Norma Bourdeaux’s resume looks like a compilation of several individuals’ Who’s Who entries. It begins in 1946 with earning a pilot’s license at age 16 and runs through 2004 with earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from UM at age 74.
After completing her bachelor’s degree in commercial art at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa in 1952, Bourdeaux filled her years with raising a family; teaching art to junior high, high school and college students; owning and operating a business; and serving in civic and public leadership roles.
A founding member of the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women, Bourdeaux served three terms in the state Legislature and on boards for numerous organizations such as the Meridian Museum of Art, Governor’s Human and Health Services Block Grant Fund and the Meridian Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Department of Art’s advisory board.
The decision to work toward an MFA degree is not one Bourdeaux made lightly.
“I always wanted to go back to school, but I had a family and not the amount of time such a degree requires,” Bourdeaux said. Eventually time became available, and she graduated with Phi Kappa Phi honors.
“As a graduate student here, Norma earned the respect of professors and students alike by her hard work,” said art department chair Nancy Wicker. “She continues to give back to the department, dedicating her time and expertise this past spring to our Art Alumni Reunion.”
Bourdeaux’s dedication and ability to think things through, which have served her well for 50 years, are needed for the landscape paintings she creates on wooden canvas. Egg tempera, a medium made by mixing pure pigments with distilled water or wine and egg yolks, requires a fine brush and a lot of thought about where to place the brush.
“It’s an unforgiving medium that takes concentration, time and a lot of patience,” Bourdeaux said. “Many people don’t want to do that, but the paintings have an incredible glowing and transparent quality about them.”
Upon seeing Bourdeaux’s work in her thesis exhibition, her faculty mentor Joy Kloman remembers one student exclaimed, “These paintings are like pearls!”
The small scale of her work adds to the “exquisite, admirable quality of the paintings,” said Kloman, assistant professor of art. “Ms. Bourdeaux spends hours, days, even months perfecting each painting, meticulously applying every fine brush stroke.”
Since completing her MFA, Bourdeaux has exhibited her work around the state, including the prestigious Mississippi Invitational at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson.
Her dedication to her craft, as well as her unfailing determination and energy, are what makes her work—which is included in collections around the country, Great Britain and aircraft carrier U.S.S. Stennis’ captain’s quarters—even more beautiful.