Today I met Paul Hester over at the piece on Heights Boulevard and in addition to shooting the work, he agreed to take a few snapshots of me planted in the middle of it. If you look closely, you can see him in the reflection of my sunglasses! And don’t be fooled—the mood was not as serious as it looks.
The Empty Box
This year, the first Saturday in May was not only the Kentucky Derby, but also Cinco de Mayo, and the annual studio fundraiser, the Empty Box. I was so grateful that so many talented artists agreed to donate to the cause, including the friends I asked personally, whose work is displayed below.
Some of my pieces were also available for purchase, including work from a series made from salvaged, baltic birch plywood offcuts and a piece from another body of work made from discarded air filters.
Caught the night of the event in my studio among my favorite blobs and folds by Jessica Ramirez.
In Process
Without a doubt, one of the best things about having a studio at the Box is getting to see other artists’ gravity-defying ideas take form. Giant traffic popsicle (certainly, not his description) by Daniel Bertalot.
It’s also always inspiring to see artists bringing big ideas to form, particularly when I’m on a phase of a project that is small and needling. Case in point: I’ll have dipped a few thousand landscape staples in plasti dip before Safety Yellow is ready to install in the Houston Heights.
Rebecca Braziel at work in the studio
In December, Rebecca and I moved into a shared studio space at Box 13. She said she knew she wanted to rent that particular space when she saw the green floors. My rationale was more basic: I was going with her! Though this picture doesn’t give proper due to the majesty of the emerald tiles, I feel like it does capture the artist, my friend, in her natural habitat—and that at this point, she has to know when I’m creeping up behind her for a shot…
Midas Touch
I relish passing this dingy, unoccupied storefront, finding joy in the adjacent brickwork, the indecipherable font chosen for the sign, and of course, the fact that someone named their business after a mythic curse.
Of course, the sky here isn’t bad, either. I frequently muse that though Houston lacks any kind of topographical excitement, the big sky cloud scene more than makes up for it.
12 >> LAST OF THE YEAR
12 >> HIGH DESERT
Year end sojourn west. I thought I’d never forget what it all looked like, having lived in Marfa twice (in 2004 and 2009) and there I was, stunned all over again at the wind, silence, and cottonwoods not to mention the Chinati installations, including a new Judd I hadn’t seen before..
For a moment I thought I’d enjoy wheatpasting oversized images of meat for creative fulfillment. While this did not end up being the case, I couldn’t have asked for a better canvas.
Chinati grounds, Donald Judd and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen