo (after I had spent a while blog surfing), and I will have my first look here, right along with you.

Well, actually, I placed this on the floor out of the way yesterday and spent the last 10 minutes in the studio gathering fabrics for the next piece.

From what I understand from reading the blogs of other fiber artists, the sequence seems to be: lay out a piece, sew together, quilt, and add embellishments. Not me. My sequence seems to be: cut and lay out piece, set piece of foamboard on top, cut and lay out piece, set piece of foamboard on top, cut and layout piece, set piece of foamboard on top. If the pieces are small, I can lay out two pieces before I set a piece of foambard on top. I may do this up to 12 times. Then, usually, I begin to piece the tops together. Sometimes this progresses to quilting and embellishment. Frequently, new ideas crop up and I will begin the process anew without finishing the last set. This seems to be happening now. I still have 9 unfinished Sweet Songs of Birds quilts. But I cannot stop what I am doing now to work on them. I have become COMPLETELY obsessed with this new group of quilts. I'm not going to call it a series. I think I will be doing lots of different sizes and colors. It may not be a very coherent group. It may not be a group at all. But it must be worked on.

I do get a bit obsessed. The Sweet Songs of Birds series required the purchase of many CDs of singing, songwriting, and guitar playing women. A few are still hanging around in the CD player, but some have been replaced with music that reminds me of New Orleans. My blogging lately has centered around New Orleans. My reading is centered around New Orleans. Are these obsessions healthy? Am I a bit schitzophrenic to change my obsessions frequently? I guess it is far better to change my inspirations frequently rather than change husbands or get facelifts.

Do these obsessions and changes of course happen to everyone else? How do you get back on track? Do you get back on track? I need a push to get back to finishing those bird pieces. No one's gonna see them or buy them when they are sitting half finished under a stack of foamboard.

What I AM Doing!

I decided to follow my guidelines for 2009 listed in a previous post. If anyone needs reminding, my goals for 2009 are:

1. Keep going
2. Buy supplies.

Yesterday, after posting, I approached the studio with great trepidation. I often pace in front of the door, looking for other things to do. I remember a blog I wanted to have a look at and/or a load of laundry I need to get started. Finally, I climb the stairs and look at my work table. I applied rule number one and keep going -- carving new stamps and moving fabric around. When I didn't want to keep going, I went to Michael's and purchased a couple of paint pens and a new carving block. So, I have completed my two goals for the year. I just have to keep doing them again and again and again and again and again.

As you can see, my New Orleans ideas are pouring out. So far, I seem to be using a lot of house imagery and swirly shapes. I had drawn up a layout for a square piece, 24 x 24". Not sure if this is the right shape for the piece, but I just went on and did it.

Today, I cut shapes, stamped, painted, and moved more fabric around. Something is taking shape.

For some reason, I seem to think that each day is going to be easier and easier. I'm always surprised when it is so often difficult to get started. I should make the assumption that it is never going to be easy. It must be a bit like giving birth (just a bit ladies, I don't mean to say that giving birth is easy or should be compared to making art), when a piece is completed, you forget about how difficult it was to complete and you want to start another one.

I look at the fiber art of loads of other artists and am often taken in by calm, ethereal pieces. Often, I think that is the way I want to go, but somehow, I always end up creating pieces that look like this. Guess I just live with it and enjoy it, huh?

My "research" is revealing many interesting New Orleans blogs and bloggers. Perhaps I should compile my favorites and link to them on my sidebar. Anybody interested?

How about New Orleans in Legos?

What are you doing?

My mother calls me every weekday morning and that is always the first question she asks. The first words out of her mouth. I rarely answer. I often say I am messing around on the computer (blogging). I don't say I'm blogging, however. My mother is in her 80s and that would require a long explanation.

My mother is supportive of my artwork (unlike many others I know) and I try to remember to show her pictures, but I don't often give out details. I would then have to give her a long explanation.

My husband often asks me, "What did you do today", when he gets home from work. I really don't want to give a long explanation. Perhaps if I did explain my work to people, it would give it some validation, and often I don't feel that it should be validated. If so, I would have to take it seriously. If I took it seriously, I would be forced to put it out in front of more people. That would increase my chances of having people say, bluntly, that it sucks.

I could say that my hours of computer surfing are research. Then that would lead to a long explanation. And in my explaining, I might just realize that I am goofing off and not working.

I am not sure how other artists, fiber artists in particular, go about researching for their work. I guess I've been lead to believe that artist just create. We are moved. We are inspired. We take a walk through nature and go into our studios and create. We create -- we are gods. Or we just doodle -- we are mice. I guess there is an inbetween and I am there.

As I said in my last post, I'm slowly going to finish the little bird pieces. The inspiration (whatever) that came about to create the Sweet Songs of Birds series has morphed into something else. I suppose it could have been more inspiration. Music maybe? Or maybe it is that time of year when I think of places I would like to travel. Maybe that huge full moon the other day. Perhaps it is a whole gumbo of different things where one idea cannot be isolated from the whole mess.

I think it is the New Orleans cycle. I go visit, and then I am refreshed. My body returns to central Pennsylvania, while less corporeal parts of me remain behind. Perhaps I don't notice that something has been left behind, at least for several months. There seems to be a time, at about nine months after my last visit, that the parts of me all need to join up again. I start thinking about the next trip. In between visits, however, is a love-hate relationship. I think of the bad smells. I think of the crime. I tell myself I don't love it anymore. This works for a few weeks. Then the sighs begin. The sluggishness. The need to go back and prove that I can live without it. Which I can't.

