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“Fleur”

Artist Leslie Charleville preserves Louisiana wildlife using the traditional Japanese art of gyotaku

Published: August 29, 2025
Last Updated: August 29, 2025

“Fleur”

Leslie Charleville, “Fleur,” 2025. Nature printing and gyotaku

From her Rosedale studio, Leslie Charleville creates unique, true-to-life print works that showcase specimens from Louisiana’s wilderness: from alligators, to fish, to plant life. She does so via gyotaku, or “fish rubbing, a style of ink printing originally implemented by seventeenth-century Japanese fishermen, where they painted their catch in ink and then applied paper to record its likeness. Until September 19, 2025, you can see her new works on display in an exhibition hosted by the Arts Council of Pointe Coupée at the Julien Poydras Museum and Art Center in New Roads.