Sunday, August 11, 2019

Rickety Picket Fence

Here's a picture of a picket fence in need of repair...


Click on the image to make it larger.

Flash Flood Foundation

This is what happens when your house foundation is washed away in a flash flood. 


It must be a well-built house to still be standing with only half a foundation. 

Apparently, according to this October, 2019, photo from Google Street view, they were able to restore the foundation and save the house. 


 

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World

Tucked away in the shadow of the bridge crossing the Mississippi River in New Orleans is a former riverside warehouse that now houses Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World. It is a huge collection of Mardi Gras floats, artwork, and sculptures, outlandish creatures, funny faces, and even superhero characters. Plus a pelican or two.

Ten artists work feverishly all year long to produce hundreds of new floats for area parades, sometimes using parts and pieces from previous floats, sometimes creating new creatures altogether. In addition to Mardi Gras floats, the company also provides beautiful/intriguing 3-D artwork for amusement parks, casinos, and specialty businesses. 

The tour of the place takes about 45 minutes and includes a short movie about Mardi Gras, its parades, and the peculiar effects of "Carnival Season" on New Orleans inhabitants and the thousands of out-of-towners who somehow spend $1 billion each year on the extravaganza.

Here are some pictures of the more colorful, memorable, amusing and disturbing samples of Mardi Gras madness, captured in papier mache, styrofoam and fiberglas.

Click on the images to make them larger. 


The World of Mardi Gras World


A guided tour



A Work In Progress





Arrrrggghhhh!



A blank float canvas





Musicians


Superheroes


and Superdome heroes


Although they look real, no dalmatians were hurt in the taking of this picture








Thursday, August 1, 2019

Hancock County Map Production

Here's the production sequence video for the 2019 Hancock County pictorial map featuring Bay St. Louis and Waveland, Mississippi. Click on the play triangle to start the video, then the "[ ]" in the bottom right to enlarge the view. 


It took about a month to draw the pen and ink base map, then digitizing it and using the computer to add colors, shading and texture.