I studied art in south Louisiana under the tutelage of two gifted teachers and self 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 rivers and marshes run through the history of my family. 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 they were yesterday.
After a 40-year absence, I returned to the marshes of my childhood and what I witnessed east of the basin was the degradation of our coastal wetlands. I had to put it on canvas. I had never offered my painting to the world; now it was a must. The Love I have the river and the Atchafalaya Basin is profound. Our marshes must be returned to it’s glory.
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 for our marshes. I paint to the truth in oil and pastel, my studies on paper of “en plein air” have manifest in my style of work. Louisiana will always beat in my heart. – Barry Sons
The Haunting of Me
Atchafalaya, you haunt me .
I return to you in my sleep at night.
I anguish trying to paint the smell of you.
The images of you locked in my head as
Turn by turn; the smell of Myrtle trees
Anise scent blown across the marshes.
Iris in spring and Cypress on the wind,
You haunt me day and night, you haunt me.
-Barry Sons-