Tag: houston

Beautiful face

That’s Tildy. I met her today at Scout’s Honor Adoption Day. If I could have another dog–I can’t–I would adopt her in a second. In fact, I’ve never seen such an outstanding group of dogs ready to move into their new forever homes. Check out Scout’s Honor’s web site to see some of these precious dogs and cats who are available for adoption.

And if, like me, you’re not able to adopt, maybe you can become a foster. Scout’s Honor Rescue covers all fostering costs. I can’t believe the number of dogs Tim has fostered, and every one of them has left The Compound for a home just right for their personalities and physical needs. Knowing how great their forever homes will be fills a goodbye with joy instead of sadness.

The Jung Center


For years, whenever I drive through the Museum District, I look at the Jung Center and think I should check it out. So while my brother was here, he, Tom, and I included it on our Day of Museums. It’s a small building, easy to overlook among the larger museums surrounding it, but it has an interesting history. Founded in 1958 by five women who were studying the writings of Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, it has become a thriving organization that:

  • Offers more than 100 classes, programs, and weekend workshops rooted in analytical psychology, the expressive arts (writing, painting, movement), and the humanities to more than 3,000 students annually.
  • Welcomes over 5,000 visitors annually to its gallery spaces showcasing the work of Texas artists.
  • Collaborates with like-minded Houston organizations in efforts toward global psychological wholeness and compassionate action.
  • Hosts public conferences to explore current-day compelling issues, partnering with other organizations, including the Alley Theatre, Diverse Works, Holocaust Museum Houston, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Menil Collection, Methodist Hospital, Rice University, Rothko Chapel, and the University of Houston Honors College.
  • Currently provides expressive arts programs free of charge for at-risk children, senior citizens, individuals suffering from life-threatening illnesses, and professional caregivers dedicated to meeting some of our city’s most pressing needs.

An impressive organization to have begun with a shared idea among five trailblazing women.

Currently hanging in the center’s art gallery: Testing the Waters by Texas artist Robert Batterton. The drawings in this series feature mystical images blending the ethereal with the everyday. Many of the works are viewable on his site, including this one that I like a lot:

I recommend seeing them in person to fully appreciate them. There’s no charge to browse through the gallery. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center also includes a bookstore with a fascinating range of books–and Carl Jung action figures!



On the corner of Montrose and Berthea.

In art is the cure for what ails me

March 2011–ETA: An article in the Houston Press questions the business practices of H Gallery. I’m including this link to the article, but letting my LJ entry remain because I think these artists and their work deserve recognition.

Saturday, because I was fighting a pre-migraine, the most productive thing I did was shave my legs. I share this because I know it’s the kind of tantalizing information that makes you return to my LiveJournal again and again.

In defiance of physical maladies, I’m always willing to share art. A couple of weeks ago, Tim, Rhonda, Lindsey, and I* went to H Gallery in The Heights for the MIX Group Exhibition that included artist Gilbert Ruiz. The last time I was there, I got to see a couple of Gilbert’s paintings hanging. This time there were more, and I took a few shots for you to enjoy.


Composition in Primaries


Virginia



(View larger version of photo on black.)

From left to right, on wall:
self portrait 2009 no. 2
young heart
providence

On the wire panels:
untitled no. 3
sonic trip

Other works we saw…

…are behind this cut… Go on; click it!

Part Two

The second new-to-me museum I visited on Museum Day was the Lawndale Art Center. It’s a good thing I took that opportunity, because the gallery is currently closed until October 18 so they can set up a new installation. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the art I saw there.

First up was Math of the Afterwrath by Boozefox. Boozefox is “an Austin based collective collection consortium” and the program states that this is their most cherished artifact. The legend is that it is a giant head collected from inside a crater in the Gulf of Mexico and is being consumed from the inside out by a virus. Actually, it’s a huge work of art composed of repurposed materials including wood, cardboard, packing tape, televisions, slinkys, a fog machine, a garage door opener, and allegedly, Smirnoff Ice. It filled the entire room, so I didn’t shoot it, but if you visit KUHF you can see a little photo and hear an interview with the artists that explains it all.

Next up was Potential Modulations by artist Robert Jackson Harrington. These seven mixed media pieces are meant to convey the concept of potential: what the artist describes as “false narratives…that do nothing, they merely act as a stimulus or catalyst.” I was able to shoot a couple of low-quality photos; Harrington’s web site has much better shots.

I somehow missed Logan Beck’s installation Following Huck Finn. However, I direct you to a web site, where you can see the fascinating blog of two Houston artists (one a photographer, one a musician) as they document a bicycle/road trip from New Orleans to Mark Twain’s hometown, Hannibal, Missouri. The trip culminated with the eighteen diptychs Beck showed at Lawndale.

I finished off my visit on a high note: the mixed media needle felt sculptures of Tobiah Mundt. The series is called Being, and as the artist describes it, the objects “mimic human or animal forms…to communicate ‘story,’ but to limit the amount of information conveyed such that each viewer must ‘fill in the blanks.’ No two viewers will see the same thing or take away the same meaning.” I couldn’t have said it better myself about the best fiction, and I had so much fun looking at these sculptures.


I think this one was my absolute favorite.

After visiting both Lawndale and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, I’ve promised myself regular museum and gallery dates so I can explore more of Houston’s art. And of course, there’s always art sneaking its way onto our everyday surfaces.


Sidewalk chalk drawing that connects the era of Moby Dick to the Twitter age.

Houston hosts a great Museum Day

More than 1300 museums participated nationally last Saturday in the sixth annual Museum Day, offering free admission to the public. It’s reported that over 500,000 people took advantage of the chance to visit museums as part of this program.

I’ll be posting images and links to two new-to-me museums I visited. First up is Houston Center for Contemporary Craft on West Main. This place was wonderful, and I can’t wait to go back. The galleries were filled with wood, metal, glass, jewelry, and fiber art. In addition, tables and studios were filled with craftspeople and artisans interacting with the public to show weaving, woodworking, blacksmithing, beading, and jewelry-making among other crafts.

I couldn’t take photos of the exhibits, but some of my favorites were Edward Lane McCartney’s “Wrecking Ball,” made of hundreds of tiny plastic soldiers and their vehicles tied together (this was very popular with kids); “Matchbook Collection” created by Gale Gibbs from found objects; Emily Black’s “A Woman’s Place Is In The Home”–a deer head she wove from and embellished with several materials; and “The Nuances of Daily Wash” by Marilyn Faulk Lanser, using dryer lint, paper, cullulose, and wax resin. So much of the art was whimsical, and it was obvious from their reactions that people really responded to it.

And the jewelry! It was breathtaking.

I did get some shots of the table exhibits with permission.


Just some of the beautiful pieces shown by the Woodworkers Club of Houston.


Fiber art from Houston Area Fiber Artists.


I fell hard for this art doll and her owl, both created by Pepper Hume.

In the small world department, I had no idea that Kerry, who I met years ago through our mutual friend Robin, is a dollmaker. Here, she’s holding up her magical Blue Mermaid:


Behind the museum was an outside garden with sculptures and many of the plants that are used in weaving, dyeing, papermaking, basketry, and more.


And my last stop was to see a working blacksmith, whose audience included a spellbound little girl who seemed glad that unlike horses, her shoes don’t have to be hammered on with the crafted nails that her adult companion showed her. The Houston Metal Arts Guild will have a member show at Hanson Galleries in Uptown Park beginning October 8.

Thanks to support from members, foundations, corporations, and friends, admission to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is always free. The hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Although I was delighted to see so many people, especially parents getting their children excited about art, I’m looking forward to exploring the museum again at a more leisurely pace. Who’s going with me?