fall for art

this past weekend was a whirlwind. my husband, an art professor in dallas, has spent months organizing the annual conference for tasa (texas association of schools of art.) the conference was this past weekend, and was full of art, community and inspiration... in short, it was a huge success. on saturday, it was also fort worth's annual, "a day in the district" where they open 9 cultural destinations of forth worth's art district free to the public. in addition to the gorgeous museum of science and history, it included the three biggies: the amon carter, the kimbell , and the world class modern art museum of fort worth.

i'm sure you can just imagine how crowed all these places were. but it's truly the kind of crowds that you don't mind, and positively inspirational to see all the people, many of whom would never have been exposed to art otherwise. the modern is just one of my favorite places on earth to be, so i found the challenge of getting a few pictures (without other people in them) quite entertaining. it's all about patience, my people!







and, i could not leave without a picture of my favorite piece in the whole place, "aschenblume" by anslem kiefer. this one was the hardest to get, by the way :)



if you missed saturday in fort worth, don't worry because the fall art events in north texas are just beginning. the dallas arts district has art in october just around the corner- full of exhibitions, performances, and other events. this kicks of this saturday, october 1st, and among many great events, includes free admission to the dallas museum of art, and another one of my favorite places on earth, the nasher sculpture center. for those of you with kids, i can't recommend the nasher enough. not only will you get great art exposure and beautiful photographs, but there will be great art activities for your kids sponsored by target. and did i mention it's free?! well, yes, it is...this saturday!

i'll see you there!

julia

have i created a monster (or two?)

seth apter at the altered page has a great project this week called "the paper stack project." his call for photos of stacks of stuff in studios immediately had my mind buzzing. i've got those. which should i choose? papers? canvases? bills? lol! no... the craziest stack in my studio belongs to my 6 and 3 year old sons, zane and zachary. this is their recent stack of coloring and sketch books. and these are just the ones in the studio right now. i didn't even bother searching the piles in their bedroom or the stash of completed ones in the trunk that we have to keep forever.



every once in a while...ok, no i'm lying...quite often i freak out over the piles and piles of these books all over my house. but when i stop and actually flip through them, i see that almost every page is colored and drawn on! and that includes the backs. so, have we created a monster over here? i don't think so. i say that is passion. i say that is true love. mess, yes. but monster, never!

you can see more pictures of stacks from seth and other artist studios around the world at the altered page!

-julia

you gotta start somewhere

it's been over a year since my last post. in that time i have done a lot of soul searching about the direction i want to take this business. i have read books, taken business classes, and painted. i have followed other art blogs (thank God for google reader!) and learned and laughed, and painted. i have researched and planned and inquired and dreamed, and painted. and then, in the spring, i lost my dad suddenly. which inevitably sent me spiraling further into, "where the heck am i going with this?'

well, my friends, i'm not sure i have an answer for that yet. but, i am here to tell you i am back. back to share glimpses into the life of a working artist and mother. back to offer art projects and ideas. back to answer art questions if you've got them. back, i hope, to inspire, or, at the very least, amuse. i don't have it all figured out, but, hey, you gotta start somewhere.

this is the painting i was just finishing when my father died suddenly. i don't usually paint with this simplistic of imagery, but it was sort of an experiment for me so i wanted to keep it simple and uncluttered. the text is from the poem, "life" by charlotte bronte. it's about how hope can pull us through those dark times in life and how important it is to enjoy things now because, before you know it, time will fly. i was thinking of my little boys when i started it, because they were 5 and 3 and i just couldn't believe they weren't babies anymore. i'm sure you can imagine the meaning for me now having lost my dad.



you can see this painting and more by clicking here. in the meantime, enjoy them as they fly!

julia