Category Archives: Blue Dog

It’s Good to be the King (Rodrigue and the Washington Mardi Gras Ball)

In 1993, George Rodrigue’s career skyrocketed following a front page story, “How Many Dogs Can Fetch Money?,” in The Wall Street Journal (1992), along with thousands of worldwide magazine and billboard advertisements featuring his paintings for Absolut Vodka.  After twenty-five years of painting the Cajuns, the Blue Dog Series granted Rodrigue, a native of NewContinue reading “It’s Good to be the King (Rodrigue and the Washington Mardi Gras Ball)”

Rodrigue Sculpture in Santa Fe

George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog sculptures are amongst his greatest artistic achievements. This month, in the garden of the Acequia Madre House Museum in Santa Fe, we installed George’s first public artwork in New Mexico. The 11-foot sculpture, made of steel, aluminum, and chrome, includes a unique chatoyant effect produced by three distinct shades of automotiveContinue reading “Rodrigue Sculpture in Santa Fe”

Rodrigue on Tour! Film Clips from Florida & Alabama Schools

It was 78 years ago, on March 13, 1944, that my late husband, George Rodrigue, was born to Marie and George, Sr. in New Iberia, Louisiana. After more than twenty years of marriage, they had given up on having children. Yet along came George, who brought magic to their lives, and later, to my life,Continue reading “Rodrigue on Tour! Film Clips from Florida & Alabama Schools”

Priceless Puppies

It was twenty years ago, while halfway joking, that I surprised George Rodrigue with a white porcelain vase produced by artist Jeff Koons of his 3-D artwork, Puppy.  George was unreserved in his criticism of Koons, and yet I also sensed his fascination with the artist who, among other things, fetches millions of dollars forContinue reading “Priceless Puppies”

Walk With Me to the Future

It was while bedridden with polio that George Rodrigue (1944-2013) discovered painting. Unable to walk, and highly contagious with a disease feared by parents everywhere, he remained at home throughout much of the third grade with only his mother for company. His father, George, Sr., supported his family from the road while working as aContinue reading “Walk With Me to the Future”

Teachers (And Why It Almost Didn’t Happen)

Presenting to teachers presents an unusual challenge.  After all, that is their role with their students during hundreds of classes each year.  Last week, during the Oklahoma A+ Schools “Not Your Average Conference” at the University of Central Oklahoma, teachers from seventy arts-integrated schools laughed at me, or rather with me, when I asked duringContinue reading “Teachers (And Why It Almost Didn’t Happen)”

What’s With This Dog?

George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog artworks became a phenomenon, as well as a portal to creative freedom for the artist.   On his canvas, along with drawings, sculptures, and digital expressions, the surrealist impulses within his Cajun paintings flourished beyond imaginary Louisiana settings to include the broad expanse of George’s mind, unlimited by a culture orContinue reading “What’s With This Dog?”

I’ve Moved! Please Join Me!

Dear Rodrigue Friends and Fans, It was 10 years ago that I started, with George’s encouragement, “Musings of an Artist’s Wife.” Today, it’s time for a change.  The more than 300 essays highlighting George Rodrigue’s history, artwork, and our life together will remain posted here as a permanent reference. All new posts, however, are inContinue reading “I’ve Moved! Please Join Me!”

Louisiana Lawyers Go West

Turquoise Hill with its ancient turquoise mine is an enchanting place —spiritual, timeless, mysterious, and breathtaking in its beauty.  George and I visited many times over the years, beginning in the early 1990s.  We were guests of history, nature, and the mine’s incomparable owner and steward, George’s dear friend and now my husband, Douglas Magnus.Continue reading “Louisiana Lawyers Go West”

Ursuline-Cool! George Rodrigue Life & Legacy Visits the Historic New Orleans School

It was 1994, for my cousin’s wedding, when I last visited Ursuline Academy.  That I forgot their magnificent church, The National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, confounds me.  This spring on the George Rodrigue Life & Legacy Tour, I stood both transfixed and transported within this glorious temple to God and women andContinue reading “Ursuline-Cool! George Rodrigue Life & Legacy Visits the Historic New Orleans School”

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art – Extended!

There’s no doubt that if George Rodrigue were here today, he would have painted for his current exhibition at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art.  We talked about it some fifteen years ago as we watched the museum under construction, and again as we attended its opening exhibitions.  He dreamed of showing his work in thisContinue reading “Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art – Extended!”

Sharing George: A Video

The Life & Legacy Tour began because I felt compelled to help others experience George Rodrigue in a more personal way.  After eight months, the tour is in demand more than ever, with no end in sight!  And perhaps that’s exactly as it should be. Want to know what it’s like?  Here’s a video from Dr.Continue reading “Sharing George: A Video”

Life and Legacy

George Rodrigue’s life, art, and philanthropy touch lives every day. In a reality that, from my perspective, is both exhilarating and unsettling, I see him moving into near-mythic status, grouped in art lessons with Van Gogh, Picasso, and Matisse.  I’ve always known that he belongs with these artists —Modernist giants whose output enriches our world,Continue reading “Life and Legacy”

Don’t Slow Me Down

In the spring of 2013 George Rodrigue and I drove our truck cross-country from New Orleans, Louisiana to Carmel, California, as we had twice annually for twenty years, finding adventure on alternate routes and detours along the way.  We didn’t know that this would be our last road trip; however, we did travel with aContinue reading “Don’t Slow Me Down”

Rodrigue Jewelry

George first created jewelry in the 1970s, hand-forming designs in clay from his images of Oak Trees and Jolie Blonde, which he reinterpreted as solid gold pendants.  Later he made for himself one-of-a-kind Mardi Gras coins featuring elements from his paintings, also in gold, and embellished with precious stones. In the 1980s George met DouglasContinue reading “Rodrigue Jewelry”

The Begneaud Collection

Since losing George in 2013, we (myself, his sons, and our staff), have made educating the public about his life and work a priority. In the galleries, we’ve focused on exhibitions that span his 45-year career, including the current installations, Rodrigue:  Blue Dog for President in New Orleans and  Rodrigue in Carmel:  Galerie Blue DogContinue reading “The Begneaud Collection”

George Rodrigue: “Fun for Me”

As Rodrigue Studio celebrates its 25th year in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, I’ve reluctantly stared memories hard in the face, piecing together, without George, a history that’s all about George.  As is the case throughout his life, a central aspect of the story exists within his artwork. “It’s got to be fun for me, or I don’tContinue reading “George Rodrigue: “Fun for Me””

Shidoni: A Friendly Greeting

I returned recently, for the first time in five years, to Shidoni, a place where George worked regularly over three decades.   Located in the lush Tesuque Valley, an oasis in the desert near Santa Fe, New Mexico, the foundry was George’s choice for some thirty years for transforming his clay sculptures into bronzes —whether three-dimensionalContinue reading “Shidoni: A Friendly Greeting”

Blue Dog Hog

George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog Hog premiered in 1994 in a New York City gallery called The Time is Always Now.  This unique three-dimensional artwork dazzled at the center of the warehouse-type space, with George’s paintings, some as large as fifteen feet across, surrounding the bike. -click photos throughout to enlarge- The exhibition coincided with theContinue reading “Blue Dog Hog”

I am Not the Artist.

Over the years countless people approached George Rodrigue with ideas for paintings.  They didn’t understand that George was original.  He was authentic. “They all think they’re the artist,” he would say, shaking his head over the umpteenth person to “have a great idea,” insisting that he paint the Blue Dog with St. Louis Cathedral orContinue reading “I am Not the Artist.”

