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.

Eating the best food in Taos, New Mexico

On our way to go hiking in the Wheeler Peak Wilderness we stopped in at the Dragonfly Cafe for a quick snack. It is a rustic house turned European cafe' where people eat in the front yard, the porch, and in the house. Organic ingredients locally grown, and the eggs that come from the chickens raised by the chief made this an intriguing choice. 

I ordered the Beef hash, and it was so good I had to take a picture! Yummy!

The beef hash looked more like a beef stew cup cake. Standing tall, crowned with a poached egg and drizzled with hollandaise sauce. It was served with two slices of extra hard bread that I used the to clean the plate with as opposed to licking the plate clean.

Hiking up the mountain later was a real struggle.

Site Santa Fe "Lucky Number 7?"

I stopped in to see the seventh edition of Site Santa Fe. This time it was a show of site specific art work that was not were only in the museum but also scattered around the center of the city.  There are 25 artists from 16 countries that created art for just this show and just these sites.

I had high hopes for this show but I think the majority of the reviews got it right. There just wasn't enough real meat to chew on. My hunt for the outside installations was derailed by heat, food and other galleries. I did enjoy leaping from the balcony onto the big foamy stunt pads. I now know why I am not a stunt double.

What I did like was the ball point pin drawings by Timothy Nero at the Box Gallery . They had that obsessive noodling that I am a sucker for. Also the Tai Gallery  which is know for showing woven bamboo baskets from Japan has started to show photography. Masaru Tatsuki captures a vanishing lifestyle that combines low riders, transformers, and diesel trucks.  

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.

Zero lot construction

In Dallas as it is all across the country the small homes of yesteryear are being replaced by modern upscale houses; McMansions, Starter Castles, Coliseums of Consumption.

But this has to be a new plateau for the construction of zero lot homes. Apparently the architect did not think about phone lines overhead until they started building of the roof. That's when it must have dawned on them that the cables were going through the roof line.

So they just tied the cables up with plastic ties and added a third floor balcony. Problem solved. 

Desk Top Drawings Phase 3

I just finished the last drawing for Desk Top Drawings Phase 3. This is a series of drawings on photos that began as doodles on my work desk. So Phase 1 is photographs of the doodles on the work desk. Phase 2 is photos of the doodles that I have drawn on top of. Phase 3 is photos of phase 2 that I have drawn on top of again. Next I'll start phase 4, drawings on top of a photo of a photo of a photo of a photo.

This is a very simple system, but in practice it combines the process of redefining an image while the image is being degraded by photographic reproduction.

For more info on this project go to www.BradFordSmith.us

5X7 @ Art House at the Jones Center

It's time once again for the annual Art House 5X7 "art splurge and exhibition". There is a very long long list of participating artists, many like myself that have donated art to this event for years. The big event starts out in Austin TX at the Art House gallery. From there it will travel to Dallas, Houston and possible San Antonio. But the big night is definitely at the Art House gallery.