The Toledo Bend Lake Association didn’t have to look far to find an artist to create the 2022 Bass Unlimited Back-a-Great Fighter poster for the association’s annual fundraiser.
Eddie Pastureau, a local artist who lives near North Toledo State Park on the Louisiana side of the lake, was commissioned by the TBLA to create the poster that will be auctioned off at the Unveiling Gala on Thursday in the Grand Ballroom at Cypress Bend Resort.
Pastureau is no stranger to the TBLA as he has been commissioned by the association before and has multiple pieces depicting the lakes area. However, the lake means more to Pastureau than just a pretty landscape to draw or paint.
He grew up in a small town and often fished in the nearby swamps and bayous. He shared a special relationship with his uncle Lawerence Leger, who enjoyed spending the rare day off fishing with Pastureau on Toledo Bend. He still visits the same fishing holes he and his uncle used to hit back when he was younger. Feeling Leger’s presence while he’s out on the water is one of the main reasons Toledo Bend is a special place for him.
Pastureau, however, may have found his talent with the pen before he found his love for fishing. A talent he’s been honing since his early childhood, Pastureau went on to LSU to study art education. During his career as a teacher and later working for Dupont, he also continued to work on his craft. His artwork has been displayed in restaurants, banks and galleries in New Orleans’ French Quarter.
After all he’s been through, Pastureau still wished to retire to Toledo Bend. He wanted a place not only that was special for him, but where his friends and family could come and enjoy themselves.
As the TBLA Poster Unveiling approaches, the Enterprise spoke with Pastureau, while he was out fishing with his friend, to find out why the assignment from his home lake association means more than just another commissioned piece.
Q: What makes Toledo Bend special?
A: Besides the fishing and a nice laid-back environment… I grew up in a small town community, and it’s kind of the same thing. People know you. I started fishing in 1972 up here, and I have an uncle — one of my mom’s brothers — he and I used to fish through elementary and high school and all that. We started coming up to Toledo Bend, and that was really the only vacation he had. This man worked as an auto-mechanic all his life. Now my dad did the sports with me, but this uncle did the fishing. He passed away in 1988, and when I’m here I’m kind of sensing him. I always fish in areas we did, but that’s in the back of my mind. I always feel like there’s a little presence there. That’s another reason for ‘Why Toledo Bend?’ And because I grew up fishing in the swamps and bayous, this is different. It’s something I really enjoy. It was challenging at times, but that’s about how it goes.
Q: What was the motivation behind the poster?
A: I’ve seen other artists do something similar, and I hadn’t attempted this before. That’s what kind of prompted me with the idea. I tell people, ‘You never know, when you’re on the road passing these lakes, what’s going on. You’ve got these poor fish, crawfish and other things running for their life from getting eaten. You’re passing houses, and there’s people in them that are possibly having an issue with cancer or just really rough times or lost jobs or whatever. All you see is the exterior.’ Even with the first poster I did, that was in the back of my mind to produce something that is under there that happens all the time, but you never think of it. This is kind of in the same realm of that idea.
Q: What ideas didn’t make the cut?
A: I had a couple where I was thinking of a bald eagle flying into a nest with little ones and the lake down below. There was another one I can’t think of that was canceled by my wife right off the bat. I think it was a party barge underneath one of the bridges with people fishing underneath the Pendelton Bridge that’s over here. I thought, ‘Nah, I’m going to go past that.’ I felt like this other one was something I wanted to do.
Q: What is your favorite moment on Toledo Bend?
A: There’s quite a few… Maybe when we got to move into the house we had built, because I was like ‘Yes! I’m here.’ I’ve been wishing it since I was 21, 22 years old, and I was 62 when I moved here, and I’m like ‘Yes! It happened.’ It all came together, no matter what. It worked out. Not that there wasn’t bumps or things that throw you for a loop every now and then. But it did materialize and I’m enjoying the heck out of it. It’s a place that friends and family can enjoy.
Q: When did you know that you had an interest in art?
A: When I was two or three years old, I was already drawing things. I guess I had an eye for perspective to begin with. That was the main thing. I don’t know if I got that eye from my grandfather and great-grandfather who were master carpenters. They built churches, homes and stuff like that. For me, I can figure out how things look pretty quickly. That has given me more of an edge, my drawing ability.
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
A: Hang in there. You may have to work in some other field. But if it’s in your heart and you can’t look away from it, do it. It may be only one or two hours out of a week or month, but do it. I’ve had to literally do something else. Yes I make money off of it, but I’m very reasonable. I do it mostly for the people enjoying it. It just so happens in most cases I’m producing something that they like and it sells. I don’t have to go out and try to advertise. I figure if I advertise too much, I might not get as much fishing in as I want now.
Q: What impression do you want to leave with the TBLA poster?
A: I just want people to really enjoy it. That they can look at it and think ‘Oh, that puts me at ease.’ I don’t do stuff to make people ‘Ooo-and-Ahh,’ although I guess they will do some of that. I do it for myself to kind of give me a challenge.
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