All of these paint samples are for a big art project, another art heart for the Go Red for Women segment of the local Houston chapter of the American Heart Association. I’ve been paired with a local patron and will, to the best of my ability, match the style of the heart to her particular likes and tastes which will then be presented to her in gratitude for her financial contribution toward raising awareness for heart health in women.

Before starting on the actual piece, I’m going to paint a similar image (same color scheme) on a piece of plywood just to practice with these paints. The last time I used house paint for an art project I painted the mural on the back of the house. This won’t be nearly so large a project as that.

For this project, I bought a basic yellow, red, and blue, then a bunch of neutrals to mix colors. At this point I’m a little intimidated (OK, a lot intimidated) by the project, not only because of the unfamiliarity of working with house paint, but also because the initial drawing for the work is very complicated and detailed with only a slight nuance of color differentiation. It won’t be easy. Hopefully the practice painting will help me work through color matching, paint chemistry, paint application, and self confidence issues. Braveness eventually arrives in some form or another when I’m questioning my artistic abilities like this (which happens not infrequently), but certainly not before I actually start the doing of painting. Better get after it. Maybe tomorrow.  🙂

This is my retablo for Lawndale Art Center‘s Dia de los Muertos exhibit. The photo is also a self portrait of sorts. Those are my feet in those pink chucks.

The retablo will be auctioned off at a silent auction on October 25th, though calling it a silent auction seems ridiculous considering how loud and raucous the event is every year. It’s a noisy, crowded auction – super fun, but not at all silent. It’s Lawndale’s annual fund raiser and for the money, one of the best parties in town.

This retablo is 12″ x 12″ oil on metal on hardboard. Opening bid is $50.

The day is fast approaching when these “dress” shoes will be retired. What a sad day that will be.  I’m getting teary just thinking about it.

In my quest to find the best fried chicken in town, and because it came highly recommended, we tried the Dinner Bell Cafeteria last Sunday.We had tried going the week before on a Saturday, but they are closed on Saturday. Duh. How would anyone know that a restaurant would be closed on a Saturday? Apparently it’s common knowledge. I’ve been reluctant to write about our experience because, well, it was less than wonderful.

The Amazing Reese grew up in the east end, and his family would go there
every Sunday after church when he was a child. His dad would never order food. He knew that
his kids would order more than they could eat, so he waited until they
were finished, then he would eat their leftovers. Sounds sensible if you
ask me. Apparently the place was hopping in the late 60’s early 70’s.

We got there between 1:30 and 2 and the place was a like a dark dreary crypt and smelled like the worst part of old, which is incidental considering there’s a cemetery just down the road a piece. It was almost groovy, but not quite. Reese did point out the built in ash tray as we walked to the serving line. It wasn’t that long ago that restaurants allowed smoking. The decor hasn’t changed in decades, if ever. Not that that’s a bad thing, but when the vinyl booth seats have duct tape to keep them from splitting further, maybe it’s time for a little upgrade. 

Our sole purpose in going there was for the fried chicken. After sitting in the main dungeon of a dining room, we unrolled our silverware. Reese remarked that he was glad that my mother wasn’t there. It looked like nothing had been properly cleaned or disinfected in 25 years….maybe more. Still holding out hope that the chicken would be stellar, I bit into a piece. It was properly crunchy…only because it had been sitting under a heat lamp for God knows how long. Underneath the crunch was a layer of chicken jerky and under that, something resembling fried chicken taste. It was really more like they hadn’t cleaned the fryer ever….it tasted like old fryer grease, not that I’ve ever tried old fryer grease, but this is what I imagine it would taste like.

Why oh why did we get suckered into sides? Between three of us, we tried the black eyed peas, fried okra, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and carrots. Nothing was any good. How sad for a cafeteria in the south not to have at least mediocre fried okra and black eyed peas.

It’s a flaw in my character (or, depending how one looks at it, really endearing) that I keep expecting something (life, relationships, experiences) to improve when all evidence repeatedly points to the contrary. Hopeful that the bakery would at least redeem our dining experience, I ordered a cookie on the way out. I should have known better. Bleh.

