WTF – Page 2

Furnished Stove and Refrigerator!

Posted on November 10, 2006 by Varg

The ad reads… “Smallish, old fashioned 1 bedroom apartment at 828 N. Rampart, across from Armstrong Park. Furnished stove and refrigerator. Upstairs. Water included. Sorry no pets. 6 months minimum. $650 plus deposit. For more info, call 504-529-2367.” I’m not positive it’s the same apartment but it’s definitely real close. I mean real close. I’m…

Serial Flasher Nabbed!

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Varg

Garden District flasher nabbed Well, ladies of Uptown, the show is over. That’s right, the serial flasher of the Garden District has been caught. If you wern’t one of the lucky ones, you missed your chance. The NOPD nabbed him today in Central City. Everybody can walk their dogs in peace now. Canton Jones, 26,…

Recipe For A Grisly New Orleans Murder

Posted on October 20, 2006 by Varg

You will need… 1,500 dollars for a “going away” party 28 cigarette burns 7 pages of a suicide note 2 legs baked in the oven (for 12 days) 1 head boiled in a pot (for 12 days) 1 torso (chilled) 1 former New Orleans mayoral candidate and landlord 1 charge of misdemeanor possession of marijuana…

This Stuff Writes Itself Folks…

Posted on October 18, 2006 by Varg

Man dismembers girlfriend in Quarter; cooks body parts Mental health crisis? You bet your ass! This is such New Orleans Babylon. Girl gives boy shelter during natural disaster. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl cohabitate above a voodoo shop. Boy cheats on girl. Girl throws boy out. Boy strangles girl in bathtub….

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Rejoice!

I say that a lot. I sign many pieces with it. I do this because I believe our lives are a true happenstance. A brilliant occurence from nothingness. We are so rare. We are so unlikely. And simply being born isn’t enough. From there we must survive, endure. So each morning, after our Sun departs and is reborn again. Please, for the sake of your ancestors and the Universe in general, hoist that cup of joe up and say, “Rejoice.”

Ours is a soulful existence. No matter how many McMansions, polyester fabrics, auto-tunes, modified foods and social networks we surround ourselves with, we are all still native, passionate beings made of ancient matter. We are organic and we have soul.

Wood also has a warm, soulful quality. Wood has a memory. It retains smells, traumas, events. It even has a calendar. This is why I have chosen it as my medium, for its old soul. I like to think the wood in my work is in its third incarnation. First a tree, then a home and now art. If you have a room that needs a little soul, get a piece. A room can never have enough soul.

My inspiration and subject matter comes from many sources, among them: Humanism, old ballads, trickster tales, flora and fauna, science, myths and folklore, stringed instruments, brass bands, amber spirits, lady vocalists, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of my pieces are there just to make a short, simple statement about what’s important in life. Some are more diffuse and abstract in meaning. A personal drama, an enduring line from a poem or novel, a poignant song lyric, the legacy of an important person, a fleeting thought … these are the subjects of my art.

I use hearts often because they are a very abstract way of depicting the human soul without also employing the very subjective human form. The symbolic heart is an apt representation for a person’s experience and essence. A body can immediatly conjure happiness, sorrow, youth, age, anger, bliss. These emotions can get in the way. Sometimes it’s simply about the experience.

I am the son of a sailor and a social worker, the grandson of a gypsy, a dancer and a nurse. I spent my youth moving from port city to port city, watching a lot of road go by and reading World Book Encyclopedia. After my parents settled down on the Gulf Coast, I was a miscreant youth, destroying cars and taking the wrongs things too seriously and the right things not serious enough. Eventually I began replacing my imagination with experience.

I will use any salvaged wood but prefer swamp cypress and longleaf heartwood pine.

I despise waste. Particularly the waste of organic matter. Trees are magnificent. They were here before we arrived and they’ll be around after we are gone. I’m making an effort to save as much wood as possible. Creating art is fun too. But beyond communicating with folks, but beyond making money ad providing for myself, beyond rescuing flooded parts, beyond reveling in the ethereal aroma of heartpine that hasn’t seen the light of day in 400 years, beyond all that, I am trying to make a simple comment on waste.