TJ Black: Editor's Choice for Baton Rouge Art Melt

The third annual Baton Rouge Art Melt was designed to showcase local talent through a fusion of multi-media art, music, food, and performances. TJ Black, winner of the Country Roads Editor’s Choice Award, exemplified this fusion by combining vivid acrylic imagery on textured wood, industrial elements such as drilled holes and bolts, and written text, which acts as much as image as it does a representation of a sound-event. 

Black recently returned to Baton Rouge after honing his craft for five years in New Orleans. “It wasn’t until I was in New Orleans that I started painting seriously,” Black said. After working for several years as a waiter and a bartender, living week to week, Black decided to quit his day job, take his last $100 and invest it in his art. “I realized I wasn’t using my natural talents, so I decided to get five paintings together and try to sell them.” 

Black’s gamble paid off. His paintings sold and shortly thereafter he was able to start a gallery out of his home. “I was creating four or five new pieces a week and inviting people over for viewings with wine and cheese.” Between Black’s innovative arrangement of artistic elements and knack for self promotion, he has been able to sell over two hundred pieces in the past three years. 

As was the case with many of our friends who live in New Orleans, Black came close to loosing everything during Hurricane Katrina. His home and gallery were devastated by the water damage; however, Black had recently moved his painting to a restaurant for a showing, where they remained unharmed throughout the storm. With his paintings and little else, Black relocated to Baton Rouge where he returned to bartending in order to help rebuild the life he had created in New Orleans. “I’ve just moved into a large studio space which can act as a gallery,” Black said, “It won’t be long before I can start having shows again.”