Louisiana: 2nd Saturday Artwalk: March 2014

2nd Saturday Artwalk, March 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana. Gallery 549.

Ouch! I am really late in posting this one, right? And it was a particularly grabby one, too.

This artist's work, featured at Gallery 549, drew me in like a mosquito to a zapper. Dammit that I didn't write down his name.

2nd Saturday Artwalk, March 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana. Gallery 549.

He wasn't the only stand-out in the March Artwalk. There was also Angela René Roberts, an outrageously talented painter:

2nd Saturday Artwalk, March 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana. Angela René Roberts.

And as always, it was a multi-sensory pleasure to enter the Benoit Gallery, with its delicious interior fragrance, energy-massaging music, and the visual feast of Bryant Benoit's work, as evidenced in this piece below:

2nd Saturday Artwalk, March 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana. Bryant Benoit.

The exhibits this month at the Acadiana Center for the Arts offered especially tasty brain candy:

2nd Saturday Artwalk, March 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana. Acadiana Center for the Arts.

2nd Saturday Artwalk, March 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana. Acadiana Center for the Arts.

A slideshow of my March 2014 2nd Saturday Artwalk experience:

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Artwalk: June 2014: The Trash

Gosh darn it, the Astra Modern Market always surprises me with some artsy trifle that catches my fancy on the 2nd Saturday Artwalk. 

To wit: The Trash.

Astra Modern Market, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Art Walk: March 2014: Coby Cox

Coby Cox

At the March 2014 Art Walk, the work of Coby Cox, on exhibit at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, pulled me in.

Coby Cox

I admire how these paintings poke my imagination. Are these sentient creatures? Robots? Machines? Vehicles? Bacteria? Flora?
 

Coby Cox

 And when I subsequently find Coby Cox' profile here, my response seems to align with Cox' vision.

Coby Cox

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Artwalk: February 2014: The Addendum

In Theater 810. I think. 2nd Saturday Artwalk, February 2014. Lafayette, Louisiana.

February 2014 was my third 2nd Saturday Art Walk. Each has had a different flavor.  In February Art Walk, there were many more participants than in December and January (here, here, and here), likely due to the milder temperature than had been the case in the earlier months. There was also greater diversity in age.

2nd Saturday Artwalk, February 2014. Lafayette, Louisiana.

 The studio above was closed during the Art Walk, but its untidy contents invited the eye. 

2nd Saturday Artwalk, February 2014. Lafayette, Louisiana.

I returned to Whoojoo's to see if my glasses - which I lost at the last Art Walk - had turned up here. No, they hadn't, but I liked the little arrangement of satsumis, candles, and (off-camera) toy ducks on a table.

2nd Saturday Artwalk, February 2014. Lafayette, Louisiana.

The Lafayette Science Museum exhibited the draft comprehensive plan for Lafayette within, and outside a kindly sponsor underwrote free jambalaya, which you can see in this enormous black cauldron. 'twas good, too.

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Artwalk: February 2014: Swamp Pop 'n Fizz

Swamp pop, Lafayette, Louisiana

Like New Mexico, southern Louisiana has a real sense of place. Louisianans eat and drink their local products, which have location-centric names.

At February's 2nd Saturday Artwalk, my friends and I returned to the Astra Modern Market. The display of Swamp Pop packages looked like good art to me. 

Swamp pop, Lafayette, Louisiana

I love everything about the Swamp Pop beverage brand. It embraces it all: "swamp pop" music, sugarcane, satsuma oranges, Jean Lafitte, and the quintessentially Southern sweet, pralines. And look at that big ol' fancy L for Louisiana on the front of the packaging.

Swamp pop, Lafayette, Louisiana

'course, I've never tasted the product, so I have no idea if it's any good. But that's beside the point.

Swamp pop, Lafayette, Louisiana

And here's a taste of the other swamp pop:

 

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Artwalk: January 2014: Louise Guidry

Louise Guidry, Lafayette, Louisiana

The Jefferson Street Branch of the Lafayette Public Library, downtown, participates in the 2nd Saturday Artwalk.

The library showcases a different artist each month.

For January 2014, that artist was Louise Guidry.

Generally speaking, many (most?) women don't like to go around broadcasting their age (and I fully endorse this approach), but I noticed that once my grandmother turned 80, she was totally fine with revealing hers. I've noticed my mother is the same, as I imagine I will be in due time.

Anyway, Ms. Guidry is 83 years old. She got a Bachelor's in Fine Arts in her late 50s, adding that to a degree in education she acquired in earlier years. 

I was particularly taken with the work at the top of this post. It's a view from Highway 31, which Ms. Guidry says is a long-standing source of inspiration to her.

I'm going to have to take a drive down Highway 31. Indeed, Travel & Leisure took note of it in an article, America's Most Iconic Drives, adding:  

... Some of these roads are justifiably famous, including what’s arguably America’s most scenic drive: California’s Route 1, around the town of Big Sur. Rocky cliffs plunge down to open ocean, creating a severe distraction while you navigate this narrow road.

