Page 44 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2024

FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS
ARTIST JON SCHAUBHUT MAKES
THIRD RETURN TO PETER ANDERSON
FESTIVAL WITH HIS LUCKY DOGS
Story by Cherie Ward
Photos courtesy of Jon Schaubhut
Renowned painter and sketch artist Jon Schaubhut is returning to the 46th annual Peter Anderson Arts & Crafts Festival and he’s bringing some lucky dogs with him.
“One thing I especially love about the Peter Anderson Festival is seeing all the dogs everywhere, so my lucky dogs fit right in,” Schaubhut said.
Jon Schaubhut.
The “Lucky Dog” series was created
in 2014 when Schaubhut painted a
friend’s Australian Shepherd, Emu,
in Mardi Gras traditional colors of gold, purple, and green, and named the artwork, “King Cake.” The collection now includes Border Collies, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Chihuahuas, and others.
“Right now, I’m really loving painting the Chihuahuas,” he said.
Born on a bayou in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, and raised in Metairie, affectionately known as Bucktown, Schaubhut is no stranger to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. At 16 he attended the John McCrady School of Art in New Orleans, an art school that once sat on Bourbon Street. He learned artistic skills from master painter and printmaker John McCrady and those techniques still serve him today.
“Back then, Bourbon Street was more family-oriented and less party- central,” he said. “The school was also on the 900 block which is away from the bars.”
A few years later, he joined the U.S. Navy and became a radio repair technician, which gave him a specialized technical approach to his artwork. He jumped around the country to areas like Boca Raton and Pensacola, Florida, and continued to paint and draw in various mediums including watercolor, acrylics, and graphite.
“When I got out, I went to school for computer science, and that changed me even more, but I continued drawing and painting and never really thought about selling any of it,” he added, noting the global COVID pandemic gave him time to hone his craft and consider selling his art.
As a USN Veteran, Schaubhut lives just outside of Atlanta in Cumming, Georgia, he has an online gallery, Jon Schaubhut Art, which features his “Lucky Dogs” series. This is Schaubhut’s third Peter Anderson Festival experience.
“The ‘Lucky Dogs’ will be 90 percent of what’s in my booth this year, but I’ll have some other stuff if people want to see what else I’m working on,” he said.
44 | October 2024
Find Jon Schaubhut at Booth #136.
“Lucky Dog” series.