BARRY SONS

Barry Sons

My work most often begins as “en plein air”. It could also be a feeling of a memory or to capture another's feelings in a circumstance. I start by drawing up the feeling and then letting my charcoal find its way. In that moment the composition is formed. Then the layers start to build; more charcoal and graphite and more layers until it talks back to me. It could happen in hours or days or months or years.

I studied art in south Louisiana under the tutelage of two gifted teachers. Having entered and won ribbons both locally as well as nationally has brought my work to the international stage. It has hung in Museum exhibitions and hangs in Korea, Turkey and England.

I am a child of the Atchafalaya Basin, whose muddy rivers and marshes run through the history of my family with the French blood in my veins. Having been raised as a fur trapper’s son, in the United States largest swamp wilderness, I could always see the beauty in our coastal waters. The ever-changing lights, sounds and smells still resonate in my memory as if to bring me solace.

While my inspiration was born in Louisiana it has grown to include all of nature. The painting of the coastal marshes and wetlands I hope will bring attention to the need to respect and restore our coastal wetlands. For every 2.7 miles of marsh a tidal surge is diminished by ONE foot.