Floyd Sonnier

Who was Floyd Sonnier?

Floyd Sonnier, known as "beau Cajun" or the “artist of the Cajuns,” was a native of Pointe Noire, Louisiana and a lifelong resident of Louisiana's Acadiana region. An internationally acclaimed pen-and-ink artist, he specialized in drawings depicting Cajun culture, lifestyle and family, particularly scenes from the first half of the 20th century. In 1961 Sonnier graduated in commercial art from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then called the University of Southwestern Louisiana, after serving two years in the U.S. Army.

In 1980 he opened Floyd Sonnier’s Beau Cajun Art Gallery and Studio in Scott, Louisiana. He published I Remember Well / Je Me Souvien Biens, a hard cover book collection of 38 bi-lingual stories written by Sonnier depicting his life as a child, growing up in a French-speaking Cajun family and dreaming of becoming an artist. A second book, From Small Bits of Charcoal: The Life & Works of a Cajun Artist was nearly completed by Sonnier and later published by his wife after his death.