Chalk it up to experience

Saturday, I had tickets to Via Colori, which is a fundraiser for The Center for Hearing and Speech.  It's a two-day street painting festival, where various organizations (and a few invited artists) get together and do chalk murals on the streets around Hermann Square.

Doing this takes a lot of coffee

I'd heard about this festival a few years ago, but this was the first year I was able to go. The weather was absoloutely perfect and there was something to take a picture of around every corner. Heaven.  There was even an alley full of food trucks where I got to try kimchi fries, which I highly recommend. (However, it gives you the worst breath imaginable. Bring mints.)

There were a lot of Dia de las Muertos themes

It's a two day festival, and I only went on the first day, so the pictures I have are of largely unfinished works. For better pictures, click on the link above, and check out the photo gallery.

 

Sunset in Houston

 

 

 

This one was going to be 3-D when finished

 

Two exhibits, Two worlds

Admission stickers

There are two vastly different exhibits at the Museum of Fine Arts right now. I would recommend going now, before the holidays when everyone has out of town relatives they need to entertain.

The first exhibit is Degas: A New Vision

This is the only American stop on the tour of this exhibit, so see it if you can. It is a true survey of his career, starting with student sketches and ending with photographs he took towards the end of his life.  You can see how his work changed over time, from when he was a student of Ingres, to when he started experimenting with the looser brushwork of the impressionists. There are paintings, sketches, prints, and bronzes (including the famed "Little Dancer").  There are even some works from his time in New Orleans. I had no idea he'd ever left Europe, let alone spent time in a cotton office in Louisiana.  Limited photography is allowed.

The second exhibit is Emperor's Treasures: Works from the National Palace Museum, Taipei

This exhibit covers works from the early 12th century to the early 20th century. There are porcelains, cloisonné, ink wash paintings and scrolls, Buddhist Sutras done with exquisite penmanship in gold ink on indigo-dyed paper, carved jade and one monstrously ugly, solid gold ewer. (It's in the last room, if you must see it.) My favorite item is a porcelain teacup decorated with chickens.

I've actually been to the museum in Taipei, but I was 12 years old and severely jet-lagged. I remember bejeweled fingernail protectors and some carved jade, but my main memory of the stopover was dropping the hotel keychain on my foot. (It was about 8 inches long and solid brass. It hurt.)

Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed of this exhibit. But if you are thinking ahead to Christmas,  they have a nice gift shop, with the cutest salt and pepper shakers.  I, myself, opted for a keychain with a glow-in-the-dark bok choy (A reproduction of one of the museum's most famous exhibits; sadly, not part of the Houston show.). What is life without a touch of whimsy?



The monkeys are salt and pepper, the bird is for soy sauce

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

Field of Light

If you're looking for something neat to look at over the holidays, Discovery Green is hosting the Field of Light this year. I volunteered to help install it.

 

This is what it looked like when I got there. A lot of clear plastic poles linked with a spaghetti-like tangle of fiber-optic cables.

 

My job was to put glass bulbs on each plastic pole. For three and a half hours.  But the results are worth it, don't you think?

 

I've spent hours since then trying to remember what sci-fi show or movie it reminds me of, but I can't put my finger on it. (Space 1999?) They also remind me of enoki mushrooms.

 

I don't have any photos of it all lit up, because I haven't managed to get there yet. I know, I know, I spent all this time putting it together, but haven't seen the finished product. I hear it's beautiful, but with the holidays and all, I haven't managed to get to Discovery Green when it's dark. Maybe if it doesn't rain this weekend...

 

Fortunately, the Field of Light will be here until February 21st, so there's still time.

Small accomplishments

Happy 2015. It's a new year. True, it's an arbitrary date, it doesn't really mean anything, but sometimes you just need a dividing line. Something that says "it ends here". And I really needed 2014 to end. 

I'm not going to go into detail, but 2014 was painful for me, and I need (even if it is just symbolic) to end it and start anew.

This year, I'm not making any grandiose plans. I just want to get my energy flowing again. So, in the spirit of clearing roadblocks, I present my first accomplishment of the year. The hidden art collection.

