By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Sep 29th, 2023
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838 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
0 Comments
946 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
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893 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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1171 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
1565 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
804 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
1250 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
930 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...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Jan 6th, 2023
0 Comments
534 Views
Article by STARLA GATSONPhotography by KELLY MOORE CLARK Meka Bennett talks with BayouLife about being motivated by her family to attend beauty school, and how she went from working at a mall salon to working with celebrity clients. When Meka Bennett was young, she sat on the floor in the bathroom do...
By Nathan Coker
In Bayou Artist
Dec 1st, 2022
0 Comments
1274 Views
Article by Starla GatsonPhotography by Kelly Moore Clark Betty Crouch picked up pottery at 67-years-old. This hobby turned career has given Crouch purpose, something she was desperate for when she began devoting more of her time and energy to it over a decade ago. I’m a jack of all trades but a maste...
