New Orleans Death Talk: Decatur Street Artist Blue Fletcher

Blue Fletcher, Decatur Street Artist, French Quarter

“My name is Blue. I think about death constantly. My husband died last November and we’re coming up on the one year anniversary of him being gone. It was very unexpected. He drank too much and fell asleep right next to me, when I woke up he was dead. I tried giving him CPR, but he was really dead. One of those people who was just too good for this world, I guess. I wanted to go with him that night, I took a bunch of medicine. But I woke up again and he was still dead and I was still alive. I must be indestructible, either that or I’m just rotten.

We met in New Orleans. He was young, 26, too young. He was a very sweet person, always smiling. About five months before my husband died my dad died, which kind of sucked because he was my only family. Now it’s just me.

My art is usually very happy. Usually, it’s happy piggy’s and kitty cat type stuff. I’ve got some spooky stuff now because it is October. Got to do some spooky stuff for Halloween. I love the fall and I love the weather, but I’ve lost a lot of people this time of year. The year before my husband died my neighbor died. She lived on the other side of the double. It was the day before Thanksgiving and she knocked on my door and was like, ‘I’m sick of this, I’m never cooking for another man again!’

She gave me all this stuff, all these pots and pans and food. ‘Just take it,’ she said. I went back to my apartment. Later, I was with my friend and I heard this pop sound. I didn’t think anything of it. The day after Thanksgiving I went over to give her a bottle of wine and found her body. The pop sound was her shooting herself. It was really sad. She had survived breast cancer and all that.

I’ve lost a lot of people. The art is definitely therapeutic. I started selling my paintings two months ago. I was working in a strip club. Awful, awful, awful people there. The art has helped me a lot. But there’s this one Quality of Life Officer who gave me a ticket for making these paintings, and I just broke down and cried. I said, ‘What am I going to do!?’ This is what makes me happy. This is the only thing I do right. This is my therapy. It just broke my heart when he did that.

I am going to stay here. Sometimes I have to move off down the street, because the gutter punks scare the customers off. They yell at people. But I am going to stay here. This makes me happy.”

You can find Blue Fletcher and her art on Decatur Street, a few blocks down from Cafe Envie.