I am a studio artist working from life, photographs, memories, and my imagination. My paintings are produced by building up layers of oil paint over combinations of linen, cotton canvas, wood, and burlap. I live and work on a noisy corner in New Orleans with my wife and daughter, in a lively neighborhood called Pigeon Town. 

My infatuation with the world of art started long before I ever realized that I was destined to be an artist myself. My earliest influence came to me by way of two Picasso paintings: Three Musicians and Still Life With Enamel Pot. The images were torn out of a book, modestly framed and placed behind the stove in the kitchen of our family home. These prints were like little windows into a world where I could be endlessly engaged and amused. I set out to find out what I could by getting lost in the big books at the public library.

My artistic studies began, in earnest, at the age of nineteen while earning a degree in Journalism at Louisiana State University. Through a course of study in Sculpture and Painting, I discovered that the skills I needed to be an artist could be acquired through a daily practice and hard work. Eureka! From an art enthusiast to an artist it was a metamorphosis.

A desire to learn to work in the classical tradition brought me back to my home town to attend the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts for four years. I waited tables at night, went to the Academy during the day, and became firmly grounded in the fundamentals of drawing and painting from life. Even while working in less traditional styles, I still employ most of the studio practices handed down to me during my time at NOAFA.

My first solo show, “Out Of The Marsh,” Moxy Gallery, consisted of paintings that celebrated the flora and fauna found around my fishing camp in the salty marshlands of the Louisiana Coastal South. From that show, I found representation, for a couple years, showing similarly themed work at Guthrie Contemporary, a neighboring gallery.

In 2008, using the work I did from the “Out Of The Marsh” show, I applied and was accepted to the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival as a Louisiana Nature Painter. I've been doing a Louisiana Flora and Fauna theme and variation style show every jazz fest since, 13 years so far.

I live and work on a noisy corner in New Orleans with my wife and daughter, in a lively neighborhood called Pigeon Town. 

Michael Guidry is a studio artist living and working on a noisy corner in New Orleans with his wife and daughter. He takes inspiration from the rich history of the city and time on the water near his Marsh Camp in Lafourche, Louisiana. After earning a degree in Journalism from Louisiana State University, Guidry returned home to attend the New Orleans Academy Of Fine Arts to study Painting and Sculpture. Guidry has exhibited his work at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival since 2008 and his paintings are in several private and commercial collections around the Country.