New Orleans artist Miriam Ragan

About the Artist

New Orleans French Quarter artist, Miriam Ragan Miriam Ragan

An intensive childhood interest in drawing was an early indication that Miriam Ragan might ultimately build a life in the field of art.
Miriam was born in New Orleans, LA, in the Vieux Carre (French Quarter). She worked as an artist copywriter for the Times- Picayune, raised a family, then opened a gift shop in the Vieux Carre. After returning to the French Quarter (which is the artist community) she decided to give art her full attention to develop her artistic talents.

Miriam is a self-taught artist. She attended seminars with such famous artists as Chow Leing Chow & Chow Leing Chan of Hong Kong, Edgar Whitney, and Milford Zornes. She has taken the best of what she has learned, combined her love of the bayous and swamplands, to create her paintings which her customers refer to as mysterious.

Miriam Ragan has been painting in the New Orleans French Quarter on the historic “Jackson Square” the local art colony for over 35 years. She has been available to her painting customers and art lovers from all over the world at Jackson Square. Her paintings are of varied subjects, but the bulk of her art work is of Louisiana swamps and bayous, New Orleans and French Quarter scenes, and paintings of exquisite floral still lifes, including southern flowers such as the Magnolia.

She paints in acrylics, but her most impressive works are in oil and watercolor mediums that she loves so much. Miriam has begun to make some of her work available in the form of signed and numbered print reproductions.

Miriam enjoys fishing in the back waters of the bayous, while searching for subject matter to use in her future paintings. This is how Miriam describes what she sees in her local marshes. Miriam states, “The bayou is full of life of all shapes and sizes. Life we do not even think about. There is life everywhere; on the tree tops, and in the marshes, and under the fallen trees and branches. Life everlasting! For when one life ends, another begins and one gives to the next and we just observe, sometimes not even comprehending what makes it all happen.

Some say that it is evolution, the natural progression of life. I, for one, stand and listen. I look and see the marvelous imagery that surrounds me and refuse to accept such logical explanations ...
For in the water, I see the reflections of a stage. A stage more dramatic than any we could ever produce. I see the lighting arrangement and marvel at its beauty and hear the subtle notes of music in the making. It is a solo of melancholic movement—of passages rehearsed in heaven—of water and wings lifting as one. It is the music of flight, the gift of the Egret, and we (the lily pads and I) were there to see and hear.

Last year Hurricane Katrina rolled over New Orleans and tried to destroy all of its beauty. Our swamplands and bayous suffered devastation. However, we are already beginning to see the return of our wildlife and flora and fauna. Now is the time for me to put on canvas that which I see in my mind’s eye. I am not only painting what IS, but also what once WAS in our swamps. It is now so important to get those ideas out of my head and onto the canvas in order to share the beauty in which I have been privileged to live. My hope is that some day soon we will see it again.

Miriam Ragan
Artist in Acrylic, Watercolor & Oil

Studio: 619 Rue Chartres, Apt. I, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

Studio - (504) 525-602l

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Painting sizes are normally 24" x 30", "24" x 36" and 24" x 48";
Prices usually range from $195.00 to $695.00, unframed, U.S. Dollars;

MasterCard, VISA, American Express and checks accepted.

Packaging, shipping and handling charges will be added. Rates vary according to painting size, weight, destination and common carrier used (UPS, unless otherwise stated). For price quotations on commissions, frames, or special handling, shipping and insurance, please contact the artist, at the address, telephone numbers or email address above.

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