Southern Group Show 2025

Join us for a vibrant celebration of Southern and local artists

Experience a fresh wave of creative energy where tradition meets innovation; where the old and new collide in a dynamic blend of contrast, conversation, and just a touch of disruption.

Honoring New Orleans' spirit of hospitality and artistic legacy, this evening also invites you to explore bold, contemporary works—all while sipping bubbly and enjoying the creative spirit of the south.

Represented Participating artists:

Jim Blanchard

Thomas Bruno

Andrew Hopkins

Will Dunlap

Kyla Bernberg

Join us at 812 Royal Gallery

Saturday

July 12, 2025

With extended hours | 6 PM - 8 PM

812 Royal Street

New Orleans, LA. 70116

Shelley Aucoin

Shelley Aucoin Winters earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Louisiana State University in 2006. She majored in Creative Writing and minored in French. In 2009, she also obtained a Juris Doctor and Graduate Diploma in Civil Law from LSU.

A practicing attorney in New Orleans, her passion for art and color developed at a young age as she was taught and influenced by her mother, Rita, who studied under Henry Hensche at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Shelley paints primarily with acrylics, watercolor, inks, and pastels. Many of her works are mixed media with an emphasis on color and texture.

Paul Schexnayder

Paul Schexnayder is a New Iberia-based visual artist, illustrator, educator, and storyteller whose colorful, narrative-rich works celebrate Southern culture with wit, heart, and painterly charm. A professional (and color-blind) artist for over 30 years, he holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Louisiana State University and still follows the advice of his professors: “draw every day.”

His distinctive style—described as “vibrant” by Southern Living and “the heart and soul of Louisiana” by the Salem News—flows naturally in series, always grounded in a strong sense of place, story, and spirit. Schexnayder’s artwork has been exhibited across the United States and featured as the official art for numerous Louisiana festivals. He is also an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books, including The Gumbo Gators and the In the Time Of series. Since 2018, he has completed five public murals and received recognition for his animated short films.

In his paintings, Schexnayder explores the atmospheric conditions that shape our world, focusing on how water vapor, light, and the passage of time can be expressed through color, shape, and form. Each piece begins with quick, vertical brushstrokes—repetitive and meditative, like a daily prayer—evoking the draping Spanish moss of the South, which to him symbolizes old stories and fading memories.

This stylized moss motif weaves throughout his work, suggesting mystery, the concealment of sound and movement, and the quiet layering of past and present. Architectural details, flora, fauna, animals, and objects are subtly integrated to form dreamlike narratives that seem to drift through time. These elements don’t just fill the canvas—they invite viewers to pause, look closer, and feel the stillness beneath the surface.

Beyond the studio, Schexnayder teaches in the Iberia Parish Talent Program and co-owns A & E Gallery with his wife and three children. Whether through paint, books, or public art, his work continues to honor the rich storytelling traditions of the South—offering vibrant, thoughtful reflections on place, memory, and belonging.

Juanita Parenton

Juanita Parenton is an abstract artist whose work is deeply rooted in a reverence for nature, place, and the quiet beauty of everyday surroundings. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and now working from her studio in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, Juanita creates acrylic-based paintings on canvas, wood, and paper—often incorporating mixed media to build rich texture and depth.

Her creative process is sparked by the natural and architectural compositions she photographs during her travels and time at home. Whether it’s the intricate form of a single garden flower, the sweeping lines of a landscape, or the elegance of architectural detail, these visual moments awaken her artistic spirit and guide her toward abstraction. Her paintings translate these inspirations into compositions of layered color, line, and shape, aiming to evoke both joy and serenity.

Juanita’s passion for art began in high school with a watercolor painting of a historical plantation. After a 22-year career in physical therapy, she returned to her artistic roots, studying color theory and design at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts beginning in 2018. Her work reflects a spiritual connection to the natural world, seeking to create a harmonious environment that invites the viewer to connect with its essence in a personal, emotional way.

Her paintings have been exhibited throughout Louisiana and Florida and are held in private collections across the South and as far west as California. Through her work, Juanita invites viewers to pause, reflect, and experience the calming beauty of the natural world reimagined through abstraction.

Johnston Burkhardt

Johnston Burkhardt is a mixed media artist whose work draws from his upbringing in New Orleans, his travels, and his love for design. He grew up with a pencil in his hand and a fascination with the modern art he saw in museums and books. Often experimenting with texture, color, and unconventional materials, his paintings typically feature a wide array of materials, including acrylic and oil paints, charcoal and pastel, pencil, spray paint, and hand embroidery. Johnston’s diverse body of work has been sold across the country and commissioned by collectors and interior designers alike.

Max Kelly

Max Kelly, a former New Orleans resident, creates art that combines contrasting elements, such as sea and land, tropic and temperate, natural and man-made. He employed a diverse range of mediums to establish his distinctive style. Kelly studied art at Georgetown University but did not produce work for over three decades, until 2020, when he was once again inspired to create.

Tess Riehlmann

Tess Riehlmann is a New Orleans based artist whose work is inspired by the unique and whimsical architecture of the city. Most days the artist rides around on her bike collecting ideas for her pieces. Through these rides her appreciation and awe of the city continues to grow as well as influence her. With a background in interior decorative painting and restoration, usually in residential spaces, the artist is able to observe the historical significance of these structures as well as the effect the outside world has on them every day. Beyond the tinkering and reconfiguring that humanity has inflicted on many of these buildings over the years, the impact the environment has had is inseparable. The ever engulfing flora and the rising waterlines are a constant reminder that no matter how large and beautiful our homes may be, nature will always be bigger and more beautiful. Riehlmann attempts to portray this in her works by playing with size and scale demonstrating our minuteness with massive botanicals and shrunken landmarks.

In this particular piece, the two famous steamboat houses built by river pilots, Milton and Mary Doullut in the early 1900s have been lifted up and sent down a rather aggressive Mississippi river. Growing from the river are two types of lilies, Flame and Madonna, acting as obstacles for the houses turned boats. Through a somewhat storybook style, the artist comments on the everyday beauty that surrounds us, whether that be manmade or natural.

Giancarlo D’Agostaro

Giancarlo D’Agostaro (b1990.) is a photographed based in New Orleans, La. Giancarlo’s photographs have appeared in numerous international publications such as The Gaurdian, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. His photographs have been exhibited in museums and academic instituions along with being included in The Historic New Orleans private collection. Giancarlo’s body of work, Pro-cession, will be on view in The Unending Stream: Chapter II at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art summer of 2025.

Max Ryan

As a native of New Orleans, Max Ryan has spent his life surrounded by the magnificent visual art, architecture, music, and cuisine that are unique to the Crescent City. After graduating from Metairie Park Country Day School, Max's college career took him first to Rhodes College, and then back to New Orleans where he earned his degree from Tulane University. While exploring a diverse curriculum in college, Max remained an avid artist. In 1994 Max embarked upon a career as a professional contractor specializing in residential projects with dual emphasis upon both historic properties and contemporary design. Even while nurturing his growing business Max continued to develop his artistic skills. Today while working primarily with acrylic paints on canvas or panels, Max uses layers of texture and deep colors combined with metallic leaf and a variety of other media to create a diverse collection of contemporary pieces. His artwork is heavily influenced by his background in building and design as Max draws inspiration from architectural elements in creating his mixed media abstract paintings. Max's work has been featured in numerous galleries and exhibitions as well as a multitude of magazines and other publications. His paintings also hang in both private and corporate collections throughout the world.

Brittany Markert

In Rooms by Brittany Markert

“For all the words I could never write, the camera became my pen”

Brittany Markert (b. 1987) is a visual artist and seeker of truth. Influenced by the Surrealist art movement, depth psychology, and personal catharsis, she created In Rooms — a complex photographic universe that unfolds like an abstract diary.

Her work explores psychological landscapes through archetypal imagery, dream logic, and mythological references. Through the lens of the divine feminine, she gives voice to the forgotten and silenced women throughout generations of storytelling.

Viewed in its entirety, In Rooms becomes an invitation — a space for collective healing, inquiry, and the pursuit of what lies beneath. In this process of seeking, the enlightenment becomes not just her own, but each of ours.

Early influences for In Rooms include the works of Francesca Woodman, Duane Michals, Joel Peter Witkin and David Lynch. Ongoing research references the writings of Carl Jung.

Brittany resides in The French Quarter of New Orleans with her two cats, mannequins and darkroom. All work is printed in the darkroom by the artist herself, any effect is achieved in camera or in the darkroom.

Marianne Angeli Rodriguez

Filipino-American artist Marianne Angeli Rodriguez, based in Covington, Louisiana, creates vibrant, large-scale abstract paintings inspired by her 15 years living in West Africa, Central America, Europe, and Asia due to her parents’ UN work.

With a B.A. in media studies and anthropology from CUNY Hunter College and a fashion design degree from FIT, she’s a self-taught painter, whose vibrant, contemporary paintings have garnered national recognition and are widely collected throughout the US. Her art, featured in collaborations with Anthropologie and other notable brands, adorns spaces like Sloan Kettering Cancer Centers, New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport, and St. Tammany Parish Hospital.

