Happy 4th of July! It’s an odd one, this middle of the week celebration, but perhaps that awkward timing renews enthusiasm, as folks have big plans, including barbeques and neighborhood parties despite the hottest summer on record. We spied decorations in unexpected places, and for the first time ever received gifts and cards as weContinue reading “A Star-spangled Blue Dog (from Houston)”
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Match Race
“The straight sprints raced in heats or in match races where the two riders would balance for long seconds on their machines for the advantage of making the other rider take the lead and then the slow circling and the final plunge into the driving purity of speed.” –Ernest Hemingway* Because life intended it thisContinue reading “Match Race”
Summer Distractions
“I know what your problem is, Wendy,” noted Heather, as she endured, as sisters do, my somewhatminor, but nevertheless ridiculous, breakdown over exceedingly minor things. A whiny, determined adolescent wins out occasionally, lurking, pouting, and stewing within my, one-would-hope, adult mind over dumb stuff. I am not exchanging a three-year old print purchase for theContinue reading “Summer Distractions”
Happy Father’s Day, George!
I’ve written before about brothers André and Jacques Rodrigue. George painted his boys many times, and the paintings, including Kiss Me I’m Cajun with André and Paint Me Back Into Your Life with Jacques, are classics among his oeuvre. (For a look at those iconic works, along with a collection of family photographs, see theContinue reading “Happy Father’s Day, George!”
Dog in a Box
In yoga, I spent years within our bedroom practicing tree pose, standing on one leg, arms stretching skyward, until I balanced with ease. Yet at my first attempt outside, at the edge of our patio in Carmel Valley, California, I fell. Breaking my own rule, I donned my glasses, focusing on a distant tree, andContinue reading “Dog in a Box”
Clifton Chenier and a Cajun Explosion
In 1985 George Rodrigue painted the great musician Clifton Chenier (1925-1987). At the time, Chenier was world-famous, crowned a Grammy Award winner in 1983 and summoned everywhere from San Francisco to Switzerland to share his unique Louisiana sound. Rodrigue’s timing in painting the portrait honors Chenier not only for his music, but also for hisContinue reading “Clifton Chenier and a Cajun Explosion”
Hopeful (Discomfort)
“Medicine is an art, not a science,” explained a friend recently, as I struggled with misdiagnoses and conflicting reports. “Fifteen people looked at my wife’s images,” he continued, “and only one analyzed it correctly.” (pictured, Dr. Dog, a 7-foot mixed media on chrome, from the collection of Lafayette General Hospital as part of the GeorgeContinue reading “Hopeful (Discomfort)”
Landlocked Pirogues & Blue Dog’s Eyes (The Art of Improvisation)
“People are moving in time and in history, in a pirogue, on land…” …wrote George Rodrigue in 1975 about his painting, John Courrege’s Pirogue. The painting is one of seventy-eight images featured in the book The Cajuns of George Rodrigue, the first book published nationally on the Cajun culture (Oxmoor House, 1976, detailed here). FromContinue reading “Landlocked Pirogues & Blue Dog’s Eyes (The Art of Improvisation)”
Aunt Wendy and the Cones
It was five years ago that our nephews, age four and six, summoned me from the kitchen where, while cooking dinner, I strained my ears towards their whispers in the den. What on earth?, I thought, imagining the content of this intense powwow: How do we change Aunt Wendy’s mind about Transformers? How does the tooth fairyContinue reading “Aunt Wendy and the Cones”
Crawfish Dreams and Artist Friends
George Rodrigue loves crawfish primarily as a symbol of Cajun culture. The shellfish itself is deadly to him, inducing a closed throat and limited breathing. “Soon after I did my crawfish festival poster, I developed practically overnight an allergy to crawfish. Even the smell of the boil leaves me wheezing and my wife running forContinue reading “Crawfish Dreams and Artist Friends”