St. Bernard Parish Artist Sabrina Schmidt

Hefeweizen-St. Stephen’s Church

Odd how things happen. The 51-year-old Schmidt, a lifetime resident of Chalmette, is a relative newcomer to the full-time “art for art’s sake” world. For almost 30 years, she enjoyed a successful career as a graphic designer. Then in 2020 with the coming of COVID-19, Schmidt was able to step away and head into the natural landscape to free her imagination and talent.

“It’s something I always wanted to do,” says Schmidt, who studied art and design at the University of New Orleans, Loyola University and the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts. “Every time I traveled or just observed nature, I was always planning a painting. I was always composing, setting up compositions and thinking how I would create those colors. I’ve done that for so many years and then the pandemic hit. It allowed me to get out there every day and paint. It was a quieter time with less responsibilities. The second reason, we were empty nesters, and it was my time.”

Attentive observers might spot her on a sunny or rainy day out painting along the streets and back roads of St. Bernard Parish or in St. Bernard’s little villages Delacroix and Yscloskey or across the levee along the Mississippi River “batture” — that muddy no-man’s land between the levee and river. They also might see her painting on the side streets of old New Orleans neighborhoods or in City Park painting under the Dueling Oaks, “trying to create that feeling of standing under the oaks.” Her images of decaying small-town factories, ancient oaks, auto junkyards and other moments in the natural landscape call to mind what novelist John Steinbeck once described as the “poetry of place” as he traveled across country with his poodle Charley.

Schmidt describes one outing along the batture in Poydras at the lower end of St. Bernard Parish: “In the winter, I painted a scene on the river and the sun was setting. It was that winter light coming through the tree branches. You could feel all of the emotions of that day.”

Look on the Bright Side

The award-winning Schmidt, whose work has appeared in important juried shows in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, is focused on documenting and telling the story of St. Bernard’s rapidly disappearing landscape and way of life, especially through the “eyes and perspective” of artists. She believes the region and people have important stories to tell and preserve. To do so, she often invites groups of artists from Southeast Louisiana to join her on painting forays into the St. Bernard landscape, towns and villages. After one such invitation, Schmidt organized and curated a 15-artist, plein-air exhibition that opened in December 2022 and ran six months at the Crevasse 22/The River House art gallery in Poydras.

“I feel it’s important,” she says, “for artists to paint as much as possible because the area is changing so quickly with every storm and hurricane that comes through here. We also must document our fishermen, too. They are a dying breed and we need to document that life. I find life along the river interesting, too, with all the old oak trees and history.”

By painting on location, or en plein air as it’s called, Schmidt’s loose, painterly, impressionistic style “that leans toward naturalism,” as she says, responds to the given light, the colors, humid atmosphere and sensory spirit of her surroundings.

“Painting makes me feel alive,” she says. “In plein air painting or painting from life, there’s  always a sense of discovery. There’s so much that goes on when you are outside. You feel the air, smell the scents around you and the vibe of being outdoors. It all goes into the painting. When I’m painting in the city, my husband comes with me and when he’s playing his guitar, my brushstrokes are different. They go with the beat of his music. I’ve also painted in the rain. The colors are beautiful in the rain. I have to use a lot of umbrellas, but I love trying to capture the mood of the weather, the atmosphere.”

Bright Light on the Batture

Inspired by nature and color, Schmidt has this “drive and need to share” with others the feeling, essence, and experiences of what she sees and paints. She says, “Trying to capture what I’m seeing is not all pleasant, and you go through so many emotions. It’s not always successful, but I love the challenge. The challenge keeps me going back.”

Whether Schmidt is following that challenge and drive to “capture the essence, color and mood” of a moment along the levee in St. Bernard Parish or in the streets of New Orleans, her paintings remind viewers that Steinbeck’s “poetry of place” is all around us.

For more information about Schmidt and her work, visit sabrinaschmidt.me.

Exhibits

Cajun | Luster: Realism and Hyperrealism in Contemporary Automobile and Motorcycle Painting

Paintings of classic automobiles and motorcycles, Feb. 1-April 30. Historic City Hall & Cultural Center, Lake Charles. cityoflakecharles.com

Central | The Art of Joe Ray

Paintings, sculpture, photographs by Alexandria-born artist, through Feb. 15. Alexandria Museum of Art. themuseum.org

Plantation | In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870-1940

Survey of American Impressionism, through March 23. LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge. lsumoa.org

NOLA | John Scott: Blues Poem for the Urban Landscape

Acclaimed artist visualizes the history of New Orleans, through Jan. 26. New Orleans Museum of Art. noma.org

North | Clyde Connell and Pat Sewell

Work by two renowned North Louisiana artists, permanent show. Louisiana State Exhibit Museum. laexhibitmuseum.org