Lafayette Art Association & Gallery
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100 Words and a Picture


There are many untold stories behind the art that hangs in our gallery.

I would say, equally as interesting as the art itself.


How about telling your story, its easy and people want to hear it.

100 WORDS AND A PICTURE – share something about yourself on LAA’s Blog
​
  • Member Statement/Profile: A little something about yourself and what inspires you to do art
  • ArtWork Story: Your process, the experience, or the deeper meaning behind a select piece of your art
  • Literary Art: Write prose or poetry that interprets or reflects a piece of your artwork

Don't wait to be asked: Send your submission by email to: info@lafayetteart.org

Member Profile: Barry Sons

6/29/2021

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Picture

"​I am a Louisianan. I am a child of the Atchafalaya, our country’s largest river basin."
As a young boy I dove for oysters off Cocodrie and dragged nets for shrimp in the clear aqua waters of the gulf.

I am (also) a painter, writer, and poet. I became aware of the situation in Louisiana after seeing my basin, having been gone for 37 years. What I saw east of the Atchafalaya was desecration--oak trees standing dead in the water, where once was dry land. Gashes of canals cut across once beautiful winding bayous. Hackberry bayou should have been a river by now, but because of the rerouting of the water it is silting up. What a mess we have made! I felt desperate to help.  Who knew what a catastrophe a levee could cause.

I had to do something. I had to paint this wonderful gift of nature before it becomes beach-front property.  After finding out that for my basin there was hope, I knew I could not sit still on this issue.
    
I used to read a story to my children called 'The Giving Tree' by Shel Silverstein. I don’t know if you are familiar with the story, but the tree gives up everything until there is nothing left but the stump. I fear my Louisiana, my dream state, is that giving tree.
 
So what could I do? How could I make a difference? I could only paint what was left of Eden. And as I would paint, the voice in the deepest part of me said, “Write.” And the poems as simple as they are came. The stories as simple as they are came. I poured my passion onto the canvas. I did not intend to make an issue. I only knew I had to do
something.
 
For twelve years I have worked to bring this work to fruition and here it is (www.barrysonsart.com) - a drop in the Gulf, but it’s my drop. One drop does not make a river flow the way it should, but one drop by many people possibly could. If enough of us stay conscious, holding together like the roots of the marsh to do what we can, perhaps the Mississippi silt will work for us again.

​My hope is that some day, my grandchildren can stand with their grand children (toes shoved into the blue-green clay of the riverbank) and show them the wonder-filled South-Louisiana that was my back yard.

​Barry Sons
 
barrylsons@gmail.com
www.barrysonsart.com

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Location

Lafayette Art Association & Gallery
1019 Auburn Avenue (behind Abacus)
Lafayette, LA  70503
337-269-0363
Hours:  Tuesday - Friday  10:00am to 5:00pm
Saturday ​10:00am to 3:00 pm

Contact Us

Send Us an Email
www.lafayetteart.org
email: info@lafayetteart.org
​facebook: @lafayetteart
  • Home
  • About LAA
    • LAA Charter and Bylaws
    • Current Membership
    • Officers & Board
    • Gallery Exhibits/Venues
    • Artists in Residence
    • Rules/ Competitions >
      • Submission Rules
      • Art Analysis/ Judging
      • Tutorials/ Art Criticism >
        • Visual Elements
        • Design Principles
        • Compositional Elements
        • Interpretive Theories
        • Sculpture
    • Gift Shop
  • News/Events
    • Newsletters
    • Membership Meetings
    • Main Gallery Events
    • Ongoing Classes
    • L'esprit du Métal
    • Watercolor Guild
  • Join
  • Member Portal
    • Member Login
    • Gallery Sitting Signup
  • Explorations
    • Member Websites
    • Gallery Exhibits >
      • Spring 2020 Exhibit
      • Eye of the Beholder 2020
      • 2020 Member Show
    • Member Art >
      • Theme "Red"
      • Theme "Circle"
      • Theme "Reflection"
      • Theme "Three"
      • Theme "Pattern"
      • Theme "Bugs"
      • Theme "Time"
      • Theme "SPACE"
      • Theme "PATRIOTIC"
      • Theme "PALS"
      • Theme "Self"
    • Web Links
    • Tutorials
  • Donate
  • LAABlog