By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Dec 1st, 2023
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2394 Views
article by STARLA GATSONphotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK Loretta Owens heard life begins at 40. She wondered if the saying was true, but taking someone else’s word for it wasn’t good enough. Instead, she wanted to find out for herself. That’s how she ended up in M. Douglas Walton’s art class as a 40-...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Nov 1st, 2023
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929 Views
article by STARLA GATSONphotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK Ask high school-aged Stacy Thomas Medaries what she thought she’d be doing with her life, and the Monroe native probably would have guessed she’d be popping corn and tearing ticket stubs at the Pecanland Mall movie theater forever. At the time,...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Sep 29th, 2023
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914 Views
article by STARLA GATSONphotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK Whether you spotted her slinging lattes and cappuccinos at the café where she baristas or selling her creations at a local art market, you could probably tell at first glance that Melissa Stroud marches to her own drumbeat. “I think a lot of pe...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Sep 1st, 2023
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1027 Views
article by Starla Gatsonphotography by Kelly Moore Clark The moon is high in the sky, the kids are tucked in, and the dishes from dinner have been washed and put away. For many, these things signal bedtime, especially if putting in hours at work preceded them. But for Emily Morris, they mean it’s tim...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Jul 31st, 2023
0 Comments
960 Views
article by Starla Gatsonphotography by Kelly Moore Clark If you asked JaCera François how she felt about moving back home to Ouachita parish after graduating college, she would probably tell you she wasn’t so sure about it. But now, four years later, the Monroe native believes she...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Jun 30th, 2023
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1263 Views
article by Starla Gatsonphotography by Kelly Moore Clark It’s no secret that energy is a common theme of Hooshang Khorasani’s art. He declares it in the first line of his artist statement — “Energy in nature and the world around me, in moving colors that show power, in the inner life o...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
May 31st, 2023
0 Comments
1683 Views
article by STARLA GATSONphotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK Steve Porter does not want you to put him in a box. Not that it would be easy to do. His work, spanning multiple mediums, has been called surrealist by some and abstract by others. Porter just says it’s his. And if, after seeing his p...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
May 2nd, 2023
0 Comments
885 Views
article by Starla Gatson photography by Kelly Moore Clark Entrepreneurship and creativity run in Benicia King’s family. King’s maternal grandfather, Robert Cornwell, was a reverend, photographer, and musician in Grambling. But he wasn’t the only creative or ambitious Cornwell; other members of t...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Feb 28th, 2023
0 Comments
1349 Views
article by STARLA GATSONphotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK Aleatha Shannon says people are often surprised to find out what she does. But if they knew her story and the journey that led to her craft, they’d see it was only a matter of time before she started Willow Oak Fiber and Farm. Throug...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Jan 30th, 2023
0 Comments
1013 Views
article by STARLA GATSONphotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK For most, the idea of creating a world of their own is just a dream. But for Inique Harris, it’s reality and has been since she was young. She doesn’t use a hammer and nails to build her worlds, though, and she doesn’t say things like, “Let [&h...
