A modern look for the human form comes from artist Wayne Boudreaux

 

Photo courtesy Wayne Boudreaux

     For artist Wayne Boudreaux, expression takes the form of acrylic on canvas as he creates human form pictures to delight the public. Any size canvas can find a place on his easel as he shares with the public the images of things seen over a lifetime.

     He hasn’t always worked full time as an artist. Three years ago, he began applying the skills he learned in younger years at University of New Orleans in earnest. With his retirement came a desire to stay occupied, and he turned back to art to help him “stay busy,” as he puts it.

     Boudreaux spent his youth in New Orleans, living in many neighborhoods over the years but he now calls Slidell home. The 68-year-old’s work focuses primarily on the female form, doing them in “a modern style, mildly geometric…and natural shapes.”

     “I try to present the human form in a positive way, in a modern shape,” he says, as he shares his philosophy of art. 

     His work hangs in the St. Tammany Art Association gallery in Covington as well as Artists’ Galleries de Juneau in Slidell's Olde Towne, where he is the September 2016 Artist of the Month. Tent shows also play a role in his art business. He has entered several competitions including some in Slidell and has won at the prestigious Art in the Pass competition in Pass Christian, MS. 

     “This year, I was accepted in the Covington Three River Art Festival,” he declares.

Boudreaux creates his paintings on spec, declining to get involved in commission work which he perceives as being “too much like a job.” He wants to keep his unstructured approach, painting images which move him. This approach allows him to create paintings which generally sell around $350.00, although he has painted pictures which sold as high as $1200.00.

     “I’m enjoying it. It’s doing what I want it to do,” he says about his art. “It gives me something challenging, something that I like doing…It’s been very interesting.”

Artists' Galleries de Juneau

2143 First Street

Slidell, LA 

985-326-8286

Art by CaSSandra - Creative chaos shares imaginative worlds

     Slidell artist Sandra Seefeld brings multiple skills to the table. Her award winning mixed media work lends texture to her vision. Vibrant colors fill her fine art pieces. Whimsical dolls take shape from her needle, accompanied by her creative writing detailing the stories of their origins.

Award-winning mixed media shares the wall with two of her fantasy creatures

      Yet the artist known as CaSSandra hasn't been creating art all of her life. Her art career only began at age forty. A tremor in her hands when she was younger interfered with her painting for many years. Her father advised her to paint larger subjects so the tremor's effects wouldn't be so noticeable. So the self-taught artist began to work on giant canvases, painting classic automobiles. The oversized paintings incorporated aspects such as reflective medium incorporated into the paint which gave the works added depth under black light.

     Seefeld has since overcome the tremors. Her subjects have become more precise, the canvases sometimes a little smaller. Many of them have appeared in Louisiana based movies such as Dracula 2000. She rents out her paintings and mannequin-based figures as well as many other props of the fantastic to the movie industry.

     Her art often incorporates “found” objects and her home studio reflects many of her passions. She has acquired items such as several hundred preserved alligator heads, cow skulls, and mannequins. As part of her preparedness, she collects interesting shapes like large plastic bottle caps unusual picture frames, and a large variety of fabrics. Any of these items may find their way into the next project.

Enchanted Minikins dolls take many forms

      Her Enchanted Minikins dolls represent creatures which evolved from “aliens who came to Earth at Mardi Gras… Once Mardi Gras was over, they didn’t fit in anymore and went into the swamp to avoid being seen.” Once there, they mated with various plant and animal life and the products of those matings became the dolls. Each one has a story of its own to tell, a story delivered with the soft-sculpture doll. With fantastic creatures such as a CrawAlligator and Tomato Bimbo, Seefeld lets her imagination run wild.

     Seefeld often begins her drawings by closing her eyes and sketching with a pencil. Once she opens her eyes, she ponders the sketch until she sees the character within the lines. She then adds color and details until her creation is completed. Some of the drawings will provide inspiration for dolls.

      “No matter how unusual or strange my art is, three-quarters of it is based on history or fact,” she says, when asked how she wants people to view her art. Whether she is talking voodoo dolls or paintings of classic cars, she promises a fresh look at the subject.

     Her website shares many of her images. She has a vivid imagination and employs it in all of her artistic avenues. View her work at Artists’ Galleries de Juneau at 2143 First Street in Olde Towne Slidell, LA, as well.

© 2016 Mary Beth Magee