Athanase “Tanase” Fontenot is a self-taught artist originally from Dog Island Swamp, a small community in the heart of Cajun Louisiana. Fontenot’s drawings and paintings are inspired directly from the objects and scenes that surround him in his daily life. Content to share his work only with family and friends, Fontenot was coaxed to exhibit these works. Fontenot works with oil pastels on black gessoed cold press watercolor paper.
A shrimper in his spare time, Fontenot and his two dogs migrate between a camp near Lacassine, LA and a home in Beaumont, TX.
Athanase Fontenot, Untitled (detail), 2008. Oil pastel and black gesso on cold press watercolor paper. Image courtesy of the artist.