TroysArt

Remember that time I was on TV? The Big Switch

: Entertainment, Furniture & Design, Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 11-22-2015

Troy Broussard of The Big Switch, cover of OutSmart Magazine, November 2002.

Does anyone remember that time I was on TV? The Big Switch was a home design challenge sponsored by Houston PBS KUHT, Houston Chronicle, OutSmart Magazine, and Bassett Furniture. Emmy award winning Ernie Manouse hosted the two day challenge in which designers Jennifer Lowe and myself transformed the interiors of neighboring Habitat for Humanity homes. Not only did we have two days but we had a budget of $1,500, part of which we had to use at least one piece of Bassett furniture. The Big Switch was the most watched original program in the 2002 Houston PBS broadcast season. Incidentally, …continue reading

In memory of Sandra Prather Broussard

: Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 08-06-2015

August 6th, 2015 – Today would have marked the 69th birthday of my mother Sandra Fay Prather Broussard. This special TroysArt post is dedicated to a life that touched so many and a life that ended too soon. The daughter of Bob & Fay Prather, she was born in New Orleans and grew up in downtown Jennings and with her sister Charlotte was third generation in the Prather home on Nezpique Street. As a youngster Sandra was known as a firebrand with pigtails, coveralls, and her notorious bag of marbles roaming the alleys off Main Street and the yards of the …continue reading

The Heywood Building – painting a Louisiana landmark

: Destinations, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 07-15-2015

"Sunday Morning Main" by Troy Broussard, depicting Jennings, LA, & the Heywood Building; collection of Wendell Miller.

While handling some business recently in Jennings, Louisiana, primarily related to Mother’s funerary aftermath, I took time to visit a few friends as well as to view a few of my paintings. And one of the larger paintings done over the course of my art career can be found on Main Street in the lobby of the office of attorney Wendell Miller. Sunday Morning Main is a monumental cityscape done as an integral part of my Troy Broussard Paints the Town series, a collection of local Jefferson Davis Parish landmarks and landscapes, which debuted in a feature exhibit at the …continue reading

The art of the Trumeau Mirror

: Antiques, Furniture & Design, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 05-07-2015

Louis XVI style Trumeau Mirror, French c. 1850, 45 x 64”, $6,388, from Carl Moore Antiques.

You’ve probably seen one in the movies, in a museum, or in someone’s home but didn’t know the proper term. During the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, large mirrors mounted within the paneling over a mantel or between windows would often have a painting incorporated above. This is what is referred to as a Trumeau Mirror. Trumeau is an architectural term designating space between vertical elements in an interior such as space between doors, windows, or pilasters. And in the century prior to the French Revolution it was much in vogue to fill the space with mirror in …continue reading

Two Guys and Rothko

: Artists, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 04-16-2015

Orange, Red, Yellow by Mark Rothko, 1961, sold in 2013 for $87 million, fair use via Wikipedia.org

Not long ago I was talking to Michael Anderson who now lives in San Francisco, whom TroysArt also refers to as Manderson. Manderson and I used to paint together and actually had a few public exhibitions of our work such as Two Guys Painting at the Lowell Collins Gallery. Our shtick was to both undertake the same still life, landscape, or sitter with the outcomes, as interpreted through two different artistic minds, displayed side by side. It was, to say the least, a fascinating experiment. At any rate he was telling me about his idea to do a painting as an …continue reading

The Best Friends Brunch, Delta Dawn’s big day!

: Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 02-27-2015

Most English Springer Spaniels are at home running through a grassy meadow or trudging through the marsh. But after Delta Dawn‘s big day at the aniMeals Best Friends Brunch I realize that her ideal habitat is a luxury hotel. I wrote a post a month back about the aniMeals Best Friends Brunch (Kick-off party for Best Friends Brunch – TroysArt.com). The Best Friends Brunch benefited aniMeals on Wheels, a division of Interfaith Ministries Meals on Wheels program. I found out about the charity through my friends, sisters Kristy Phillips and Wendy Phillips who, with Teena Davis, served as brunch co-chairs. The program was …continue reading

A low key birthday with Sisterwoman, wine, and art

: Destinations, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 01-08-2015

It’s me on my birthday with Picasso’s Seated Woman, the Museum of Fine Art – Houston.

I love having a birthday on January 2nd; I start a new year with a new age, it’s like a full cycle. But celebrating in a big way can be difficult. It’s like just when you thought the holidays were over, guess what! People are partied out by January 2nd. And to travel somewhere sensational is expensive because airlines and hotels are charging New Year’s premiums. And then this year, given the loss of our dear Lisa Benitez and the epic funerary festivities that followed, I was absolutely exhausted both mentally and physically. So this year I opted for a low key birthday …continue reading

A few thoughts about Lisa Benitez

: Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 12-29-2014

Mark Moss, Troy Broussard, Lisa Benitez, Amy Evans, & Stacey Abbott, summer 2014, Koelsch Gallery, Houston, by Smilebooth.com

On Wednesday, December 31st, we will say goodbye to our dear friend Lisa Benitez, a day that should have been reserved to celebrate her birthday. Some would say that a funeral should be a day to celebrate her life, but how can one celebrate when a life is cut so short? I’ve known Lisa for 20 years, give or take a few–I met her through a mutual friend Johnny Hooks. And it seems to me that everyone in Houston knew her also as she trancended every group and socio-economic class in the city. She was able to touch lives professionally as well as philathropically. But most of all she touched lives as a …continue reading

TroysArt: A New Beginning

: TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 07-07-2014

I’m always surprised when I run into someone in public and I’m asked, “Whatever happened to TroysArt?” In the not too distant past I was a regular at art openings and museum parties. And I’d often invite friends to join me. Unfortunately the request was usually met with insecurity. And I didn’t understand how anyone could object to free drinks and a hip new crowd. Eventually I came to realize that even though there was no quiz at the end, people were insecure in a fine art environment. That is how TroysArt was born. I wanted to convey that the …continue reading