Waiting and Watching

This artwork was painted from a photograph I took while on vacation in May of this year. We stayed in Cape San Blas, Florida but visited Apalachicola while there.   The photo is of a cove in Apalachicola where the working shrimp boats rest after their runs.  There were several pelicans perched up on pilings, taking a break and waiting for food, I imagine.

"Pelican Perch"

14 x 18 - oils

This painting is for sale and can be purchased on my website, www.mariarandolph.com.

Tug on the Vermilion News

I'm very excited and honored my painting "Tugboat on the Vermilion River" has been purchased and will be featured on this year's Bayou Vermilion Preservation Symposium poster.

"Tugboat on the Vermilion"

The mission of the Bayou Vermilion Preservation Association, as stated on their website, creates awareness of our natural environment by providing education and outreach to the general community about ways to conserve, protect and enjoy the Bayou Vermilion Watershed."   (A watershed is an area of land that drains into a lake or river.)

They work in conjunction with other local organizations to promote beautification of our Vermilion River that runs through our area.

This year's symposium, September 10-12, 2015, will be promotion of the Vermilion River as a usable waterway for commerce and for people to enjoy nature as a whole. More information is available on their website: www.bayouvermilionpreservation.org

Working Boats

I recently visited Apalachicola, Florida and being near the coast I automatically search for shrimp boats.  I found one or two docked in town by the bay.  While in a gift shop I visited with a charter boat captain, Pam Vathis of Reel Memories Charters, and I asked if she knew of any place I could take pictures of shrimp boats.  She guided me to what she called the "Working Boats".  These working bay shrimp boats were docked along this inlet canal near the bay resting until their next day's run.  Because I was on vacation with my husband, I didn't paint very much but I took a lot of reference photos for future use.

"Working Boats"

20 x 16 - oils 

S D Morgan Tug & Shrimp Boat

While out painting shrimp boats with friends one day in Intracoastal City, Louisiana, a tug boat showed up to move one of the shrimp boats out of its resting place and down the canal.  Shrimp season was closed and the owners of these massive boats were taking the opportunity to make repairs on their boats. Shrimp boats were tightly lined up on both sides of this canal, two abreast.

I was in awe watching that tug boat maneuver in and pull out this huge shrimp boat.  The water at the end of the canal where I was standing was shallow and churning as he moved this massive boat around and down the canal.

I took a few reference photos and painted this from my studio.

"Tug and Shrimp Boat"

12 x 12 - oils on gallery wrapped canvas

* This painting is for sale and can be purchased from my website www.mariarandolph.com.

Thank you for your interest in my art...

Forgot Something

This studio painting is from reference photos taken while in Intracoastal City, Louisiana one evening at dusk.  These oyster boats, I am told, head out at about 4:00 in the morning and fish all day to return at dusk.  Their catch, loaded in large burlap sacks are loaded into trucks for delivery.  I took a bunch of pictures of their fascinating work life.

This oyster boat was heading out and looks as though the captain jumped off to run and get something when I snapped the photo.

"Forgot Something"

14 x 18 - oils

**This painting is for sale and can be purchased from my website:  www.mariarandolph.com.

Thank you for your interest in my art....

The Pumpkin

I headed out with Lucy in tow to search a for boats in Delcambre, Louisiana.  It's difficult to find a good angle to paint where you are not trespassing or in a major traffic spot.  I rode around and stopped to ask permission at the "No Trespassing" wholesale Shrimp processing plant.

There were a variety of boats docked across the canal.  Right across the way was a boat called "The Pumpkin".

"The Pumpkin"

14 x 11 - oils on canvas

SOLD

It was hard to find a shady spot to paint, so I setup my umbrella, but I was standing in the rocks and the ground was very hard, I tied it onto my tripod and kept Lucy close so we could share the shade.

Lucy hanging out in the shade.

Thank you very much to the nice couple who purchased this painting for their Florida home!
Happy Painting!

Miss Kimberly II, ICY, LA

A couple of weeks ago I headed out with my painting buddy, Denise, to find and paint shrimp boats in Intracoastal City, Louisiana.  This is the 3rd year we invade upon the little canal to sneak in sessions of painting boats.

Located in Intracoastal City are these massive offshore shrimp boat giants docked up and down the canal near a shrimp and ice plant.  Usually when we paint in this area 6 or 7 boats are docked here.  I was elated and amazed when I rounded the curve and found about 30 boats parked in the area.  These boats were all crowed in together, two abreast all up and down the canal.

It is between shrimp season, so the boats are docked for a few weeks while the owners and crews make repairs, paint, and get ready for the upcoming season.

