Houston Fine Art Fair

Well I just can't stay away. I'm heading down to Houston for the Houston Fine Art Fair. I've posted a short blurp on Art n Seek , which I'll follow up on with photos on monday.

A Damn Good Interview By Aja Martin

Half A Cord Stacked Up High

Anybody who has been following my blog knows I have done a lot of artwork and volunteer work with La Reunion TX. I find it a great way to get out of the studio and out of my studio frame of mind.

Aja Martin has taken on the task of interviewing artists involved with LRTX, and then posting it on the LRTX web site. Well, She just posted my interview last week. Aja did a great job of keeping me on topic, and did an amazing job at researching before the interview. It was a strange experience to have someone I have never met before tell me about my own artwork, and also add insightful comments about my history. It was like having a little taste of being a famous artist.

In the past I have often been disheartened by interviews or exhibition reviews that have resulted in not quite right information or even just plan misleading. Take a look at some of the press around the TEDxSMU SculptCAD Rapid Artists exhibit. Having trouble finding it? That is because the name of the show appears written 10+ different ways. Grrr.

Now you may be asking why a man with dyslexia would be coming down on someone else's misspelling. It's because in some of those articles they have misspelled the name 3 different ways in the same article. That's just not... well I could go on and on...

Back to today and the happy results of the LRTX interview. Thanks LRTX for doing a GREAT job of getting it right, and to Aja for all the work she put into the interview. Her other interviews for LRTX are great too. Read them all.

It's Worth the Risk Parking

Alison Starr

It was on one of those cold rainy days that we are having so many of, when I turned the corner and saw the sign for Mokah Coffee Bar and Mokah Art Gallery. Cold, wet, needing hot coffee and a good dose of art I ambled inside.

No Parking Any Time is the title of the group show that is up through March 6th. Kathy Lova, Alison Starr and Du Chau have filled this surprisingly will put together gallery space with sculptures and wall installations that are derived from found objects.

Du Chau

Each artists is working with a source material that is commonly found in our everyday environment, such as sticks, stuffed animals or plastic shopping bags. These base materials have been transformed through various processes to become something new but still recognizable.

Kathy Lovas

This juxtaposition creates a wide variety of tactile sensations and narratives. Du Chau's porcelain tree branches convey nature's beauty and it's fragileness. Kathy Lovas' plastic rapped bunnies expose the scary interior of what we consider to be cute and cuddly. Alison Starr uses her sewing skills to transform pounds of plastic shopping bags into beautiful icons of mass consumerism.

So even though the card says No Parking Any Time, ignore that. Grab a hot cup of Joe and spend some time in the gallery.

Reflections from VSC posted on Art & Seek

This posting about my posting on Art & Seek is a bit late. I've had a lot to catch up on sense getting back to into town.

Anyway, Here is the Art and Seek link to my follow up article on the Vermont Studio Center.

You can also see more photos of VSC at my flickr page.

New posting on Art & Seek

The great people at KERA Art and Seek posted my article on the first 14 days at the Vermont Studio Center. Below is a draft, or you can click here to read it and see all the photos on Art and Seek.

Johnson, VT. -

You would think that without the distractions of job, family, and phone, making art all day would be a piece of cake. Well, it is sweet, but it is also a strangely surreal experience. Large blocks of time are consumed in focused bursts of creativity that leave you staggering back to your bed hoping to grab a few hours of sleep, but then you come across a some comrades sitting on the front porch, and you find yourself engaged in conversations about art, books, and movies, swapping silly stories, and laughing that kind of painful gut wrenching “Stop! Stop! I’m going to pee in your pants” kind of laugh that is so very rare and so very, very good… Then you find it is once again 3AM.

This is my second week at the Vermont Studio Center, and I am just now getting around to writing about my experiences so far. The days here are full, quick and exhausting. Trying to schedule them in the same fashion that I would while at home is not possible. That would be forcing a structured regime onto a world where the only real passing of time is measured by when to eat.

So, here is a little info on the Vermont Studio Center. It is an Artists Residency program located in the small town of Johnson Vermont. Each month 50 artist are set up with a private studio and a house that they share with a few other artists. All meals are provided in the Old Red Mill. There is always desert served after dinner. The artists here are either writers or visual artists. I am of the latter, but hanging out with a bunch of writers has been a novel and wonderful experience. The VSC web site explains the program in detail; so check it out because I’m going to focus on the more ethereal aspects of this experience.

On the first day of residency, one of the staff members shows you to one of the old wood-framed houses that will be your new home. Then it’s over to your studio, which contains a chair, two sawhorse tables and your boxes of art supplies that you shipped up from home. The studios are large, clean, and very white. Most of them have windows with wonderful views of either the river or the wooded hills. Then, with a “see you at dinner” you are left to your own devises.

In fact, being left to your own devices seems to be the unwritten motto of VSC. They provide you with food and shelter, plus a calendar of optional social events and lectures. From there you are free to go in whatever direction you wish. You can dig deep into your creative physi, or spend your days in the coffee shop down the street reading trashy tabloids. There are no expectations for what you do with your time or for the creation of some end product. You are free to let whim and whimsy run amuck. Of course, this freedom creates a scenario where things can get a bit surreal.

