Tag Archives: arts festival

Lumbo

Posted on by Bill Chance

Lumbo:

Lumbo, by David Pound, twentyheads.com

Lumbo, by David Pound, twentyheads.com

One reason I always head down to the Deep Ellum Arts Festival as soon as I can after it opens (after work on Friday) every years is so that I can get a look at David Pound’s work before too many are sold.

David Pound, TwentyHeads.com, is a sculptor that makes little monster heads in wooden boxes. I have loved his work ever since I saw it a few years ago and I save up to buy something each year. This would be the fourth.

The First one I bought was Persuasion:

Persuation

Persuation

Then Burrow:

Burrow

Burrow

and last year, I bought Fracture Zone:

Fracture Zone

Fracture Zone

Two years ago, I had David make a commission of a pair of earrings for Candy for Mother’s Day that were modeled on our dog, Rusty.

Earrings I had David Pound make for Candy for Mother's Day.

Earrings I had David Pound make for Candy for Mother’s Day.

They do look like Rusty

They do look like Rusty

As always, he had a large collection of cool little monster heads in boxes. As always, it was tough for me to choose. I think I gravitate to the simpler works – I seem to look for little guys that have interesting expressions on their faces. At any rate, after two visits (I looked for a bit, walked around, and came back to make up my mind) and some input from Candy, I chose Lumbo – a little unhappy looking purple guy with three orange eyes and some delicate bones (mouse bones?) sticking up out of his head.

Now he takes his place with his three buddies on a little shelf over our television (they share their spot with a couple Zulu Coconuts).

If you like David’s work (and who doesn’t) take a look at his website – twentyheads.com. To see more of his stuff, like his facebook page, his DeviantArt Page, or at Nashville’s Smallest Art Gallery.

This year was a good one for growing Monster Heads in little wooden boxes.

This year was a good one for growing Monster Heads in little wooden boxes.

Hard to pick only one.

Hard to pick only one.
(click to enlarge)

I like the heads, I like the titles, and I like the images on the inside of the boxes.

I like the heads, I like the titles, and I like the images on the inside of the boxes.
(click to enlarge)

TunnelVisions

Posted on by Bill Chance

Friday I packed my bike onto the DART train after work and headed downtown – riding over from the station through the heavy Friday/Rushhour/FinalFour/NASCAR/Concert traffic to Deep Ellum. It was the annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival – running all weekend, but I wanted to get in at the beginning.

One of the things (more to come) that I wanted to see was TunnelVisions Mural Tournament.

From the Facebook Page:

The Deep Ellum Community Association is proud to debut the inaugural TunnelVisions 2014 Mural Tournament at the Deep Ellum Village section of the Deep Ellum Arts Festival.

Throughout the weekend, 30 mural artists from across the city will paint 4×8 panels to be attached to a pop-up, walk-through tunnel structure, invoking memories of the TunnelVisions project on Good Latimer. Each artist has exactly 4 hours to paint. 6-8 artists will paint at a time. And it will be pressure-packed, high drama.

Confirmed artists include:
Sour Grapes, Joe Skilz, Hatziel Flores, Judith Lea Perkins, David Rodriguez, Jeff Thornton, Cathey Miller, Isaac Davies, Richard Ross, Tony Slomo, Ben Camillo, Brian Crawford, Michael Lagocki, Patricia Rodriguez, Jerod Davies, Jeff Sheely, Brad Albright, Roxanne Mather, Randy Guthmiller, Dan Colcer, Justin Clumpner, Clint Scism, Jashua Davies, Ixchel Aguilar, and more.

Finished boards are added to the tunnel and over the course of the weekend, the tunnel frame will be transformed into a huge, 12’ wide by 8 foot tall, 32’ deep Mural Tunnel. Artists paint every hour of the Festival until 3pm Sunday, when the last artists finish and judging begins.

Prizes include $1500 for 1st, $750 for second, $250 for third, and a People’s Choice Award. Winners will also receive a package including a night at the Omni Hotel, and Deep Ellum gift certificates.

I especially wanted to get there first thing on Friday because among the first wave of artists were three that I was familiar with. Justin Clumpner had taught the cool Art History class I attended at Kettle Art the other day – Sour Grapes painted a couple of murals we toured on the Dallas Contemporary Street Art Bike Tour – and Richard Ross has a number of Deep Ellum Murals that I’ve admired.