George appreciating art

I took all of these out of the various nooks and crannies where they have lain hidden and protected from curious cats, and framed them.  It was a two week process, because the larger ones had been rolled up for years, so I had to unroll them and weight them down for a week. They still roll a bit, but I'm hoping that now that they are framed, the paper will relax and become truly flat. 

In case you are inspired by my example, this is a great time of year to do this. All the art supply stores are having big sales, trying to get rid of last year's stock. The frames and mats were all 40% off. 

In my case, it helped my budget a lot that a few years ago, my mother took a course in framing art. Last weekend, when it was cold and rained all day, I took everything over to my parents' house where we measured, re-measured, remembered that it's been long time since any of us had to work with fractions, and finally got everything matted and in the frames. I've even hung them up.

As achievements go, it's not much, but you have to start somewhere. 

International Quilt Festival - 2014

I went to the 40th Annual International Quilt Festival this weekend.  It was one of those events that I've been hearing about for years, but never actually gone. 

Wow. I never imagined it was this big. It was huge. Half of it was devoted to booths with things for sale: sewing machines, antique fabrics, yarn, baskets, quilt kits, fat quarters, quilting templates, jewelry made out of antique buttons, etc.  This was fascinating in its own way, but the show really starts when you get to the exhibition space. 

Since this was the 40th Anniversary, there was a huge exhibit of red and white quilts (aka "red work"). None of these were in the competition, they were just there to show artistry. There was an exhibit of quilts from the Texas Quilt Museum. I have no photographs of these, because no picture were allowed, but it doesn't matter. I couldn't take enough pictures. There was an abundance of incredible artwork.  I wandered around for two and a half hours, and eventually gave up out of exhaustion. I just couldn't take any more in. If I ever do the festival again, I'll do it in stages, going over several days. 

Sometimes, you can't believe these things are fabric. 

Traditional Victorian crazy quilt

I don't know what this is, but isn't it neat?

And it wasn't just quilts, there was doll category.

Wearable art

Can't you just see this at Comic-con?

An entire table set with (quilted) regional food

I really loved this one from India. It's the colors of the rainbow, in Braille. You can read the quilt by touching it.

There was quite an international presence:

Australia

You can't see it in the picture, but the sky is all patterned with lines of the dreamtime

Japan

The artist said she created this for her 65th birthday, when it's traditional in Japan to don a red vest. 

France

This is actually a completely white quilt, with all the figures outlined in gold thread. It's spread on a light box so you can it it better. It's the story of Tristan and Iseult.

There was even a challenge from NASA. Astronaut Karen Nyberg created a square while on the ISS, and it became the start of a 28 panel quilt, with squares donated from all over the world.

 

part of one of the panels

I took so many pictures, my camera battery ran out. I can't post them all, but these are the best shots. Enjoy.

A tribute to a teacher

Mariners compass

You felt like you should be lighting candles in front of it.

Embellished

All buttons. I'm sure there's some quilting under there, but who cares?

This one was painted, then quilted.

Dreamy poppies

The inspiration for this quilt was The Book of Changes

Every one of those squares is about the size of a Chiclet. Imagine piecing that.

Samson and Delilah. Honestly, the photo does not do this one justice.

Spring break

Every Spring, I get a little antsy about being stuck in an office all day, so I take a day off of work. There’s no plan, except to see what fate blows my way. Last year, I painted trees blue. This year, I walked thought a giant inflatable sculpture.

"Miracoco" is the latest design by a group called the Architects of Air.  Made completely of some vinyl-type of material, from the outside, it looks like a futuristic bounce house.

Miracoco, on Discover Green, Houston

On the inside, it’s sort of like Star Trek on acid. It’s trippy. What’s even more impressive is that it is all natural light. So the light dims and brightens with passing clouds and times of day. And it is amazing what they can do with the material. There are domes, apses, bridges, and oddly organic looking corridors.  

Out of focus, but it gives you a sense of how dream like it is

Half of a huge domed ceiling - I really needed a wide angle lens to do it justice

A joining of seams. If you look at the exterior picture, this is one of the star shaped parts.

I just noticed the flush of blue in the middle, isn't it wild?

branching hallways

I think this was well worth missing work for.  I can always play with spreadsheets, but how often do I get to play inside an inflatable sculpture?