Being a Louisiana artist, most of the reference photos for my paintings of the marsh and the different work boats come from fishing trips. The easiest place to fish in the saltwater without leaving the city is a short drive to lake Pontchartrain in the north side of the city. For me this area is limited for painting and short on solitude. Getting away from the city is half the reason for going to the marsh. The other half is to get as many reference photos as possible and possibly catch some dinner too.
The Yclosky Hopedale area is full of oyster and shrimp boats along with fishing camps and docks for the boats of fishing guides. Sometimes on our way to Delacroix Island an area southwest of Hopedale, I will just point and shoot the camera out of the car window while driving and capture images like these.
You never know what you’ll find in pictures like these. The last pic, boat on the right is possibly the smallest crab boat I’ve seen. I can really look close at the equipment on the boats and see what is there.
It’s more than likely no artwork will come from pictures like these, but I enjoy the spontaneity and going back through them when I get home to look at the details. These images show a sense of place. Anyone who has been there a tell this is Louisiana. This concept is something I have been trying to get better at. Instead of painting the front of a house, I would like to paint the same house in a New Orleans neighborhood. Instead of a picture of a boat, I want a picture of Delacroix Louisiana with boats in it.
Today, I will have to chalk this post up as working on my art career. The rain is really coming down outside. We are currently in the middle of June, and we are getting heavy thunderstorms almost every day. Now is the time where we start paying attention the weather in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and watch the storms off of Africa. It’s time to make sure the generator is ready to go and we have extra gas and plywood laying around.
Thanks for spending time on my Blog, Sean