Closeup of the Sour Grapes mural at the Belmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas. (click to enlarge)

Closeup of the Sour Grapes mural at the Belmont Hotel, Dallas, Texas.
(click to enlarge)

Richard Ross Column Deep Ellum Art Park, Dallas, Texas (Click to Enlarge)

Richard Ross Column
Deep Ellum Art Park, Dallas, Texas
(Click to Enlarge)

I made it down there just as they started. It was pretty darn cool.

I’ll try to get by there Saturday to look at some more work… and definitely see if I can see the finished stuff on Sunday. What fun.

The start of a work of art

The start of a work of art

Justin Clumpner starting on his mural

Justin Clumpner starting on his mural

Sour Grapes planning their mural

Sour Grapes planning their mural

Alfredo Pina prepping his panel.

Alfredo Pina prepping his panel.

Sour Grapes

Sour Grapes

Justin Clumpner

Justin Clumpner

Sour Grapes adding detail

Sour Grapes adding detail

Richard Ross

Richard Ross

Richard Ross and Justin Clumpner

Richard Ross and Justin Clumpner

Fracture Zone

Posted on by Bill Chance

This weekend is the Deep Ellum Arts Festival – which I refer to as the Deep Ellum Festival of Arts, Music, Food, and Bad Tattoos. Our plans are to go on Sunday afternoon, when there will be an impressive lineup of music that includes two of my favorite local bands: Home by Hovercraft, and Brave Combo.

Every year though, I like to buy a little monster head in a box, a sculpture by David Pound. He makes little heads out of Polymer Clay and found objects, and mounts them in wooden boxes. I love his work. By Sunday, I was afraid his selection would be thinned out too much, so I decided to ride down on the DART train after work and pick one up Friday evening, when the festival first opened.

I made it down there and walked back and forth along the long line of booths about three times before I saw his booth. For some reason, every year I have trouble finding it, although it’s pretty much in the same place.

David Pound's booth of little monster heads in wooden boxes at the Deep Ellum Arts Festival always draws a crowd.

David Pound’s booth of little monster heads in wooden boxes at the Deep Ellum Arts Festival always draws a crowd.

At any rate, his work was as great as ever. As I looked over the selection, people kept coming in and exclaiming how cool the little monsters were and how imaginative everything was. It was very hard for me to make up my mind -there was the guy with the mouse in his mouth, the alien with cat shoulder blades for ears, or the guy with mole hands sticking out the top of his head.

While I was looking a young girl with bright purple hair that was walking around with her parents bought a yellow head. I told her, “That’s the one I was going to get.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m just teasing.”

Actually, hers was the last one I would have bought. It looked cool, but didn’t have a real face. I decided to buy one that had a wry expression, and picked out one called Fracture Zone.

I hope you like him.

Fracture Zone

Fracture Zone

The heads I bought in previous years:

Persuation

Persuation

Burrow

Burrow

Earrings I had David Pound make for Candy for Mother's Day last year.

Earrings I had David Pound make for Candy for Mother’s Day last year.

Cockpit

Posted on by Bill Chance

Along the street that ran through the center of the Cedars West Arts festival, out in front of the new fencing around OKON Metals, sat the chopped off cockpit of some unknown aircraft. I guess it was out there to show the variety of materials that a metal recycler can deal with – or maybe it was out there simply because it was way cool.

I couldn’t help but hang around the severed snout. One guy looked at it and said to his buddy, “Look at all the bullet holes.” Now I knew better – those puncture wounds weren’t from ballistic ammunition, they were pierce marks from forklift forks (how do you think they move that massive chunk of aircraft aluminum around?) – but I didn’t want to disappoint the guy’s martial imagination, so I stayed silent.

Off to the side, an artist stood with a pad on an easel. His name was Joshua Boulet and I chatted with him for a bit. He had a portfolio of his line-drawings on a stand. I looked over his work done at Occupy Wall Street. “Did you go to New York for these?” I asked.

“Yeah, I set up right there just like I did today and drew these live,” he said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Here is his work in progress. You can see the fire engine from yesterday’s entry in the foreground.

Here’s the finished sketch (click to enlarge)

There was a high step up into the cockpit, but I took a breath, grabbed some loose aluminum and pulled myself in. There are few things as cool as the complex destruction in old, junked aerospace detritus.