A brush with disaster

There are three paintings hung low in 18-year-old Sawdust Festival guest artist Charles Chaisson’s booth that he may be secretly hoping visitors don’t notice.

“My mother didn’t want me to bring them,” he said.

One is an unpriced self-portrait in swirling oils; the others are vibrant paintings of his 2-year-old sister, which were intentionally priced the highest of all of his works ? the larger one coming in at $1,200.

If the portraits of his sister are sold, he said, at least his mother will be happy that he made so much money for them.

Chaisson’s family, living in New Orleans’ now infamous Upper 9th Ward, is still in the process of rebuilding their home, which was swamped in 5 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina.

Sawdust exhibitor Mike Heintz had presented the notion of sponsoring a guest artist from New Orleans to the festival board. After gaining approval, he ended up in contact with the New Orleans Center of Creative Arts (N.O.C.C.A.), which was asked to selected a student who had been impacted by Katrina.

They selected Chaisson, an honors student who took part in their creative arts programs. He had also won a “Best of Show” award in a post-Katrina districtwide art competition, and his work was submitted to hang in the U.S. Capitol building as part of the Congressional Arts Awards exhibition.

“It’s really nice out here,” Chaisson said. “I’ve never been to California before. My favorite thing has been the experience of being able to be in an art show.”

Chaisson recently graduated from a temporary high school formed by several historically black Catholic preparatory schools that joined together after Katrina.

Chaisson had lost four of his life’s work of paintings in the hurricane when his family’s house was flooded. The storm changed everything for his family, which went to Atlanta for three months before returning to Louisiana. “At first, I was really depressed about it -- I couldn’t get in touch with my family and friends. But after awhile, I saw some good things from it,” he said.

His paintings have taken a lighter turn since Katrina; he’s using brighter colors, lighter brush strokes.

Although several of the paintings were done before the storm, water imagery is common. In a pre-Katrina piece from a series on self-esteem, “Reflection,” a woman stares down into a bowl of water. She is depicted in color; her reflection is portrayed in black and white.

A grisaille acrylic work, “Recovering Faith,” depicts a hand pulling a crucifix out of the water.Credit: DON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT Caption: (LA)New Orleans artist Charles Chaisson is the guest artist at this year’s Sawdust Festival. His self portrait can be seen at lower right. cpt.21-orleans-CPhotoInfoL31T4PTP20060721j2okyqncCredit: DON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT