Soo Sunny "Park Unwoven Light" @ Rice Art Gallery

Another great sculptural installation at the Rice University Art Gallery.

The Barney Smith Toilet Seat Art Museum

Spring Break = lines (for everything you would want to see.)

 Lines suck.

There were no lines at the Barney Smith Toilet Seat Art Museum.

, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum - San Antonio, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum - San Antonio, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Art Museum - San Antonio, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Talking About Making Art: Success & Fail

Months ago,  I concluded other people have better tools to make some art I've been thinking about.   So, I started to hunt for a local laser cutting company.  Laser cutting = geeky high tech awesomeness.  Googling came up with Texas Laser Creations based in Houston.

From their website:

"Texas Laser is a Houston area based laser cutting /laser marking job shop, specializing in plastics, wood and textiles."

What the website should have said was...

"Thank you for visiting our out-of-date website.  Texas Laser was a laser cutting company that moved out of our first former crappy shop which still bears our name (and now looks like a set for a serial-killer movie), and after moving a second location, went out of business.  If you had called our number (or checked out our two bad online reviews) you could have saved yourself a trip."

The first place, seriously weird vibe.  After driving rural industrial roads, I pull into a busted up commercial space: parking lot with scrapped cars, locked office, and three garage doors.  Last one open.  Out of it rides a little kid on a bike.  I knock at the open garage door, asking a question that's pretty obvious, "Is this still the laser place?"  The sketchy guy watching loud TV says, "No sir."

However, it was a nice drive.  Houston always surprises me with it continual business/residential mix.  And in that part of town, lots of modest horse properties with old trees.

So, not as much art making as desired, but always nice getting introduced to strange new parts of town.

Online & Free: "Houston Reflections: Art in the City, 1950s, 60s and 70s"

From Rice University's open education resource initiative... "A collection of interviews, conducted by Sarah C. Reynolds, with Houston artists and other arts figures, all of whom proved influential in the growth of the contemporary Houston Arts scene."

Includes interviews with:

• David Pryor Adickes, b. 1927
• Gertrude Levy Barnstone, b. 1925
• Preston Bolton, b. 1920
• H.J. Bott, b. 1933
• Jack Boynton, b. 1928
• William Camfield, b. 1934
• Lowell Collins, 1924-2003
• Edsel Cramer, b. 1923
• Charles Criner, b. 1945
• Don Edelman, b. 1925
• Eugene Foney, b. 1950
• Roy Fridge, 1927-2007
• Henri Gadbois, b. 1930
• Dorothy Hood, 1919-2000
• Earlie Hudnall, Jr., b. 1946
• Harvey Johnson, b. 1947
• Karl Kilian, b. 1943
• Bill Lassiter, b. 1932
• Jim Love, 1927-2005
• Edward Mayo, 1918-2005
• Leila McConnell, b. 1927
• Herb Mears, 1923-1999
• Edward Mills, b. 1941
• Annie Moore, b. 1938
• Willie Moore, b. 1935
• Robert Morris, b. 1933
• Kermit Oliver, b. 1943
• Charles Pebworth, b. 1926
• Forrest Prince, b. 1935
• Bert Samples, b. 1955
• Mildred Dixon Sherwood, b. 1914
• Carroll Harris Simms, b. 1924
• Earl Staley, b. 1938
• Richard Stout, b. 1934
• Stella Sullivan, b. 1924
• James Surls, b. 1943
• Geoff Winningham, b. 1943
• Dick Wray, b. 1933

Sig's Tale of $48,000: Treasure in TX Town's Cemetery?

Earlier in the week, I was going nutty about unearned wealth.  The kind that just drops into your lap and you get to spend without reservation.   I wasn't thinking about the then-unwon Powerball lottery, I was thinking about $48,000 in buried treasure.  In 1951, Houston Press columnist Sig Byrd wrote of a second-hand account of 1935 bank robbery that resulted in the loot getting buried in the Jefferson, TX cemetery.  The great thing is the amount of detail that accompanied the story (the town, landmarks & the nearest gravestone.)

"It was said to be buried in a dutch over at the foot of a cedar tree, near a tombstone inscribed with the name A.D. Kenny," "besides the T & P tracks" (Texas & Pacific.)

