{"id":3330,"date":"2015-02-10T21:10:55","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T03:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgerodrigue.com\/?page_id=3330"},"modified":"2015-02-10T21:12:08","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T03:12:08","slug":"my-second-birthday","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/georgerodrigue.com\/blog\/my-second-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"My Second Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"My<\/a>

My Second Birthday, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 40×60 inches<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1997 George Rodrigue first entertained an audience with a painting demonstration at the Red River Revel in Shreveport, Louisiana. His wife Wendy joined him on stage, sharing Rodrigue\u2019s history, while clarifying his style and approach through anecdotes. \u201cI can\u2019t talk and paint at the same time,\u201d said Rodrigue.<\/p>\n

This began a tradition, and the artistic team, with their unscripted onstage banter, found themselves in demand across the United States. They presented similar events at the National Arts Educators Association Convention, the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, the Phoenix Art Museum, and numerous book fairs and schools.<\/p>\n

For these demonstrations, Rodrigue used large brushes and paint straight from the tube, an approach he developed for public painting because, he admitted, \u201cIf I had to sit and watch an artist paint for as long as it really takes, I\u2019d get bored.\u201d He wanted his fans to see a complete painting materialize from a blank canvas in under an hour.<\/p>\n

Subject matter usually included both the Blue Dog and the Oak Tree, while Wendy used the canvas as a visual aid to explain Rodrigue\u2019s approach to his favorite and most famous shapes. Other elements favored by Rodrigue for these demonstrations are candles, flowers, and swirls, each adding interest to the composition. At the end of the hour, he named the painting based usually on its content or the location of the event.<\/p>\n

In the case of My Second Birthday<\/em>, named for the two candles, Rodrigue painted on stage at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while his friend Chef Paul Prudhomme cooked alongside him. Wendy and Chef\u2019s assistant Shawn McBride moderated as the two Cajuns swapped stories for the audience.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Rodrigue returned the painting to his studio where he reworked it for anywhere from several days to a week. \u201cPeople thought it looked good on the stage,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I was never happy with it and always repainted it afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to these public painting demonstrations, Rodrigue\u2019s brushwork typically was tight. However, influenced by his style on stage, he gradually loosened his approach in the studio as well. As a result many paintings since the late 1990s reveal looser, freer strokes. Eventually, Rodrigue admitted that his favorite way to paint is to simply walk up to the canvas without any preconceived ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it will have a Blue Dog,\u201d said the artist, \u201cbut beyond that, the fun for me comes in just letting it happen. That\u2019s why my favorite painting is always the one I\u2019m working on now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about George Rodrigue and Chef Paul Prudhomme at the Manship Theatre, including photographs showing the development of the painting My Second Birthday<\/em> , here- http:\/\/www.wendyrodrigue.com\/2011\/08\/paul-prudhomme.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1997 George Rodrigue first entertained an audience with a painting demonstration at the Red River Revel in Shreveport, Louisiana. His wife Wendy joined him on stage, sharing Rodrigue\u2019s history, while clarifying his style and approach through anecdotes. \u201cI can\u2019t talk and paint at the same time,\u201d said Rodrigue. This began a tradition, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy Second Birthday - George Rodrigue Studios<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/georgerodrigue.com\/blog\/my-second-birthday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Second Birthday - George Rodrigue Studios\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1997 George Rodrigue first entertained an audience with a painting demonstration at the Red River Revel in Shreveport, Louisiana. 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