Blue Dog Man reveals himself and his art through new book

By Denise Etheridge

12-11-99

The Walton Sun

Arts and Entertainment

Louisiana painter George Rodrigue says his newest art-book, "Blue Dog Man", reveals his 30-year evolution as an artist and chronicles the birth and growth of his Blue Dog series. Rodrigue discussed his latest project at J. Proctor Gallery in Seaside earlier this month, where the easy-going Arcadian and his pretty bride, Wendy, had just ended a whirlwind book signing tour. The smiling, friendly pair had managed to visit 42 cities in 56 days, beginning in Chicago.

Rodrigue, pleasant and warm despite his obvious jet lag, spoke of his upbringing wiithin a large, hardworking and fiercely loving Cajun family and how his heritage influenced his art.

The artist was an only child, born in New Iberia, La. to parents who were at a fairly mature age for starting a family. Though he had no brothers or sisters he was seldom alone, as he was surrounded by a tribe of affectionate aunts, uncles and cousins, and by his grandparents.

However, his relatuves were simple working people, who did not then pursue or practice fine art In fact, if Rodrigue had not been struck seriously ill as a child, he may never have discovered his creative talents.

"I had polio in the third grade, and I couldn't walk for a year and a half," the artist said. "My mother gave me a paint set so I'd have something to do while I lay in bed. I liked it, and kept on doing it. I had no way of knowing I'd make a living at it."

Rodrigue left his home state in 1964, to attend school at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, Ca.

"I never though I'd be a painter," he said. "I went to school to study commercial art and advertising art." But despite numerous job offers from the commercial art industry, Rodrigue returned to Louisiana in 1970 to paint what he knew best.

"I began painting Cajun art," he said. "No one painted the Cajuns before I did. Back then, no one knew what the word 'Cajun' meant." The artist said his friend, chef Paul Prudhomme, later made "Cajun" a household word in 1985.

Rodrigue painted members of his family from old photographs, most taken between 1880 and 1920. He admits these oil paintings were not successful at first.

"They were always outside," he said of his Cajun subjects. "Every Saturday or Sunday they'd dress up to do something. They had no where to go, but they dressed up anyway."

Rodrigue's Cajun men, women and children glow in their white clothes against the dark, mysterious backgrounds of untamed Louisiana bayous. Some are painted seated at a long table covered by a clean, white tablecloth laden with food and wine. Otherss are seen at repose under stark oak trees, whose branches are covered with Spanish moss.

"I painted the people like they were cut out and pasted on the landscape," the artist said, "which they were. They came from France and Canada to Louisiana. They were transplanted and I wanted to show that. They always dresssed in white to show their inner light, their culture which is inside of them. And they are not affected by the light of the landscape around them."

Rodrigue sold his Cajun art when traveling the art show circuit. He tired of the constant travel, and opened his first gallery on Royal Street in New Orleans in the early 80's. By the mid-80's, the country's love affair with the Cajun culture blossomed.

"Overnight, I saw articles on Cajun cooking on the cover of USA Today," he said.

Rodrigue said it was about that time the Blue Dog image germinated in a dark corner of his mind.

"Blue Dog grew out of Cajun folklore," the artist said. The bright blue canine with haunting, yellow eyes personifies the Loup-Garou, or werewolf-ghost dog, Rodrigue explained.

"My mother told me this story growing up, that if I wasn't good the Loup-Garou would eat me up at night," Rodrigue said, a smile reaching his eyes. "For the model of the dog, I used my studio pet who had already died. I worked from old photographs of her."

Rodrigue's mysterious Blue Dog is patterned after his beloved pooch Tiffany, a cockerspaniel/terrier mix.

"I had her for 12 years," the artist recalled. "She was a good dog. She'd lay quietly at my feet while I worked in the studio."

Rodrigue said Blue Dog has taken on a life of her own. That sometimes he paints Tiffany as she was when she lived, but Blue Dog is in every portrait.

"The dog, she never moves," the artist said, with a hint of a Cajun accent. "The background always changes. Blue Dog is a constant, enduring image; that's what this book is about."

Blue Dog's character has changes over the past 15 years, Rodrigue says. THe early images often show Blue Dog as a roughened, haunting figure, sitting on a cold white slab in a Louisiana graveyard under the full moon.

"Today she is bright, colorful and happy," Rodrigue said.

Rodrigue's childlike Blue Dog seems simple, but it takes the artist 15 to 18 hours a day to paint her a her ever-changing settings.

"I don't make a decision what I will paint until I sit down at the canvas," the artist said. "I don't ever preconceive what I do. I don't look at any of my previous paintings.

I always want it to be fresh. You've got to be excited to do this type of work. So, every time I paint, it's as if I' starting out all over again."

Rodrigue has completed more than 600 Blue Dog paintings in 15 years. His original pieces range from $10,000 to $350,000. THe artist's silk-screen editions begin at $850.

The artist's artbook, "Blue Dog Man," sells for $50. It was published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang of New York.

"This artbook took about four years to put together," Rodrigue said. "Blue Dog Man" contains about 70 previously unpublished works and was a top selling artbook at Amazon.com for more than three weeks. "It was a number one selling artbook at Barnes and Noble in October and November," Blue Dog's creator added.

The artist's previous books include children's books, books about the Cajun people and a ghost story titled "Bayou."