By MOLLY DRYMAN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Gerard “Jerry” Lotz, a resident of LaPlace, has continuously expressed himself through his art, which in now on display at the St. John the Baptist Parish Library for the month of April.

Jerry said he started sketching when he was in the military when he had nothing else to do.

“I would be at sea sometimes for long periods of time or in the field,” said Lotz. “So, I liked to sketch the villages and things, and then I started working in chalk.”

He attended night classes for adults, when he was stationed in Hawaii. He took a class in watercolor and started painting, according to Lotz.

Jerry’s paintings are a range of abstracts, landscapes, birds and pretty much everything else.

“I get my inspiration from talking to people,” said Lotz. “I’m also inspired by reading or seeing other paintings.”

Jerry said one of his most recent paintings, “The Zulu Prophecy” was inspired by talking to his gardener, who happen to be African-American and he realized he had yet to do a painting with that concept.

Soon, he will begin on a painting inspired by a picture hanging up in Waffle House, with two slices of oranges and a glass, he said.

“Art shows what life was and what life can be,” said Lotz. “I call my art, expressionism, because I express myself through my art. Whatever I happen to see or think of I express it in my paintings.”

Jerry was born in New Orleans in 1932. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1949. After an injury in an ambush, he received a Purple Heart.

After retiring form the Marine Corps, he attended Delgado Community College and received an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and Art.

Jerry served two years on the St. John Parish Sheriff”s Office, and then went to Shell Oil Company where he retired in 1996.

He is now a full-time painter and a member of the River Region and Louisiana Art Association.

He has resided in LaPlace with his wife Polly for thelast 30 years. Jerry’s paintings range in price from $25 to $500 and request are taken.

For more information contact Jerry at 985-652-6746.