Interior design forms the link between architecture and humanity. Anyone with a credit card can walk into a furniture store and fill a house. But without the proper understanding of scale and proportion and the right talent and resources to “pull it together”, it can be money poorly spent. Using an interior designer is not as intimidating as it sounds. In fact, it is guidance that is undervalued and underutilized. With 30 years of design experience and in conjunction with the launch of my new Troy’s Design (Click this link forTroysDesign) page on the TroysArt website, this essay is about Interior Design. “Design is not just what it looks like or feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs ...
Most people whom I know have a favorite artist. And there are dozens of artists that I adore, even crave. I love Eduard Manet for his strong color and composition; I love John Singer Sargent for his scale and painterly brushwork; but above all, I love Vincent van Gogh for his ebullient colors, skewed perspectives, and life story. So imagine my excitement when I heard that an assemblage of 50 paintings by van Gogh would be exhibited in Houston–and only in Houston. This TroysArt post is not only about Vincent van Gogh: His Life in Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston but also everything you need to know about Vincent van Gogh but were afraid to ask. A ...
November 2018: Imagine an evening in the wilderness, gathered around a campfire with friends and a few bottles of wine. An airy tent with an inflatable mattress and fresh sheets is only stumbling distance. A vacation is not about distance traveled or money spent but rather about moments shared. And my recent escape in a tent near the water at Martin Dies State Park in Jasper, Texas, was just that. In March I penned one of my signature TroysArt travelogues about a camping trip to Guadalupe River State Park (TroysArt – Camping is just code for drinking under the stars). Four of us, Michael, John, and Skip, with Delta Dawn, met at Guadalupe in the Texas hill country for a ...
August 2018. What does anyone, who has not been, know about San Francisco besides hobos, homos, Rice-A-Roni, and the Golden Gate Bridge? At my age and with the travel I have accomplished, it seems crazy that I have not been there. While working in California, years back, I would occasionally fly in and out of San Francisco but that is only geography. Tennessee Williams said, “America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” By Williams’ ringing endorsement alone, San Francisco warrants a visit. So this summer I set my sights on the Golden Gate City. My best gal-pal Stacey and I have been inseparable for over twenty years but, other than spending weekends ...
I have had highs and lows; I have been congratulated, patted on the back, and have had drinks bought for me; I even carry a special pen around to sign books. I have had compliments and insults, and encouragement and disappointment. It has been six weeks since the announcement of my first published novel. And this TroysArt post is a follow-up on the accolades, reviews, and scandals of Drank Myself Straight, a novel by Troy Broussard. Samuel Lyndon Gladden wrote this review on Amazon: Get ready for the ice to tumble from your glass as you take the rollicking ride that is DRANK MYSELF STRAIGHT by Troy Broussard. Truman Capote’s jaw would drop into his martini if he read Drank ...
The book you’ve heard about is now available! HERE’S THE LINK. Buy the novel by Troy Broussard TODAY! Click the link above to purchase Drank Myself Straight, available in both paperback and eBook. Don’t wait, buy one to read and one to share today. For more information and for selected excerpts from the book, click the following TroysArt link: TroysArt—Introducing DRANK MYSELF STRAIGHT (Please note that this story contains mature situations & strong language, and might not be suitable for all readers.)
Introducing DRANK MYSELF STRAIGHT, a novel by Troy Broussard! This novel is available for purchase in paperback and eBook now! Click the link below to ORDER TODAY. On a January afternoon a couple years back, I was entertaining my friend Rob Taylor with a story. Laughing, he challenged me to write the tale into a script. I explained that I didn’t know how to write a script, but accepted his challenge to write something for him. The following September, on his birthday, I delivered the first draft of what had morphed into a full-blown novel entitled Drank Myself Straight. An excerpt from Chapter 13: As the third quarter began, Paisley wanted to see the lake. ...
March 2018, Guadalupe River State Park – Walking the dog, I gaze toward the heavens to watch Southwest jets in airways that traverse the city of Houston and I imagine what destinations are in store for the passengers aboard. I yearn to visit new places, but travel is not always about boarding a plane. Travel can be just a matter of picking a place to go. So in conversation with my friends Skip and John, I mentioned that I was overdue for camping, to which Skip reminded that it had been nine years and a dog ago since joining them. Given my urbane deportment and urban existence, some might be surprised that camping appeals to me. But camping is just ...
CHRISTMAS 2016 Early on Christmas morning I stand beside Mother’s grave in the Greenwood Cemetery of Jennings, Louisiana. It is the first Christmas a headstone marks her burial; the epitaph reads Beautiful Mother. She rests next to her mother Fay who died in 1977 and her grandmother Elizabeth who died on Christmas Day, 1949. It is only 7:30 but the temperature is already 73°. A muggy breeze rustles the oak boughs and migrating geese call soulfully overhead. As I slap a mosquito from my neck and wipe a tear from my eye I get into the car and head to the I-10 junction which is only a quarter mile from Greenwood’s gate. The interstate is practically deserted—the few travelers have ...
Uncle Troy’s Words of Wisdom in honor of Cameron’s Graduation It seems like only a few years ago when my nephew was born. But Cameron Broussard Boggio is 18 years old now, graduating from Memorial High School in Houston, and off to college at the end of the summer. So, in his honor, instead of a Hallmark card, I composed this list: Never underestimate the value of good manners. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The right friends are hard to find but usually easy to keep. It doesn’t always matter where you came from, but it matters where you’re going. Most people are idiots. Buy the best quality you can afford. If you’re staying more than one ...
Everyone knows the Blue Dog, whether they know the artist’s name or not. Most Louisianians do. But long before the Blue Dog with its kitsch mass-marketing appeal, George Rodrigue was celebrated for his regional stories in oil. They are stories that no one, save Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, had ever told well enough to capture the intrigue of the world. I became acquainted with the work of Rodrigue while in high school when his work hanged in restaurants. I also recall Mother and I having dinner when I fell in love with a painting; it was $1,300 according to the card stuck to the wall next to it; she said that was a lot of money for artwork, that dad would kill ...