Rodrigue Comes Home

Those of you who follow this blog know that over the past six years (goodness…..six years….) and more than 300 essays, I focus on text, with quotes from George, and a careful complement of photographs and paintings. However, after spending a whirlwind week in Louisiana, I’m ready to post quickly and then get on withContinue reading “Rodrigue Comes Home”

Magic People

“I never thought before that I was interesting, but after talking with you, I realize that I’m fascinating!” –Roz Cole In September 2013 I spent several weeks in a New York City hospital room with George Rodrigue’s longtime literary agent, Rosalind Cole.  Weak from his medication’s side effects, George couldn’t travel, and I remember wellContinue reading “Magic People”

Circle of Life: Round Paintings

As I understand it, the bright-colored mandala represents the universe; its creation in sand and its inevitable destruction represent the impermanence of life.* Some years ago I asked George Rodrigue if he would paint, for me, a meditative symbol.  He replied, naturally… “I already have.” (pictured: Circle of Life, 2002, an original silkscreen by George Rodrigue,Continue reading “Circle of Life: Round Paintings”

Swimming Upstream

This morning George joined me in the bedroom after painting all night.  We stood at the window and watched the sunrise.      “There’s only one owl,” I whispered.      “Maybe they split up,” he replied. But we both knew better. -from The Other Side of the Painting We wanted to see the bears.Continue reading “Swimming Upstream”

Choo Choo Ch’Boogie (An Adventure)

Last year I often found George Rodrigue in his studio in the middle of the night.  He worked for weeks on the painting Choo Choo Ch’Boogie, yet instead of photographing him at his easel, I stood quietly behind and watched.  (pictured:  Choo Choo Ch’Boogie, 2013 by George Rodrigue, acrylic on canvas, 48×60 inches) At the time,Continue reading “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie (An Adventure)”

The Lone Artist

“The artist is involved with art as a way of life.”* George Rodrigue and I discuss often the definition of art.  We study the roles of craft, commercialism, high and low art, concluding always that there is no definitive answer, but that the fun —indeed the tradition— lies in the debates. Ideally, art reflects theContinue reading “The Lone Artist”

An Exhibition from the Other Side

This month, the State Library of Louisiana premieres an exhibition based on a new Rodrigue book, The Other Side of the Painting, on view through February 2014.  Unable to attend the November 2ndopening in Baton Rouge, George Rodrigue and I relied on curator Marney Robinson, who astonished us with her ability to fully utilize aContinue reading “An Exhibition from the Other Side”

Rodrigue Honored Tonight

On October 26, 2013, George Rodrigue receives in New Orleans the prestigious Opus Award from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art during their annual gala, O What a Night!.  Unable to attend the event, we asked Jacques Rodrigue, his fiancé Mallory Page Chastant, and André Rodrigue to accept the award on George’s behalf, and toContinue reading “Rodrigue Honored Tonight”

Absolut Blue Dog

It’s twenty-five years since George Rodrigue last drank alcohol,* and yet he was part of one of the most successful stories in advertising history, promoting a vodka. “Even when I did drink,” laughs the artist, “it was always bourbon or wine.  I never liked vodka.” (pictured, Absolut Rodrigue, 1993, one of three paintings created byContinue reading “Absolut Blue Dog”

A New Rodrigue Book

“To your book!” …toasted George Rodrigue and son André as we perused the first copies of the finished hardcover, The Other Side of the Painting. “I nearly forgot about it…” …I replied, moved by their acknowledgment, as I returned that day from a long journey after visiting an ill friend back east.  The book (still hardContinue reading “A New Rodrigue Book”

Galerie Blue Dog, Carmel

In 1991 George Rodrigue opened Galerie Blue Dog in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.  The one-square-mile village includes cottages, restaurants, shops and galleries, all descending westward towards the beach and Pacific Ocean. “I visited Carmel often while a student at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles during the 1960s,” recalls Rodrigue.  “As long as IContinue reading “Galerie Blue Dog, Carmel”

A Blessed Life (An Irish Angel)

Last summer was challenging, as George Rodrigue faced an advanced lung cancer diagnosis and several months of treatment in Houston.  Last fall, with his disease in remission, we tied up loose ends in New Orleans and prepared for a West Coast sabbatical.  This spring, we spent weeks on the road, exploring America as we’ve doneContinue reading “A Blessed Life (An Irish Angel)”

Rocky Mountain Blues

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, George Rodrigue, like many New Orleans artists, sought temporary venues for his work.  Even after the Rodrigue Gallery reopened in January 2006, it was several years before tourists returned strong to the city.  Local artists depend on this exposure to sell their art. In addition, although George and I experiencedContinue reading “Rocky Mountain Blues”

Rodeo Drive

Artist George Rodrigue and I attended a rodeo in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada last weekend.  The area, called Glenbrook, reminded me at first of developments like Seaside and WaterColor near my hometown of Fort Walton Beach.  Although I’m fond of these ice cream colored Florida Panhandle houses, my initial comparison was a stretch, now thatContinue reading “Rodeo Drive”

My Blues Brothers

George Rodrigue has painted several versions of the Blues Brothers since 1995.  Although all in private collections, the paintings from this series are among his most popular, famous within the pages of art books and as reproductions on the walls of the Blue Dog Café in Lafayette, Louisiana and Besh Steakhouse at Harrah’s Casino in NewContinue reading “My Blues Brothers”

Walker Percy (The Impossible Dream)

“Waking wide-eyed dreams come as fitfully as swampfire.”* Years ago artist George Rodrigue owned a camp in Butte la Rose, Louisiana on the Atchafalaya Basin.  He purchased it as a small, cabin-like structure on stilts and quickly built on bedrooms, extending a raised walkway to the river and over the swamp. -click photo to enlarge-Continue reading “Walker Percy (The Impossible Dream)”

Living in the Spotlight

“This world, he’d say, is where you live, right here you do whatever work you have to do.” –Darrell Bourque on Elemore Morgan, Jr.* Some years ago I attended alone an opening at the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans featuring the latest work from Acadiana’s beloved landscape artist, Elemore Morgan, Jr. (1931-2008).  I exploredContinue reading “Living in the Spotlight”

Shiny Happy Blue Dog

“We mortals are but shadows and dust.” –Proximo, Gladiator Recently, while shopping for skinny jeans and day-glo tees with my sister and cousin, I time-warped to the 1980s when flashy jewelry, exaggerated shoulders, and acrylic fingernails prevailed.  For a while, subtle feminine style seemed lost forever. George Rodrigue has never been subtle, in his ideas,Continue reading “Shiny Happy Blue Dog”

Rodrigue Collaborates

When it comes to painting, George Rodrigue is a loner.  In recent months, he embraces full time the isolated setting of his Carmel Valley studio.  The limited interruptions and lack of social commitments on this quiet California hill settle the artist into a near-obsessed dedication to his canvas and ideas.  Ironically, however, it’s Louisiana thatContinue reading “Rodrigue Collaborates”

Footnote (He Stopped Loving Her Today)

In George Rodrigue’s latest painting, He Stopped Loving Her Today, Jolie Blonde’s hat sits alongside an above-ground tomb, the same type of vault his father installed in New Iberia, Louisiana as part of the family business. “I wanted to paint a tribute to George Jones (1931-2013),” explains Rodrigue.  “I’ve loved this song for thirty years,Continue reading “Footnote (He Stopped Loving Her Today)”

Blue Dog at the Movies

Since childhood, George Rodrigue has loved the movies.  It’s the reason, along with Saints and LSU football, that his studio doubles as a theatre, and why most nights he paints to the backdrop of Turner Classic Movies.  He returns to his favorites, The Searchers and Lonesome Dove, repeatedly.  And he spent his teenage years paintingContinue reading “Blue Dog at the Movies”

Dance with Me, George!

“What do you do here?” ….asked George Jones of George Rodrigue at a Lafayette, Louisiana Mercedes dealership, as Jones shopped a new car and Rodrigue awaited repairs on his 1978 diesel station wagon. “I’m an artist,” he replied.           “Oh yeah?” said Jones.  “What do you sing?” Rodrigue recalls the countryContinue reading “Dance with Me, George!”

