Art and Photography Blog

Painting in Pirate's Alley: 2014 Summer Season

 described springtime painting in Pirate’s Alley in my last post. The summer season has it’s own character. First, there is the heat. Now the shade and breezes in Pirate’s Alley are welcomed. Some people still tackle the sun on Royal Street in hopes of higher sales, but I go for the shade. There seems to be plenty of foot traffic in the alley. Here is my summer set up at the beginning of the alley at Royal and further down towards Jackson Square.

    

Next, there is the rain. While there are rainy days in the spring, they are fewer and tend to last most of the day so you don’t even try to set up. The summer brings frequent, sudden, and heavy down pours that usually only last a few minutes. These almost daily occurrences need to be accommodated if you are to maintain a presence in the alley. My solution is the blue tarp made famous as roofing material after Katrina. Through much practice, I got it down so I can cover my paintings in a few minutes. The rain drill often gets several exercises on any day I am in the alley. 

    

The summer tourists are different: more kids and fewer art buyers. While the spring has many events to attract people to New Orleans and the French Quarter, the summer has its share. For example, there is Satchmo Fest and Red Dress Run. I left painting in the alley to go over to Satchmo Fest for an hour at a time to hear a some favorites such as John Boutte and Kermit. The visitors during Satchmo time were good and purchased some of my work. Red Dress Run is more like Red Dress Stroll. The Quarter is full of men and women wearing skimpy red dresses with drinks in hand. The heavily muscular went topless. No one seems to actually run, even those wearing official entry numbers. This turns into Red Dress Crawl or worse. They are not an art buying crowd and got tiresome after a while.

    

This year there was a convergence of Red Dress Run, Naughty in New Orleans (the swinger’s convention), and Dirty Linen Night in one weekend. The latter is an event on Royal Street organized in response to White Linen Night by the high-end galleries on Julia Street. That evening red dresses gave way to gallery goers and some art was sold. Several expensive paintings changed hands next to me and I made a gallery connection for the fall. As night came on you could see the shadow of a Mary statue with raised hands reflected on the back of St. Louis Cathedral. Below is an example of the hundreds of similar pictures taken by people clustered with cameras at the entrance to the alley. This scene happens every night and is called the touchdown Mary.

  

I am looking forward to the fall season on Pirate’s Alley and will bring you the results in a few months. Meanwhile, I hope to see you in the Quarter.

 

 

Painting in Pirate's Alley: 2014 Spring Season

This spring I began painting in Pirate’s Alley and offering my paintings for sale.  You need a license from the city, obtained in February. There is a long tradition of painters in Pirate’s Alley from the 1920s, if not before. John Sheldon’s Dixie Bohemia documents the artists and writers in the French Quarter in the 1920s. There is an article on Sheldon’s work in Summer 2013 issue of Louisiana Cultural Vistas. Their living spaces centered at Jackson Square and Pirate’s Alley. William Faulkner came to the alley in 1925. Renting space at 625 Orleans Alley (the official name of the alley at the time), Faulkner wrote his first novel, Soldier’s Pay, there, a few feet from where we paint. The building now houses a good book store and I am frequently having to tell tourists how to find it.

As a child in the 1950s I remember coming down with my mother to see the artists lining Pirate’s Alley. Sheldon’s book also documents the evolution of the area from immigrant neighborhood to artist colony to expensive tourist area. Even though today’s Quarter primarily caters to the tourist economy, I still feel a connection to the past. Some days this takes more effort than others. Below you can see my paintings set up for sale on two different days on Royal Street. Your spot varies with how early you arrive and how many others before you decided it might be a good day.  

  

Your license reads that it allows you to paint on the street, but you can also exhibit your work for sale. Many of the earlier artists were portrait painters who did street commissions but not all, as the Louisiana Cultural Vistas article indicates. Today some artists only sit and sell, while others work on their paintings. I tend to paint most of the time, while still trying to figure out better ways to promote my paintings. I would get bored just sitting, hoping to sell a work. Most artists are very cooperative, exchanging sales ideas and generally helping each other. I did a video of some of us with permission and posted it on YouTube (see Pirate's Alley Artists on Royal Street).

You can set up to paint on Royal Street on the fence behind the St. Louis Cathedral or around the corner in Pirate’s Alley. In the cooler days of the spring it is best to be on sunny Royal Street because of greater foot traffic. Getting a spot is on a first come basis, so this usually requires getting up with the sun. I try to get there at daybreak. Then I wait for the sidewalk cleaners to finish their daily ritual of power spraying the leftover trash from last night before setting up. We always thank them for their efforts. Sleep in and you end up in Pirate’s Alley, colder, shaded and windy as shown below.

  

In summer the cooler qualities of Pirate’s Alley are desired since the afternoon sun makes Royal Street an oven on hot days as it comes around the rooftops. Each season has its entertainers on Royal Street. The spring brings Mardi Gras parades (see my 1 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Mardi Gras Parade 2014), Second Lines (see my 6 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Second Lines 2014) and other celebrations such as St. Patrick’s Day bar hoppers accompanied by trucks with loud speakers blaring 70s rock (see my 2 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2014) and antique auto parades: (see my 2 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Antique Auto Parade 2014). There are also street performers, escape artists, and many others parading to be seen. The entertainment continues all day and forms a backdrop to my painting.

      

During all seasons a great trad jazz band led by Doreen Ketchins sets up around noon only a block away in front of Rouses’s, in good hearing distance. The live music is great to paint by. Brass band music filters over from Jackson Square if you are on that end of the alley. Occasionally, a well-trained opera singer starts up in the late afternoon on Royal.

  

I began painting on old moving box but graduated to a more professional folding table with a larger surface.

    

On cold days the early morning chill can be addressed by a hot coffee and roll from Royal Blend. Lunch has known to be gumbo from the Gumbo Shop around the corner. There is a Rouse’s for snacks and a guy comes around every day selling bananas, two for a dollar. I am a regular customer. Accessible bathrooms are a trade secret. Come down to the street and I can share this insider’s knowledge.

     

The summer season takes a different turn as described in my next post.