A quick survey of my artistic comrades reveals that the first thing we loose track of is the days of the week. Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, they all feel the same. At this time of year in Johnson, the sunrises at 4:30 AM, so by 5 it is so bright that your internal clock skips a beat and then stops. Soon, sleep only happens a few hours a night, or more likely while attending one of the numerous slide lectures or readings. Note to visiting lecturers: The snoozing audience seated before you is not bored, they are exhausted.

The first week of residency is all about adrenalin and remembering. You are in hyper drive to get started on a self-centered creative adventure, while at the same time desperately trying to remember the names of all 50 artists you have just meet. A few of my personal stumbling blocks have been finding I did not pack the right computer cords, but I did pack a two year supply of pink highlight markers. I also keep misplacing my dental floss, and the nearest store to get moisturizer is 20 miles away. (I need the moisturizer because I am working with plaster, which tends to dry my out hands… and I like having baby soft skin) As for remembering names, I suck at it, but I am really good at remembering art and creative ideas, so the names have been slowly falling into place.

Referring again to my quick survey, the second week begins with complete exhaustion. The adrenaline is gone. Only twelve people show up for breakfast on Monday morning. By 11:30 you might find a few people shuffling around listlessly in their studios. Dark circles under the eyes seems to be the trend of the day. Over the next few days, the amount of dirty coffee cups at breakfast is three times the amount of dirty plates and bowls. If asked how things are going in the studio, the enthusiasm of the reply is usually tempered by the amount of coffee just consumed.

The second week is also an emotional rollercoaster ride, where the creative struggles in the studio start to clash with personal expectations and perhaps a wee bit of delayed stress syndrome. Personally, I am flip flopping from what I feel is either a creative brake through or just arty dabbling and then back to visions of grandeur. I also have a stack of very sophisticated novels that I am completely ignoring, opting instead to downloading audio books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which are filling my head with images of Pellucidar, the World at the Earth’s Core.

Friday was the first Open Studio Night, which means everybody got the chance to visit everybody else’s studio. This created a frenzy of activity that kept the creative juices flowing for the last three days.

It is now Sunday night. I know that because the Red Mill only serves brunch and dinner on Sundays. There is an unspoken realization in the air that the residency is now officially half over. How that will affect the dynamics of the third week I can only muse upon.

Please note, this posting should to be taken with a grain of salt, as it is based solely on my personal and by now somewhat surreal observations. Each person’s experience at VSC is different. Some are actually getting up early to jog miles and miles through the lush green hills of Vermont, or spending hours in yoga posses that would cause me to spit blood. Some people are even eating right and going to bed on time.

Art basel: Immersion and Beyond

Posted the last article on Art Basel Miami 2008 on the Art & Seek blog. It was a great time that I hope to repeat next year.

Art Basel: Our man in Miami, Part 4

Here's the link to my 4th article that I have posted at Art & Seek on Art Basel Miami 2008 

Art Basel: The Been Done List

After spending days and days of viewing art at Art Basel Miami 2008, I can safely post a list of art that has been done. Check it out on the Art & Seek blog.

Art Basel: Our man in Miami, Part 2

Due to tech issues I could not post on Art & Seek while at Art Basel Miami. So I sent photos of the Texas galleries to Anne, who was so nice to post them for me. 

Art Basel: Our man in Miami, Part 3

This is a link to the Art & Seek photos that I sent in while at Art Basel Miami. Thanks Anne for posting those for me. 

Art Basel: Our man in Miami, Part 1

This is a link to my first "on assignment" posting for Art & Seek. There's an introduction by Anne Bothwell with my photos of some of the Texas galleries that are part of Art Basel. This assignment lead to posting 5 articles. 

I am going to Art Basel Miami 2008

I am going to Art Basel Miami 2008, and KERA Art & Seek asked me to write some articles about it. Here is the link to my first article on the event and the varies Texas galleries that will be there too.

Arty Thanksgiving Article for Art & Seek

Art & Seek asked me to post an article about my arty Thanksgiving musing. It's a bit sweat but there's a few chuckles too. Check it out here.

Kitty Alice Snead at Janette Kennedy Gallery

Kitty Alice Snead, one of the best photographers in Texas is having a show at the Janette Kennedy Gallery. I wrote a review of the show for Art & Seek. Please note that the above photo has been cropped, but it gives you the flavor of her subject matter.

Kara Walker Has Spoken

I went to see Kara Walker talk. I took lots of notes so I could write about it for Art & Seek. I am glad I did because Ms. Walker was so scattered in her presentation it was hard to keep trace of the important topics. Check out the article.

Kara Walker Steps up

Kara Walker is giving a lecture at the  Modern art Museum of Fort Worth.  I posted a notice 

on Art & Seek.

Tonybones article on Art & Seek

Once again for the sake of art, I stayed up until the wee hours struggling with the english language in hopes of constructing a new article for Art & Seek. This time it is about the Tonybones show at the Public Trust.

Check it out, and let me know if there are any misspellings. 

Kara Walker Article For Art & Seek

I saw the Kara Walker exhibit at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth this past Sunday. It really was a suppressing and overwhelming show. I submitted a review of it to Art & Seek. If they post it like I'll make a link to it.

Marsden Hartley article for Art & Seek

 Art & Seek posted a review that I wrote of the Marsden Hartley exhibit at the Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum. Art & Seek has asked several art professionals to write articles on various cultural events that are going on around town. 

The experience of seeing a show then writing about it reminded me of being back in college. I think it makes me look at things differently. And then to see it posted on their web site was fun but also weird.

Anyway, you can see the article by clicking Marsden Hartley.