All of this thinking about it has lead to to want to create something about New Orleans. I do not do realism. I can't. I'm just not that good of an artist. I have to rely on color and emotion. So where do I start? I don't want to do anything depressing. Of course, there are depressing things about New Orleans. The homes not fixed, the hospitals not fixed, the crime. So, now I find myself wanting to do some research. I am feeling that my research is just an excuse not to go into the studio. Maybe it is. I don't want to do anything about flooding, although I don't think I can completely ignore that. There are some great blogs about the city that I have been going through. I have my ever-growing New Orleans book collection that I have been going through. There are some movies and uTube bits that I need to see. Am I just avoiding?

What do other artists do to prepare for working? Is the avoidance we (I) feel really avoidance? Is there a quiet time before the storm? Is blogging research? Are we really allowed to stare at the ceiling?

And to top it all of, I now have to run some errands. Better not avoid that. Especially since the temperature is going to drop into the single digits by tomorrow.

New Year. New Orleans?

I am still going to be working on those happy little bird quilts. Perhaps just not as quickly as originally planned. Artistic ADD has set in again and I must move onto something new.

No matter that I have had doubts about continuing to make art. Those doubts do not matter. I must do it.

But what about? The most common advice is to create from what you know about. From where you live. Someone from Florida should not be writing novels about living in Alaska. So should a resident of central Pennsylvania create art about New Orleans? What do I truly KNOW about it. A tourist has little knowledge of the real living that takes place in those cities they visit. But, then again, what do I truly know about central Pennsylvania? Well, in the winter (which is 5 months long), it is gray, and grayish brown, and grayish green, and black (when it is night). I don't feel particularly inspired to create from this knowledge.

I have been playing with fabrics and stamps for a couple of days. I have skimmed most of my books on New Orleans, several of which have been written post-Katrina. I have considered water, destroyed homes, and black X's which have been spray painted on remaining homes. I have spent the morning surfing New Orleans blogs. Many of these blogs relate tales of the aftermath, but most are on the authors' day to day lives in that city. I no longer want to include such depressing imagery, but this destruction is still a part of the residents' everyday lives. What story would I have to tell? I don't know yet. I do know that I love that city, though. It is part of my everyday life, somehow.

Right now, there are no plans on the book to go to New Orleans this year. New York would be next on the list. Aside from seeing family and perhaps joining my husband on a conference in a new city (London this year????), our vacations always alternate between New Orleans and New York City. But when I start to think about New Orleans this much, well, I usually become quite despondent until I go there.

Above is a photo of the French Quarter taken from the top floor of the House of the Rising Sun, otherwise known as the Hotel Villa Convento on Ursuline Street. Wish I were there. Unlikely there is ice covering everything like there is here. Sigh.

New Orleans is Alive and (getting) Well

We just returned from a fantastic trip to New Orleans. I know what you are probably thinking. Why would anybody want to go to New Orleans? Well, loads of reasons we will get to soon.


I am not going to say that New Orleans has recovered. I'm not here to say it is the cleanest, safest city in the United States. I am here to say that New Orleans is the most incredible city in this country.

Yes, parts of the city are still lying quietly in ruins. There are neighborhoods completely devastated by flooding that are slowly being rebuilt. Some neighborhoods received little water and have recovered rather quickly. Still other neighborhoods (many) were not flooded and you would not be able to tell that anything had ever happened.

One of our favorite places in New Orleans is the Audubon Zoo. Most of the animals fared quite well through the hurricane and its aftermath. The zoo is in great shape and was full of visitors. We were able to take the St. Charles streetcar all the way to the zoo. The majority of the St. Charles streetcar route has been repaired and the cars were full of locals and tourists.

One day was spent in City Park. Most of the park has been restored. Some buildings will have to be torn down and the golf courses have not been repaired, yet the majority of the park is in great shape. We first went to the New Orleans Museum of Art -- a fantastic museum in a beautiful building. Then on to the sculpture garden. While several trees were lost, many of the beautiful live oaks remain. Many trees have already been replaced.





A great deal of wildlife can be found in the park. We even saw pelicans fishing -- although I didn't managed to get a photo of one. I did manage to capture this fellow, though.



Also in City Park is a small amusement park. Aside from the now missing ferris wheel, the park is back to normal. We rode the Ladybug roller coaster 5 times! My daughter was extremely fearless -- I screamed. Each time.



Lily and I rode the recently restored carousel. The indoor carousel had been flooded and the horses and animals almost ruined. They have recently been returned to New Orleans after being restored. Dozens and dozens of brass plaques on the carousel name the donors who helped put this stunning ride back together. I cried a little.



I've cried dozens of times since Katrina. I still do. There is still a long way to go for the residents who still live there and those who want to come back. Yet now I often cry for good reasons. I cried when I read that Commander's Palace had reopened. I cried when I read that the sea lions had been returned to the Zoo. I cried when I stood on a street corner last Sunday and saw the St. Charles streetcar rounding the corner to come and pick me up.


The people that live and work there thanked us several times for coming to visit. I'm glad I went and I am looking forward to my next trip. It looks like it might be a couple of years before I can get back. That is too long. I need to sell some of my work so I can go back sooner.