Collages

These collage silhouettes brought a smile to my face

as I walked into the Contemporary Art Museum at TCU. The artist, Alicia Paz was born in Mexico City but has lived all over the world,

 including France and England where she presently resides.

Alicia dabbles in an eclectic mixture of genres some say influenced by her nomad existence over the years..

I am not quite sure the story behind these playful collages....but I thought they were fun.

Flaneuse

I have learned a new word "flaneuse" which is the female of the French word flaneur. To flaneur was the act of strolling about ,usually a top hatted (upper class) man who  walked around 19th century Paris  aimlessly  and reported on what he saw. More than likely things connected to the arts.Women at that time were expected to have chaperones and would not stroll about or flaneur on their own.

The Contemporary Arts Museum on the Texas Christian University campus has an exhibit on modern day flaneuses, from all over the world, reporting back with works of art representing what they have witnessed on their streets. I attended the exhibit with my art appreciation special interest group.

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This large photo caught my eye. It is by Martha Cooper who is a photojournalist from Baltimore. In the 1970's and 80's she  documented the graffiti artists in NYC. At that time 80 per cent of the taggers were men. Meet Lady Pink (taken in 1982) who  represented one of the very few female taggers of her time. Lady Pink today is 53yrs old and  a respected artist,muralist and tagger.

Casa

I took a break from unpacking when my sister Polly ask be to go to a musical Hello Dolly at the beautiful Casa Manana theater. 

Translated, the name of the theater is House of Tomorrow. Looking rather futuristic the domed theater was actually built back in 1958 on land where the original Casa Manana was located.

 You see back in 1936 Dallas was chosen over Fort Worth for the Texas Centennial celebrations. Certain Fort Worth officials were furious about this and one man who had the money to do something about it, did. Mr A. Cater set about building exhibits, sideshows, a wild west show and a circus to attract people away from it's rivals (Dallas) event. He even hired Billy Rose (a famous NY showman) to produce the Show of Shows. An outdoor amphitheater seating 4,000 was constructed that even had a mote of spraying fountains that could be operated as a curtain. That complex was dismantled around the time of World War II due to rising costs.

The play was wonderful and the dome theater is the perfect place to see a play or musical up close.

If you have the time...reading about the events here in 1936 may amuse you. Go HERE

We Made It

Hello from Texas. We had a nice drive home. Some folks make the fourteen hour drive in one day, but we always stay overnight along the way.

We took a different way home this time. Instead of going straight east out of Lake City, we dropped  south at a town called South Fork. This way takes you to Santa Fe, New Mexico by way of Pagosa Springs, CO.. Although Santa Fe was not our destination this time. Our goal was to travel on a small highway (84) that we hadn't been on before.

It did add a couple of hours to our day, but oh my. The 150 miles stretch between Pagosa Springs Colorado and Santa Fe New Mexico is breathtaking. The route takes you past the famous Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keeffe lived and painted in her later years. Her place was just a small section of the ranch which is over 21,000 acres and open to the public for various tours. They even have rustic cabins where you can stay overnight. We will plan a trip back  there next summer and hopefully stay over, so we can take a few of those tours.
For more info on the famous Georgia O'Keeffe go HERE

Ft. Worth has had more than the usual amount of rain lately, so the plants on our patio have grown. We are going to trim the Pyracantha Tree this week...which has really grown from all of the moisture. Okay, back to unpacking...or should I go to the grocery store...decisions, decisions...

I'm Here

 

.........but not for long. We are headed back to TEXAS early this year. We have a big trip coming (more on that later), and we have a lot to do to get ready.

We did take a break from packing this morning and took a drive to the south of town to see if the leaves had started turning. It looks like peak color for the Aspen is more than a week are so away,

but it was still a pretty drive.

The weather today is sunny,cool and just about perfect. We stopped in town and picked up a gourmet sandwich to split (since I have already emptied and cleaned our fridge).
Back to packing. If you don't find a new post it will be because we are on our way...I will return...Janey

A Day Trip

As I mentioned previously, my sister Polly and her husband have been visiting.

One of her requests was to drive to a nearby ski resort for lunch and picture taking. 

Above is the Butte of Crested Butte Ski area which is about an hour and a half drive. No, that was no E.T. flying through the frame.

The weather was absolutely perfect so we had lunch on the terrace of a place called The Steep (good choice).

Then we set out taking pictures. The whole town is made up of cute and colorful little (expensive) cottages

and they are all very different

I didn't take nearly as many as she did..but these are all mine

I get distracted now and then by furry animals

and humorous signs

I can only image how pretty these places are in the snow.

but the whole place is a delight in the summer too.

The best way to see this place is of course on foot or by bike.

That way you don't miss anything

We were tired after we got home..but decided it was worth the trip.

Pot Luck

On Wednesday evening all summer the Vicker's Ranch has a potluck on the top of Gold Hill. Sometimes we are lucky enough to be invited.

 To reach the top you drive up a winding (somewhat bumpy) jeep trail through a tall Aspen Forest.

The ride is certainly worth it when you arrive at the top to discover this view.

My sister Polly who is a photographer, could hardly contain her enthusiasm ...and jumped out of the car with her tripod in hand, and started trotting over to the edge. My husband Tom was in fast pursuit to make sure she didn't tumble over the edge!

There is a large fire pit to grill any meat that you bring, and you also bring a dish to share (potluck).

This time of year the crowd has dwindled a bit,

but someone still instructed their Australian Shepard to save their table!