Y’all, this one’s special. I’ve been waiting (not so patiently) to share this, and now that it’s out in the wild, I’m still pinching myself. Garden & Gun—a magazine I’ve loved for as long as I can remember—wrote an article about me, my art, and the life I’ve built around this crazy, muddy, paint-covered passion of mine.
I never set out to do something like this—to be “known” for printing gators or to make a career out of painting fish. I was just following what I loved, one print at a time. But when I step back and really think about it, I see how every turn, every risk, every mess-up, and every “let’s just try it and see what happens” moment led me here. And now, here we are, flipping through pages of Garden & Gun and seeing my name in print.
The Story Behind the Feature
When Garden & Gun reached out a while back about doing a piece on my work, I just about fell over. They sent photographer Rush Jagoe to my little slice of the world, and we spent the day talking about gyotaku, gator season, and all the wild places this art form has taken me. The article, written by Lindsey Liles, beautifully captures what I do, from those first black-blob fish prints at my kitchen table to printing massive gators straight from the Louisiana swamps.
The best part? It tells the full story—not just about the art itself but about the connection to the animals, the people I meet along the way, and the culture that makes Louisiana so special. Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about: honoring the wild things that shape our lives down here.
One of my favorite lines from the article is something I said without really thinking about it:
“Before I started to print, I thought I knew what nature looked like. Now I can identify a fish—red snapper, grouper, tuna—just with my fingers, by the way it feels.”
It’s funny how much you learn when you slow down and really pay attention. This whole process—printing everything from fish and crabs to alligators—has made me appreciate the details in a way I never did before. Every scale, every scar, and every little imperfection tells a story, and that’s what I try to capture in my work.
Why This Means So Much
Being featured in Garden & Gun isn’t just a personal win—it’s a huge moment for L Charleville Studios and everyone who’s been part of this journey. From the friends who let me experiment on their fish in the early days to the clients who’ve trusted me with their most memorable catches, to the folks who just followed along—thank you. It’s because of y’all that I get to do this, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
If you want to read the article (which you definitely should!), click here: Garden & Gun Feature.
And if this is your first time here, welcome to The Studio! Stick around, sign up for my email list, and follow along for more wild prints, road trip stories, and probably a little too much gator talk.
✌️❤️🐊
—Leslie Charleville
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