Zigler Art Museum

Zigler Art Museum

Jennings, LA

318. 824.0114

Ah-Louisiana, The Land of the Acadians: Wildfowl Carvers

Images from left to right: Ed Braud, III, slick wild fowl carving; Ed Braud, III, Blue Wing Teal, slick wild fowl carving

"Ah-Louisiana, The Land of the Acadians," Exhibit opened Saturday, June 12, 1999 at the Zigler Museum. A reception was held in honor of the featured artist, Elton Louviere, and wildfowl carvers, Ed Braud, III, and Paul Bourdier. Mr. Louviere was on hand to sign his books and Mr. Braud demonstrated duck carving at the opening. The exhibit will remain on view at the Zigler Museum through July 17, 1999.

Mr. Elton Louviere grew up in the Charenton-Franklin area of Louisiana. Lacking any accessible art schools after graduation from high school in 1950, Elton completed an art correspondence course. In later years he attended the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, studying fine art, life drawing and commercial design.

After several years as art director and pictorial artist for outdoor advertising firms in Detroit, he moved to Lake Charles and started his own outdoor advertising business. He sold his business in 1975 to pursue his desire to make a living in fine art.

Louviere's persistence paid off in the form of numerous honors and awards at prestigious art shows and a loyal following of collectors. Today he is known throughout Louisiana and surrounding states for his vibrant landscapes and magnificent waterfowl paintings.

Wood carvings by Mr. Paul Bourdier and Mr. Ed Braud will be on exhibition as part of the exhibit. Mr. Paul Bourdier is an architect from Lafayette who enjoys wood carving as a hobby. His brother, Ivan Bourdier, is a well known Louisiana wood carver.

Mr. Ed Braud, a Gonzales native, is an antique car enthusiast and an avid outdoors man who enjoys cooking, photography, wildfowl decoy carving, and collecting wildfowl decoy carvings. A self-taught carver, he has been carving since 1975, working with the tupelo gum wood to create his slick wildfowl decoys.

Wildfowl decoys are not only a work of art as a carved and painted sculpture, but also a piece of history. Unique to North America, the wildfowl decoy is folklore, a form of regional art. Decoys depict bird species found along our waterways, and become history of a people, a time, and a place.

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