Coffee and cigarettes. Low slung hats. Film noir. House bands. Dark bourbon. Road side bars. Muddy delta roads. Fried catfish. Fat Mama's tamales. Rainy mornings. Summer front porches. Blues. Soul. R&B. Lost at mardi gras. Mysterious tattoo. Beignets. Bloody marys. Wrinkled tuxedos. Jazz fest gospel tent. Sunday brunch mimosas. Graceland. Pensive. Poignant. Family proud. Piney woods. Southern accent. Old money. Natchez azaleas. Chicken-strapped crab traps. Small town Mississippi. In the deep south, atmosphere is destiny. Heat. Humidity. Water. Wind. Wet. Sticky. Hurricanes. Our unique cultural experience dictates the high style in which we survive. My art is my atmoshphere and my experience. It resonates with those that have the same tension in their souls- no matter how it got there.

The paintings vibrate with a love for the zeitgeist of the south. Populated with characters and set with scenes indicative of Mississippi and Louisiana. Blues musicians, brass bands and jazz funerals spring to life in bold expressive strokes, pronounced textures and saturated dreamscape colors. As a self taught artist, I always relate my instinctive influences of the primative, folk and blues art traditions with a profound respect. Impressionistic and Expressionistic ideas get combined with a contemporary sensibility. These are vintage photos painted in candy colored acrylics . Whether supported by found wood, salvaged roofing slate or traditional canvas, each work compels the viewer into the particapatory experience. You need to dance in the second line or quietly sit to comtemplate the house across the street on a sunny summer morning.The composition dictates that the subjects only offer a peek of themselves. They are passing through the canvas, asking that the viewer complete the story on their own or continue wondering. This is by design. This is my design. VigoBOOM!Design is original art by RK Rowell