Daggi Wallace - Work Detail: Bluesman-Israel White

framed I was visiting New Orleans the summer before hurricane Katrina, along with my sister from Switzerland. We watched this man play his trumpet for a while, captivated by his intense stare, chatting to each other in German. I asked permission to take his photo (in English, of course), left an appropriate tip and started to walk away. To our surprise and embarrassment he started talking to us in perfect German! One year later, I was showing this painting in an exhibit in Dallas that I had organized featuring my work along witgh several other artists from Germany. The tragedy of Katrina had just happenend right before the opening reception and I was very concerned about the people of New Orleans I had portrayed in several of the paintings for that show. I had no way of knowing what had happened to them. We decided to donate part of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. This was one of the first paintings to sell at the show that evening. But the story continues: a few weeks later I was reading a newspaper ( not my usual one, but one I hardly ever read, from another town) and saw those intense eyes in a photo of a man at a shelter for New Orleans evacuees. It listed his name, which I had not known before. I was so relieved to see he had survived the storm, I called the shelter to see if it was indeed the right person. I said: "If he plays the trumpet and speaks German, it's him!" I wanted to get in touch with him, but all I learned was that he had been "released to go home", with no forwarding address. But at least I knew his name and that he was ok.