Northeast Louisiana's Blend of the Bayou

I was invited again to participate as one of the artist's at the Northeast Louisiana Art's Council's yearly event "Blend of the Bayou. It's a fundraiser for the arts council that involved local businessmen cooking, and as people enjoy their afternoon, stroll through the outside art gallery. It's always lots of fun. This is my fourth year to participate. The setting is the beautiful home of Dr. and Mrs. Waltor Sartor.

The weather was perfect for this fun afternoon. The temps were just right for May in Louisiana. (Last year it was chilly - we were wearing jackets and sweaters)

Me with Leah Reitzell, one of my partners at the Sugar Art Gallery. 

Portrait Artist Ricky Sikes painted live.

Some of the great food by local businessmen.

Art by local artist / architect Doug Breckenridge.

I had Doug Breckenridge take a photo of me with my art.

I had a wonderful day. I took 10 paintings and came home with three. I'm working hard trying to build back my inventory as well as finish commissions. If you haven't been to this event, start looking for tickets to go on sale in April 2016 for the next event.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

Blend of the Bayou in Monroe

Every year, the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council has a fundraiser called "Blend of the Bayou". At this event, "men who mix and brew" come out and cook everything from bbq sandwiches to gumbo and fried catfish. Part of this event is a "Bayou Gallery" with 15-20 of the area's prominent artists with art items for sale. The event was this weekend and the weather was absolutely beautiful! I attended with four other artists from the coop gallery I'm with attended as well as other art friends from the area.

We sampled the food, mingled and talked to art collectors. I debuted one of my latest pieces, "Summertime Blues", which I'm happy to say found a new home that day.

 And for the first time every, the youth at the local theater were invited to perform a few of their songs from Guys and Dolls. As you know - our family has worked hard on this production the past few weeks.

Again - it was record low temperatures on this gorgeous Sunday in May (which in Louisiana terms - was perfect!). I look forward to more beautiful days like this day this month. Thanks for stopping by and if you want to stay updated, you can subscribe to this blog and/or follow me on Melanie Douthit Art Studio's Facebook Page. by selecting the "Like" button. Have a great day!

Blend of the Bayou and Artists

I had the opportunity to be a part of a wonderful event this past weekend. Every year the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council hosts a fundraiser called "Blend of the Bayou". Over 50 of the area's top chefs cook a sampling of various foods that include shrimp, gumbo, catfish, barbeque and anything in between. They also have a "Bayou Gallery" which includes some of the area's most prominent artists and crafts people offering their work for silent bidding. I was thrilled when I received my invitation to participate in this event.

 
Three of my fellow gallery colleagues also participated in this event. It was fun hanging out together visiting: Linda Ward Snider, Don Hudnell aka Dirt Dauber, Emily Brodnax and myself.

 It was held near the water in a beautiful home in the area, nestled under the shade of enormous oak trees.
 

It was nice to talk to people that stopped by my table. Some were collectors. I met some new people and heard such wonderful positive feedback. I love hearing feedback from people.

The countdown is on for my trip to the Fort Worth Art Crawl, and I have so much to do. It will be here before you know it. If any of you are in the Fort Worth Area, please look for me at Arts Goggle. See my previous post for details.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave your footprints in the comments section. Have a great week!