Yesterday, my dear host Linda, took her mom, Phyllis of Anchors and Butterflies, and me further to the south of Louisiana where we visited the Melrose Plantation. It was another beautiful day. The weather was gorgeous and so was the company! 

A quick look into Wikipedia:

Melrose Plantation, also known as Yucca Plantation, is a National Historic Landmark in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana. This is one of the largest plantations in the United States built by and for free blacks. The land was granted to Louis Metoyer, who had the “Big House” built beginning in about 1832. He was the son of Marie Therese Coincoin, a former slave who became a wealthy businesswoman in the area, and Claude Thomas Pierre Métoyer. The house was completed in 1833 after Louis’ death by his son Jean Baptiste Louis Metoyer. The Metoyers were free people of color for four generations before the American Civil War.

Melrose Plantation was the home of one famous artist. Wikipedia says, Clementine Hunger. Hunter was born into a Louisiana Creole people family at Hidden Hill; she started working as a farm laborer when young, never learning to read or write. In her fifties, she began painting, using brushes and paints left by an artist who visited Melrose Plantation, where she then lived and worked. Hunter’s artwork depicted plantation life in the early 20th century, documenting a bygone era. She sold her first paintings for as little as 25 cents. By the end of her life, Hunter’s work was being exhibited in museums and sold by dealers for thousands of dollars. Hunter was granted an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the Northwestern State University of Louisiana in 1986. In 2013 director Robert Wilson presented a new opera about her: Zinnias: The Life of Clementine Hunter, at Montclair State University in New Jersey

Here are some photos from that beautiful place!

Clementine Hunter’s house:

Thank you, Linda, for the wonderful time you gifted me with!

In Love and Light