My Visit to Lynda Frese’s Studio to Learn About La Femme Chauve-Souris (Batwoman)

Lynda Frese, La Femme Chauve-Souris (Batwoman), 2013, 11x14” pigment prints,
found postcards, egg tempera, metal foil on gesso board

"...Only good bourbon in a bar after could have made my visit to Lynda Frese’s studio more fun, but perhaps it was too early in the day for two old broads to be “drankin” at T-Boy’s Lounge..." (Visited Lynda Frese's studio to learn about the fascinating myth-based and metaphysical associations in the artist's collage painting La Femme Chauve-Souris - Batwoman, 2013, reaching back to the Neolithic and Bronze Age.)

Oscar de la Renta’s Blue Velvet Gown - The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta - Museum of Fine Arts Houston - Essay

Oscar de la Renta, Custom Evening Ensemble,2001, silk taffeta
and silk satin,courtesy of Oscar de la Renta Archive (worn by Mica
Ertegun to an event celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary 
to Ahmet Ertegun, 2001). © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

"...Unseemly pantie lines visible through ill-fitting garments are all it takes for me to call up Diana Vreeland’s pronouncement that fashion must be intoxicating release from the world’s banality..."(Virginia Billeaud Anderson attended the media preview of The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and met André Leon Talley who guest-curated the exhibition along with co-curator Cindi Strauss. She asked Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta, a few questions.)

My Louisiana Brothers’ Cajun Food, T-Coons Restaurant, Billeauds Meat and Grocery, Billeaud's Too, Billeauds No. 3 - David Billeaud, Billy Billeaud

"...substantial media coverage through the years, but a high point was when Calvin Trillin mentioned Billy's Boudin Links in "The New Yorker" mag..."

Wayne Gilbert: Now a Film - Essay - A Closer Look

"It remains a fact that Wayne Gilbert is the only person I’ve ever met who has been written about in "People" magazine..."

Know Yourself: What I Learned about Becky Soria's Artistic Inspiration - Essay

Becky Soria, "The Body Electric," 2017, Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas, 60 x 20”

...that winding road that goes up to the Delphian Sanctuary of Apollo. Pausanias warned us the road was “precipitous.” (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com tells readers what she learned about Becky Soria's artistic inspiration when she visited Soria's studio.)

A Closer Look at Beignets - Hot Beignets at T-Coon’s Restaurant

T-Coon's Restaurant New Orleans French Market style Beignets

"favorite theories about the origin of the New Orleans Beignet is that the Ursuline Nuns brought it from France..."

Bas Poulos: More Talk - A Talk with the Artist - Essay

Bas Poulos, "Klana," 1984, Acrylic on
Canvas, 78" x 56.5”

"...Unaware of the importance of Texas art, the Greeks staged a transportation strike..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson writes about artist Bas Poulos, his life and his art career, with focus on two paintings exhibited in Focus on the 70s and 80s: Houston Foundations II at Deborah Colton Gallery.)

Earl Staley “Two Lovers Surprised By Death” - A Closer Look - Essay

Earl Staley, Two Lovers Surprised by Death, 1978,
Acrylic on canvas, 37 x 48 inches

"Being in my twenties and fond of Jack Daniels and weed might account for my not remembering much about 1978.  I do remember however that despite legal challenges..."

Ten Gas Station Foods Worth the Detour - MSN.COM Food and Wine Rates Billeaud’s Meat and Grocery Top Ten

Billeaud's Meat and Grocery’s Meatball Stew
over Rice "Plate Lunch" - Photo by Editha Schoeffler

"Billeaud’s Meat and Grocery is often regarded as the home of the best boudin and crispy pork cracklings in Cajun country..." MSN.COM Food and Wine

Edgar Degas "Etude pour La Fille de Jephte” - A Closer Look - Essay

Edgar Degas, Etude pour “La Fille de Jephte," c. 1859. Graphite, traces ink
wash on paper, 8 7/8 x 11 7/16 in. (19.3 x 25.2 cm). From the collection
 of Janie C. Lee. Image taken from the “Houston Press” website.

"...a lovely sketch by Degas. I decided it would be fun to provide a tiny bit of art historical background..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com provides fun art historical background to Edgar Degas' 1859 sketch of a nude male, Etude pour “La Fille de Jephte.")

