ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Mandeville’s Tanya Dischler will display her work in an exhibit entitled “Beyond the Bayou” at the Coastal Arts Center at Orange Beach (formerly Orange Beach Arts Center) March 21-April 28 with an opening reception Thursday March 22 5-7 p.m.

Dischler, an established artist from the Bayou Sale area of South Louisiana, studied at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Louisiana Tech University and various artist workshops throughout the United States, Mexico, France and Indonesia.

Her subject matter is predominately the wildlife of South Louisiana, which she combines with interesting background shapes and patterns, giving the work a complexity beyond typical representational paintings.

These compositions appear to ‘come to life’ through her considerable facility for technique, imagery, and color application. Dischler’s mysterious and intensely bright acrylics possess the visual and visceral impact of abstraction, while the main subject matter of each painting remains easily recognizable.

After Hurricane Katrina, her Mandeville studio flooded and she faced the possible loss of her watercolors. While experimenting with different ways to save these works, Dischler discovered a process where ‘once-ruined paintings took on a new life.’

“Instead of framing the results under glass, I mounted them on canvas and boards,” she said. “The touchable leather-like texture of the paper is preserved with a protective varnish.”

Dischler has participated and won in local, national, and international exhibits and her work is in numerous private and corporate collections throughout the United States, France, England, and Australia.

Louisiana Life Magazine will feature an article about Dischler and her latest series ‘Burning Cane’. The article is entitled Memories of a Burning Landscape.

She has had the distinct honor of being invited by The First Lady of Louisiana, Surpriya Jindal, to display her paintings in The Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge. The artist’s work was on the cover of The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in honor of an award received at LSU’s Animals in Art Exhibit.

Her work was featured in ArtBusiness News, American Artist Magazine, Watercolor Magazine, Inside Northside Magazine (cover), and Women in Business Magazine. She has participated in The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and numerous other festivals in the southeast.

Believing that anyone can paint Dischler teaches fun, creative workshops at her Old Mandeville studio.

“It’s about finding out what makes you different from the next person,” she said.

For more information on Dischler’s art and for a schedule of her upcoming workshops visit www.tanyadischler.com. For more information about the Coastal Arts Center at Orange Beach visit www.orangebeachartcenter.com or call 251.981.2787.