SETH COLDREN

Work: Crawfish Pop Art

Medium: wood and acrylic

Available at: aarongreyco.com

Price: $135

Lafayette native Seth Coldren and wife Jana are the creative duo behind Aaron Grey Co. – a company whose name is derived from the combination of Seth’s (Aaron) and their dog Ezra’s (Grey) middle names. Among the works available through Aaron Grey Co. is Crawfish Pop Art, which features crawfish hand drawn by Seth and laser cut out of wood. Each piece is painted using acrylic spray paint and layered on top of Acadian-flag-colored backers. The frames are custom made out of Andiroba (Mahogany family) and measure 19.25” x 21.25”.

 

ALISON MILLER

Work: Red Clay

Medium: acrylic embellished photography

Available at: Abbeville Cultural Alliance

Price: $100

Alison Miller’s art celebrates nature, yes, but it does so in a very unique way: by underscoring the myriad ways in which we experience it. Taking notice of things many tend to overlook, she brings out a detail – the texture, a pattern, a vibrant color – emphasizing it so that it can be appreciated from a new perspective. In Red Clay, this award-winning graphic designer and choreographer (who also serves as the executive director of the Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission) embellishes her photo of clay dirt with vibrant red acrylic paint and gold highlights.

 

RON CUTRERA

Work: Concert in the Park

Medium: watercolor

Available at: Iberia Parish Welcome Center 

Price: $200

Artist Ron Cutrera took several photographs at last year’s Symphony Sunday in the Park. It was from one of those images that he created Concert in the Park, a 13”x16” watercolor painting. He has been painting in various media for more than 45 years and says, “I don’t have to  merely paint what I see, but what my mind sees.” The New Iberia native has received plenty of accolades over the years, including being chosen as the poster artist for the 2018 Literary Festival and winning first place in the watercolor division of the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival last year.

 

Last Days of Last Island

by Bill Dixon

Paperback $20.95

The 1856 summer season was like so many that had come before – uneventful, idyllic. The South’s newest and most popular watering spot was a microcosm of Louisiana’s antebellum economic and social structure. More than four hundred vacationers – wealthy sugar planters, powerful politicians, their families, friends, and servants – had come to Last Island to escape the hot August sun. The waters of the Gulf were cool, its breezes fresh. Life was good.

On the horizon, however, a massive cloud formation was about to tell a much different story. On that fateful day, August 10, 1856, a devastating Category Four hurricane destroyed the island. The chaos and confusion that initially reigned gave way in time to a generation of Civil War and Reconstruction. After more than 150 years, and the devastation of Katrina, the story remains layered with myths. “Last Days of Last Island” removes that shroud and presents the first comprehensive account of the hurricane of 1856: “Louisiana’s first great storm.”

Review presented by Books Along the Teche 

337-367-7621  |  106 E. Main Street, New Iberia