Edmond “Chuck” Blouin was born in 1941 New Orleans to an artist father. Two years into studying architecture at the Southeastern Louisiana University, with the encouragement of his professors, he began painting. He paid the rest of his way through college by selling his work. From SLU he earned a Bachelor of History and Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors, and he received a doctorate in Crypto-Technology with Honors from the Norfolk Institute of Technology.Blouin’s art synthesizes his youth in the artistic and cultural world of old Cajun New Orleans. He grew up designing parade floats, singing and dancing, fishing, and traveling the bayou. He transfers these experiences to canvas in layers of impasto oil paint, fresh colors and scintillating light. He uses sculpting needles, glazes, washes, and dry brushing to make his French Quarter streets, Mardi Gras Indians, and carousel carnivals burst into three dimensions. His work has been exhibited in galleries including Schieder Galleries in New York and St. Petersburg, New Masters Callery in Carmel, Fisher and Varnable Nesliege Galleries in Washington, DC, and Suttons Fine Arts in New Orleans. He’s received three grants from the National Endowments for the Arts, and in 2019 won the gold medal for the National Veterans’ Creative Arts Festival. Sources include:AskArt, https://suttonsgalleries.com/edmond-chuck-blouin-jr/Sutton Galleries, https://suttonsgalleries.com/edmond-chuck-blouin-jr/