Labor Day Weekend

 

Labor Day is one of those holidays that I forget about until it's too late. I typically go to the movies or clean the house. And this labor day I swept and vacuumed, washed and dried, folded and dusted, and generally did all the chores I've been putting off doing. So it's been a very productive weekend.

 

But don't feel sorry for me. Last July, long before I remembered about Labor Day, I booked a Houston Street Art Tour with Destination English. It was fascinating.  I knew there were quite a few murals popping up around town, but since I now live in the suburbs, I've only caught the occasional glimpse of them. The tour was lead by two Houston women who, like many of us who live here, got irritated by people telling them "but there's nothing in Houston but freeways and office buildings."  So they've started leading tours of Houston's cultural offerings.

 

I took about a hundred pictures, experimenting with a different lens (my regular lens is in the shop).  In addition to having fun taking pictures, I picked up some new lingo:

• "slaps" are art stickers (I have one from the tour - it says "Don't harsh my mellow")
• "blowies" are those really round letters that look like they've been inflated

We also got to speak with Mr. D (Sebastian Boileau) of Eyeful Art Murals and Custom Designs, who painted many of the murals we saw.  He is from Paris, and bounced around from California to Dallas before settling in Houston. He spoke about the "Biscuit Paint Wall" (he's surprised it's as popular as it is) some of the process behind "Mars" and asked us why we all decided to spend our Saturday looking at murals. 

And did you know Houston has a museum dedicated to street art? The Graffiti and Street Art Museum of Texas (The GASAM Texas).  They are still settling on a building location, but they do have a temporary spot and they have their own artist-led tours. Check them out.

I won't bore you with all 100 photos, but here's a selection.

This was one of a series of murals commissioned by the Houston Zoo to advertise its new ape enclosure.

The largest mural in Houston  (notice God is holding Mr. D's logo?) - 2850 Fannin 

 

One side of the Mars building - Leeland and Caroline (three sides of the building are painted) I know, the power cables are in the way, but what can you do?

HueFest 2015 logo - Leeland and St. Emanuel. I'm kind of irritated by the sunspot on his hat. I'll have to go back at another time and retake it.

Some slaps (on the right)

across the street from the Huefest 2015 site - It's a tattoo parlor

I love the cartoonish style this guy has

Going from left to right I think it's: Maya Angelou, Princess Diana, Selena, Frida Kahlo and Cleopatra.

Don't you just love the way the artist has integrated the building into the mural? - also at the HueFest site

Museum Review: Houghton Hall

Houghton Hall: Portrait of an English Country House is the third English exhibit I've seen in the past three years.

I'm getting the feeling that there's network of people in England, all owners or caretakers of stately homes, telling each other: "If you need a money to fix this place, go ahead and get the workmen in and instead of putting your art and furniture in storage, send it to the States as an 'exhibition'. The Yanks will pay for everything."

Not that that's a bad thing. I'm unlikely to visit Norfolk anytime soon, so I might as well appreciate what they're willing to send while they are re-pointing the roof. Houghton Hall was built in the 1720's for Sir Robert Walpole, the first prime minister of England, and the house remains in the family.

Because they couldn't box up the building and ship it over, the Houghton Hall exhibit is mostly interesting from the point of view of the interior decorator. There are paintings, chinoiserie, and Sèvres porcelain, but the best part is really the enormous photos, set up with the furniture, to give you the feeling of standing in actual rooms.

Houghton was the first home in England to ever have a purpose built dining room. Before then, tables would be set up in the main hall, or a parlor, depending on how many you were feeding. To have a room set aside just for eating, how luxurious can you get? 

My personal favorite was the bedroom with the hand painted Chinese wallpaper. Of course they couldn't send the room, but they had some extra rolls of wallpaper, so they've hung those around the exhibition space. They also included a bed with the most beautiful embroidered silk hangings.  

I'm not a big fan of wallpaper, but this could change my mind. Do you think this would be too much in my little suburban house?

'Bowl' ing

Last week, I found a map of Houston's Museum District and realized that there were a lot of museums that I had never heard of, let alone visited, so I am making it my summer project to go see the little museums around town.  Everyone knows about the Museum of Fine Arts, but how many people know that Houston has a Czech Museum? I didn't.

Saturday, I went to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, whose mission is "to advance education about the process, product and history of craft." There is a gallery, a little garden in the back (with some truly huge chard plants), workshops and a really neat little gift shop, where you can buy contemporary crafts.

A bowl of bowls!

I didn't know this when I decided to go, but my visit coincided with a charity event, Empty Bowls 2014. The place was filled with bowls donated by local artists and craftspeople. You chose a bowl, (or bowls) that you like and paid $25 per bowl. The proceeds went to the Houston Food Bank. Whole Foods got in on the act by giving a bowl of soup, a roll and a bottle of water to those purchasing bowls. 

Lunch, provided by Whole Foods. 

With an opportunity like that, I had to stick around and see what was on offer.  

More bowls than you would have thought possible. Wooden bowls, bowls made of laminated paper, felt, clay, and even vinyl. Crocheted bowls, which if you turned them over, looked suspiciously like hats.  Bowls in every color of the rainbow, and incised with geometric patterns. 

If you were willing to pay more, there were "bump-it" bowls, which were larger and extremely lovely. And there was a silent auction of bowls that had been commissioned for the event. 

Wouldn't that be a surprise under your morning cornflakes?

I bought two, a delicate and simple turned maple bowl, and a brightly glazed pottery one with colors that called to me. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but it's $50 for the food bank, and that's what's important. 

My pottery bowl. I love the swirl.

Bees!

We have chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax, thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light. - Jonathan Swift

One of the highlights of the Houston Museum of Natural Science is the Cockrell Butterfly Center.  It's not just a hall full of bugs, but a simulated rain forest with rare orchids, a waterfall, etc. It's part of the Brown Hall of Entymology which has hissing cockroaches and all kinds of neat insects.  It's a lovely experience because it's always full of flowers and butterflies, but for my money (and HMNS is not a cheap visit) the best thing is the beehive.

The bees are not actually allowed in the butterfly center, as there would be panic and small children screaming and running into the ornamental waterfall. The bees are all nicely sealed off in clear plastic so vistors can see the bees at work and nobody can possibly be stung.  But if you feel daring, go outside the building (free!) and look carefully; you can find the tube that lets the bees out into the world.

But what does the museum do with the honey?

My neighborhood: The Menil Collection

I have to move in the next two months, which has resulted in me thinking about things I really like about my neighborhood. One of the things I really like is that I'm only a few blocks away from The Menil Collection. A world-class art museum that is FREE!

It even has a gallery dedicated to Cy Twombly, who died this week.

The Menil is easy to miss because it blends into the neighborhood, but that's part of its charm.

See the museum? It's behind the tree. I'm going to miss this place.