Looking for a Beach House

George Rodrigue’s first print of 2013 breaks new ground for the artist.  Partial to silkscreens for his Blue Dog designs, he ventures instead into complex lithography, channeling printmaking giants of the past. “It’s the first print I’ve created for the gallery that’s truly an original lithograph made from twenty-two plates, printed on stone, in theContinue reading “Looking for a Beach House”

America, Unexpected

Oftentimes I wince at the question, Where are you from?.  Unless the person asking lives somewhere between Houston and Atlanta, they probably associate Florida with Disney World and Miami Beach— nice places, but not the Emerald Coast of my childhood. I mumble to anyone who’ll listen outside of the Gulf South that I’m sort ofContinue reading “America, Unexpected”

Blue Dog: A Life of Its Own

“Feel the dignity of a child. Do not feel superior to him, for you are not.” – Robert Henri It was in Hollywood, ironically, that George Rodrigue and I reflected recently on the Blue Dog in a new way.  We learned of a school in southern California that used the styles of art world mastersContinue reading “Blue Dog: A Life of Its Own”

The Big Picture

As a result of last summer’s sidetrack, George Rodrigue and I missed our annual time in Carmel, California, returning just this week for a year, maybe two, as we seek something still ill-defined.  We have yet to analyze his near-death experience or rather, our second chance, referring often to the excuse, “it’s still too new,”Continue reading “The Big Picture”

The Lost Painting (Festivals Acadiens)

In this computer age, Rodrigue Studio retains detailed records of art purchases, occasionally borrowing paintings from collectors for public exhibition.  However, prior to the late 1990s, records were partial, hand-kept and often lost.  People move, and paintings sell or pass to descendants.  Some works exchange hands through private sale, and unless the art appears atContinue reading “The Lost Painting (Festivals Acadiens)”

Tee Teddie (Won’t You Be My Teddy Bear?)

At 4×3 feet, Tee Teddie is anything but tee.  The painting, begun in 1995 and completed in 2013, first hung in Café Tee George, artist George Rodrigue’s original Lafayette restaurant, which was replaced by the Blue Dog Café after burning in 1997.  Tee Teddie was the only painting to escape the flames, while interpretations ofContinue reading “Tee Teddie (Won’t You Be My Teddy Bear?)”

Blue Dog, The Book

“To find her you must lose her.  The Blue Dog knows the way.” –Blue Dog, 1994 In March of 1992 journalist Bridget O’Brian interviewed George Rodrigue for an article, front page, center column, in The Wall Street Journal. Although George had no control over the content, O’Brian allowed him one special request.  Without hesitating, heContinue reading “Blue Dog, The Book”

Some Like It Hot

George Rodrigue’s newest artwork, Some Like It Hot, pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe, a golden icon of the silver screen and public fantasy.  He frames her with a bold design of color and shape, including his own icons, the Blue and Red Dogs. (pictured, Some Like It Hot, 2012 by George Rodrigue, 26×40 inches, silkscreenContinue reading “Some Like It Hot”

Blue Dog Oak (Old Friends)

Update August 9, 2013:  George Rodrigue (pictured below) inspects the proof for his new hand-pulled stone lithograph based on Blue Dog Oak, printing now in Paris, France.  For purchase details, contact Rodrigue Studio.   For more on this process, see the post, “Looking for a Beach House,” describing another print made in this way. GeorgeContinue reading “Blue Dog Oak (Old Friends)”

A Cajun in Carmel

Blue Dog artist George Rodrigue finds inspiration on the Monterey Peninsula- It was twenty-two years ago that artist George Rodrigue (b. 1944) opened his gallery in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.  One of only two locations* in the country, the artist-owned Rodrigue Studio operates the same way today as it did years ago.  Despite Rodrigue’s increasing fame, heContinue reading “A Cajun in Carmel”

I’m a Writer!

“All I see is that you’re writing with a pen.  Yay!!!” Author Patty Friedmann cheered the hand-written word after seeing the photo below.  It was December 2010, and I scribbled on the pages of a purse-size artsy notebook, purchased annually in multiples from the Morgan Library museum shop.  George Rodrigue photographed me as I satContinue reading “I’m a Writer!”

Sunshine and Love: New Paintings

After six months away from his easel, George Rodrigue returns this fall to his instincts, painting throughout the quiet nights in solitude.  The canvases, dominated by a Blue Dog and oftentimes a typical Rodrigue oak, are familiar, yet something is different in the feeling behind the images.  To the point, something is different in hisContinue reading “Sunshine and Love: New Paintings”

Going Home Again….for Art

In 1952 in New Iberia, Louisiana, George Rodrigue (b. 1944) remained sick in bed for six months. I explained this week to a group of young students on the Florida Panhandle that he suffered from polio, a contagious disease affecting his ability to walk.  He couldn’t attend school or play outside. Imagine poor little George withoutContinue reading “Going Home Again….for Art”

The Patchwork Gift

In 1978 George Rodrigue tackled a 5×7 foot canvas, piecing together a group of women at a church quilting party, a common Acadian gathering during the 1940s and 1950s.  The ambitious project includes twenty figures, including a portrait of the painting’s new owner with her child, all gathered beneath Rodrigue’s typical Louisiana oaks. -click photoContinue reading “The Patchwork Gift”

Walker Percy, Sylvester Stallone and the Blue Dog

Update, 2/1/13- Due to the popularity of this exhibition, it is now extended through August 31, 2013. During his forty-five year career, George Rodrigue has painted more than one hundred portraits, everything from his family to U.S. Presidents.  One series in particular, however, stands out as a select group of award-winning authors and scholars, paintedContinue reading “Walker Percy, Sylvester Stallone and the Blue Dog”

Blue Fall in Louisiana

“When they showed me my body, it was blue,” explained George Rodrigue to a friend this week.  “Nothing dark, no patches, they were all gone.” I overheard him on the phone and my ears picked up, not because I hadn’t seen the scan, but because I hadn’t thought of his body as blue, and IContinue reading “Blue Fall in Louisiana”

The Acrylic Landscape

George Rodrigue, known worldwide for his Blue Dog canvases, began painting in 1968 not bright-colored dogs but near-black trees.  His devotion to the Louisiana landscape remains an anchor within his art throughout forty-five years of Cajuns, Portraits and Blue Dogs, most of which include the now recognized Rodrigue Oak. His landscapes today, although rooted inContinue reading “The Acrylic Landscape”

Painting (and Living?) Again

George Rodrigue and I returned to New Orleans early August as though our old lives were a dream. It’s hard to believe we threw parties in this house, I mused, as we settled into our sofa and BBC television. “I barely remember going out to dinner,” countered George. Meanwhile, artist Glenda Banta asked me on-lineContinue reading “Painting (and Living?) Again”

Dogs in Space

“I dropped the Cajun influence, just painting a Blue Dog, and I wondered, What does that mean?” –George Rodrigue It was the painting Loup-garouof 1991 that altered the Blue Dog concept for George Rodrigue, as he abandoned his oak trees and Cajun figures for the first time since the late 1960s.  Although he painted theContinue reading “Dogs in Space”

Courage for Our Friends

After ten weeks in Houston, George Rodrigue and I returned today to New Orleans for a bittersweet homecoming, as we change our undesired summer’s routine, while leaving behind the people who shared our experience, the people we grew to love. It’s weird, I said to George a few weeks into our summer, it’s not likeContinue reading “Courage for Our Friends”

Louisiana Legends

Between 1990 and 1993 artist George Rodrigue painted sixteen portraits on three canvases of Living Legends for Louisiana Public Broadcasting.  The 1990 honorees and Rodrigue’s tribute painting launched an LPB tradition continuing today. All proceeds from posters of the three paintings benefited LPB’s television programming. “At the gala,” recalls Rodrigue, “each nominee gave a shortContinue reading “Louisiana Legends”

