About the Artist
Lou Jordan LWS; Contemporary Master of Watercolor, Abstract Works
Lyrical Watercolor Abstracts and Landscapes, Brilliantly colored alcohol ink paintings, cosmology, skyscapes and
Lou Jordan had to wait until she was fifty years old to begin her art career; as she says, “Life got in the way!” Now in her early eighties she is going strong, still moving full speed ahead.
Turning fifty, she began taking classes at the Torpedo Factory in her hometown of Alexandria VA, where she decided watercolor was her medium, relishing the challenge it offered. Moving to New Orleans in 1995, new place, new home, new husband, she quickly signed up with the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, and for the next five years took all the classes offered in drawing, design and watercolor. She also joined the Louisiana Watercolor Society, became its president, and was very fortunate to study and form friendships with Milford Zornes NA (5 workshops), Jeanne Dobie, Stephen Quiller, Sondra Freckleton and Jack Beal, Cheng Khee Chee, Paul Jackson, Katherine Chang Liu, and (3 workshops) with John Salminen.
She won a first prize in the second show she ever entered, and in those early years exhibited at the Masur Museum in Monroe LA, the Orr Museum Invitational in Biloxi, MS, the Louisiana Open in Lafayette, LA, and now has been juried into the International Signature Exhibit in Fallbrook, CA three times. She became a Signature Member of LWS in her fourth year as a member and has been accepted into seven of their International Shows. She has taught watercolor classes and judged many shows in New Orleans, showing and selling her work on-line and in her home.
With New Orleans badly damaged by Katrina in 2005, it was two years in the chaos of the aftermath before she could return to painting. She and her husband had creative skills that were needed to help their city, and to repair their flooded home on Bayou St. John, and her studio in MidCity. Finally in 2007 she returned to the Academy where she ventured into a new world of bright color, abstraction and experimentation with Yupo and alcohol inks. A workshop with John Salminen in planned abstraction led her to her “Lyrical Abstracts” where she uses line and tracing paper to create bold, sculptural and exciting works full of intense color that speak of celebration, rhythm, movement and the joy of creation.
Experiencing more life changes in 2019, she moved to Richmond, VA, downsizing to a small house with a studio. She started painting again as soon as the boxes were unpacked, in spite of the pressure of Covid and its isolation, completing three large Lyrical Abstracts and a series of small abstract paintings. She has recently finished a complete inventory of her work, and discovered it contained over 400 paintings!
MEMBERSHIPS
National Watercolor Society Associate Member
Louisiana Watercolor Society Signature and Lifetime Member
Virginia Watercolor Society
Philadelphia Watercolor Society
San Diego Watercolor Society
Three Rivers Art Festival, Covington LA
The Whimsies, New Orleans - from 1996 until 2016
Pass Christian Art Festival, MS
Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA 1992
New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts 1995-2015
Intensive Studies Institute Taos, NM 2005
About Lou Jordan, Signature Artist
Education:
Smith College, Northampton, MA studying Fine Arts
The Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA: instructed by
Joe Mayer, Marj Alderson
New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts: Ausaklis Ozols, Katilin Gergo, Carol Peebles
Primary teachers: Milford Zornes N.A., Jeanne Dobie, Stephen Quiller, Cheng Khee Chee, Catherine Anderson, John Salminen, Katharine Chang Liu, Skip Lawrence, Jack Beal, and Sondra Freckelton
Career Highlights:
Selected Awards and Recognition
o Signature Member, Louisiana Watercolor Society 2001 (achieved in four years)
o Accepted into seven Louisiana Watercolor Society International Shows
o President, Louisiana Watercolor Society 1999-2001
o Featured in International Artist Publications book, "100 Ways to Paint Flowers and Gardens" 2004
o Featured in "Gulf Coast Arts Review" "Madame President" 2000
o First Prize Louisiana Watercolor Society Member Show 1996
o First Prize Louisiana Watercolor Society Member Show 1999
o Second Prize Louisiana Watercolor Society Member Show 2002
o New Orleans Academy of Arts Faculty Award for Watercolor 2002
Solo Shows
o Wednesday Night Artists, J.W. Marriott Hotel, New Orleans, 2008-2009
o Cafe Degas, New Orleans, 2002
o The Long Gallery, Oschner Hospital, New Orleans 2000, 2002
o St. Tammany Art Association Holiday Inn Covington, LA 2001
o The Upstairs Gallery, Bay St. Louis, MS 2001
Selected Juried Shows
o Signature Watermedia International Exhibit, Fallbrook, CA 2013, 2021, 2022
o Louisiana Watercolor Society International Juried Exhibition 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009,2011
o Gulf Coast Art Exhibit for Women in the Arts 2005
o Ohr Museum Juried Exhibit, Biloxi, MS 2000
o New Orleans Art Association National Exhibit 1997
o Masur Museum Juried Show, Monroe, LA 1997
o Alabama Watercolor Society National Exhibit 2010
o Virginia Watercolor Juried Exhibit 2021
Galleries
o The Upstairs Gallery, Bay St. Louis, MS
o Lagniappe Gallery, Cottonwood, MS
0 Le Boulevard, Metairie, LA
o Bancroft Studio Gallery, New Orleans
o Studio Angelico, New Orleans
