RIP George Rodrigue

My favorite artist passed away earlier this week, George Rodrigue.

He was most famous for his Blue Dog paintings, although he also did a lot of Louisiana landscapes, oaks, & famous Cajuns.

I first discovered Blue Dog when flipping through a magazine in art class way back in high school. There, staring up at me, was a blue corgi. 

This is actually my Absolut ad, I've had it for over 20 years.

It hangs above my desk at home.

Why did it speak to me so much? Because it was Kirby.

As the years went by, I continued to fall more & more in love with the Blue Dog... I finally started saving up the money to buy some posters on eBay. The posters were expensive enough, I had no hope in ever buying a print or painting!  :)

One of the first posters I bought

I named my adopted Corgi after him, because he also resembled Blue Dog:

Rigue (Ree-gay)

It wasn't until years later that I realized that was not how you pronounced Rodrigue... Oops  :)

Now I have a room filled with posters, even some prints  :) I have his calendars, his books, even a few of the Blue Dog cows. (I bought every single one at all the Hallmarks in Lexington when they were released! He almost never licensed his Blue Dog image, so I knew they would be a collectible...)

One of the first vacations John & I took was to New Orleans so I could finally visit his gallery:

A few years later, George Rodrigue offered a vacation package to New Orleans. It included meeting him as well as all kinds of other Blue Dog perks  :)  I jumped at the chance!

We got to tour his home & studio:

His studio

His living room

One of the original cows lives in his garden

George painting a live oak

Post Katrina, he offered another vacation package. This one was a riverboat cruise down the Mississippi with even more cool stuff to do in New Orleans.

He did another live paining demo on the boat

3 Sided Statue at NOMA

I finally got up the courage to ask him to sign my photo of Rigue

When we traveled to Houston for the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Specialty, we made a special point of stopping in Lafayette, LA, so we could eat at the Blue Dog Cafe.

My current Blue Dog, Porter  :)

The staff was kind enough to let us take Porter to the patio for photos

May you rest in peace, George. You were a talented artist, a generous philanthropist, and an all-around cool guy. I hope your beloved Tiffany was there to greet you on the other side.

If you want to learn more about George Rodrigue, or view more of his work, click on the links in this post. There is so much more I could have said...