In Living Color

A walk or drive through downtown Houma recently has left visitors in awe of vivid illustrations that lift the spirits painted on many storefronts. Local artist Kassie Voisin has been able to turn her talents and creativity into a full-time job, spreading joy and color everywhere she goes. 

Kassie was creative from a young age, including having a business of her own in grade school. She would create binder covers filled with favorite characters along with her friends’ names and sell them. “I can remember that I was always creative and artsy. I started to find ways to make things brighter and more colorful,” she said. 

Starting off as a nursing assistant following high school, Kassie stayed in the medical field for four years. Interestingly enough, she would have patients asking her to paint for them and she would bring the finished pieces to work to give to them. After a while, she realized she could paint full-time, and stay busy with it. “It’s like the universe wanted me to be an artist because everything fell into place,” she said while smiling. 

Kassie has been in the mural business now for eight years where she said it has been mostly painting murals inside local businesses and local homes. She has painted many murals in the area such as in local schools, Pinocchio’s Pizza, Da Swamp, Zack’s Yogurt, the Jambalaya Shop in Thibodaux and the shopping center it’s located in, and more. That passion for beautifying the interior of businesses organically developed into the beautiful glass art you see while strolling downtown or browsing local shopping centers.  

Last Christmas, one of her customers requested a painting on glass. Kassie said she had never done it before at the time but she wanted to give it a shot. When asked to sign her work on the glass, she said she didn’t want to simply because she just had a baby and wasn’t looking for any extra work at the time. The window work blew up in the area and she has had nothing but window murals since, “It’s definitely something different, but I enjoy it,” she said.

She was then contacted by Houma Main Street Director Anne Picou to help brighten up downtown Houma and she said they have been working hard to get people back to Main Street and to revitalize downtown, “After the Hurricane, it’s been looking pretty dull, so we’re able to bring back some life again,” she said. Kassie added color, fun designs, and cheerful characters to the windows of businesses, open and closed, on Main Street in Houma during Mardi Gras to help usher in the holiday. 

Kassie believes the window art adds a higher visibility rate and it allows people to be drawn to local businesses more. “It’s a simple way to get people downtown because I’ve seen people come just to look at the windows. It gave them a reason to come walk downtown and just enjoy it again,” she said.

Being an artist and working for yourself isn’t always easy. She said the hardest part about having a career being a creative person is finding your niche. She said it’s very important to her to work with local businesses because they can help each other, “What I do helps their business grow and they help me out with trusting me and my business,” she said. 

Outside of murals, Kassie has also honed in on her talents as a graphic designer. Her graphic design experience started when she would have to draw something up to put on a wall of a business so the owners could approve it before painting. This skill has led to other opportunities in marketing. 

The big picture for Kassie includes continuing what she has been doing with eye-catching murals and graphic design to be able to help draw attention to local businesses, especially when it comes to the revitalization of downtown. 

Kassie described a quote she painted on her own personal walls, explaining it as a reminder to herself, “It says ‘you can do anything, but not everything’ which means I can do it all, but I’m so stressed that nothing is getting done at 100 percent because my wheels are always spinning.” It’s because of this that she has a mantra of focusing on one thing at a time before moving to what the season brings.