In 1985 I first encountered the word remarque thinking it was something that hid under Spanish moss high in cypress trees. In a way I was correct. I meet my first one way down the bayou, past the Grandbois Swamp, at an art festival in Cutoff, Louisiana. This remarque took the form of a duck, pencil sketched on the white portion of an offset lithograph – a reproduction of an artist’s original painting. The pencil sketch didn’t add anything to the original composition to me. So way back then, I decided not to add those to my prints.
Remarque is a strange word, kind of like the word Lagniappe, a little extra. A remarque is a little extra also, but unlike a bakers dozen, the addition isn’t free. I offer two different types of remarques: Signature Remarques for $25.00 and Background Remarques for $50.00. These options are choices in my web store. Each remarque is a little different, especially the Background Remarques.
Shrimp de Lis Prints with original Background Remarques
I have always lived in my own Art World where my prints are colorful as bayou people. When one of my prints is born off the press, none are complete until my hand layers color on them. My prints are original by design, so decades ago I didn’t feel the need to add anything extra. In 2020 I have chosen to rethink things, and offer remarques on my editions - but mine add to the composition. Examples below are two Pelican de Lis'. The bottom left print has a penciled cypress tree that forms the top of a "de Lis", and that is part of every print. I penciled a Background Remarque on the Pelican de Lis, below right, by adding a bayou shack scene in the distance, and I have penciled a family of owls and a raccoon in the cypress tree.
Pelican de Lis without and with a Background Remarque.
I sign and number my prints, and that too is part of the composition, so if you choose a Signature Remarque you’ll get a small original drawing, like the little shrimp below that compliments the date and my name.
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