PUBLIC ACCESS STUDIO AND ART SHOW.

The Paul Moeller Studio was built by a group of volunteers and is still part of my responsibility as the President of the Board.  We just bought new equipment and one piece was excessively noisy. I went to check it out.

We settled on a fix for the noisy playback equipment, pretty boring stuff. I don’t program anymore. The one change I admired that I hadn’t seen before, was Ed Lark, our manager, put up pictures of people who have made over 100 programs. I thought that was a nice touch. Jim programmed and made 95 productions for Olympia, WA. public access studio. I worked on about 80 productions when I was active. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but it was one of the things we had in common when the dating service paired us up on Senior People Finder.


When I visit San Andreas, I like to stop by the local Arts Council Gallery which is currently hosting their annual Student Art Show. They had some pretty nice pieces.


Student art is very affordable, and what a wonderful thing to happen to a budding artist is for someone to pay money for their work.

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If you’ve never visited the gallery, it is an ever changing scene of local talent. I try to get there at least four times a year. Give it a go.


I had other errands, a leak in my power steering, a bit of shopping. It took up half the day. I received the last paper I was waiting for to finish my taxes.  It was nice to get out and do something different for a change, especially with the beautiful weather we are having.

LYME ACADEMY OF ART.

The Lyme Academy of Art is in the village of Lyme which is typical of what I’ve been seeing here. Neat white houses, white fences, beautiful trees. A lovely, peaceful village. Typically,  if you are visiting the coast, you’ll see coastal paintings, boats, seascapes etc. In New England, I expected some neat white houses. An academy has a different perspective. But, I’m ahead of myself. The first gallery is the faculty gallery in which I found the painting above.

The only painting of flowers we saw was also faculty.

Faculty.

It didn’t take long to realize that the human figure is emphasized as a starting point in the academy and that is how it should be.


These two lesson drawings by a student show the intensity of studying every muscle, limb, joint, and gestures and how they interact under clothing.

The students draw from live models. Two student’s paintings of a woman sitting in a chair.

How different they are.

The students are encouraged to each do a self-portrait. This woman discovered her mother in her self-portrait.

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This self-portrait was pastel and under glass so the picture has some interfering glare.

Also under glass. They are all so different and quite fascinating to me.

One thing that bothered me about the exhibit was the number of macabre paintings like this:  bloody dead bodies, hazmat figures, holocaustic.

Ghoulish.

Faceless. I find them unpleasant and wonder?  Art reflects society, and these are our young people. Is this a reflection of what they subconsciously think about as a future?

This curious painting has so much going on. A woman swimming while pulling a boat with an unfriendly looking chap in the boat. A kid sticking his tongue out at an older woman walking with a cane. The girl behind her maybe assisting the boy with the blanket as though they are ready to toss it over the woman. It makes the viewer question the subject with an angelic figure on an island in the background. It fascinated me as well as puzzled me.

Even this bucolic campsite scene has a woman looking kind of brazen and out-of-place, smoking her cigarette in the woods.

There are a lot of tasteful nudes in the exhibit.

I particularly liked this one.

There were few happy paintings, but this garrulous, fantasy crowd was appealing. We are probably looking at  a future children’s book illustrator. Some of the paintings begged the questiion. How are they planning to make a living with their art?

Compared to 2010, when I visited the academy, I guess I would have to say I was disappointed with the new crop of student’s work. I would loved to have had such an opportunity this academy offers. It is a four-year degree program and costs $22,000 to attend for one year.

RAIN, SURF AND ART.

Another cold, wet and rainy day. I wanted to see some art and Selena’s memorial. Selena was a young Texas girl who was destined to become the Hispanic Madonna;  beautiful voice, talent, an already star-studded singing career at age 23 when she was gunned down by her fan club president. There is a brief story of her life at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena


I’m not even familiar with her music, but there is a sample of it at the Wikipedia link. I just remember the anguished messages I would read on passing cars after her death,  signs painted on their windows. Justice for Selina. We love you Selena. Selena lives.  Her fans were heartbroken. I promised myself I will download some of her music someday soon.
The shoreline drive was grey and wet and we stopped into the Art Center of Corpus Christi with their clever  motto being: Life Is Short, Art Is Long.


They have several galleries featuring local artists, a nice lunch spot and the  exhibits change every month. Quality work, here.  One artist, Ty Heintze stood out from the rest. A small charcoal drawing sells for $5,000. He has won many awards.  (No pictures allowed in the galleries.)
You can photograph in the student rooms,  a huge area featuring middle school and high school artists. I found the most interesting, three portraits made by different students,  using a disciplined method of rendering the whole drawing with a finger pressed in ink.


The portraits themselves are quite compelling, but the method is unique, and great practice for students.


Much harder than it looks, as you can imagine.


The art center clay studio was closed this day, but the frame around the gallery was also a treat. Eight inch tiles, each about an inch thick, formed the trim around the door. Each tile done by a different student.

Surprisingly innovative and three dimensional. The Art Center suggests to me that there is a very vibrant arts community in Corpus Christi.


We moved on to The Texas Surf Museum out of curiosity.


It is mostly walls and walls of various surfboards. Various types and styles from the past and present.


I found that surf boards can be as personal as their owners.


The museum is a combination shop and museum about people who love, love, love their sport. There are tender messages, and eulogies to those notables who inspired others  and passed; autographed boards, many,many pictures and three different videos to watch.


The only place you are likely to see a surf board dressed in a shirt and outfitted with a video player. There are three places to watch surfing adventures on video.


This is a meeting,or class, surfboard style.


Surfing can be individual or competitive or just part of a social club.


The most endearing photos were of disabled and blind adults and kids being guided through the joys of surfing by club members.


The sheer joy on their faces tells the tale.


Avid surfers will enjoy this museum much more than we did. It is a special community. But, the joy in these photos warmed me.


It was a great way to wait out the rain.


And, the shop owner recommended Kikos Mexican restaurant as a family owned, distinctive and delicious place to eat. And, it was. My order was chicken enchildadas with chili gravy, (raw onions came on the side) and a guacamole cup. The chips and salsa were superior, no salt on the chips and the salsa distinctively different, and good. It is located on Everhart St. just blocks off San Padre Island Drive.
You won’t be disappointed.