Artist: Alan Shaw ^x

I was reared in Lafayette, and spent my formative years attending local schools, Hamilton Lab School and Lafayette Junior High. In my sophomore year of high school I entered Castle Heights Military Academy (CHMA) in Lebanon, Tennessee, from which I graduated. I then spent two years at college, one at LSU the other at USL, in which I studied Art and Architecture. I began drawing at an early age and, to the chagrin of teachers, spent many classroom hours doodling and drawing cartoons. Over the years I created business and personal logos for friends and even drew posters for my high school teachers. I am a retired oil & gas consultant. I am also a writer of short stories, an award winning political cartoonist during a brief tenure as editorial cartoonist for Louisiana State Newspapers, a syndicate of local state publications, in which I won a first place, second place and two honorable mentions for my cartoons. My first book, Tales From Restless Oaks, and other family lore, was about my family, the Ords, Shoemakers and Shaws. That book was followed by, The Devil’s at the door; a short story of people trafficking in South Texas. My most recent short story is, A Night in the Woods, A Fire in the Sky, about an encounter four friends and I had in the woods of South Louisiana. In addition to writing, I am also a graphics designer, blogger and author, illustrator and creator of KLETUS & KID, a cartoon strip. Recently, I completed writing and illustrating their first book entitled, Kletus & Kid: Kletus learns about patience, now available on Amazon.com. While attending high school at CHMA, I met and became friends with Duane Allman. Since I played drums and he guitar it only made sense that we form a band. The Misfits played at various school dances and other off campus functions. The next year the band was joined by Duane’s brother, Greg. The band flourished until the end of 1964 when members either graduated or left school to pursue other goals. Currently, I am actively pursuing the goal of securing syndication for my cartoon strip as well as creating
Composite Graphics*.