Krewe of Carnivale en Rio, 2007

Rio was founded in 2005 and rolled for the first time in 2006. Between that parade and this year's parade, they constructed 10 new floats all with Brazilian themes. I was asked to design and paint their new floats.

Let me first say that the Krewe of Rio is an extraordinary, fine bunch of fun-loving people. I've never had more fun working on a parade and I've never worked for a greater krewe than theirs. They treated my co-worker and me very well and quickly accomodated any need we had. A big thanks goes to Marty LeBlanc, Larry Comeaux, Warren Shepherd, Rebecca Landry and all the others in the krewe that made this happen.

Though Rio is a fairly new krewe, they are made up of Mardi Gras veterans who know exactly how to plan a parade. Moreover, their new floats are the finest floats I've seen. It was an honor and a pleasure to design the schemes and paint these 10 floats.

The design process was faily simple as the krewe knew what they wanted well in advance. Themes like "Brazil Nuts," "Party Pit," and "Brazilian Flag" were designed and approved by the Rio board. The design changes were minor. Some changes were made on the fly while painting the floats as the perceived differences between a 8x11 inch sketch and a 30 foot float can be vast. I have included the original design pic with the photographs of the actual float.

I should also mention the generosity of the Krewe of Rio. Not only did they offer me a spot on a float, but they allowed me to bring a guest and supplied us with all the throws we needed! The Lafayette parade goers were very well-behaved and very appreciative. Click on an image for a larger version and additional info...

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