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!”
Category Archives: The Other Side of the Painting
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”
What did he look like? …A LAA+ Tour
It was last spring that a young student at The Dufrocq School, a Louisiana A+ School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana asked me the most basic of questions: “What did he look like?” Thrown off, I could only think Where’s my phone? (in my purse) followed quickly by Where’s my purse? (on the other side of theContinue reading “What did he look like? …A LAA+ Tour”
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”
The Moment
“What are you thinking about?” I asked George, following hours of silence. “The road,” he replied. After dozens of cross-country journeys together over twenty years, his answer was always the same. So I stopped asking, and pondered, instead, his answer. George wasn’t speaking of the asphalt, although he did reminisce about old Route 66 andContinue reading “The Moment”
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)”
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”
The Right Thing
“I hate the right thing to do…” …grumbled my young cousin, her back to me as she descended the stairs. This was several years ago in New Orleans, and I had just pushed her towards something that seemed terribly important at the time. Her reaction to my vague reasoning reverberates like my own adolescent reactionContinue reading “The Right Thing”
Introducing… The Other Side
From the Introduction to The Other Side of the Painting by Wendy Rodrigue, published October 2013 by UL Press– My mom, an artist, talked me into my first Art History class, a sweeping journey from cave paintings to the start of the Renaissance. Previously, I avoided it, thinking I preferred self-discovery through my mother’s books. YetContinue reading “Introducing… The Other Side”
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”
The Other Side of the Painting
Oftentimes it takes others to point out our achievements. What begins as small and for oneself can become something else. George Rodrigue paints today with confidence, sure of both his brushstrokes and direction. His paintings are steps towards expounding his vision, whether within a specific series or his career’s oeuvre. But this was not alwaysContinue reading “The Other Side of the Painting”
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!”