Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Aloha, Bag(h)dad; Helloooo Bermuda - Louisiana

Aloha, Louisiana

 Seriously, I always thought that the World Tour was over - give or take a town or two - but that was before I discovered Aloha, Louisiana near the Kitsatchie Forest in North Central Louisiana.  True, not an international place, but much like Welsh,  Louisiana, I decided its close enough to fit in.   I wasn't quite sure how to photograph Aloha, Louisiana,  but then I realized I keep a plastic lei around my rearview mirror. It made for some delightful foreground framing.

Aloha Forest

Aloha wasn't hard to find,  it's just a few miles north of Bagdad Community on Highway 71.


In Bag(h)dad, I found a lil bit o' cotton..


..and this sign: 



The reason I was in these parts of Louisiana, was to give a presentation of my World Tour at the Louisiana Studies Conference at NSU in Natchitoches.  I had dutifully checked the map before leaving, thus discovering Aloha.  En route to Natchitoches on Hwy 71, I stopped to take a few photos of the grounds of a church along the side of the road in Montgomery.  The church was very elaborately decorated in folk art fashion, and these signs caught my eye:



What I didnt realize at the time was that the woman who created them, folk artist Juanita Leonard, was going to deliver the Keynote Address at the conference I was attending!  ....Synchronicity.....


I continued on my way, enjoying the cotton fields of the region..



..and the nice:

change of pace

After the conference, I had some time to drop by Bermuda before heading back home. 



Bermuda is situated along the Cane River and is home to Oakland Plantation, part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park. 

Oakland Plantation

P. Phanor Prudhomme General Store for Bermuda area







 There are other plantations in the area including Melrose Plantation, where Clementine Hunter lived.  I had previously visited this locale in January after photographing Athens, Lisbon, &  Vienna.  
During that trip, my friend and I stopped off at St. Augustine Church, the first Catholic Church in the US to be built by free people of color.  It was established in 1803 by Nicolas Augustin Metoyer and Louis Metoyer, who also founded Melrose Plantation.  The Metoyers were the sons of Marie Therese Coincoin, the free woman of color and noted businesswoman of the Cane River region.  

St Augustine Church, Isle Brevelle
Driving through Bermuda this go around, I came across the St. Charles Catholic Church, which I later read was a mission church for St. Augustine.

St. Charles Catholic Church, Bermuda

Still, what caught my eye the most on this trip was....the cotton (and it was right next to the church).  


Bermuda Cottonfields

Seeing new places, meeting new faces, sharing my own artwork with others, made this World Tour road trip more than fulfilling.  Plus,  I think I found my dream house, placed amongst the cottonfields, or as I like to think of them.. terrestrial clouds..

Dreamy Cottonfield

'Twas a nice way to spend the Fall Equinox.


(c) Natasha Sanchez
www.nattie-concepts.com

VISIT www.nattieconcepts.etsy.com  to SUPPORT the TOUR



Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Trippin' with Triptychs & more World Tour news

Contemplating in China  

Hidey Ho -  The World Tour is back out on the road this week!  The destination will be exposed in the next  blog post...

In the meantime I'd like to share some other news:

This Saturday, September 22nd, I will be giving a presentation on The State of My World (The Louisiana World Tour) at the Louisiana Studies Conference at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.  The theme of this years conference, which begins Friday, September 21st,  is Louisiana Art and Artists.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the great presenters and sharing the state of my world with others.  :)  More info, including presenters and schedules, can be found here.

******

I'm getting back into creating triptychs from the World Tour.  I used to do art markets in another life, okay, well, really just a few years ago. I stopped doing them when I got back in the film biz and when I started leading photography workshops with American Photo Safari.  One of the positives in the digital world is being able to keep my art market stock going through my Etsy store. Check out my latest creations, "Contemplating in China", inspired by my visit to China last May/June, and "Polish Cows", my memories of Poland from last March.

Polish Cows


I also have a store on my website called the Authentic Shoppe.  Here,  I sell original lumen and silver prints.      Last December, I created a series of liquid emulsion World Prints on watercolor paper. I have a selection of these prints available in the Shoppe.

Pathway at Poverty Point

What's been so great about using Louisiana as a blank canvas is that I have been able to incorporate all of my mediums into the World Tour - photography (traditional, some digital and alternative), storytelling, songwriting, & performing .  Well, I haven't quite fit in the lumen prints yet, but I am sure that is coming.  I did attempt to make a lumen print out of some cotton from Hamburg, but that didnt go over so well.  Ah well.. never know unless you try..

 Everytime I think the World Tour is at an end, another international destination arises. My world is getting larger every day.  But I am moving towards creating a more permanent, final work of this project.  Any funds from prints purchased goes towards that goal.   If you'd like to browse, purchase a print and support the tour, visit these shops:

NattieConcepts Etsy
Authentic Shoppe


***

In the spirit of sharing my various mediums with others, tomorrow night my gig at the Neutralground Coffeehouse will be a World Tour pre-show/benefit show starting at 8pm. I'll be singing some of my World Tour ditties and one or two members of my new chick band, The Rhodas will be on hand to showcase some of the tunes we've been working on.  Should be a fun night. Come on out, support the Tour and see what The Rhodas are all about!

Nattie's World Tour Pre-Show/Benefit with special guests The Rhodas
Neutralground Coffeehouse
5110 Danneel NOLA
8-9pm


****non-World Tour note:  Yes, my new chick band, The Rhodas, is named for my illustrious cat and her namesake, Rhoda Morganstern.  *** (my cat is kinda mortified about it, though)



I'll have a new post next week!
Natasha