While we sat there painting we watched an awesome boat maneuver.  One of the inside boats wanted to get out, and the boat on the outside needed to be moved.  Evidently, the outside boat engine was having some sort of problem and the canal was shallow on that end, so a tug boat was called.  The tug pulled this huge boat out sideways and backed up with it down this canal between all these other boats....AMAZING to see.  Glad I wasn't painting the boats they moved...he he.

Below is my completed painting.  Green boats were a huge challenge in the landscape for me.

Miss Kimberly II

12 x 12 - oils on gallery wrapped canvas

*This painting is for sale and can be purchased through my website...www.mariarandolph.com

St. John's Cathedral & Cemetary

I headed out last week to meet my painting buddy, Denise Broussard, in Lafayette, LA for an afternoon of painting.  We decided on St. John's Cathedral and I was particularly drawn to the back of the Church with the graveyard beyond the iron fence.

St. John's Cathedral & Cemetary

10 x 8 - oils on canvas

*This painting can be purchased on my website www.mariarandolph.com

Okay so of course I have a story about this cemetary.  The cemetary lies behind the church and is next to Cathedral-Carmel School.  

When my father, who was one of eight children, was a young boy in first grade he and his older sisters would walk to school every day through the graveyard.  My dad was very afraid of the nuns who taught school at Cathedral. He talked his older sister into letting him hide in the graveyard every day so he didn't have to go to school.  She agreed.  Every morning she would drop him off in the graveyard, sneak out of school at lunch time to check on him then pick him up on their way home from school.  This went on for almost a year.

How did he get away with this for so long you are probably wondering.  Well, with 8 children and work, things must have been really hectic in their household.  His older sister signed his report card and when the school finally called his parents they all got caught.  He ended up having to repeat the first grade and was in a whole lot of trouble.  

At some of our family functions, my aunts used to tell the story and laugh about how T-Man (his name was Manuel) swung from the graveyard for almost year until they got caught.

Sans Souci Gallery Painting in Downtown Lafayette

I met a friend for a quick painting session in Downtown Lafayette.  We met at the Sans Souci park and decided to paint from within the park.  I decided on a view of the corner with the little Sans Souci Gallery artsy sign hanging out front.  I love what the gallery has done to the old building.

Sans Souci Gallery

12 x 12 - oils on gallery wrapped canvas

*This painting is for sale and can be purchased from my website www.mariarandolph.com

As always when painting outdoors there are many challenges to be had.  The greatest one I experienced today is that there was a parking spot in the driveway of the gallery that several people wanted which would have totally obstructed my view of the scene.  I asked them to please not park there and they ALL graciously moved.  Thank you to all of those people..:)

Years ago, this building was once was an old bookstore called "Sans Souci Bookstore".  It was painted white, and in really bad shape.  My Dad was into photography back in the day and he snapped a picture of an old man sitting on the steps of the bookstore.

Keller's Bakery

I headed out to meet a friend for an afternoon painting in Downtown Lafayette.  We decided on Keller's Bakery and because of the weather, thought we would not paint but just sit and sketch...then the sun began to peek through.

I setup and was about to start painting when the sun began beaming through and I was in the direct sunlight, so I moved and hid behind a building across the street from Keller's.  

Our husbands were coming to meet us later to enjoy dinner at a local restaurant so I didn't get to complete this painting on site; it was completed in my studio.

 Keller's Bakery

12 x 16 - oils on canvas

This bakery is an icon in Lafayette and has been around for many years.

Below is an excerpt from an article about Keller's Bakery on the Lafayette Travel website.  For then entire article go to: 

http://www.lafayettetravel.com/food-tours/kellers-bakery

Keller's Bakery

Hardships befell the Keller family as they settled in south Louisiana in the late 1800s after fleeing from France. Keller’s Bakery was opened shortly after, in the 1890s, by Jean-Pierre Keller. They have had multiple locations over the years, from New Orleans to Abbeville, but the only two remaining locations are both nestled in the Lafayette area. Many of the recipes they use today that have been passed from generation to generation are unchanged, some dating back over a hundred years.
At Keller’s you’ll find the traditional sweet treats and delicate pastries you’d expect from a French bakery, but you’ll also find savory filled pies featuring some of the most prized assets of the region, crawfish. Keller’s sells some of the best King Cakes in the area and once you’ve had one, you won’t want to wait a whole year for another. Keller’s busy season lasts from about October through June and their pastries play an integral part in holidays for many Louisianans throughout the south. Stop by Keller’s Bakery while you are downtown and see what the tradition is all about.

Owner: Kenneth Keller
Address: 1012 Jefferson St., Lafayette
Phone: (337) 235-1568
Website: www.kellersbakery.net
Hours: M-Closed, T-Sat 6am-5pm, Sun 7am-2pm