Success

This week I read Just Kids, poet/rocker Patti Smith’s personal account of life with her closest friend, artist/photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.  I had planned an essay on Louisiana’s Legends, a series of portraits completed by George Rodrigue for Public Broadcasting between 1990 and 1993, but after finishing Smith’s memoir late Thursday night, I suffered Friday aContinue reading “Success”

Starry Starry Eyes: A Runaway Hit

In 1991 George Rodrigue’s printed artwork bolted forward with new color and precision as he applied the latest in ink and technology to his silkscreens.  This was a substantial advancement over his earlier Cajun posters and Blue Dog silkscreens.  For the first time he created complex original print designs using intense hues. Prior to theContinue reading “Starry Starry Eyes: A Runaway Hit”

A Star-spangled Blue Dog (from Houston)

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)”

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”

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)”

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”

Rodrigue’s Bicentennial Poster

George Rodrigue painted the Aioli Dinner in 1971 based on photographs of a gourmet dinner club, the Creole Gourmet Society.  This was his first painting with people, and during the six months that he painted their portraits and a landscape on this single canvas, he developed a style uniquely his own and recognizable today, fortyContinue reading “Rodrigue’s Bicentennial Poster”

Blue Dog on the Defensive

Twenty-two years ago I moved from New Orleans to Carmel-by-the-Sea, an easy decision even for a gal with little knowledge of California beyond The Grapes of Wrath (hardly a ringing endorsement).  In the tiny artist’s village I grew, over time, a little less naïve, facing the controversy naturally attached to an art gallery full ofContinue reading “Blue Dog on the Defensive”

Museum News (Rodrigue on the Walls)

Updated with additional exhibitions, August 1, 2012- If you were lucky enough to see the Rodrigue retrospective exhibitions in 2007 in Memphis and 2008 in New Orleans, then you know the power of such shows.  For those who sought the Blue Dog, the Cajuns and Portraits piqued their interest, as they learned of Rodrigue’s twenty-fiveContinue reading “Museum News (Rodrigue on the Walls)”

Blue Dog and Intellectual Property (Guest Blog Entry)

Guest blog entry by Jacques Rodrigue, George Rodrigue’s son.  He currently serves as House Counsel for Rodrigue Studio and Executive Director of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts.  He is a graduate of Tulane Law School in New Orleans.  Greetings everyone!  Jacques Rodrigue here.  Wendy is taking a much-deserved break this week from bloggingContinue reading “Blue Dog and Intellectual Property (Guest Blog Entry)”

Who Will She Be Today?

George Rodrigue’s newest silkscreen, Who Will She Be Today?, is a rare style among his prints.  Only a handful of his Blue Dog works on paper originate with paintings.  Usually, as explained in the post “Silkscreens,” he creates the design on tracing paper or, more often, within his computer, printing an original image unrelated toContinue reading “Who Will She Be Today?”

Washington Blue Dog (and the Blue Dog Democrats)

In 1992 George Rodrigue painted Washington Blue Dog, a tribute to the United States of America’s capitol, Washington, DC.  The painting is one of his most famous.  Its prints hang in the offices of Blue Dog Democrats and their affiliates, an obvious choice for the group.  The original oil on canvas (48×60 inches), owned byContinue reading “Washington Blue Dog (and the Blue Dog Democrats)”

The Human in the Painting

“She was like a woman of Leonardo da Vinci’s, whom we love not so much for herself as for the things that she will not tell us.” –Cecil Vyse, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, 1908 Certain paintings, particularly a certain era of paintings, transport us, if we let them, to another ageContinue reading “The Human in the Painting”

Our Anniversary

Fifteen years ago today, George Rodrigue and I married beneath a Louisiana live oak, the same Evangeline-style tree he’s painted for years, in Rip Van Winkle Gardens at Jefferson Island, Louisiana.  It was a stormy day, and yet the sun emerged just long enough, as we exchanged our vows.  “It seems like yesterday,” said George’sContinue reading “Our Anniversary”

All Hail King George

George Rodrigue makes a great King.  I hear it every year as we attend the Washington D.C. Mardi Gras, where he ruled in 1994 and still commands regal respect. (pictured, It’s Good to be the King, 1994, acrylic on canvas) This royal interest started in his childhood, in the late 1940s.  George’s first memory, inContinue reading “All Hail King George”

MUSE-ings from a Mardi Gras Float

If ever there was a reason for lasik…, I thought to myself as I struggled with my glasses, barely touching my nose over enormous feathered hot pink eyelashes and a mandatory mask, all negotiated around a plunger-like stocking cap and a bouffant Big Bird-yellow Fifi Mahony’s custom-designed wig. (George Rodrigue designed t-shirts as a giftContinue reading “MUSE-ings from a Mardi Gras Float”

Painting Like a Child… Again

“Creating art in a childlike manner means to be simple and direct, resulting in immediate imagery.” –George Rodrigue Since founding the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) in 2009, George Rodrigue has visited dozens of schools and thousands of children across Louisiana, Northwest Florida and Little Rock, Arkansas.*  Through GRFA he fulfills his needContinue reading “Painting Like a Child… Again”

Four for Mardi Gras

It’s impossible to live in the Gulf South and ignore Mardi Gras.  It spreads from Galveston to the Florida Panhandle, affecting our judgment, so that ‘normal’ becomes beads, wigs, costumes and masks.  (pictured, Four for Mardi Gras, 2012, 24×38 inches, edition 190) In New Orleans we expect parade traffic most evenings and all weekends, shruggingContinue reading “Four for Mardi Gras”

Swamp Dogs: A Series on Metal

More than a year in the making, George Rodrigue’s Swamp Dogs combine print, photography and varnish on large sheets of metal, resulting in a unique perspective of the Louisiana landscape. Beyond materials, however, the series originates with two stories.  Rodrigue, a Cajun artist for forty-five years, illustrates Louisiana lore including not only the loup-garou, butContinue reading “Swamp Dogs: A Series on Metal”

Farewell to Exhibitions; Welcome to Painting

George Rodrigue and I spent much of the past eighteen months on the road visiting museums and communities for exhibitions, lectures, and education events coordinated by the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) and the New Orleans Museum of Art, which organized the tour as part of its 100th birthday celebration.  Locations included BatonContinue reading “Farewell to Exhibitions; Welcome to Painting”

George Rodrigue: Painting Louisiana

Note:  Based on an essay scheduled for publication in an upcoming book* celebrating Louisiana’s bicentennial, published in April 2012 by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, this blog version includes added images, as well as links throughout, referring you to specific relevant posts and websites. Born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana, George Rodrigue (b.Continue reading “George Rodrigue: Painting Louisiana”

The Working Artist

Note:  Throughout this post I sprinkled images by Louisiana artists.  Some I interviewed and some not, but all are included in the book The Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana.*  As I wrote, I thought of the text and images as two separate statements, not necessarily related.  In other words, unless specifically noted, all artistContinue reading “The Working Artist”

Hiding From the Blues

Recently I challenged George Rodrigue:  Pretend I’m a stranger and answer some questions. “Do you ever get the Blues?” “No, I really don’t, at least not on my own,” he said.  “But I do catch the Blues from others.” “Like your wife?” I asked.  But I already knew the answer. (pictured, The Red Cover-Up, 2010, acrylicContinue reading “Hiding From the Blues”

LSU Football: A Personal History

I attended a small college, Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.  In the mid-1980s we had maybe two thousand students.  Although we had a football team, I don’t recall any games.  We had a Greek system, but I evaded that as well, opting instead for extra classes and the AIDS suicide hotline. In short, IContinue reading “LSU Football: A Personal History”

A Cajun in California

It was ten years ago that George Rodrigue built his studio in the hills of Carmel Valley, California.  Since that time, although we live most of the year in New Orleans, ninety percent of his work comes from this peaceful home on the West Coast, an escape from everything but nature and painting. -click photosContinue reading “A Cajun in California”