The best thing about the Dinner Bell Cafeteria  was the companionship of the two people who bravely joined me on this quest to find the best fried chicken in town. It’s not here. Where next?

Goodness, can you imagine that I think of what to do with this retablo for a whole year before I work on it? It’s true. However, thinking isn’t the same as knowing. Even after a whole year, it wasn’t until three days ago that I had a clue what to paint on it. It really throws me off when people ask me how long it takes to paint something because sometimes my brain has been ticking and ticking for ever so long that to give an accurate answer seems impossible, believe it or not.

This go around, I marked the tin (steel) with a grid pattern and decided that I wanted to make the retablo a square instead of rectangle. (The retablos are 8″ x 10″.) So I got out some big @$$ scissors to cut it to a 8″ x 8″ size. Then I used the same grid, well, not the same because I had to adjust it,  over one of my previous paintings, Pink Chucks,  so basically copied my own painting, which one would think would be simple, but those laces are very complicated, even with the benefit of a grid.

Next, I will cut some wood (or something) to size and mount the painting on that so that the whole thing can be displayed on a wall because this is for Lawndale Art Center for their Dia de los Muertos annual fund raiser. The starting bid for this will probably be $50.

me: I’ve been researching fried chicken.
Reese: How to make it?
me: No, where to find the best fried chicken in Houston.

As with all quests, I’m excited to see where this one takes us and
super excited to taste my way around town. Our first stop was Frenchy’s Chicken on Scott Street, not too far from the University of Houston. It came highly recommended from several sources, word of mouth and the great inter web world.

 

To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with the taste….with the first piece. For whatever reason, the second piece of chicken was much better. By my third piece, I was a devoted fan. Between the Amazing Reese and me and ten pieces of fried chicken goodness, we managed to eat all but two wings and half a breast.

Of course, who isn’t a sucker for sweet potato pie? Having pie with a spork on a picnic blanket under a shade tree is just a bonus.

Where do you think we should go next?

When we got to the Art Car Museum for the “God” exhibit opening reception on Saturday night, Reese stopped outside to grab a bite to eat before coming in, but I was anxious to see the show and so went in without him. The very first thing I saw was Reese’s “Hand”. I was so excited that I ran outside and hurried Reese in telling him all the while that his “Hand” was the first thing everybody sees!

It’s on the glass case to the left of the front door. It really looks groovy in the place. Reese was excited, too.

Also in the entryway, just across from Reese’s “Hand” is a delightfully fun piece called “The First Breakfast”. It’s very clever, with Tony the Tiger sitting in the place of Jesus surrounded by his breakfast cereal character disciples. Honestly, looking at this drawing, I can hear Jesus saying “They’re Grrrrreat!” It makes me smile thinking of Jesus being so enthusiastic. It also makes me hungry for Frankenberry cereal.

And this is little ole goofy me standing in front of “Cottonwood”. It sounds silly to put this in writing, it is silly, I mean good grief I’m 48, but last year, I went through a phase where I worked hard to remember to pose in photos like movie stars do in magazines, you know, chin down hand on hip one foot forward whole body at slight angle. Evidently this was not one of those times. Oh, well. And now you know even more about how ridiculous I can be.

Look who I ran into at the Houston Fine Art Fair! Yep, that’s Cheech Marin. When I asked if he’d mind posing with me in a photograph, he readily obliged, then said, “It’s $50 or a lap dance – whichever you prefer.”  Even though I had the $50, for Cheech Marin to ask this 48 year old lady for a lap dance is, well, that sort of thing just doesn’t happen every day. He was a good sport.

 

This was my second favorite piece. It was probably called Yellowstone Pine (?) though I don’t actually remember. The artist was represented by Santa Fe Gallery and can be relatively easily researched. (My friend Joan got a pamphlet from the gallery.)

It was so much fun going with an art friend who was excited to see works
in person that she had previously only seen in print or online. Joan
knew much more than I did about many of the artists we were seeing and her enthusiasm was contagious. Thanks, Joan.

In no particular order, here are some other personal highlights from the fair.

