Art + Photo + Words
Ain't no sunshine. It's a dreary, dull, drab, gray day. A day that demands a wing and a prayer to find inspiration. A day for an Artist's Poem, one I wrote and hand-lettered while under the influence of The Artist's Way, the Serenity Prayer and yoga mantras. ♣ Related articles Inspiration (juliacameronlive.com) My Poem 'The Artist's Life'... Continue Reading →
It takes a whole lotta cranes to hoist up a new Marriott in downtown Austin, where change is changing faster than you can say change. The upcoming architecture at 2nd Street and Congress Avenue demonstrates the pattern of change in a city where urban = big growth. Is it too late to keep Austin Weird?... Continue Reading →
It's often hard for a painter to know when to quit. I'm facing that question today, with the painting I began yesterday. Is it finished? Is there something more to add? And the bubbling undercurrent, always . . . If I keep painting, will I ruin it? Ahhh, that fear of "ruining it." The words spoken by... Continue Reading →
In 2004, there was architectural eye candy everywhere you looked in Austin.
What could be tastier on Mondays than 2 for 1 Burgers at The Elite Cafe in Waco, Texas? Serving an elite road food clientele, including Private Elvis Presley, along the Waco Circle since 1941.
When Austin's Americana Theatre held its gala opening in 1965 with a premiere of The Rounders, starring Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda as aging cowboys, its builder pitched his single-screen theater as “The Showcase of Austin, featuring beautiful lobby, AirFlo rocking chair loge seats, and exotic ladies’ lounge.” Its movie lifespan was short: it closed in... Continue Reading →
. . . There's a complex explanation in physics for reflection. Reflection is defined as "the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The law of reflection says that for specular reflection the angle at which the wave... Continue Reading →
Antone’s, the club whose name is perhaps most synonymous with The Live Music Capital of the World moniker that Austin carries, is up for sale. Though its soul left the club long ago, when Clifford Antone left Austin for parts unknown. Upon Clifford Antone’s death in 2006, former Austin Mayor Will Wynn conceded, “One of the primary reasons... Continue Reading →
Oh, the stories we can tell, when we have a connection with our art.
We'd honestly like to see more of the Tiniest Bar in Texas. It's just that these days, cranes and other towering structures are rapidly closing in on it. Makes it kinda tough to spot such a tiny bar. Hang on, Tiny Bar! Don't let the Tall Towers and Big Cranes bring you down! ♣ Related articles Tiniest... Continue Reading →
Walk or Don't Walk, it's up to you at Wiggy's I have long been fascinated by juxtapositions. In fact I've tried to build my entire Vanishing Austin photography series around them, and this one always grabs me as I look towards downtown in the early evening. Despite the other towers rising all around and high... Continue Reading →
Creativity comes with practice–daily. It's easy to join the club, but it takes effort to stay in the game.
Thanks to a new iPhone app by John Saddington called Pressgram, creatives are able to publish their own images directly to their blogs and -- here's the big concept -- maintain ownership of them, by sharing on a platform that insists they must own their content, too. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, there is no fine... Continue Reading →
"People don't live in Austin to work, they work to live there." —Robert Rodriguez In the vein of working to live in Austin, I offer a Vanishing Austin photograph revealing the true reason for drinking beer, as described on Little Woodrow's billboard on West 6th Street. It's Labor Day Weekend—the oxymoronically-named weekend when we all stop... Continue Reading →
There's a tiny speck of a town in Texas along the Mexico border that ensnares most visitors to nearby Big Bend National Park for at least an afternoon. Its curious origins, quasi-historic status and the dusty faded remnants of its former mining life under a brutal desert sun attract the odd hiker, the off-the-beaten path... Continue Reading →
Ideas in my blog's Drafts folder are growing mold, since the shiny newest thing is always most appealing. But on Mondays, who feels inspired to start something new? Here are some sources of inspiration for starting something new. Or for just polishing off those moldy old rough drafts: 1. 15 Ways to Rediscover Your Inspiration, from... Continue Reading →
As a self-defined seeker of the wacky, I've cultivated a number sources I follow online to get my Weekly Wacky Fix. These are some of the more creative bits I've read this week, many of which I round up every Friday in Time Traveling. The current buzz term for this is content curation, so that... Continue Reading →
"I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares." —SAUL BASS, graphic design icon ♣ SAUL BASS: "I want everything we do to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything, or that the client thinks it’s worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It’s worth it... Continue Reading →
Austin Power: "You can't turn me on." Austin Powers: "Au contraire baby, you can't resist me." Austin Power's getting turned back on, after two-plus dormant decades, as its transformation from an Art Deco design icon to a "future urban oasis . . . in downtown Austin" gets underway. Our city can't resist a redevelopment opportunity this... Continue Reading →
How did a burger and shake shop on I-35 get the name Health Camp? We can only speculate. But we sure can enjoy.
Jann Alexander :: Pairings 