New Orleans Voodoo Altars

I'm just back from a trip to New Orleans, and of course I had to bring some Magic back...These are pictures of altars in Voodoo Authentica Cultural Center and Collection on Dumaine Street, a shop that also sells Voodoo and Santeria paraphenalia and imported gift items from Africa, Haiti and Mexico. The owner was very welcoming and allowed these consecrated altars to be photographed, which many practitioners are hesitant to do. Her idea was that if the spirits didn't want to be photographed, the pictures simply wouldn't come out. And it seems she was right.















Several altars, like the Yemaya and Oshun altar in three levels shown here came out beautifully. (Top level, above; second and third level below.)














Others pictures came out blurred, as if the saints were only allowing me to see part of who they were. (Or maybe it's becuase I didn't use a flash.)

But the weird thing is, I took one picture (I don't recall which altar) that didn't come out at all, and I can't account for it. I got an "Incompatible Image Error" something I'd never had on this camera except when I used the wrong camera card. That certainly wasn't the case, as all the other pictures came out. Hmmm....

To visit Voodoo Authentica for yourself, you can look in on their website http://www.voodooshop.com/

And to see lots more pictures (including pictures of St. Louis Cemetery #1) and read about my experiences in New Orleans, visit the companion webpage for this blog, The Crow's Nest

The Crow's Nest

Halloween Windows Bloomsburg 2007

It's that time of year again...when Bloomsburg area schools let their art students paint store windows of participating Main Street businesses. The paintings went up quickly this year, and came down even faster, probably so merchants could start pitching Chirstmas goodies just as soona s possible. (Berwick's Halloween Window paintings were still up days later....) But never fear, some of them at least, live on at The Crow's Voice. Last year The Crow chose four windows (see blog archive for last year's selections) Here are my five favorites this year:

It seems like this refelctive surface on the front of Patrick O'Connell's office, just lends itself to zig-zaggedy compositions like this Tim Burtonesque haunted house. (Last year the office hosted a gargoyle with a similarly twisted look. Could it be the same artists?) The signatures on this one are Steven Warner, Jesse Hedrick and Marilyn Clocker.

This demented clown on the window of Remit Corporation is one of my favorites this year. You can hear the explosion of color from across the street, and the pattern of hair and teeth and ruffled cloth make the image leap out at you. The work of Allysa Lown and Emily Prisuta.

This wicked old crone on the window of Bloom Floral signed NC and NR has some great color relationships going on, and its flat Japanese-Manga-like composition was something I just couldn't pass up.

For sheer creativity, I had to post this ghostly Changeling in the Sky with Diamonds. I don't know who drew it. Could the signature be hidden in the wolfen hair?

Finally, my choice for Best of Show this year goes to this compelling Vampyrella on the window of Van Dyke Goldsmith, the work of Jess, Sasha and Tino. My photo can't do justice to the layered compositon that echoes both the architectural elements inside the store and the buildings across the street that are reflected in the glass. Very cool.

There were lots of other nice window paintings, too. A cute unsigned cat-in-the-moon on the Costune Shop, a wicked fanged cat on Bella Donna Boutique by Cowbell V, and an unsigned feisty Cat with Crystal Ball on the window of Larsen Design Group. I wanted to go back to get another shot of Kayla Holdren and Molly Kocher's Blue Tree in front of A Revolution in Bloom (was that Molly Kindorf's signature faded above it?) My original shot was poor, and when I went back to reshoot, it was already gone. Let's keep them up a bit longer next year so everyone has a chance to enjoy them!