Wing It: Roberta Harris - Essay

Roberta Harris, “Flight Time,” 2017, Oil, Acrylic and
Mixed Media on canvas, 72” x 60”

    
"When Roberta Harris exhibits her art, I often think about the younger artists who will view it, most of whom were unborn or tiny snots at the time she..."

Tod Bailey Savage Color - The Orchard - Interview

Tod Bailey, “The Orchard,” 2017, Oil on Canvas, 38” x 42”

"..coloring has always been a primary component of Tod’s pictorial construction..."   (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com asks Tod Bailey about tonal balance in his abstract painting "The Orchard.")

My Preview of Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950 at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Raúl Martínez, “9 Repetitions of Fidel with
Microphones” 1968, Oil on canvas,
 Wallace Campbell Collection, Jamaica

"...his guerrillas liberated them from that fire squad-happy despot Batista, who..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson discusses a couple of artworks in the the exhibition Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, co-organized by the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros foundation.)

Some Thoughts about the Menil Collection's Dogon Sculptures - ReCollecting Dogon - Essay

Dogon peoples. Figure (Dege), 17^th-early 20^th century.
Mali, Bandiagara Circle. Wood, 21 7/8 ×5 × 6 1/4 in.
(55.6 x 12.7 x 15.9 cm). 3-D Object-Sculpture.
The Menil Collection, Houston. Photo: Paul Hester

"...I imagined I was in the presence of beautiful and timeless art.  All hell breaks loose..." (Discusses the Menil Collection's Dogon sculptures in the exhibition ReCollecting Dogon and why it’s inappropriate to judge the aesthetic qualities of the decontextualized objects.)

Gus Kopriva “Spiritual Journeys” Exhibition Catalogue - Hilliard University Art Museum Lafayette Louisiana

Spiritual Journeys: Homemade Art from the Becky and Wyatt
Collins Collection exhibition catalogue

“Ah ate Crawfish Pie at the Bon Temps Grill,”  Kopriva told me, managing to pronounce the French words properly...

Matty Matheson’s “Dead Set on Life” Visits Billeaud’s Meat and Grocery - A Closer Look

 Matty Matheson taken from Bon Appétit”
 magazine, courtesy of Viceland TV

"...expressions on the faces of the customers who entered the store while Matheson and his confrere ate Boudin and Cracklin near the entrance..."

Bourbon Milk Punch - A Short History

Frozen Bourbon Milk Punch from Bourbon
House New Orleans. Image by Alison Gootee

"...Benjamin Franklin’s 1763 mention of his milk punch recipe..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com gives a short history of the Bourbon Milk Punch, enjoyed by Benjamin Franklin and Queen Victoria. Made iconic by New Orleans bartenders. See the recipe.)

"Road Food" rated T-Coon’s Restaurant “Legendary” - Worth Driving from Anywhere - “Road Food” Warriors

T-Coon's Restaurant's Breakfast - Image by "Road Food"

What does “Legendary” mean?  According to “Road Food,” Legendary as opposed to “Memorable” or “Good,” means “WORTH DRIVING FROM ANYWHERE."

Peter Ricchiuti KRVS Public Media OUT TO LUNCH Interviewed David Billeaud T-Coon's Restaurant and Herbie Schilling

"..Ricchiuti's no baloney introduction was refreshing...David Billeaud and Herbie Schilling...Hear how they earned your money and what they did with it.”

Who Said Cajun Food Isn't Elegant? Billeaud’s Meat and Grocery’s Boudin Balls

 Billeaud’s Pepper Jack Cheese Boudin

Who said Cajun food isn’t elegant?  Billeaud's Meat and Grocery makes “fancy” Boudin dishes

A Closer Look - Château de Bussy-Rabutin - de Sévigné - Essay

Château de Bussy-Rabutin, Burgundy France

"...a vain and flattery-obsessed woman who sucked up outrageously to the King..."

Gus Kopriva - Been Doing This Kind of Thing Since Before Christ - Interview

Gus Kopriva - Juror - Archway Gallery’s Seventh Annual
Juried Art Exhibition (through July 29). Image by Virginia Billeaud Anderson

"...how long it would take him to realize he wouldn’t be able to hold his bottle of Shiner beer and the microphone at the same time..."

