New Orleans Fire Artist

Kerlerec Street, New Orleans

You never know who you'll meet in New Orleans.  We happen to live next to Walker Babington.  Who?  Walker Babington, the Fire Artist.  He's represented by Hyph3n-Art Gallery here in New Orleans.  The other night, he invited us to his opening, during which he set himself on fire in a piece of performance that left a lasting impression on a wooden canvas (if such a term exists).  You can see the video here.  He invited us, but we couldn't make it... We had guests due to arrive at the exact same moment that he was immolating himself for art's sake.  Spoiler:  He lived to tell the tale.  I talked to him this morning.

I went down to the corner of Kerlerec and Royal Streets after I talked to him.  He made this 20-foot-tall angel out of wood, blowtorches, and a flame thrower.  I told you he's a fire artist.  He also makes engravings in wood using a magnifying glass and the sun.  As someone who went to art school, let me tell you that Mr. Babington can draw.  He draws very well.  I've seen a couple portraits he's made of Sydney, who is a lovely young lady, and I knew exactly who she was supposed to be.  

How's that for high praise?

The angel is beautiful.  After I took its picture I saw it reflected in the front window of the R Bar:

Entrance to R Bar, corner of Kerlerec and Royal Streets, New Orleans

You can see the reflection on your left.  Mr. Babington told me they are going to take it down in the next day or so, but that it will be installed nearby for posterity.  Good.  It's a very solid piece of work, both in the physical and in the aesthetic sense.

You may think that is enough to make for an interesting day.  If you do, you don't live in New Orleans.  I also went to the bank.  Here's the bank we use:

201 N. Carrolton Avenue, New Orleans

Every time I see this building, I think that the architect had a few too many sazeracs before he sat down at his drafting table.  Then, I look at the bank's logo and I think maybe it's all part of an ugly master plan.

Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Company logo

If I find the bank's aesthetics so off-putting (and I do), you may wonder why I go there...

Gulf Coast Bank lobby

There's never a line.  The tellers are very nice, too.  And the branch manager?  Let me tell you, she's a real professional.  She's a regular fountain of banking information.  No line and excellent personable staff.  When I bank at Gulf Coast, I know I'm not at Capital One, which is just four buildings down.

How's that for high praise?

After I got home, I was looking at the picture we have hanging over the fireplace in the lobby.  It was taken around 1905.

Corner of Esplanade Avenue and North Miro Street, New Orleans

It being a sunny day, and me with my camera and all, I decided to walk half a block to snap a pic of what these houses look today.

Corner of Esplanade Avenue and North Miro Street, New Orleans

The house on the left is still there.  The trees have grown a bit in last 110 years.  You'll also notice that in 2014 everything is in color.    Times change but the bones of New Orleans remain the same.  

You never know who or what you'll see in New Orleans, but I think Trader Vic described the city best:

It is a city "where those merry souls who make drinking a pleasure, who achieve contentedness long before capacity, and who, whenever they drink, prove able to carry it and enjoy it, and remain gentlemen."  I couldn't have said it better myself.

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.