BOURBON STREET

TAKE FIVE

THE FRENCH QUARTER

SOPHISTICATED LADIES

STELLA BY STARLIGHT

THEY'RE PLAYING DIXIE

POSTCARDS FROM THE STUDIO 

"With a desire to show my deep respect and appreciation for the role New Orleans played in the creation of jazz, I created a suite of paintings titled The French Quarter.

Jazz was born in New Orleans around the dawn of the 20th Century. The city's diverse blend of cultures and races beckoned people to gather together to make great music. Drawing on the roots of blues and ragtime, people like Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver created a rich stew of improvisation and new music that came to be known as Jazz. Louis Armstrong, another New Orleans native, brought dazzling innovation and pyrotechnic prowess to the music he changed forever. He remains a beacon of goodness and a role model to all jazz musicians to this day. More recently, New Orleans has given birth to new generations of great musicians such as the Marsalis family and Harry Connick Jr.

In my paintings, I used the dark watery surfaces and ornamental ironwork to evoke the humid landscape and historical artistry of the home of jazz. The light in these paintings works much like a spotlight on a stage. Reflections create a mysterious atmospheric backdrop to the rhythms of highlight and shadows in the musical play of paint. I find these works to be a curious blend of optimism and dark beauty. They are at once formal and playful, traditional and surprising... as is jazz and the city that gave it to us."

Embrace Beauty, KNight