Ball of Potential

I didn't even know what this ball of material was when I bought it at a little store in Hampden.  I just knew I loved it.  I think it may be the remnants of an old rag rug.  It sits somewhere between raw material and a beautiful object in and of itself.  I like that it quivers with potential, yet I have no idea what to do with it.  For now, it is a sculpture that sits on a book on a table. 

Stomping Ground

Sitting and sipping under the warm ripples of the fleshy mural 

at the Club Charles in Baltimore, for the first time in a long time.

Old Clipper Mill

Beautiful and broken Civil War era mill in Baltimore.

A shell of a once brimming structure where 

workers earned a living melting iron and building machines.

Naughty and Nice

photo cred:  The Kinard

One of the best lines of the night...

"If you go home with someone and they don't have books, 

don't fuck them."

Last Stop

In the flurry of the end of the semester, I forgot to post about my last stop on the East Austin Studio Tour.  Visiting Caroline Wright's studio is always a pleasure.  She is one of the most prolific makers I know, consistently pushing paint around on paper in a way that feels completely untethered and free.

Binary Star System

Constellation Overlap (November)

Big Heads

I love these monumental portraits by Monica Alfonso, my studiomate and friend.  Well, I'm currently subletting my half of the studio, but I like to call her my studiomate anyway.  The big heads are still wrapped up from a recent exhibition.  Monica isn't on the tour this year, and neither am I, which means we have more time to be tourists.  I just got a lucky peek.  

Must See!

Joey, is that you?

My friends, Adrian and Gayla, opened up a rad new shop on East 6th.  

They represent lots of artists from lots of places.  

You can find more on their websites, 

one for gig posters and one for straight-up art.

Sebastian Foster and Poster Cabaret.

Fur and Feathers

Debra Broz

Okay Okay!

Okay Mountain Studios

Good Read

I finally picked up a copy of Pastelegram

at Big Medium on Sunday!

Barry Stone is everywhere.

Hatch

Furniture assemblage by Hatch Workshop.

Chicks dig wood shavings.

Silkscreen Dreams

Bearded Lady

Oh Burt, you sexy unicorn.

Abstraction Attraction

Andy St. Martin

Desire

A gorgeous home for vinyl by Mark Macek.

Tourists

The Mothership

An installation at Big Medium, the headquarters of E.A.S.T.

Write a wish, take a wish.  

The wish I pulled off the line:

"Do meaningful creative work, and believe in myself."

Hoop it up!

Sweet drawings by Chris Cody at 1319 Rosewood.

Lakes Were Rivers

Jessica Mallios

Adam Schreiber

(Re)collection, pairings of a collection with new views.  Lakes Were Rivers, an Austin-based collective of photographers, pairs a work from each of its members with a photograph from the Harry S. Ransom Center’s collection in an exhibition that kicked off E.A.S.T. at 1319 Rosewood Friday night.  Most of the duets share an evident connection.  Makes me think of Lawrence Weschler’s obsession with convergences.

I wonder if the artists made new works based on the photograph from the Ransom Center of their choosing or if they selected a work from the collection to hang with an already realized photograph.  I’m guessing the latter.  Either way, it’s a really interesting show that questions “everything that rises”.  

Much thanks to Jessica for the installation shots!

Alexandria or Siena?

Correction:  My brother explained to me that there are two St. Catherines.  One a legend, the other an early feminist and scholar in the church.  The painting at the Blanton that I have been visiting all this time is St. Catherine of Alexandria, the legend.  This is a painting of St. Catherine of Siena, the feminist, by Sano di Pietro, and the Catherine in mind when naming my sweet niece.  Thank you for the saintly lesson, Steve!

St. Catherine

Every time I visit the Blanton I stop by to see this little gem in the European galleries.  Painted by Bartholomaeus Spranger, a Flemish painter of the 16th century, it depicts St. Catherine victoriously holding down her oppressor with one foot, book in hand, as she gazes upward towards crown-bearing cherubs, or Heaven.  My brother tells me she was a scholar and a strong female figure in Catholic tradition, and also an inspiration in the naming of my niece.  Today, on All Saints Day, my darling niece turns three.  Happy birthday, sweet Catherine!

Phantom Limb

Constellation Overlap (October)

Somewhere in the back of my mind

Richard Tuttle

Shapes and wrinkles.

Anselm Kiefer

Details of his monumental constellation painting.

El Anatsui @ the Blanton

Beautiful clinky clanky drapery!

Wish I had more time to write.

Ah, winter break, how I dream of thee.

Woody