This is the second piece I’ve created that has been inspired by New Orleans. The first, created with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina on my mind, reflected the chaos and destruction she left behind. It was messy and chaotic … I was never happy with it.
I wanted to create something calm and beautiful that represented this incredibly unique and vibrant place… to try and capture its spirit and heart, for just a beat … or two.
This is probably the most difficult art piece I’ve ever done, for various reasons and part way through I came to a standstill… in need of a little more inspiration. During this time I decided to finally open a book I’d been longing to read for a while. I’m not one of those people who can read a book in small sections over a long period of time, instead I like to lose myself in the authors world, so I tend to read a book in one or two sittings at most.
The book, The Sound of Building Coffins by Louis Maistros, had been sitting at the front of the bookshelf waiting for a moment like this. As soon as I opened it I was drawn into the old world of New Orleans and upon leaving, I had the inspiration I needed to finish the artwork.
Inspired by the world of dreams, old New Orleans and the sound of early Blues. In Dreamland (that place between life and death) I close my eyes and can hear the songs of heartache and pain down at Melody’s Joint, Ole New Orleans.
Meticulously drawn in lyrical prose, this tale of death and rebirth,
devastation and redemption, will draw you into a world of beauty and pain,
as alluring as it is dangerous. It is 1891 in New Orleans, and young
Typhus Morningstar cycles under the light of the half-moon to fulfill his
calling, rebirthing aborted fetuses in the fecund waters of the Mississippi
River. He cannot know that nearby, events are unfolding that will change
his life forever - events that were set in motion by a Voodoo curse gone
awry 40 years before he was born. All will be irrevocably changed by a
demonic struggle, and by the sound of a new musical form: jazz.