“Emperors' Treasures: Chinese Art from the National Palace Museum, Taipei” Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - Essay

Gold Bowl Used Personally by the Qianlong Emperor,
Qing dynasty, reign of the Qianlong emperor, 1735–96,
gold, National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Image © National Palace Museum



"...one in his entourage must have thought I needed a history lesson. “Taiwan not China!”..."

Unexpected Romanesque - Cormac’s Chapel Ireland 1127 AD - Essay

Cormac's Chapel Door Arch Carvings at
the Rock of Cashel Ireland 

"...Saint Patrick, to whom we owe gratitude for banishing the Devil..."

Karin Broker - Be “More Nice” Bitch - Broker Speaks - Interview

Karin Broker, picture pretty, 2014, Conte
on formica with leather bound book, 84 x 60 x 3”

"And then the coward hung himself instead of staying alive to be raped in prison every day for the rest of his life..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews Karin Broker about her art career and her exhibition "Karin Broker: damn girls" at McClain Gallery.)

Sharon Kopriva - Kopriva Speaks Straight - Interview

Sharon Kopriva, Riding the Pices Moon, 2013, Mixed media on photographic print, 42 x 49 Courtesy of Deborah Colton Gallery

"...I floated through the walls. My out of body experience took place almost twenty years ago when..." - Sharon Kopriva (Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews Sharon Kopriva about her art and her life.)

Fernando Casas - Interview - Fernando Casas Studio Visit

Fernando Casas, The Mirror of Time - Rice University, 2013,
Oil on Canvas and mirrors, 90 x 136

"...more than his three upcoming simultaneous Houston gallery exhibitions, the thing that inspired my recent studio visit is his reputation as a thinker..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews Fernando Casas about his art and his three simultaneous gallery exhibitions.)

Joe Havel - The Front Man: Questions for Joe Havel - Interview

Joe Havel with Hanna, Summer 2015

“happy to do the interview,” Joe Havel told me, and immediately sent me a “portrait” of his bird Hanna. (Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews Joseph Havel about his art.)

Dolin Rouge Vermouth de Chambéry - A Closer Look - Essay

Dolin Vermouth Rouge and Mint
by Virginia Billeaud Anderson

"My favorite drink is a Manhattan, which when properly made, includes a fine red vermouth.  I was recently inspired to learn more about my favorite red vermouth."

Aesthetic Truth: Notes on Empress Eugénie - Previewed Franz Winterhalter Portrait Exhibition - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Franz X. Winterhalter, Empress Eugénie,
(Wedding Portrait,) (Copy) oil on canvas

"...Eugénie produced the required male heir, with the Pope as god-father, then nagged her cheating husband into expanding the Empire..." (Inspired by Franz Winterhalter's portrait of Empress Eugénie, Virginia Billeaud Anderson discusses Eugénie's aesthetically elevated taste in fashion, jewels and decor, as well as her ambition.)

My Visit to See the Hittite Lions - Essay

Archaeological site of Hattusa. Lion Gate at the ruins of the Bronze
Age Citadel of the Ancient Hittites. Image from antikcag.tarihi

"...I toured the ancient Hittite archaeological site of Hattusa, near the city of Bogazkale in central Turkey...." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson traveled to the ancient Hittite archaeological site of Hattusa, a Bronze Age citadel and temple complex near the city of Bogazkale in central Turkey, to see the Lion Gate. Read about Hittite imperial rule, chariot design and diplomatic treatises.)

Notes on the Urubamba River - Machu Picchu - Peruvian UFO Sightings

Maggie Marbry, Photo of Urubamba River,
Top of the Peruvian Andes, 2000

"My friend Maggie Marbry took this photograph of the Urubamba River from the top of the Peruvian Andes. On that trip I learned that the Urubamba’s name in the Quechua language is 'Willkamayu,'..."

Lynda Frese: The Madonna in South Louisiana - Essay

Lynda Frese, Le Grande Salle, 2013, Photographs,
egg tempura on panel, 16” x 20”

"...Minerva’s Corinthian capitals are so lovely they seem to challenge the misguided decision to turn the goddess’s house into a church..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson's essay about Lynda Frese's photo collage art at Gallery le Logge in Assisi, featuring life, death, rebirth, myth & goddess symbolism.)