Lorraine Gendron was in a hospital bed, just weeks ago, wondering if she’d ever be able to leave it.
“I thought, ‘this is it,’” Gendron admitted.
The 86-year-old Hahnville folk artist had suffered an injury to her neck that was causing paralysis in her arms and parts of her legs. Her doctors weren’t sure at first how to get her back to health, and by the time she was hospitalized, she was in immense pain.
“It got so bad they had to put me on morphine for a week – and once that happened, I thought I was gone,” Gendron said. “But there was a doctor who was able to operate on me … I had to learn to walk all over again and also how to use my arms. But now I’m back to work.”
There was a joy in her voice when she spoke the last line – Gendron loves what she does. And the feeling is very mutual among the many who have enjoyed her art over the years.
Gendron makes hundreds of folk art pieces each year, sometimes working in her art studio until 9 or 10 p.m. just to keep up with demand.
This week, Gendron was honored by the St. Charles Parish Council, which recognized her for her lifetime of accomplishment, offering its thanks and appreciation at the council’s Oct. 7 meeting.
A self-taught artist, Gendron previously created folk art pieces utilizing Mississippi River mud, but due to back problems, she discontinued collecting river-based material. She now mostly creates folk art using wood cutouts as her primary medium, which her 91-year-old husband still cuts for her in various shapes and patterns.
Her folk art features classic Louisiana and New Orleans area themes in acrylic paint, such as horse-drawn carriages found in the French Quarter, pelicans, depictions of French Quarter food vendors, jazz musicians, and various Mardi Gras-themed pieces. She now takes wholesale orders and special orders, including certain Mardi Gras
krewes both locally and from Alabama.
At one time Gendron sold most of her pieces on consignment in local area gift shops and by traveling a craft show circuit all over the local area. She doesn’t travel as much these days, as her reputation has spread far enough that she is able to make a comfortable living directly from her Hahnville home art studio. Her patrons now approach
her directly to purchase her art
“I have a following,” she said with a laugh. “People in New Orleans, in Mississippi, collect my work, and give it to their friends, and it just keeps going. And they keep wanting it, so I keep making it.”
Gendron first began her art career in the 1980s, and her art career has since led her to several unexpected places. One of her pieces was recently featured on a 2021 four-part Smithsonian Channel documentary called One Thousand Years of Slavery. Former New Orleans mayor and National Urban League President Marc Morial was featured on the documentary, where the subject of his ancestry and the heavy topic of slavery was covered.
Her 1811 Slave Rebellion painting was certified to be a historically accurate depiction by university history professors with a focus on slavery history; the work remains on display inside Destrehan Plantation.
Gendron’s folk artwork has been featured at the White House for multiple different events, under several presidents’ tenures. Photos of Gendron and former First Lady Laura Bush hang in her hallway after one of her trips to Washington D.C. Her work was also on display each year at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for decades.
Before it became her career, and her passion, it all began in a 4th grade classroom.
“The teacher handed out paints,” Gendron recalled. “I knew I could draw. My mother used to give us paper and pencils, to keep my sister and I from fussing at one another. But that day in the 4th grade was the first time I ever had a paint brush in my hand. And I painted like I do now. It just came natural. I surprised myself.”
Maybe not exactly like she does now – Gendron said she thinks she might be painting better than ever since her physical therapy. That’s no small feat, as earlier this year she couldn’t even hold a paint brush due to her physical condition.
“I think now, I’m more direct, more present,” she said. “I used to paint for hours and zone out … listening to the TV, not really conscious of what I was doing if my brain was wandering. I’m more direct to it now, and I figure if that’s the case, I can paint even
faster. I only have to do it once.”
That’s helpful for sure – Gendron is receiving some big orders for her artwork. She and her husband of nearly 70 years, Louis, have been hustling to meet the demand.
“I give him the pattern and he cuts it out of wood,” she said. “Half the time he doesn’t know what it is. He just gives it to me and I paint it.”