A quick google map search shows in Jefferson, TX, a rail line on the south east border of the Oakwood cemetery.  Could this be the place? Not if my resource on the cemetery is correct (and thanks to the internet, I did find an expert on that small town's cemetery.)  But that is for another post.  Until then, here is the story in Sig's own words.

1951-06-21 - Byrd, Sig "The Dutch Oven Treasure, or Biting the Little Shamrock." Houston Press, [Houston] 21 June, 1951, Page 1, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly. 

"The Dutch Oven Treasure & The Sage of Short McKinney" - The Stroller - Houston Press, Pg. 15 - Thursday, July 26, 1951, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

"Salzman Takes Over Dutch Oven Mystery" - The Stroller - Houston Press, Pg. 11 - Wednesday, September 26, 1951, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

In Where the Blogger Looks to Write a Blog Post, And Actually Does

As in most creative endeavors, the tangible result (a painting, a drawing, a blog entry, etc...)  is the goal.  But when motivation is blocked by indecision, frustration is my most frequent companion.

“There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision...  ...Full half the time of such a man goes to the deciding, or regretting, of matters which ought to be so ingrained in him as practically not to exist for his consciousness at all. If there be such daily duties not yet ingrained in any one of my readers, let him begin this very hour to set the matter right."

                                                          - William James, Principles of Psychology (1890)

So, this post, the first in over a month, is to string a small collection of words together (this very hour!).  And if I continue to do this, the habit of blogging will take root again.  It doesn't seem like much, but asking very little of myself is a kindness.

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In another victory of motivation over sloth, my love of roadside attractions (specifically Rock City, TN) resulted in me repainting my shed in countryside barn advertising.  Still needs some work, but this a pleasing start.

"See Beautiful Rock City Today"... On my Shed, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Texas Contemporary Art Fair 2012:

It was a quick hit and run at the Texas Contemporary Arts Fair on Saturday.  Only a few hours, which was not enough for me to digest the full range of galleries and artists.  But I did run into a few unexpected friends, which was bonus.

Also, had my smiling face added to the Asia Society's "What Are You" wall.  As a result of being overstimulated with all the art, I paraphrased my favorite Blazing Saddles quote and said, "My mind is flooded with rivulets of thought."  Which it was.

Texas Contemporary Art Fair 2012, originally uploaded by brent solomon.

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Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Skylar Fien @ Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Aaron Morse @ Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Detail - Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Texas Contemporary Art Fair - Houston, TX - 2012, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Rice University Art Gallery: Never Stop Being Great

Yasuaki Onishi @ the Rice University Art + iPhone & Photosynth image stitcher = damn nice shots of a great show.

Yasuaki Onishi "Reverse of Volume" - Rice Art Gallery - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Yasuaki Onishi "Reverse of Volume" - Rice Art Gallery - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Masked Martian Girls: Mine & Historical

Zoe - Goofing in the Garage, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Like girls from Mars are these "top women" at U.S. Steel's Gary, Indiana, Works. Their job is to clean up at regular intervals around the tops of twelve blast furnaces. As a safety precaution, the girls wear oxygen masks., 1940 - 1945

Sweet Peep Wreath: Crafting for the Holiday

Peep Wreath on the Door, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

If you pass this door, you now know where I live.  It's what happens when I have too much free time and 124 peeps.

New Good Things from the Past & Present: Artistic Institutions

Jobs and employers.

They can be anything from the best thing ever to the worst, consuming time and thoughts that should be spent on friends, family and one's self.  So, I was happy to give two weeks notice at the job where I felt unable to meet my boss's unreasonable expectations, for what I hope to be my dream job.

Full time art installation at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

Just yesterday, I found this lovely typography-and-designed-filled ode to an former employee of the Knox Hat Company, circa 1907.  Robert MacFarland was given a gorgeous token of appreciation for his time at the company.

It was a reminder that people can be appreciated for their contributions (something that many of my co-workers expressed when I told them of my impending departure.)

And so, I look forward to new inspiration for myself and this blog.  In the mean time, enjoy the lovely artistic printing flickr user relic57 rediscovered and posted.

Resolution Engrossing II, originally uploaded by relic57.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Night Court

Houston Skyline and 1910 Courthouse, originally uploaded by telwink.

Seen on the Road: Get to Know Me

"Handsome Smart Funny & Modest" - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Seen on the Road: Harry Potter Hummer Fan

Harry Potter Fan Hummer - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Bumper sticker = "My Other Car is a Nimbus 2000"