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LAFAYETTE, La. (WAFB) - “But these are the colors that they mainly dressed in,” says portrait artist, Ceci Neustrom.

Neustrom is an artist on a mission.

“Mimics the look that the early Acadians would have,” says Neustrom.

She began a project 10 years ago to paint family portraits of Louisiana’s original Acadian settlers using their descendants as models.

“And then dad, you kind of turn and look at Angelle,” Neustrom instructs.

Donny Bourgeois and his daughter Angelle are doing their Acadian portrait .

“Glance down a little bit. Yes, love that,” instructs Neustrom.

“I’m an original descendant of a Bourgeois that arrived in 1765. This is gonna be wonderful. I can’t imagine it’s gonna get passed down for generation to generation,” Donny Bourgeois says.

Angelle poses for extra pictures, stitching a handmade cotton quilt.

“And then when you come up with it, you know, like you’re following the look of the thread going up,” Neustrom instructs.

And she gathers firewood in the yard.

“My dad is a Bourgeois. My mom’s a Broussard. I’ve grown up in Louisiana and Lafayette my whole life and each time I bring someone in, they’re always intrigued by the culture,” says Angelle Bourgeois.

Neustrom will take these photos home, she’ll look at the lighting, the poses and expressions, and then create an oil painting with the family name.

What is it that you can see and capture as an artist, as a painter that a camera can’t see?

Neustrom says the camera can’t see the heart and the soul. “I am searching for the story of that person. Every one of these models has a story.”

And Neustrom is making progress working her way through a list of 23 family names of settlers who came here in 1765. The paintings provide a special connection for the subject and the viewer.

“I love it. Thank you,” Pam Zuschlag, another Acadian descendent says.

Zuschlag’s great-grandmother was a St. Julien. Pam posed for this portrait in her backyard.

When you look at this portrait of yourself dressed in the period outfit there, what do you see?

“I see myself, but I see the generations of women before me. And I think that’s the part that for me, people that I didn’t know and what they went through,” says Zuchslag.

Using two old sketches, Neustrom created a family portrait of Valsin Broussard and his wife Emma, who built a 1876 house in the city of Broussard. The city is turning the home into a visitor center and museum.

Amateur historian, Eddie Duhon, says he thinks every person has its own history and this town has a very rich history. “And I think this is part of it.”

The portraits tell an Acadian story from the clothing to the daily chores, the culture, and religion of the early settlers.

“It’s just been this wonderful journey of my continued learning about the Acadian culture,” Neustrom says.

These paintings are also providing a unique glimpse into the past, to a time when families, exiled from Nova Scotia, arrived here and started a new home in a southern Acadiana.

More information on these Acadian portraits and Cajun History can be found on Heart of Louisiana’s website.

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