Louisiana Living Sketches (Patreon)

I've been so busy running the roads preparing for the holidays that I haven't had much time to sit and paint. That kinda works out for the best though, as it's so cozy to sit with my laptop and sketch out new designs.

The Louisiana Food series is such a personal passion project, but I'm always touched and delighted when other people enjoy it, or enjoy specific foods enough to buy an art print or request new designs. I use this as an opportunity to research regional foods, to learn local history, and to understand other parishes, and I love sharing what I've learned with others.

Louisiana is such a special place, but gets such a strange reputation outside of the state (and sometimes, within the state).

We have serious issues with not supporting and uplifting our own artists and makers, preferring to take the crab bucket approach instead, yet we brag that we're known for our art and culture. We have some of the best regional US food; a wild combination of indigenous foods, foods from West Africa, France, even Spain, and every new group that moves here adds something amazing to the mix.

People travel from all over the world for a very specific type of Mardi Gras that's almost a pastiche, but don't stay to enjoy Louisiana beyond the bounds of the tourist zones of New Orleans. And folks fly down here for bike tours of our petrochemical plants, but don't support local businesses. My own local government is so infatuated with heavy industry solving our economic issues that they ignore the concerns of everyone who has stepped forward with health issues. Yet they won't champion small business or local businesses.

I have lived outside Louisiana and grew up inside Louisiana, and I really think the future of this state requires inspiring Louisiana, particularly the youth of Louisiana, to believe in our magical state again.

And that also means asking you guys, who believe in me, to trust me when I tell you that the nature of Louisiana is worth a trip. Come tour our swamps and see the world's oldest bald cypress. Come enjoy our spring, which starts months earlier, and see the Louisiana iris. Visit our Botanical Gardens and our French Market and the farmers market, and maybe even come see me at a comic con or show. I'd be happy to go get beignets with you.

But if there's anything I can do to help others see Louisiana the way I see it, if 7" Kara helps you see the beauty in a prolonged Louisiana sunset, or if my food series makes your mouth water for snowballs and boiled seafood, then I have succeeded.

We are molded by the places we are from, and I spent years trying to run from a Louisiana I assumed would never want me. Now, knowing they still don't want me, I'm here to change minds and carve out a space for myself and other artists like me.Sweet Potatoes

Down here, these are often grown and then sold as yams. I originally planned to do Louisiana Yams, as the imagery is ubiquitous, especially canned yams, but I felt like it'd be a bit disingenuous to continue the ruse after I learned that these are sweet potatoes. Design is inspired by seed packets.

Muscadine Grapes

A native variety of grape, muscadines, taste like Japanese grape candy. When wandering the woods above Lake Ponchartrain, you may see muscadine leaves peeping among the pine trees. My grandfather used to grow his muscadines on the clothes line, I grown mine on our fence, but have not yet beating the squirrels to the spoils.

Persimmons

Eastern America has its own native variety of persimmon, the Diospyros virginiana. These are considered a wildlife fruit, as all manner of birds and mammals love persimmons. Persimmons always remind me of the Rose Wilder books set in the Ozarks, as she once tried unripe persimmions, so I thought it'd be fitting to draw Kara in a flour sack dress.

American Bullfrogs

Ok, yes, people in Louisiana DO eat frog legs on occasion, but Rayne, Louisiana, the bullfrog capital, has moved past frogs as food and has froggy fashion contests. As someone who grew up chasing frogs in the ditch, I had to draw Kara with a big ol' bullfrog.

Pralines

I feel like this is the #1 airport export to other states. Who doesn't love a good pecan praline? I mean, they're kinda hit or miss for me (I prefer spiced pecans), but everyone else seems to love them, and the praline shops in New Orleans are always packed with tourists.

Pawpaws

Another wildlife food as well as a tree that's in danger of extinction, pawpaws supposedly have delicious fruit that spoils easily and does not travel well- hence its limited availability.

These are mid-story trees. Since we cut down our forests, we lose our pawpaws. Another wildlife tree, pawpaws are popular with all sorts of mammals, including humans. We have a couple pawpaw saplings planted in our backyard and hope to someday taste this local fruit.