With luck, I’ll find some more singular notices…
It’s hard to see, but what inspired me to stop on the side of the road for this snapshot is the sign far in the background, one that feels like a mere stone’s throw away moving in a car, that announces FRUIT.
His shades have come back in style.
Suffice it to say, I’m not accustomed to so much dazzling organic movement and texture on a walk to the post office. The derelict Indian Hills Inn around the corner is a major point of fascination as is the ability to compose pastoral images in lots adjacent to dumped bags of trash and forgotten shopping carts along the side of the road.
While I’m not known for my ability to take initiative during pre-dawn hours, I saw fellow artist in residence Shawn yesterday and she invited me to join her on a sunrise excursion to the Gorge. I’d wanted to make an afternoon trip myself and jumped at the opportunity, setting an alarm for 5:15am.
We made a three and a half mile hike roundtrip in outstretched fields of sage brush, cholla, and pine trees as the sun rose. Being out in the cool morning desert air brought me back to living in camp at Arcosanti and working on the farm and many West Texas mornings in slanted light. Has it really been a decade since the combination of desert sun and mountain air were elements of a garden variety morning?
The Paseo Project was a dense presentation of numerous public art projects over the first weekend I was in Taos. Had I not heard an offhand reference to it, I would have likely not even known it was happening from the central, yet secluded location of the residency. I’m pretty sure I experienced a fraction of the pieces on view, and photographed even fewer. Take my word for it—there was a lot going on in addition to the Telepoem Booth (instructions for how to use a rotary dial included!) and this interactive projection dance-a-thon.
Major thanks to fellow AIR, Rebecca, for capturing the moment just as the dialed poem got into stamens and the loudest motorcycles I’ve ever heard revved at the light at the corner.
An earlier, unexpected highlight of the evening was a stop at the Harwood Museum where there is an exhibition of Judy Chicago fiber art on view. The Birthing Project is a collection of pieces from the early 1980s whose subject matter takes on birth from the physical to the mystical and was made by scores of collaborating needleworkers.. I took these snapshots for myself, not intending to share them, but keep coming back to the color and extraordinary textural and imaginative detail for inspiration.
A view of my backyard for the next three-months while I’m in residence at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. If any of you travelers will also be in the Land of Enchantment, please reach out!
Don’t let my expression in this candid indicate otherwise: the set-up process for this show was a breeze, especially compared with what I can only describe as a residential experience earlier this summer at McColl. That installation had me virtually camped out in the building for days, shuffling around in my socks.
I’ve long felt jealous watching other artists bring their work to galleries without feeling the need to also pack snacks or pillows—and allow me to report that it’s everything I had hoped for and more. Here’s to trying new things, particularly those that exude lightness!
Guide Star opening September 7th from 6-8p at Gray Contemporary
Please join me at Gray Contemporary on Saturday, September 7th from 6-8p for the opening of Guide Star, featuring a selection of plywood works created this summer while participating in the 100 Day Project. It goes without saying that I’m excited these pieces are receiving a presentation above and beyond a daily showcase on the ‘Gram. Gorgeous chemograms by David Janesko will also be on view.
Gray Contemporary —> 3508 Lake St. Houston 77098
