Art Investment

This relatively small pile of art supplies cost $180.39 with a 20% discount! Granted, these are higher quality paints, which is the most expensive part, but this is a fairly common occurrence when buying art supplies. Not only does an artist's heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears (some paintings are more frustrating than others to finish) go into creating work, there is a huge monetary investment as well.


The high cost of art supplies is why my next stop for a few household incidentals was here. The 99 cent only store rocks.

One

Curly: You know what the secret of life is?
Mitch: No, what?
Curly: This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean ****.
Mitch: That's great, but what's the one thing?
Curly: That's what you've got to figure out. (excerpted from City Slickers)

One thing *for sure* is the one show of which I will be a part for one week in July.

Elder Street Gallery is hosting One Show to pay tribute to Houston's rather large art community.

Featuring 40 of Houston's best artists, One pays tribute to Houston's growing art scene. Each of the 40 artists from the greater Houston area will exhibit one single painting in the show. The artists want to promote the fact that Heights, Corridor, Montrose, West U., Downtown, and outlying area artists are working and showing together. This unified front will hopefully present a more cohesive art scene to Houston at large rather than a bunch of fractured little territories (at least for one week in the One Show.) The artists' vision is to focus on the convergence of Houston's various art communities into One.

The opening reception will be on Saturday, July 21, from 6-10 p.m.

Elder Street Gallery is located at 1101 Elder Street, (from Houston Ave., head east on Dart Street to Elder Street) in the Inner Corridor, near I-45 and I-10. Admission and parking are free of charge. For more information, call (281) 250-4889 (or visit the Web site.)

The exhibit runs one week through July 28.

Artists Include: Alex Wilhite, Dan Mitchell, Anila Aghax, Ray Phillips, Nathaniel Donnett, Marie Weichman, Lorena Femande, Shelley Shanks, John Mercado, Lilibeth Andre, Allan Rodewald, Keith J. R. Hollingsworth, Van McFarland, David Brown, William Panzer, Dune-Micheli Patten, Bridgett Vallery, Sarah Hazel, Julie Zarate, Cintia Rico, Mary Ann Lucas, Heidi Powell Prera, Max Boyd Harrison, Dune Tencer, Lacey Crawford, Sergio Santos, Jerrie Glidden, Alissa Fereday, Martin de Vore, Matt Adams, Solomon Kane, Xsemaj, Sorange Castillo, Mitch Cohen, Victoria Lewelling, Richard Varela, AimiDunn, David Weaver, Susan Goettsche

Magnetism

Instead of buying a refrigerator magnet and /or t-shirt (umm....I did buy an In-N-Out Burger t-shirt) on our most recent trip to San Diego for my little sister's wedding, we shopped for local art. Strolling through Coronado's Art in the Park, and then Balboa Park, we happened upon a plein aire gallery in Spanish Village Art Center. There was one piece in particular called "Among the Eucalyptus" by San Diego artist David Ainsley that I liked. It was painted near La Jolla in an eucalyptus grove in autumn, and is especially lovely (to me). It will cost as much as a multitude of refrigerator magnets when and if I buy it, which is very likely, because I was drawn to it.

Here's my favorite wedding photo. I think this is where my dad, the father of the bride and the preacher, is telling Chris, the groom and my new brother-in-law, that it's not time to hold my sister Elizabeth's hand, yet. Chris could hardly wait to have and hold his bride, as if they were already connected by an unseen force. It amused everyone.

Hurry up, Dad. The force is strong with these two.

Think, Think, Think

Between typical end of school year activities and the normal business of life, there hasn't been much (any) time to paint. And with everyone (the daughters) out of the house for a few days, I naturally assumed that there would be five days of painting to my heart's content.

Not so.

What happened?

Life.

People often ask how long it takes me to finish a painting. There's no one answer. Sometimes, like now, I dream of painting-literally, but schedules get whack and I just don't have the time. Does the whole thought process count in how long it takes? Because I think about painting, and think how to plan the next painting, and think how to re-work a painting ALL THE TIME....maybe a bit like Winnie-the-Pooh.

*“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.”

"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit. "No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't. But there was going to be when I began it. It's just that something happened to it along the way."*

*A. A. Milne

Art Splash

A few times a year, all the galleries just off the northwest corner of Richmond and Kirby have opening receptions on the same night. Houstonians come out in droves, and since all are within walking distance of one another, it's an art party for a few hours on a Saturday night.

This weekend's opening was slightly dampened by the burst of a summer storm shortly before go time. The skies cleared and instead of pouring rain, the galleries poured wine, and all was well.

Being creatures of habit, Reese and I started our trek at Goldesberry Gallery to see the installation of Kathleen Holmes "Dresses." We always go to Goldesberry first. Oliver and Nancy Goldesberry are extremely nice, and the art and craft they display is entertainingly quirky. Some day, I will buy something from Oliver.

Then we hit Thornwood Gallery, Dean Day Gallery, Hooks-Epstein Gallery, McMurtrey Gallery, and were on our way to the last stop for the night, Moody Gallery, when a car drove by and puddle splashed the lady walking in front of us. What a shame. Possibly because of the abundance of wine and the necessity of walking, she took it all in stride.

Our evening was topped off by joining new friends for a light supper at Sonoma, a new wine bar on Richmond. The shower of laughter refreshingly harmonized with the damp night air and the merriment of the evening lingers still.