The Proposal, The Ride, & The Show

WORKING HOUSTON ARTIST + CRITICAL MASS CYCLIST ART PROPOSAL

Based on the guidelines that the work must be inspired by or found while riding within Houston's Inner Loop, I propose to paint an urban cityscape in oils on linen.

With life as reference, in addition to photographs, I will paint the urban cityscape of the factories along Center Street between Waugh Drive and Sawyer Street. The factories are ordinary, yet display a quiet elegance in their unsophisticated simplicity. I've personally ridden this route on a bicycle from my home near Rice University to a friend's house in the Heights.

While I would prefer to paint en plein air, the vehicular traffic in the area might be prohibitive to such action. There are a number of 18 wheelers and other large service vehicles that travel Center Street, and a painter by the side of the road might not be visible to these drivers. There is a spot on the sidewalk across the street from one factory that might provide a safe vantage point from which to paint, however, in the interest of safety, it might be best to paint from reference photographs in my studio.

The plan would be to work in the Center Street area in a part of town known as the Washington Corridor, or in my studio, over the next month or two in order to complete the painting or paintings.

The attached photos (not included in this blog entry) indicate the type of Houston cityscape that I would like to represent in oils on linen, but are not conclusively the location or image selected. The photos provided are only an indicator of my idea, which will be further developed as more information is gathered. The exact address used as inspiration for the representational artwork will be provided in due time.

Houston is a vibrant community, with many variations of architectural beauty. I propose to capture the beauty of an industrial cityscape by painting one or more of it's warehouses in Houston's Inner Loop. The beauty of the angles and lines of the warehouses as they interplay with the Texas sky intrigues me as an artist. I hope that my representation of said cityscape in oils on linen will capture the hearts of fellow Houstonians as much as it does me, and remind fellow cyclists of the joy of the open road by representing a beautiful, albeit ordinary view of one of Houston's back streets.

THE SHOW

This show celebrates the artwork of Houston Critical Mass cyclists. All work submitted must be inspired by or found while bike riding within Houston’s Inner Loop. Artists should submit work proposals along with the location at which it was inspired. These addresses will be pinpointed on a large-scale map of Houston’s Inner Loop, to reference the origin of each artist’s work. Proposals will be judged on originality, local flavor and critical content.

THE RIDE

Friday, February 26th, the Critical Mass group will meet at Tranquility Park in Downtown Houston. Riders will meet at 6:30 with the ride taking off at 7 pm. The route will take us around to some of the locations at which the work originated. The ride will end at Caroline Collective around 9:30pm in the Museum District, where the cyclists will get a sneak-peak of the show before it opens on February 27th at 6 pm.

Exhibition: “Critically Caroline/Massive Collection”
Sponsor: Caroline Collective
Location: 4820 Caroline St., Houston, Texas
Exhibition Dates: February 26 – March 18

(I'm in! It's my next show.)