The Blue Dog Story

I am from Shreveport, Louisiana, and ate often at the original Landry's (before King Fertitta got the restaurants away from the family). There were usually on the walls some rather odd art of people in the swamps, usually dressed in turn of the century clothes, sometimes an alligator, lots of moss, and unappealing to me. I never thought much about the art or the artist, but I knew I didn't want any of it.
I was at a garage sale in Houston some time later, and the seller had some reproductions of the Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest poster, featuring a weird looking blue dog, sometimes more than one, and it had an instant impact on me. I thought, "I have to have one of these blue dogs in my house." Then I found out that the paintings started at $5,000, and the signed prints started at $300. This was certainly out of my league. In my neighborhood, I could see into one house that had some framed prints on the walls and I was even thinking of how I could steal their prints. When I found out a K9 cop lived there, I gave up the idea.
Maria Resendez Hughes, my artist friend, and I went to New Orleans as part of her time-share deal, and stopped in Lafayette. We saw signs saying, "Blue Dog Gallery," so we stopped by. The signed prints were still pricey at $285, so we ate at that downtown famous cafe and went on to New Orleans. When we got there, there was another Blue Dog Gallery in the French Quarter. Everything was about double of what the Lafayette gallery had. So, on the way back, I got my Blue Dog print, had it framed in Houston, and it has been hanging in my house since then.
George Rodrigue is the artist. When he was divorcing wife #1, he gave her some prints and paintings as part of the deal. And cutie pie wife #2, blonde and young, is in the newer paintings and prints. Need I say more?
I thought about buying another print from his company and the signed prints start at $850. Think about this, the dog always looks exactly the same in each print, even if the print background is somewhat different. And people like me just fall all over themselves buying these things. Sometimes I wonder about myself. But ain't nobody going to get my Blue Dog.