Claudia Gehrke has never stayed in one spot for long. As an artist, she has lived in Seattle, Portland and Prescott, Arizona to find new material and inspiration, but none of these cities could capture her artistic attention for long. After spending the past twelve years in New Orleans, it seems that the Big Easy has finally stolen her heart. Better known as "Mardi Claw," Gehrke is an incredible painter and storyteller that has become a fixture in New Orleans art and Carnival tradition--so much so that you would never guess she is originally from Seattle. Her colorful skeleton-themed works have become an undeniable paragon of the city's cultural renaissance, and they can be seen all over the city. Claw's paintings adorn the walls of the Avenue Pub, the Taceaux Loceaux truck, Surrey's on Magazine, and other New Orleans institutions. Other subject matter in her work includes roosters and New Orleans style houses, but skeleton scenes feature most prominently.

            Skeletons have been a lifelong fascination for Mardi Claw, who incorporates them into every aspect of her life. When we met for coffee, she was decked out, head to toe, in skeleton garb. Claw told me that her art imitates her life and her life imitates her art, and this mindset has allowed her to become deeply immersed in the culture that she paints. Skeletons hold a very deep significance for Claw, who identified greatly with the Mexican Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, tradition after she underwent great personal and emotional hardship that began to influence her artwork. The skeletons of Día de los Muertos provided her with new inspiration for how she wanted to portray and understand death and ritual activities in her own life.

            Claw takes part in numerous New Orleans rituals like Mardi Gras and Super Sunday, but she has also found a way to put her own spin on these established traditions. A few years back, Claw founded Skinz n Bonez, the very first female bone gang in New Orleans. The group knocks on doors on Mardi Gras morning and takes part in various parades throughout the year. The bone gang is another incarnation of the Day of the Dead iconography that is she incorporates into all of her work. As a founder of the group, Claw has gone to great lengths to ensure that Skinz n Bonez represents the important role women play in bringing back and preserving culture in post-Katrina New Orleans. Likewise, it is important that new Krewe do not step on the culture of others, as Claw points out. Before founding Skinz n Bonez, Claw asked established groups, like the North Side Skull & Bone Gang, for permission to form a new female gang and to roll in parades.

            Mardi Claw and her Krewe frequent the New Orleans Healing Center for unique objects to include in their Día de los Muertos altars. Her artwork is for sale at

*Yoga Guided By Sean and Live Music by Girish  Sat Dec 13th 1-3pm  Uptown

Cost: $25. Click here for more information.

 *Chant Workshop Sun. Dec 14th 11am-1pm Downtown

Our ballet teacher was firm and serious. She wore all black clothes and never smiled (that I saw), she would count the steps with a wooden stick that would hit against the floor to make a loud noise. I remember her yelling "Musica Maestro" to the pianist on the dance floor. I remember feeling a sense of pride like no other the day she picked me to demonstrate a pirouette on pointe. The first pointe class is one I will never forget. I couldn't wait to put my pointe shoes on, and then I couldn't wait to take them off after class. This pattern repeated each day. The excitement and anticipation, followed by two hours of sheer joy while dancing, then followed by the reality of blistered, bleeding toes that needed soaking, muscles that needed wrapping, and ankles that needed healing... but my spirit soared, radiant and joyful. It's when I discovered dance that I was born, but it wasn't until I discovered Belly Dance that I was healed. I learned to dance ballet in Guatemala when I was 9 years old, Salsa in Miami when I was 12, Bachata in New Orleans when I was 15, but the real test was when I learned to dance in life when I became a young mother at the age of 19. 

The dance of life continued for many years, teaching me more and more about myself each time. But there came a moment when dancing was not enough and I needed to light my heart on fire, to burn from the inside out. It was not about surviving, it was about becoming me. And this is when Belly Dance shimmied into my life. My identity comes from belonging to God (first), myself (second), my family (third), and the universe (last), and each one of those relationships is charged through the power of dance. It lives right in the center of my heart, where it ignites my life with energy and passion. It is there that I feel connected, balanced, and strong.

I was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras but I can finally say, I am home.

This official 2014 NEW ORLEANS PEOPLE PROJECT photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement by the 2014 NEW ORLEANS PEOPLE PROJECT or Photographer Gus Bennett, Jr. 

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