I have a three-person exhibition coming up at the Zigler Museum in Jennings, LA this month.  The show opens March 15th, 2008 and there will be an artists’ reception on March 29th from 6-8 pm.  The work I have on display is from my New Realm series.  For anyone who missed my show at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, this is their chance to finally see my new work in person.  Photos just don’t do the work justice and people comment on how different it is to see the work up close.  So please don’t miss out on this opportunity! 

This is my first official blog, so I guess an introduction is in order. My name is Amy Guidry. I’m a professional artist in Lafayette, Louisiana. To spare you from all the biographical details of my life, you can simply go to my website www.AmyGuidry.com to read all about my work and accomplishments. I wanted to write a blog because there’s a lot about my work and the inner workings of the art world that I would like to discuss, but don’t exactly have the opportunity to do so on my website. I hope that this will lead to viewers’ interest and participation.

So to start, one topic that comes up often concerns my recent series, “New Realm.” People often ask me what the series is about, which I assume is because they bypassed my artist statement hanging on the gallery wall, but for those who are still wondering… The series is my take on fairy tales, but with a modern twist. Instead of portraying the woman in the series as a damsel in distress, she is the heroine. Taking on her challenges and proving herself to be independent and courageous. I wanted to approach this work from a, dare I say the f-word…feminist…standpoint. And by feminist, I don’t mean that I am some sort of man-hating, bra-burning femi-nazi, I mean that for once, I would like to see a story portray a woman as the hero. Let me clarify that by adding it should be believable, too. Yes, I am aware that women can be the hero in many stories, but often they are seen wearing little more than a bikini and a machine gun. My hero is fully-clothed, thank you, and in control (no weapons necessary). Her mental and emotional strengths are the only weapons needed.

“My” fairy tale takes place throughout the body of work. While there is a beginning and ending of sorts, the rest of the story can be viewed in no particular order or on an individual basis. The premise of the story can be found in each painting since the overall theme carries throughout.

I should wrap this up before my blog becomes a novel. I welcome anyone’s thoughts on this or other art topics of interest. You can respond to this blog or if you’d rather not let the world read your message, you can email me at mail [at] amyguidry [dot] com.