You need to meet Kassi.

Kassi Picou grew up on the bayous of south Louisiana where family instilled in her a sense of self-reliance that stemmed from a heritage of improvising, making do and learning to live off the land and waterways.  As a child, she learned quilting with her grandmother, whose home she describes as “a crafty refuge.” She spent many hours working in her family’s yard and vegetable garden, experiences she did not appreciate at the time, but she loved observing and learning about different kinds of plants.

Kassi attended the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches and later Louisiana State University as an anthropology major but switched to graphic design, then to fine art/printmaking. She met Bryan Picou Jr. of Natchitoches, a fellow student at LSMSA, but they did not start dating until their undergraduate years at LSU.  They both knew they wanted to live in a small town near family and moved back to Natchitoches in 2016. 

Kassi’s love of plants and horticulture led her to pursue certification as a Master Gardener through the LSU Ag Center and she’s done extensive research on native plants and how to create a natural healthy ecosystem in Louisiana’s subtropical climate.  That work is evident in her floral paintings and drawings. She designed a bandana for the Acadiana Native Plant Project: https://www.greauxnative.org/product-page/anpp-bandana

While Kassi has leaned into horticulture, home design, painting, textiles and other mediums, her art is very personal to her and I was honored to visit with her about how and why she creates, the ways in which nature inspires her and how art helps her find peace.  The conversation has been edited for clarity. 

Can you tell me about your background, where and how you grew up, about your family and what your life is like?

We moved to Sunset from Bayou Lafourche when I was about five years old because my dad was working for Conoco. We made regular trips “down the Bayou” to visit our extended family.  Our house backed up to the woods and I spent a lot of time outside observing nature. My grandfather had a hunting camp in Woodville, Mississippi, so we spent a lot of time in that area and at Clark Creek with our cousins. 

My family on both sides lived the classic Louisiana lifestyle: hunting, fishing, trapping, working on boats and oil rigs, making nets, growing vegetables. They handed down to me a creative way of thinking.

My mother’s side of the family we jokingly call the Gataneauxs, pronounced Got-to-knows. We have a deep desire to get to the bottom of things and understand how things work and how they came to be. “Save dat” was and is a popular family refrain. We can’t help but imagine future potential in every object. Yes, we struggle with hoarding tendencies. My great grandmother made quilts, along with a lot of their clothes, and I was always intrigued by the process, but I never got to see it. I only heard stories.

'Pilon' by Kassi Picou

I think my grandmother and I started making quilts around the same time. We enjoyed reading crafting books and learning how to make things together. It seemed like every time I visited we would explore a new craft or learn a new skill. She also had a love of learning history that was passed on during those visits.

My dad’s side of the family is Houma. He always made an effort to teach us skills. I think I was about seven when my dad showed me how to make traps for animals with sticks and string. I don’t remember how. There was a kind of engineering that happened on a daily basis.

When did you become a Master Gardener and what are your “roots” in gardening? 

Our family always had some kind of garden. We worked really hard on the yard, so that was not my favorite task.  We spent a lot of time outside. I have always loved staring up through the tree leaves. There’s something restorative about seeing the sunshine glowing through tree leaves.  I continue to be amazed by the never-ending variety of shapes and forms. 

While attending school at LSU and later living in New Orleans, I was always amazed at the ways nature existed and persisted in the city. It was a constant source of inspiration for me artistically.

When my husband and I moved to Baton Rouge for his residency program, we had our first yard to maintain. So in the process of cleaning it up, I learned about the different plants that were there and began researching gardening at the library. There is quite a lot out there and I am still not tired of reading about plants and gardening.  While raising toddlers, I did not have a lot of time for reading. But nonfiction/gardening books are easy to pick up and put down or just look at the pictures. Gardening was something productive I could do while watching the kids play outside and observing the wonders of nature was something we could enjoy together. 

When you start at the beginning, the written history of horticulture follows a certain imperialist/European timeline/philosophy. So much of gardening advice originates from the northeast USA/English perspective and climate. It was not applicable to our humid subtropical climate.  I knew that surely there were other approaches and began to search for books written from different perspectives. Other cultures such as Japanese and Persian garden design and history books opened my mind to other ways of thinking about the garden and the world. Searching for gardening advice for our state led me to the native plant movement. Caroline Dorman was an early leader in the fight to preserve our local plants and ecosystems. Brie Arthur‘s work led me to mix food and ornamentals. Ben Voght

and Robin Wall Kimmerer were also influential writers to me. 

There are plants that I planted 10 years ago that I would not plant now. Some of them I have had to remove because they are invasive.  These plants were all sold or given to me with no concern for local ecosystems. I am trying to balance planting for my own desires and planting for what the creatures who live here need. It is very rewarding to see a bird sitting on a bush eating the berries I planted just for them. Or to find a frog enjoying a spot you have created. 

When the opportunity arose to build our own home, I dove into the process headfirst. I began researching architecture and interior design. The design of spaces has always been an interest of mine, and I viewed our home as an artistic project.  Much of my creative energy of the last two decades has been funneled into it.

Have you always been artistic and in what ways?

I have always loved making things. I went as an artist to kindergarten career day. But even then I remember feeling like that was not a possibility for me. I was encouraged to make art throughout school. I started sewing clothes when I was about 13 years old.  I enjoyed costumes and fashion design and learning about fashion history. I made my own wedding dress at 19. 

I chose to attend LSMSA because I wanted a chance to take art classes at a higher level. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with my life. All the fancy careers that I contemplated -- architect, interior designer, museum/information design -- seemed incompatible with motherhood and rural life, which was something I knew that I wanted for myself

In what mediums do you work and do you have a favorite?

Botanical drawing has always been home base for me artistically with fiber arts a close second. I began painting after graduating college. But I was also making fiber arts accessories at that time.  

This pebble mosaic is part of a larger garden project Kassi is working on.

What inspires you?

As a highly sensitive person, modern life is a constant assault to the senses. I sought to make a refuge for myself and our family. To design with a sense of place and history. 

All my life I have felt separate, distant, or like an outsider.  I think it is because I’m wired a little differently. I’m highly sensitive. Lights, sounds, and breezes that most people consider normal bother me immensely.  I cannot handle being in groups of talking people for very long. Exposure to large crowds has to be balanced by quiet alone time. It takes me longer to process incoming social input, especially verbal. People don’t like to wait for you to respond and by the time I’ve figured out my response things have moved on to another topic. This has left me with a lot of unsaid baggage.  I want to connect and communicate. That’s where art comes in. It is a language I speak more fluently. 

A common starting point for me is an observation of something in my surroundings that strikes a chord with me emotionally. Art is a way for me to process feelings. Things get worked into the painting that weren’t there at the start. The process of making articulates what would otherwise be bottled up inside. 

What are some projects that you’d like to pursue in the future? 

I haven’t put my work out there very much because I still feel like I am figuring things out. On the path to something new. In process. But I suppose it will always be that way.

To sell your work, you have to package yourself up nice and neat. A complete product, a fully formed opinion, a point of view, something immediately recognizable if not digestible.

That process feels very restrictive and draining. I don’t perform well when people are watching me. I would like to start selling more work though.