down in the ninth

 

 'being (t)here' in the lower ninth was so absorbing i hardly took any photographs at all. but here are a few...we walked along the levee

and wandered through the streets

finding several enormous pecan trees whose inhabitants were cheerfully hurling unripe nuts to the ground

those nuts made a fabulous brew

as ever, the bundles were a source of joy. we worked with cloth and paper

experimented with kitchen-sourced mordants and spent time considering words in gentle poetic forms

New Orleans water has a quality all its own. the reaction to the spent gladiolus flowers was particularly beautiful. that blue came instantly

we had interest from a pair of goats who seemed keen to join us in the studio

not to mention a rather lovely cat who happily rolled in our poetry after hours,

rearranging the words to his satisfaction

at one point he took centre stage on the shared work table and cheerfully faced each offered camera in turn so that everyone could enjoy a photo opportunity

i'd like to thank each of my students for being t)here, for sharing your stories and for adding to the general pool of wisdom.