Other roads may not be household names, but are nevertheless an integral part of the American fabric. Highway 31, west of New Orleans, takes you through classic Louisiana countryside, past lazy bayous and swampy lagoons filled with alligators and herons.

Louise Guidry, Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Artwalk: January 2014: Whoojoo

At the January 2nd Saturday Artwalk, my friend and I stopped in at the Whoojoo Stained Glass Studio.

Whoojoo is the childhood nickname of artist Craig McCullen, whose studio is, I guess, exactly what a studio is in the classic sense - it's a work space and an exhibit space.   

Work in progress, Whoojoo Stained Glass Studio, Lafayette, Louisiana

Above and below: I liked the squiggly, straight, and curved lines on one of his work tables. 

Work in progress, Whoojoo Stained Glass Studio, Lafayette, Louisiana

Some end results here:

Whoojoo and Miró. Credit: Craig McCullen

Dangle the Lure. Credit: Craig McCullen

Below is a video in which he talks about the history of some of his work:

Hey, there's a woman behind there! And maybe a fish. And an owl.

Whoojoo and Miró. Credit: Craig McCullen

Lafayette: The Yellow Flower in the Blue Jar

Second Saturday Artwalk, Lafayette, Louisiana

At Lafayette's January 2014 Second Saturday Artwalk, Astra Modern Market placed single yellow mums in blue mason jars atop white tables.

Second Saturday Artwalk, Lafayette, Louisiana

How could you not love them?

Second Saturday Artwalk, Lafayette, Louisiana

Especially in the middle of winter.

Second Saturday Artwalk, Lafayette, Louisiana

Astra Modern Market is in the space where a auto repair garage used to be.

Second Saturday Artwalk, Lafayette, Louisiana

The splashy yellow mums in blue jars were like little suns over water and white sand.

Second Saturday Artwalk, Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette: 2nd Saturday Art Walk: December 2013

Donald Leblanc, Gallery 549, Lafayette, Louisiana

A new friend took me to Lafayette's 2nd Saturday ArtWalk.  It's downtown and goes from 6-8 p.m.. There's a featured music performance, free wine/apps at the various galleries, and an open house with artist & writer tables at the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

2nd Saturday ArtWalk, Lafayette, Louisiana. December 2013.

ArtWalk is a concentrated gathering of creative people, so it's, as Dr. Phil liked to say, a "target-rich environment" for interesting conversations.  

In addition to ArtWalk's visual feast, an artist, Darryl Demourelle, gave me a lead on some good boat-related stories to follow up on. A tidbit: Fishermen used to sink their boats in the off-season to avoid paying taxes on same. Federal agents knew this and often searched the waterways for the sunken boats. (Keeping the boats submerged also preserved the wood during the off-season.)

About Mr. Demourelle, well, I'll be damned if he isn't the artist who painted this, which I snapped on my 2011/2012 road trip.

Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Artwork: Darryl Demourelle.

We lingered in the good-smelling Benoit Gallery, talking with artist Bryant Benoit and his wife/business manager, Joey Benoit. Mr. Benoit is moved to layer his work figuratively and literally, an approach that jibes with all of the layers that comprise southern Louisiana.    

Bryant Benoit, Benoit Gallery, Lafayette, Louisiana

We moved on to the brightly-lit, open-spaced Gallery 549, owned by Donald Leblanc. Lots of folks there, plus what looked like a goodly assortment of artists' works represented. One assembly of work really pulled me in:

Donald Leblanc, Gallery 549, Lafayette, Louisiana

It was so amusing to learn later that this was Mr. Leblanc's work!

Over at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, artist-in-residence, Keaton R. Smith, gave a sneak preview of an upcoming presentation:

 


Also at the ACA was an exhibit by Luis Cruz Azaceta:

Luis Cruz Azaceta, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, Louisiana

I'm a sucker for his Godzilla:

Luis Cruz Azaceta, Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, Louisiana

When we walked by the artists and writers tables, my friend cried out, "Mon Dieu!" (She is French.) There in front of us, though I didn't appreciate it at the time, was Zachary Richard. Who I in short order learned is a legendary songwriter. His book, The History of the Acadians of Louisiana, was just published, in English and French.

To help me out, Mr. Richard noted that he'd written Colinda (a very famous cajun song and which is on The Big Easy soundtrack). When he mentioned that song, I mentally cocked my head like a dog does when it's hearing something it kinda gets, but which remains elusive. It wasn't til I looked it up and found this video that I realized I'd heard the very same song earlier the same day because it is on my mp3 player. Doh.

At the same table was St. Martinville artist, Dennis Paul Williams. In partnership with a photographer, he created a book of his paintings. (Mr. Williams is also a musician.)

Soul Exchange, Dennis Paul Williams. Credit: University of Louisiana Press

Some beautiful work there. The cover painting and his connection with St. Martinville reminded me of the floating Christmas angels in the trees in front of the church in that town.

Christmas angels, St. Martinville, Louisiana. December 2011.

 
It was a good way to spend a Saturday night.


I drank a little too much wine, though.