Wednesday, May 26, 2010

West Texas Art

So we are driving along in this West Texas barren landscape, I was reading and my daughter was not paying attention either, when Bill says " that was weird, a Prada shoestore out here in the middle of nowhere" and Katherine and I yell "turn around! that's an art project, not a store!"
reflection of the sunset and the west Texas landscape on the Prada shoes and handbags
Prada Marfa, an art installation, which cost $80,000. was made of adobe and was meant to just fade into the landscape and not be kept up. This plan was thwarted when 3 days after completion, it was graffitied and windows broken and the shoes and purses stolen. So it was repaired and now there are signs that say you are under surveillance.
Bill took that hat off the wall in the motel and poses in front of an art work.
A chapel? next to the motel in Marfa.
Chinati Foundation, Marfa Tx.
When I have more time I will come back here for the tour which takes 4 hours!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Georgia O'keefe Country


Perdernal "is my private mountain," she said frequently. God told me if I painted it often enough I could have it.

This wasn't a planned stop on our trip but when I looked at the map for the next town (we were all getting quite hungry) I saw Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu. This is were Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted in New Mexico. I have always wanted to see it. We never did find the town of Abiquiu. Not sure how we missed it. But we did get to stop at the Ghost Ranch visitors center, and lunch just had to wait.

1934- First Summer at Ghost Ranch

"When I got to New Mexico, that was mine. As soon as I saw it, that was my country."


Inspiring flowers

Monday, May 17, 2010

A tale of two art stories in Durango


My daughter and I stop for a break to look at the overview of Durango.

Whenever I arrive in a new town, one of the first things I like to do is get the local alternative free paper and see what is going on and get a feel for the town. We drove into Durango yesterday afternoon and I picked up the Southwest Colorado Arts Perspective. The cover was Christo and Jean Claude's Valley Curtain from 1970. This caught my attention as I had designed a class project a few years back and had it published in School Arts Magazine. Wrap Up the Year with Christo and Jeanne-Claude May/June 2007. And also presented the lesson at the National Art Ed. conference in NYC that year.

When I read the cover article, I was shocked to discover it was a memorial piece for Jeanne-Claude. She had died from a ruptured brain aneurysm last November, over 6 months ago...and I had not heard. The author of the piece is a manager at a local gallery in town. I went down and met him and talked with him. I told him that I had talked with Jean Claude back when I was getting permission for publication. We swapped stories and he told me that Christo is still going to continue with the Over The River Project. It will run for 2 weeks near Salida CO. Summer of 2013 at the earliest. I was glad I popped in to meet him and the work in his Gallery Open Shutter Gallery was just beautiful.

The second art story involves an art store (http://www.goodmansartbin.net) I saw advertised in the same paper. It was located down the block from the gallery hidden in the back of a mall. If I wasn't looking for it I would not have found it. It was small but packed with all kinds of goodies. The owner, Ellie, was in the back of the store restoring an old oil painting for a customer. As we got to talking, I found out that her husband of 35 years had just passed away but she wants desperately to continue on with the business. It has been in her husbands family since 1879! But times are hard. She asked were I was from and she commented, oh you must have wonderful art stores there and I said unfortunately that oldest and most popular one had just closed down. She said well I will ship for free! tell all your friends. I told her I would mention it on my blog and she gave me and my daughter a great big hug!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mothers Day on the Snake River


Mothers Day- the only day of the year, besides my birthday were I get to say what I want to do and everyone has to do it with a minimal of grumbling. I had heard about this quirky roadside attraction/historical site/nature walk/museum ever since I had moved to Idaho and then was reminded about it at a recent docent meeting. Katherine will be moving back to Texas soon and I thought it would be a lovely way to spend the day, as she is into quirky art stuff too. Bill came along and enjoyed the trip as well. We had a nice brunch at the Blue Canoe. Free champagne and flowers for the moms too.

Then it was down the road to Walters Ferry:






lWhen we dropped Katherine off at her apt. she surprised me with a dozen roses. The only thing that could have made the day better was if my other daughter and my mom could have joined us. When mom does come to visit us, we will have to make another trip out there.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Modern 2010 recap


It was a cool but beautiful sunny afternoon at the Modern Hotel in Boise Idaho.
The table was set and the fun was about to begin and would last until well after dark.

It was a fabulous night, I don't know the official count but I would say in the thousands. In case you haven't heard of this event, the motel rents out every room to an artist on the first Thursday of May. It is a juried process. Then every room is open to the public to come see what it is they do from performance art to mini galleries.
Molly's was one of my favorite rooms. The theme was Oregon Tidal pools - photos on the walls and she created tidal pools out of clay in the sink, shower and even the toilet.
This is a shot of just how crazy crowded it can get. This was our room 227.
One of the 5 Exquisite Corpse/collaboration pieces we all worked on.
We removed the towels from the shelves in the bathroom and Kevin displayed his pottery.
The headboard displays some of my assemblages and the bed holds
Kevin's pottery and Mariannes prints and my cards.
Kay Seurat and Friends had the Elvis Wedding Chapel.
The mime points the way to ...

The tub is transformed into a work space for making artist trading cards.
My assemblage displayed in the living room.

Finished collaboration piece made by members of the Treasure Valley Artist Alliance.



The 4 of us...Marianne, Pam, Kevin and Zella.
See you next year!