The Crosby Arboretum is combining their annual Holiday Open House with the Winter Gallery Opening event this year to celebrate a local artist.
Every few months, the Crosby Arboretum selects the work of one local artist to display in the visitor’s building, Pat Drackett, director of the Crosby Arboretum, said.
On Dec. 10, the gallery opening will feature Jeanie Alexander Latiolais, a local painter with a “wonderful relaxed style,” Drackett said.
Latiolais’s paintings incorporate a natural background or landscape, Drackett said.
“I feel so blessed to be able to express my own creativity and hopefully others will get some pleasure from these paintings,” Latiolais said in a press release from the arboretum.
Often, featured artists are guests of the arboretum and after viewing their creative work, the staff invite them to display some pieces, Drackett said.
“It makes you realize the talent that’s here locally,” she said.
She said what she likes most about Latiolais’ paintings is the “simplicity and freshness…she doesn’t labor with the paint.”
Drackett said despite Latiolais’ lack of a wide public audience, her paintings look like the work of a highly trained professional.
“It’s like looking at a Picasso painting where he’s done really simple lines, but he’s spent his whole life learning how to do simple lines,” Drackett said.
Latiolais will be at the gallery opening from 1 to 3 p.m. to answer questions, Drackett said.
“I believe every person has an artist lurking within. Whether it is the creation of a beautiful home or a beautiful meal, a nurtured child or a farmer’s bounty, we can all appreciate our unique creative endeavors,” Latiolais said in the release.

That same day, the arboretum will be free to visitors during the annual open house.
The arboretum was “put together to benefit the local community,” Drackett said.
For more than a decade, hosting the open house at the arboretum allowed members of the community to visit, many for the first time, she said.
The Crosby Arboretum is located at 370 Ridge Road in Picayune. For more information, visit crosbyarboretum.msstate.edu or call 601-799-2311.
Regular hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.