NEW ORLEANS MANDALAS, ORIGINAL SERIES 

Creole Cottage Musicians Village

Oil on Canvas ;  30" x 30"
At the center of the mandala is a Creole Cottage Floor Plan and elevations. The Creole Cottage (1790's‐1870's) is the earliest remaining local housing type in New Orleans, influenced by both French and Spanish construction methods and the local climate. Creole Cottages characteristically feature a high gabled roof, the ridge of which is parallel to the street. In the center of the house and at the top of the sky are the following West African Adinkra Symbols: OSRAM NE NSOROMMA, "The Moon and the Star" symbolizing love, faithfulness, harmony; GYE NYAME, "except for God" symbol of the supremacy of God; KETE PA , "good bed ", symbol of a good marriage; NYAME NTI , "by God's grace", faith and trust in God; AYA , "fern", endurance and resourcefulness; NEA ONNIM NO SUA A, OHU ,with meaning of life-long education and continued quest for knowledge and wisdom.  Musicians play drums and Balafon around the sacred space of the house and village, surrounded by local hibiscus flowers, as well as local palm, oak, banana, and citrus trees. This painting is in gratitude and reverence to the Spiritual and Musical traditions of the African heritage of this city.

Sunflower Center Hall Cottage

Remix of oil on canvas original (digital version) 30" x 30"  Original Oil Painting, Private Collection

At the center of this mandala is a floor plan of a center hall cottage, surrounded by elevations of four sides. The Center Hall Cottage (1830's‐1880's), common throughout the American South and the Caribbean began to occur in its typical raised form in the 1830s and ‘40s in New Orleans. Like the Creole Cottage, Center Hall Cottages have side gabled roofs, often with dormer windows. In the Center Hall Cottage, has a center hall, and a deep front covered porch, symmetrically placed columns and a central stair. This mandala also features vibrant, locally grown marigolds and okra. Give Thanks

Yemaya is the River, We all Share the River

Yemaya's Garden / Tubman Circle

Oil on Canvas, Historic Cypress Frame

24" x 24"

Description

Center of of French Quarter, from the Mississippi river

Tubman Garden reimagines the center of the square as a feminine, multi – racial garden. Drawing from the inspiration of Take 'em down nola actions, to remove statues that commemorate violence, racism, genocide, and Reimagine and create inclusive, generative public art and spaces. In the spirit of Yemaya, who flows the River, we all share the river. This painting is an intention, a vision for the center of Bulbancha, for a city that recognizes and centers Black Indigenous Women of Color, for a city that centers Spirit and nature.

Yemayá is the main water Orisha from the Yoruba religion[1] and the mother of all Orishas and humanity. She is the spirit of rivers, particularly the Ogun River in Nigeria, and oceans in Cuban and Brazilian orisa religions

Yemaya flows the river, we all share the river (Tubman Garden)