Who can resist an adorable bronze miniature horse? So cute.

This was a John Alexander piece. It’s bound to be called Waterlilies or something to that effect. (I didn’t read the card all that closely.) Recognized it from a ways away, though, probably because the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston had an exhibit of his work not too long ago.

This piece was made from spools of thread. In front of it was a tiny concave glass so that when you looked in the small glass, the image was upright. It was fascinating enough that it was made with spools of thread. I have no idea why the artist would choose to display it upside down like this and add the concave glass. Novelty?

This is a piece made from one inch painted tiles by Nemo Jantzen. The effect he gets from solid color tiles is incredible. It needs space to be appreciated.

This piece was painted on watercolor paper. The blue lines of the “notebook paper” were pieces of thread stretched across the page. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the painted figure is catching drops of blue lines which is making a puddle at his feet. Very clever.

Also, Cheech loves Texas.

Editor’s note:  Many of you have commented on Cheech asking me for a lap dance. Yes, he really said that, but considering he started his career as a stoned comedian, it
felt like part of his act. I was amused. 

My guess is that it’s one of several witty replies in his arsenal for when people ask him for an autograph or photo. It evidently offends some people,
which weeds out (so to speak) who actually stays for the photo op. 

Also, when I told the Amazing Reese what Cheech said, he laughed out loud, like the Amazing Reese he is. It didn’t bother him a bit.


Cheech is highly regarded as having one of the finest collections of Chicano art in the United States. The way he lives his life as a fully creative person, comedian, actor,  director, writer, musician, and art collector is inspiring. What I’m trying to say is that he’s more than the comment.

This is a first. Both the Amazing Reese and I will have a piece in the Art Car Museum‘s “God” exhibit. The opening reception is this coming Saturday, September 15th from 7-10pm.

It will be curious to see how other artists interpret this very personal theme. Compartmentalizing God in a two dimensional format was almost too much for my brain to process.

The piece of mine that will be exhibited through December 15th is “Cottonwood”. It is to symbolize one small facet of the beauty of God’s creation.

Reese’s piece is called “Hand” and is made from a coat hanger with a brick base. You can see him holding his hand (holding His hand?) standing in the long line at the Art Car Museum to deliver our pieces. Reese has long been a coat hanger artist. He uses coat hangers for
everything. Not even kidding.

Besides the opening reception on Saturday night at the Art Car Museum, where, of course, we’d love to see you, we will also be volunteering at Saint Arnold Brewing Company on Saturday morning and afternoon. I’ll be in the front handing out glasses and tokens. Reese will be a tank farmer. Taps are open from 11am – 3. Should be a fun Saturday. 

There are times in my artistic pursuit when I struggle so much over a
particular painting that it absolutely and completely blocks ALL forms
of creativity. Ugh. What’s to be done?

I’ll tell you what….better yet, I’ll show you. This.

A 50 gallon drum would be better for this sort of thing, but the grill worked just fine. Yes, the garden hose was running for safety reasons. All in all, this was a very worthwhile and satisfying way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Next week, here I come.

1. build boxes for paintings
2. mail paintings
3. check volunteer dates
4. e-mail Lawndale about volunteering
5. e-mail Pam and Valerie about iPub
6. write blog entry about ___?
7. empty dish washer
8. think of something for supper
9. tidy house
10. do something about organizing upstairs bathroom
11. tweet/facebook for old blue jeans
12. donate clothes to goodwill
13. or suffer mild humiliation by “selling” clothes to buffalo
14. make boxes
15. figure out how to do the God art project
16. e-mail lady about website
17. put assorted art deadlines on calendar
18. paint
19. write blog entry….

Two days later….
1. fail
2. obviously fail
3. what does this even mean?
4. check
5. no
6. _______? still nothing
7. yes!
8. yes
9. sort of….it’s better than it was
10. nope
11. yes. I should do that again, though….put this on new list
12. not yet
13. definitely no
14. still no
15. kind of….I know what to do just not how to do it, so no
16. nope
17. no
18. yes and no
19. this will have to do