I Ain’t No Cartoon Dog

The Blue Dog is not a cartoon.  It is a shape that interacts with other shapes, not characters, all according to George Rodrigue’s artistic eye. There are no speech bubbles coming from its mouth.  Although it delivers a message, its exchange is a silent and mysterious communication between its golden saucers and our eyes. (pictured,Continue reading “I Ain’t No Cartoon Dog”

Popular Art: Famous Paintings by George Rodrigue

During our recent tours in north Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, the question arose several times regarding George Rodrigue’s most popular paintings. “My favorite painting,” he’s quick to reply, “is always the one I’m working on now.” (pictured, George Rodrigue at his easel in Carmel Valley, California, 10/6/11) But for the rest of us, humanContinue reading “Popular Art: Famous Paintings by George Rodrigue”

Go North (to Shreveport) and Learn

Shreveport often gets a bum rap.  “It’s east Texas,” claim many, as though that’s a bad thing.  This Red River city fights for not only Louisiana’s embrace, but also the South’s. And yet Shreveport, along with nearby north Louisiana cities such as Natchitoches and Bossier City, cheers on the Saints and LSU.  They talk aboutContinue reading “Go North (to Shreveport) and Learn”

An Artist’s Wife ( … okay, now on facebook)

“To be an enthusiast had become her social vocation and, sometimes even when she did not feel like it, she became enthusiastic in order not to disappoint the expectations of those who knew her.”* (pictured above and below, sharing the art of George Rodrigue with Baton Rouge students during a drawing workshop last weekend atContinue reading “An Artist’s Wife ( … okay, now on facebook)”

Honesty, an Image for Peace

Following 9/11, George Rodrigue, like people everywhere, remained shell-shocked for years over the hatred that spawned a terrorist attack.  Although he painted God Bless America in direct response, the tragedy of that day and the desire to help, to change the world even in some small way, resonated long after. The success of the GodContinue reading “Honesty, an Image for Peace”

Rodrigue on the Red River

George Rodrigue has a long history with Shreveport, a northern Louisiana city oftentimes dismissed by southern Louisiana as ‘east Texas.’  As a child, Rodrigue’s own family, in fact, ignored this important part of Louisiana’s culture: “Growing up in New Iberia,” says George Rodrigue, “our travel plans meant east to New Orleans or Biloxi, or westContinue reading “Rodrigue on the Red River”

Chef Paul Prudhomme

If George Rodrigue has a chef’s counterpart, it’s Paul Prudhomme. They grew up in the relatively close Cajun towns of New Iberia and Opelousas, Louisiana. As young boys both pursued their passions as career goals, determined to hone their talents and define their lives with innovative, bold and personal contributions to the art of paintingContinue reading “Chef Paul Prudhomme”

Inspired by Louisiana and Scale (New Paintings)

George Rodrigue’s newest paintings, his most important collection in years coming out of New Orleans, are huge, most 4×6 feet or larger.  Normally he paints in his studio in Carmel Valley, California, with long days at his easel and, aside from the occasional houseguest, few interruptions.  This year for the first time in more thanContinue reading “Inspired by Louisiana and Scale (New Paintings)”

White Linen Night, the Unexpected

Updated 8/1/13:  Don’t miss White Linen Night 2013 on Saturday, August 3rd, featuring the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts in the New Orleans Arts District.  Details at this link.  ….Followed by Dirty Linen Night at the Rodrigue Gallery, 730 Royal Street on Saturday, August 10th, 2013; details here. I wouldn’t exactly call it aContinue reading “White Linen Night, the Unexpected”

Expectations in Baton Rouge

I’ve pondered how to write about this past weekend without turning my blog into a society page of party pics from the Louisiana State University Museum of Art’s opening for “Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River.”  But it seems there’s no way around it.  Everyone was there, snapping photographs, posing for TV cameras, and eatingContinue reading “Expectations in Baton Rouge”

Okaloosa Island

The white sands of Okaloosa Island encompass only 875 acres, a narrow, three-mile stretch of land between Fort Walton Beach and Destin in the Florida Panhandle.  Although part of the larger Santa Rosa Island, reaching forty miles to Navarre Beach, Okaloosa Island remains isolated from the larger area, a military training ground reserved by theContinue reading “Okaloosa Island”

Gator Aid (Nude Swamp Women)

George Rodrigue and I are in Las Vegas this weekend, enjoying a three-day vacation before the much-anticipated, happy chaos of the upcoming Baton Rouge exhibition, opening July 23rd with a series of events at the Louisiana State University Museum of Art. For that reason, I’m keeping my blog light-and-easy, with mostly pictures and a fewContinue reading “Gator Aid (Nude Swamp Women)”

My Favorite Painting

The Loup-garou is my favorite painting. I first saw it on a Sunday afternoon in 1991, a day that changed my life. I walked into the Rodrigue Gallery in the French Quarter to visit a friend, the gallery manager. At the time, I worked at Ann Taylor while attending graduate school at Tulane University, and I worried as my college job morphed intoContinue reading “My Favorite Painting”

Blue Dog Glass and Other Unique Rodrigue Items

Although partial to paint on canvas, George Rodrigue experiments often with other mediums, creating the unexpected within his signature subjects.  Printmaking is the most obvious other than painting, particularly his Cajun festival posters and Blue Dog silkscreens.  (click photo to zoom, a cameo glass vase within Rodrigue’s home; the painting Loup-garou, 1991, hangs in theContinue reading “Blue Dog Glass and Other Unique Rodrigue Items”

Looking for Summer Shade

Update 7/20/2012: Another hot summer, this one spent unexpectedly in Houston, Texas, finds us missing our annual cross country drive once again.  Unlike last year’s Louisiana exhibitions, however, this year we look forward to Blue Dogs in Texas, opening August 10th at the Amarillo Museum of Art, continuing until October 14, 2012.  Contact the museumContinue reading “Looking for Summer Shade”

A Number One Tiger Fan

From his earliest commission, a valuable lesson at age fifteen when the funeral home director Mr. Burgess refused to pay the agreed-upon fifty-dollar price for his portrait, George Rodrigue tossed around the pros and cons of outside projects.  Everyone has an idea, most well meaning but ill advised. Human nature requests the obvious, and GeorgeContinue reading “A Number One Tiger Fan”

Blue Dogs, Ghost Ranch and Mrs. Wertheimer: George Rodrigue at the Alexandria Museum of Art

“She created her own world, and I created mine,” explains George Rodrigue to his audience at the Alexandria Museum of Art last week, as he nods from a New Mexico landscape (left of the podium; click photo to enlarge) to his own wet Blue Dog canvas. I made a mental note to remember the line,Continue reading “Blue Dogs, Ghost Ranch and Mrs. Wertheimer: George Rodrigue at the Alexandria Museum of Art”

The Immaculate Dog

“He was honestly shocked that he was getting paid for his art,” recalls Cindy Dore Brunet of Houston, Texas. George Rodrigue arrived at her house twenty years ago in his blue van, the back lined with freshly painted mahogany Blue Dogs, carved from George’s design by Douglas Shiell’s father, a master craftsman whose son assistsContinue reading “The Immaculate Dog”

Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River: A Painting, Print and Exhibition

“Once a person tries hard enough and long enough without results, the last place they expect to be recognized is in their own backyard.  George Rodrigue could not be more excited about this exhibition or the turnout of public support if his art were on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” That’s basically theContinue reading “Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River: A Painting, Print and Exhibition”

Monroe (that’s MUN-roe), Louisiana

Until recently I thought I understood Louisiana, its ins and outs, its people, its terrain, and its history. Yet we spent much of this past week in northeast Louisiana, and I found town after town unfamiliar, including our destination, Monroe, a city of cypress groves, 60,000 people, and tremendous state pride, located 270 miles northContinue reading “Monroe (that’s MUN-roe), Louisiana”

The Sketchbook

I titled this post and immediately laughed, because it reminded me of “The Reunion,” “The Body,” “The Therapist,” or any number of episode titles from “Matlock,” my latest mindless television escape. It was in 1960 that Coach Raymond Blanco, husband of former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, famously threw George Rodrigue out of class forContinue reading “The Sketchbook”