Marianne’s gallery at 323 N. Columbia St. in Covington’s historic district showcases her original works and prints. Living nearby with her husband and six rescue pets, she continues to create art that connects with audiences, earning features in Southern Living and on PBS’s Samantha Brown’s Places to Love.

Indra Ozols

Indra is a native New Orleans watercolor artist who finds inspiration in the beauty and soul of Mother Nature. Her life long love of plants was cultivated while playing amongst her grandmother’s massive wildflower garden, was nurtured through her connection with her Latvian nature-worshiping ancestors, and then evolved through the guidance of her family’s art school. Indra later received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Orleans. She has been deeply immersed within the local art scene for her entire life, having worked in arts education, galleries and museums throughout the city. Indra’s watercolors are collected and commissioned throughout the US and Canada. “My watercolors are inspired by the garden I tend. The seeds I sow are more than plants - they are sparks of inspiration, quiet beginnings that help my creativity grow. As I cultivate my garden, I cultivate my art. The colors of the earth become the colors of my palette, the wisdom of the trees are transformed into paper, my brush mimics the flow of a river. Each plant I nurture holds a unique personality, an emotion, a feeling. In the curve of a leaf, the tilt of a stem, I see portraits, moods and quiet conversations waiting to be shared. Mother Nature is my muse, I paint to honor her beauty and connect with her soul. Through watercolor, I try to capture the essence, not just of how things look, but of how they feel.”

Carol Roark

Artist Carol Roark received her Bachelors of Fine Art from Mississippi State University in 1991 and has been a full time artist and instructor since that time. Being an avid equestrian it was only natural that her art career start in the direction of equine portraiture and illustration. She worked freelance, designing covers for The Chronicle of the Horse, logos and ads for the Quarter Horse Journal and was the official artist and program designer for the Dixie National Quarter Horse Show for 10 years. She was also fortunate early on to be represented by Ford’s Gallery and Nunnery’s Gallery in Jackson, as well as L Bar Western Art in Stephenville, Texas. As much as she loved the horses, Carol was always drawn to the landscape. In 1997, she had an opportunity to study with famed Mississippi artist Sammy Britt. She studied with Britt off and on for the next 10 years focusing on the Henry Hensche colorist method of seeing color and light key and gradually her work shifted to the genre of landscape painting. She is captivated by the beauty of the landscape in the South, which she feels has a beauty and magic all its own. Through out all of her career Carol has remained an avid teacher, teaching locally, as well as nationally with organizations such as Jerry’s Art of the Carolinas and Plein Air South. In the fall of 2020, she was able to build her dream teaching studio where she now hosts weekly classes and 3 day workshops throughout the year. Carol is very involved in the arts of Mississippi and surrounding areas. She has been the Executive Director of the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort in Charleston, Mississippi and served as the President of the Memphis Germantown Art League. She also holds memberships with the Mississippi Oil Painters Association, Oil Painters of America, The National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, The American Impressionist Society, The American Academy of Equine Art and is a founding member of the Mississippi Plein Air Painters. She is currently represented by - Treehouse Gallery in Oxford, Caron Gallery South in Laurel, Pacesetter Gallery in Flowood, Rooster Tail Gallery in Iuka and Wild Cat Western Art in San Antonio, TX. You can learn more about Carol on her website at www.carolroark.com or on social media under Roark Studios.

Gretchen Drennan

I am an abstract painter born, raised, and living in New Orleans, with a second studio in Camden, Mississippi. My work explores movement, emotion, and space through the interplay of color and shape. Each painting begins with a question I ask myself—“Are we there yet?”—a reflection of the journey that abstract painting takes me on. I never quite know where the process will lead, but I trust that when the piece feels complete, I’ve arrived.

I love the freedom that abstraction offers—the way each composition evolves unexpectedly, how shapes shift and colors speak, and how each painting becomes a unique experience for every viewer. Within each piece, I discover hidden treasures that feel both spontaneous and deeply intentional. It’s this blend of uncertainty and discovery that keeps me inspired every time I put paint to canvas.

I studied painting and drawing at Louisiana State University and earned a BA in Graphic Design from the University of New Orleans. My passion for abstraction was sparked through classes at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, where I deepened my understanding of composition and color. My work is currently represented by Studio 2 Gallery in St. Michaels, Maryland, and View Gallery in Jackson, Mississippi. I have exhibited in a group show curated by Art Abrun in New Orleans, as well as several student exhibitions at NOAFA.

Whether working in my New Orleans home or my Camden studio, I approach each painting as a fresh adventure—one that invites viewers to find their own meaning in the colors, shapes, and movement.

Catherine Erb

Bio Coming Soon

Evan Baird

Bio coming soon.

Horton Humble