New Orleans self-taught folk artist Dr. Bob has made the phrase

"Be Nice or Leave" as much a part of his identity

as the found objects he transforms into his artwork.

Half Crow Indian and half French/German, Dr. Bob was born in Kansas in 1952

and came to New Orleans via Lake Pontchartrain.

It was while he lived "across the lake" that he became familiar with

the alligator, an image that appears repeatedly in his work.

Creatures from the bayou, the characters of the Quarter, and the spirits and demons

of the Crescent City are all captured in the visionary paintings and assemblages created from

architectural salvage, and numerous found objects from the city, the river, and the swamp.

Dr. Bob's early works are mostly carvings, then, one day according to him,

"I ran out of wood, so I just started messing around with paint". He works on

"whatever surface speaks to me" --garbage can covers become flower gardens,

a discarded fiddle bow becomes a tribute to his friend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,

and assembled bottle caps are transformed into a skeleton on a salvaged crack house door.

Dr. Bob , a former forest ranger and construction worker is now a regular guest artist

in the grandstand tent at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

His work is featured in many private collections including such notables as Emmy Lou Harris,

Isaac Tigrett, and the Reverend Howard Finster. Dr. Bob's work is also part of the permenant

collection at the New Orleans House of Blues, the Memphis Blues Foundation and the

Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis.

(HOME), (TAKE A LOOK), (WHERE IT'S AT)

Dr. Bob ~ 3027 Chartres ~ New Orleans, Louisiana 70117 ~ Studio 504/945-2225 ~ Beeper 504/840-3614