Mixed Medias: A Special Series on Board

In the past, I wrote extensively about George Rodrigue’s mixed medias.  Usually he tacks large-scale silkscreen images of simple dogs onto the wall of our garage, painting, even doodling, on the heavy paper prints with unblended colors straight from the can or tube.  He uses large brushes and works quickly, often painting a dozen piecesContinue reading “Mixed Medias: A Special Series on Board”

Butterflies Are Free

When I asked George Rodrigue this week for the title of his newest silkscreen print, he said, “Did we have one called ‘Butterflies Are Free’?” Not only do we have one, I reminded him, (it was his first piece with butterflies, featured later in this post), but also he suggests that same title for everyContinue reading “Butterflies Are Free”

Museums and Critics, an Early History

“I’m a survivor.” George Rodrigue, 2011 In 1969 the Art Center of Southwest Louisiana held George Rodrigue’s first solo museum exhibition. Located in Lafayette at the University of Southwest Louisiana, the museum, also known as the Pink Palace, existed within a Mississippi River-style plantation, surrounded by huge columns and designed by architect A. Hays Town.Continue reading “Museums and Critics, an Early History”

Motorcycles (The Blue Dog Hog)

Although not a rider himself, George Rodrigue relates to the seduction of the open road and the notion of freedom and Americana attached to motorcycles. Twice each year we cross the country in our truck, no books or computers allowed, so that we experience the West without distractions. We keep the music to a minimum,Continue reading “Motorcycles (The Blue Dog Hog)”

Meet Tiffany, the Original Blue Dog

It was an accident that a terrier/spaniel mix named Tiffany found herself involved with an artist’s legacy years after her death. The Blue Dog, in truth, has little connection to the Rodrigue family pet. Instead, its roots lie in a Cajun story, the loup-garou, a scary legend about a werewolf-type dog that lurks in cemeteriesContinue reading “Meet Tiffany, the Original Blue Dog”

Mardi Gras Silkscreens: A History

George Rodrigue created his first Blue Dog Mardi Gras silkscreen in 1992. He designed the simple, strong image by hand, drawing the outlines for each color on a separate sheet of tracing paper to make the six-color print, and emphasizing the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple (justice), gold (power), and green (faith). The printContinue reading “Mardi Gras Silkscreens: A History”

Good, Good, Good Friends (Three New Orleans Chefs)

Artists and chefs share a natural bond. Creating unique art or food, they separate themselves from the pack, or from the yardstick as George would say, recalling a professor who explained, “Art is like a yardstick (held horizontally), with the Mona Lisa at one end and black paint on a black canvas at the other.Continue reading “Good, Good, Good Friends (Three New Orleans Chefs)”

Counting on Art (and Painting by Numbers)

George Rodrigue first picked up a paintbrush in 1953 when his mother brought him the latest American craze, paint by number sets, to ease his boredom as he lie sick in bed with polio. By the early Fifties the masses saw paint by number as affordable, do-it-yourself art. But even as a young boy, GeorgeContinue reading “Counting on Art (and Painting by Numbers)”

Mardi Gras Colors on Paper

Since his earliest Cajun paintings, George Rodrigue painted the parades, costumes, and colors of Mardi Gras. Over the next six weeks (leading up to March 8th, Mardi Gras Day), I’ll explore that history within this blog, including his Cajun posters for small town Louisiana carnival traditions; twenty years of Mardi Gras Blue Dog silkscreens; photographsContinue reading “Mardi Gras Colors on Paper”

Rodrigue vs. O’Keeffe: Choosing Magnus and Murphy Over the Great Modernist Painter

It’s a snowy day in Santa Fe at last. George Rodrigue and I made the most of this past week’s clear weather, however, spending a day exploring an ancient turquoise mine owned by our friend Doug Magnus, a jeweler and artist in the area. …And another day within the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Once again, asContinue reading “Rodrigue vs. O’Keeffe: Choosing Magnus and Murphy Over the Great Modernist Painter”

The Greatest Gift

“And they sat there and they marveled And they knew they could not tell Whether it were angels, or the bright stars a singing”** I was surprised by the large and heartfelt response to the recent post “The Ghost of Christmas Past,” a story I hesitated sharing. Obviously there is something about this season thatContinue reading “The Greatest Gift”

The Bronzes

George Rodrigue holds a deep appreciation for classicism in the visual arts. In a way, this embrace of time-honored techniques and subjects translates to a parallel within his own career, as even today he talks about his bronzes of the mid-1970s with reverence, recalling the process as though he worked alongside Donatello himself, paying tributeContinue reading “The Bronzes”

Spirits in the Trees

A Tulane professor visiting the New Orleans gallery with her class this week asked me about George’s connection to voodoo. Although I’m sure she intended nothing of the sort, her question reminded me of the only negative comment we received in response to the 2008 Rodrigue exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art. AContinue reading “Spirits in the Trees”

Cloud Illusions

I watched the sunrise this morning over New Mexico from the window of our adobe hotel room in downtown Santa Fe. The storms skirted us all week, and the clouds enhance the orange light as it stretches from behind the fugacious masses, so unlike the clouds in a Rodrigue painting. I’m reminded instead of theContinue reading “Cloud Illusions”

Blue Dog in a Landscape

After more than forty years and thousands of paintings, it is the dog-in-a-landscape that stands out as George Rodrigue’s most popular subject. The first Blue Dog painting (1984) depicts a scary loup-garou in a landscape (pictured here), a style that continues for the following five or six years. These early Blue Dog works combine George’sContinue reading “Blue Dog in a Landscape”

The Ragin’ Cajun (The Art of the Trade)

Granted I’m biased, however I’ve witnessed over the years that most people, men and women, find George Rodrigue downright charming. It’s something about that Cajun accent combined with the Snagglepuss laugh and his down-to-earth demeanor that reels in both friends and strangers alike. This is a handy character trait regarding his business. For years GeorgeContinue reading “The Ragin’ Cajun (The Art of the Trade)”

Riding to New Orleans: An Artist’s Journey

For George, in honor of his new gallery and a dream fulfilled- In 1970 I bought a ticket on a train To New Orleans for my first art show, Oak Trees. I painted Cajuns, not Creoles, and then Blue Dogs and Hurricanes I built sculptures and changed directions, painting Tee Coons* and Jolies I’m anContinue reading “Riding to New Orleans: An Artist’s Journey”

God Bless America: A Silkscreen Following 9/11/01

Like most of you, what I remember vividly about September 11th 2001, is a never-ending televised replay of airplanes flying into the World Trade Center. I have another memory though, just as vivid, of my nephew William Parker, only a few months old, lying on the floor and laughing up at his mom and meContinue reading “God Bless America: A Silkscreen Following 9/11/01”

Best of Musings and Paintings: Celebrating One Year and One Hundred Posts

And you thought I’d run out of things to write? Never! It’s been a year of Musings, with one hundred posts in all and nearly 12,000 readers per month. To mark the occasion, I’ve outlined below a ‘Best of…’ list based on your favorites (according to the stat counter) and mine, sprinkled throughout with George’sContinue reading “Best of Musings and Paintings: Celebrating One Year and One Hundred Posts”

Blue Dog Relief

As I’ve mentioned before, it was many months before George Rodrigue returned to his easel following Hurricane Katrina, and when he did, the paintings were dark and fragmented, far different from the bright colors and strong designs normally associated with the Blue Dog Series. Not only was he without a studio space to work, butContinue reading “Blue Dog Relief”

We Will Rise Again

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, like everyone on the Gulf Coast, our lives were in turmoil. In addition to the logistics of basic needs such as shelter, phone service and, most important, tracking down friends and loved ones, there was a business and a staff, several of whom lost everything they owned, to consider. AlthoughContinue reading “We Will Rise Again”

