Photographer Randy Rancier spent most of his life working at corporate jobs that he hated. The father of three girls, he knew that having a steady income was the right thing to do. But when his girls reached their teens, he began exploring his real passion in life: photography.

A fine arts major at Sam Houston State in his early years, he decided at age 50 to throw caution to the wind and pursue his lifelong goal of photography.

“It’s what I really want to do,” Rancier said simply.

He said his main influence of art was modernism, mainly from the turn of the century through the early 70s.

“A lot of the influence is abstract themes,” he said. “I think you can see it in a lot of my work. What I always focus on is that the image has to have impact. The impact may be beauty and form or it might be something strong and graphic. But is has to have impact.”

Rather than dabble in an occasional art festival, he opted recently to make photography his only source of income.

“I realized about six months ago that if I’m going to do art festivals, at least to start, I’ve got to, for a period of time, totally immerse myself and devote myself to that,” the photographer said. “Because I realized if I didn’t, I wasn’t going to get a good start.”

He’s been accepted to show at four art festivals this spring, with a goal of 20 this year. They include the Arts in the Square festival in Frisco, Artscape at the Dallas Arboretum and Art in the Square in Southlake.

“It’s very competitive,” Rancier said of getting accepted for the lineup at art festivals, especially major national venues.

“This is my first major exhibit,” Rancier said of his showing at Café Du Luxe.

An entire wall of the café has been designated solely for the purpose of featuring some of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area’s brightest and most exciting artists on a monthly basis.

 “They’ve got a really unique concept there,” he said, referring to the wealth of space to showcase his works. “They have a nice exhibit area. I can put a good scope of work up there.”

He’s put up more than 20 images, some of them fairly large.

Café Du Luxe owner David Carles is excited about giving Rancier a local venue to showcase his talent. “I think our bistro is a great way to showcase these area artists and to give them the opportunity to be part of something unique,” Carles said.

Café Du Luxe features live jazz

Cafe Du Luxe features live jazz music every Saturday, from 8-10 p.m. Music is provided by The Bill Metzger and the Perrin Grace Duo.

Metzger has been playing and studying music for more than 14 years. He is attending the University of North Texas in Denton.

 “It’s new and it’s fresh,” he said of the bistro that opened in 2009. “It’s also a high-class place.”

Grace has been playing and studying music for more than six years. Grace is attending North Texas, where he is majoring in jazz studies. He plays electric and acoustic bass.

“Café Du Luxe is a really nice place,” Grace said.

And more of all that jazz

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 11, the cafe will feature jazz vocalist, Karyna Cruz. You can find samples of her music at: www.myspace.com/karynacruzmusic.

A taste of Argentina: Gascon Malbec

The bistro is featuring a new win, Gascon Malbec.

“It is a great wine from Mendoza, Argentina,” said Café Du Luxe owner Carles.

Since 1984, the wines of Don Miguel Gascon have been recognized for the rich, smooth flavors that come from Argentina’s Mendoza wine region. High altitude vineyards situated along the Cordillera of the Andes Mountains produce full mature grapes for this classic Malbec. It is full bodied and elegant with soft, round tannins, layered with flavors of blackberry, blueberry, dark cherry, and a hint of mocha. 

Mini-cakes for maximum enjoyment

Beginning this month, Cafe Du Luxe has begun offering Mini-King Cakes in honor of Mardi Gras. Orders of six or more will come with a baby (toy). Please provide us at least one day’s notice for orders of six or more.

Taunting and beads not included.

A Valentine’s Day treat for two

On Valentine’s Day weekend, the cafe will offer special meal combinations including: Wine or Champagne, a choice of two Entree-Appetizers, two Side Salads, a choice of Dessert, Chocolate covered Strawberries and Coffee. Stop by or call the cafe for more details.

 Supporting the arts

Cafe Du Luxe will be sponsoring one of the documentary films at this year’s Thin Line Film Festival (Feb. 17-21), Texas’ international documentary film festival.

Cafe Du Luxe and Thin-Line will co-brand bottled water for this event.

Thin Line Film Fest is an international documentary film festival held in Denton, Texas – just north of the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex.

Thin Line Film Fest is the only documentary film festival in Texas. Thin Line screens interesting and exciting traditional documentaries, as well as mockumentaries, docufictions, docudramas and any other film that blurs the line between fact and fiction or that pushes the boundaries of the documentary genre.Each year, the program includes fictional documentaries.

Try Denton’s finest salmon appetizer

Be sure to stop by and try it for half price. Café Du Luxe features Happy Hour from 4-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with half-priced appetizers and $1 off house wines and beers.