Follow your angels to Ocean Springs

Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs

It was a gorgeous spring day free, so I decided to take the opportunity to visit Ocean Springs, Miss., about a two-hour drive east of New Orleans. (Although many assume New Orleans has beaches, the city is 100 miles from the Gulf, so it does require a bit of travel to put one's toes in the surf.) Ocean Springs was a popular resort destination in 1927 when the L&N Railroad launched "The Lark" express train to the coast.

Ocean Springs' history includes Biloxi, French and Spanish, but most of that evidence has been washed away by hurricanes. The 18,000+ population town dons an American East Coast feel with brick buildings lining its main streets, named for U.S. presidents Washington, Jackson, and Calhoun. Its main street, Porter, was named for a Tennessee family from the 1850s. Lovely shops, restaurants and bars make for an interesting stroll, but the most fascinating place is the art museum featuring the work of Walter Anderson.

Enormous watercolors line the walls of the museum

Undoubtedly, Ocean Springs is known for Walter Inglis Anderson who was considered by his friends and family to be a misfit and dismal failure during his lifetime. The watercolorist, born in 1903 in New Orleans' Garden District, spent most of his time on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, illustrating its lush flora and fauna - and in particular, birds. Anderson's first daring adventure at 15 was trying to sail to New Orleans. Losing the boat in a storm, he was believed to have drowned, but was merely waiting out the gale at a lighthouse. Despite pledging never to try another stunt, he embarked on a lifetime of ill-considered escapades, bringing himself up close and personal with nature. On a canoe trip down the Mississippi River, Anderson contracted malaria, causing repeated bouts of mental illness and "alienado" (social alienation).

Rowing 14 miles to deserted Horn Island and staying weeks at a time fueled his passion for combining art with nature. He believed he had discovered the real Eden. His daughter commented: "He followed his angels." On the island, he would journal, draw and paint the creatures and skies, then sleep underneath the skiff. Anticipating Hurricane Betsy, Anderson tied himself to a tree to experience its force! That was his final trip.

Anderson's drawings, paintings, murals and wooden sculptures are exhibited at the Walter Anderson Museum and adjacent community center, which he decorated from floor to ceiling. Unfortunately, during Hurricane Katrina, untold numbers of watercolors on 8" X 10" typewriter paper were destroyed by the floodwaters. Others were used to ignite bonfires. Clearly, the artist did not expect to be remembered for his artistry.

After taking in the museum, which brought to my mind Vincent Van Gogh, I explored downtown and found mahi-mahi tacos with a side order of sweet potato fries and a Dos Equis to mull it all over. Then, I drove down a winding, unpaved road to Walter Anderson's brother's Shearwater pottery studio, begun in 1922. All three brothers, Peter, Walter and Mac were artistic, but Peter was a master potter.

I met Peter's daughter Margie, who

showed me around the rustic shop and studio.

Before heading home, I made a quick trip to the coast to see the Charnley-Norwood House designed by famed architects Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright and then the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Wildlife Refuge and Fontainebleau Walking Trail.

I could easily have spent another full day there, particularly at the nearby Gulf Islands Seashore.

No wonder Walter loved this place so much!

"There are some things that you can only do with love. You will know that you have love when you do one of them,"

- Walter Inglis Anderson