A Flurry of Activity

…a sneak-peek at new projects The woodpeckers are crazy today, flying into the windows, boring holes into the house, and twirling together as though spring, and not a cold and foggy Carmel summer, is in the air. As I watch twenty or so, doing everything at once, barely pausing for rest in the oak treeContinue reading “A Flurry of Activity”

Alligator Crossing

It’s ironic. In south Louisiana, where alligators actually do cross the road (or the levee or the yard or the bayou), there’s no warning. However, in Carmel Valley, California, where the possibility is, okay, impossible, you’re warned just in case. I guess this makes sense if you consider the context. A Cajun lives in thisContinue reading “Alligator Crossing”

Lost Within Rothko and Rodrigue

We all feel helpless at times, unable to fight our will, acting in ways we know we shouldn’t. My compulsion is particularly unfortunate, because it puts pressure on my husband to appease a request, one I’ve hounded him about for years: “Paint me a Rothko.” How insulting is that? Very. I ask George Rodrigue, anContinue reading “Lost Within Rothko and Rodrigue”

Blue Dog: The Dark Period, 2006-7 (Paintings Following Katrina)

Following the chaos of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, George Rodrigue shifted his attention from Bodies, a collection of paintings and remastered digital prints focused on the female nude, to Blue Dog Relief. The New Orleans gallery reopened in January of 2006; however, the positive nature of George’s paintings seemed out of place. Our staff workedContinue reading “Blue Dog: The Dark Period, 2006-7 (Paintings Following Katrina)”

Blue Dog Speaks

With his Cajun works, George Rodrigue’s titles describe a scene in its simplest terms. The paintings themselves hold narratives, and their titles merely state the obvious. Louisiana Hayride (1972) Looking for Summer Shade (1973) The Aioli Dinner (1971, for a complete history of this, Rodrigue’s most famous Cajun painting, visit here) However, the Blue DogContinue reading “Blue Dog Speaks”

The Painting in the Closet

It’s a common misconception that George Rodrigue intends all of his art for sale, or at least for public display. If he manufactured tennis shoes, this might make sense, and indeed because George makes a living with his art, it is true that most works do end up with a price tag. However, this commercialismContinue reading “The Painting in the Closet”

Louisiana Roots (The Louis Prima of the Art World)

George Rodrigue is unique in the art world. I can think of very few contemporary visual artists of his renown that define themselves by their culture. From the time he first returned to Louisiana from Los Angeles and art school in the late 1960s, he called himself a Cajun artist. Even today he describes everyContinue reading “Louisiana Roots (The Louis Prima of the Art World)”

The Nude Figure

As a student, it was important to George Rodrigue to learn the fundamentals of art. He grew frustrated early on with his college education, a 1960s academic art world rooted in the abstract, as opposed to classical notions of compositional design, chiaroscuro (play of light and dark), and an accurate study of the human figure.Continue reading “The Nude Figure”

The Collector

During the summer of 2005, George Rodrigue and I joined his collectors Chris and Don Sanders in Europe for the Venice Biennale and Art Basel. Although we attended in the past, this was our first visit with the ‘in-crowd,’ and our group consisted of major gallery owners and big time art collectors, certainly well beyondContinue reading “The Collector”

A Gallery of His Own (A Woolf Inspires a Wolfe)

“Be truthful one would say, and the result is bound to be amazingly interesting.”* From day one, from his return to Louisiana from art school in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, George Rodrigue wanted one thing: to make a living as an artist. However, he never imagined that selling his art would be up to him.Continue reading “A Gallery of His Own (A Woolf Inspires a Wolfe)”

The Jazz Fest Poster: Part 2

With this post, George and I remember Mrs. Frances Fernandez, long-time President and Board member of the New Orleans Jazz Club, who dedicated her life to the appreciation of New Orleans’s jazz musicians. We also remember Bill Hemmerling, a beloved local artist who painted the 2005 poster for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.Continue reading “The Jazz Fest Poster: Part 2”

The Jazz Fest Poster: Part 1

In 1994 when first approached by ProCreations, the poster company for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, George Rodrigue hesitated. “It has to be my rules,” he said: “I want to paint Louis Armstrong, and I want to paint him without the Blue Dog.” Up until this time Jazz Fest posters included only musiciansContinue reading “The Jazz Fest Poster: Part 1”

Fairs and Festivals, Ducks Unlimited and the New Orleans Jazz Club

If you ask George Rodrigue what made his art famous in Louisiana, his answer might surprise you. It’s not the Blue Dog, Absolut Vodka ads, or Jazz Fest. Rather, it’s the small town festival posters. Throughout the 1980s George created posters for dozens of festivals throughout the state. He sold thousands of these inexpensive offsetContinue reading “Fairs and Festivals, Ducks Unlimited and the New Orleans Jazz Club”

Musicians: A Series of Paintings

It’s spring in Louisiana, and that means seventy-degree weather, festivals, and live music. This weekend New Orleans hosts the French Quarter Festival, an annual free music festival throughout the oldest part of the city, and popular with both tourists and locals. Through the windows of our third floor bedroom in the Faubourg Marigny, we listenedContinue reading “Musicians: A Series of Paintings”

Miniatures: Manuscripts, Landscapes, Blue Dogs and Blogs

Jean de France, duc de Berry commissioned the Belles Heures, an elaborate calendar and religious volume, in 1405. Created by the German Limbourg brothers, Herman, Paul, and Jean over five years in Paris, the illuminated manuscript is a mere 9×6 inches, with many paintings no bigger than a postage stamp. My friend Emer and IContinue reading “Miniatures: Manuscripts, Landscapes, Blue Dogs and Blogs”

Rabbits and Chickens In (and Out) of Rodrigue Paintings

George Rodrigue’s sense of play spills over from his life into his art. Even in his Cajun paintings, which many consider to be his ‘serious work,’ he plays jokes on the public, entertaining himself and his audience with absurd subject matter, scale, and titles. The truth, however, is that when it comes to the actualContinue reading “Rabbits and Chickens In (and Out) of Rodrigue Paintings”

Flowers (Eyes, Swirls, and Hearts)

Anyone who knows George Rodrigue describes him as ‘manly.’ He has a deep voice and a large John Wayne-type rib cage; he wears alligator boots and drives a truck; he never misses a football game, and it pains him to attend the ballet or symphony; his favorite movies are The Searchers and High Noon, andContinue reading “Flowers (Eyes, Swirls, and Hearts)”

Blue Dog Today: An Interview with George Rodrigue

Every few weeks I devote a blog to the Blue Dog Story, from its loup-garou beginning in 1984, and on to Tiffany, Absolut and Xerox, Blue Dog Man, Sculptures, Red Dog, and Silkscreens. I last wrote about the Abstract Paintings of 2001-2003, and I’m a bit lost as to how to move forward. To assessContinue reading “Blue Dog Today: An Interview with George Rodrigue”

Clinton, Bush, and Obama: Portraits (or not)

In 1994 some connected friends with the Democratic Party invited George Rodrigue to meet President Bill Clinton. George invited me along and, truth be told, I was more excited about meeting Hillary. My mom worked at a printing company at the time, and she and her friend Bronwen Ross created personalized note cards for theContinue reading “Clinton, Bush, and Obama: Portraits (or not)”

Blue Dog: The Silkscreens

George Rodrigue’s newest silkscreen* print, We Blues Dem Away (Ain’t Dat Super) is a typical example of his print process. In recent years he uses the computer to design his silkscreens so that the print itself, as opposed to a painting, is the original work of art. (pictured, 2010, 33×26 inches, partially a benefit forContinue reading “Blue Dog: The Silkscreens”

Red Dog

The Red Dog first appeared in 1990 about the time George Rodrigue started re-thinking the loup-garou, turning it into an entity beyond a Cajun legend, turning it slowly into something else. You may remember from the post Blue Dog: In the Beginning, 1984-1989 that George changed the red eyes of the early loup-garou paintings toContinue reading “Red Dog”

Blue Dog: The Abstract Paintings, 2001-2003

George Rodrigue completed the Xerox Collection in early 2001. He spent the next several months building his studio in Carmel, California, and by that summer we were settled in Carmel, remaining there most of the next two years. Spurred on by the excitement over his new studio, he painted ‘round the clock, and I watchedContinue reading “Blue Dog: The Abstract Paintings, 2001-2003”

Blue Dog 2000, The Year of Xerox

Although most collectors and fans know by now that George Rodrigue avoids mass-production, products, and other projects that might be described as ‘sell-out,’ there was a period of time when I (and I daresay much of the gallery staff) approached each day on the defensive. The late 1990s brought a flood of projects his way,Continue reading “Blue Dog 2000, The Year of Xerox”

From Jolie Blonde to Bodies: Paintings of Women

According to local legend, in the 1920s a Cajun imprisoned in Port Arthur, Texas pined for his lost love, his beautiful blonde, his “Jolie Blonde,” and wrote a waltz from those feelings of longing. Over the years the song became for many the Cajun anthem based on a sort of modern day Evangeline, and CajunContinue reading “From Jolie Blonde to Bodies: Paintings of Women”

Blue Dog Man, 1996- 1999

Maybe it’s Diana Krall singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” or maybe it’s the lights on our turquoise tree, or maybe it’s this stormy New Orleans afternoon, but something has made me sentimental in thinking back on what I like to call the ‘Blue Dog Man’ years, 1996-1999. It was during this time thatContinue reading “Blue Dog Man, 1996- 1999”

Art School: Lafayette and Los Angeles, 1962-1967

When George Rodrigue entered his senior year at Catholic High School in New Iberia, Louisiana in 1961, his future, to his mind, was certain. He would go to art school and become a professional artist. His parents, however, had other ideas, determined he have something more steady than his father’s (and grandfather’s) work in brick-layingContinue reading “Art School: Lafayette and Los Angeles, 1962-1967”

André and Jacques: The Rodrigue Brothers

George Rodrigue has two sons, André (born 1975) and Jacques (born 1981). They are as accustomed to the question “Do you paint?” as I am, maybe more; however, neither one followed in their dad’s artistic footsteps. Over the years George has painted his boys many times. Kiss Me, I’m Cajun, featuring André, is probably theContinue reading “André and Jacques: The Rodrigue Brothers”

Blue Dog: Out of Control, 1993-1995

By 1993 the Blue Dog had far-reaching fame. After the success of Absolut Louisiana the previous year, Michel Roux of Carillon Importers commissioned Absolut Rodrigue, which appeared full page in hundreds of magazines that year, and continued in hundreds more in the following. As recently as this past summer, it was the most highlighted ofContinue reading “Blue Dog: Out of Control, 1993-1995”

Contemporary Art, Chefs, Fashion, and Scouting (in Las Vegas?)

George Rodrigue has epiphanies at the strangest times. He’s written movie scripts on airplane sick bags, designed cars in the middle of the night, and composed country western songs while changing light bulbs. Yesterday he emerged from the shower with a declaration: “I know why the general public can’t relate to contemporary art.” Then heContinue reading “Contemporary Art, Chefs, Fashion, and Scouting (in Las Vegas?)”

A History of Evangeline in Rodrigue Paintings

There are enough Rodrigue Evangelines to fill an entire museum exhibition. He’s painted the Acadian heroine one hundred or more times over nearly forty years. Like Jolie Blonde, the Oak Tree, and the Blue Dog, she is a staple in his work, a protagonist as much for him as she is in the story ofContinue reading “A History of Evangeline in Rodrigue Paintings”

Oil Paint or Acrylic?

After experimenting in art school with several mediums, including designer colors, pastel, water color, and chalk, George Rodrigue settled on oil paint to create his dark landscapes of Louisiana oak trees in 1969. In those days money was a real concern, and he was aware that each stroke of his brush equated to less paintContinue reading “Oil Paint or Acrylic?”

Eisenhower and Higgins: A New Historical Painting

How do I explain a painting rooted in war? How does someone like me write about it in such a way that doesn’t offend the anti-war Americans (a position I respect immensely), or the veterans (a position I also respect immensely), but rather expresses pride for our country and compassion for our fellow human beings?Continue reading “Eisenhower and Higgins: A New Historical Painting”

Blue Dog: The Ghost of Tiffany, 1990-1992

In 1989 artist George Rodrigue, an investor, and that investor’s agent-brother opened The Rodrigue Gallery of New Orleans just behind St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter. In those first months the gallery exhibited George’s Cajun paintings, mostly large genre works featuring his friends and family as models. However, as I mentioned in a previousContinue reading “Blue Dog: The Ghost of Tiffany, 1990-1992”

Two Publishing Stories: The Cajuns and Blue Dog

The Cajuns of George Rodrigue By 1975 George Rodrigue was painting forty canvases a year, all scenes of Cajun folk-life stemming from his first painting with people, Aioli Dinner (1971), and incorporating the distinctive oak trees from his landscapes as well. Although he had a gallery in Lafayette, Louisiana, he was selling most of hisContinue reading “Two Publishing Stories: The Cajuns and Blue Dog”

Blue Dog: In the Beginning, 1984-1989

In 1980 a Baton Rouge investment group approached George Rodrigue for help in creating a lasting Louisiana memento, a book of Louisiana ghost stories to be sold at the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans. Author Chris Segura embellished forty rather gruesome tales, and Rodrigue researched regional myths and legends for appropriate imagery, resulting inContinue reading “Blue Dog: In the Beginning, 1984-1989”

My Favorite George Rodrigue Painting

Note:  I reworked this post in July 2011.  To see my favorite painting and George Rodrigue’s least favorite painting (pictured at the bottom of this post) in person, visit the exhibition “Blue Dogs and Cajuns on the River,” July 23 – September 18, 2011, at the Baton Rouge Museum of Art at the Shaw Center.Continue reading “My Favorite George Rodrigue Painting”

Tombs in the Life and Art of George Rodrigue

It’s Halloween, which makes me think of skeletons and vampires and okay, pumpkins and candy, but those don’t apply here, which makes me think of cemeteries and caskets, which makes me think of George Rodrigue’s unusual to my mind and on-going interest in tombs. As I mentioned briefly in my last post, George’s father wasContinue reading “Tombs in the Life and Art of George Rodrigue”

How Baby George Became an Artist

George Rodrigue grew up an only child in New Iberia, Louisiana, a small town in the heart of Cajun country. His father, also named George Rodrigue, was a bricklayer by trade, but he dabbled in other businesses as well. As the youngest of thirteen children, Big George (as he was known around town) took onContinue reading “How Baby George Became an Artist”

Now and Then There’s a Fool Such as I (in Memphis)

We’ve spent the past three days in Memphis, extended longer than our usual book tour duty because we visited at length with patients and staff at Le Bonheur Hospital. We took a hard hat tour of their new facility, in addition to what I can only describe as an inspirational (and heartbreaking) tour of theirContinue reading “Now and Then There’s a Fool Such as I (in Memphis)”

Blue Dog in Three Dimensions

Completed July 2012….. Three Heads are Better Than One (height:  five feet; constructed of chrome, aluminum and steel; finished with acrylic and automotive paint), on view at the Rodrigue Gallery, New Orleans; click photo to enlarge- It was probably ten years ago that George Rodrigue started work in earnest on the concept of a Blue DogContinue reading “Blue Dog in Three Dimensions”

History of an Artist?

Written after reading a recent article about a ‘discovered’ (by x-ray) N.C. Wyeth painting located underneath a later N.C. Wyeth painting (turns out he had re-used the canvas). The resulting on-line debate and discussion covered everything from illustration vs art, to the artist’s intention in covering or ‘hiding’ an earlier work, to the definition ofContinue reading “History of an Artist?”