Lumbo

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

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

Cruising By the Worth Hotel

Dallas Heritage Village
Dallas, Texas

Dallas Heritage Village (click to enlarge)

Dallas Heritage Village
(click to enlarge)

What I learned this week, April 4, 2014

Stock Xootr Swift - I only added the seat bag and bottle cage (click to enlarge)

Stock Xootr Swift – I only added the seat bag and bottle cage
(click to enlarge)

Cycling’s Catching On In Texas, For A Very Texas Reason

Technium

Technium


parking

American cities are haunted by too many parking spaces


Car fire just north of downtown, Dallas.

Car fire just north of downtown, Dallas.

Transportation Planners Hesitant to Tear Down I-345, Because Poor People


Travelling Man - sculpture east of Downtown Dallas

Travelling Man – sculpture east of Downtown Dallas

11 tips for out-of-towners visiting Dallas on Final Four weekend


Dallas Skyline from the Soda Bar on the roof of the NYLO Southside hotel.

Dallas Skyline from the Soda Bar on the roof of the NYLO Southside hotel.

Final Four guide: Celebrities tell us their Dallas favorites


Painting at the entrance to the Urban Gardens, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Painting at the entrance to the Urban Gardens, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

The 10 Best Murals in Dallas

cathedonia4


Writing in my Moleskine Journal outside the Mojo Lounge, Decatur Street, French Quarter, New Orleans

Writing in my Moleskine Journal outside the Mojo Lounge, Decatur Street, French Quarter, New Orleans

Reasons to Love Writing by Hand


Dallashenge from the triple underpass in Dealey Plaza. This is an HDR image - three shots taken at different exposures and combined with software.

Morning Dallashenge – dawn from the triple underpass in Dealey Plaza.

People exposed to earlier sunlight are leaner than those who get afternoon light


List of tracks that sample the Amen break

I knew it sounded familiar – this, for example, is from one of my favorite albums.

Brain, Thoughts, and a Red Door

Mural by Leighton Autrey
Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas (click to enlarge)

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas
(click to enlarge)

“The ugly and stupid have the best of it in this world. They can sit at their ease and gape at the play. If they know nothing of victory, they are at least spared the knowledge of defeat. They live as we all should live– undisturbed, indifferent, and without disquiet. They never bring ruin upon others, nor ever receive it from alien hands. Your rank and wealth, Henry; my brains, such as they are– my art, whatever it may be worth; Dorian Gray’s good looks– we shall all suffer for what the gods have given us, suffer terribly.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Last Sunday I met some friends for a nice bike ride to the Jazz Age Sunday Social at Dallas Heritage Village. We packed picnic lunches on our bikes and it was a glorious day to sit around and relax.

The point of the event was to dress up in costumes from the roaring twenties (with various degrees of success) and dance to tunes of the time. I enjoyed the music a lot – there is something about a live band…. The first group – The Singapore Slingers were an especial bunch of fun.

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

The Singapore Slingers

A lot of people don’t realize this Elvis Song Are You Lonesome To-Night was written in 1926.

Dirk

“…So please, be tolerant of those who describe a sporting moment as their best ever. We do not lack imagination, nor have we had sad and barren lives; it is just that real life is paler, duller, and contains less potential for unexpected delirium.”
― Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

“You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what’s left.”
― Yogi Berra

Hand of Dirk, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Hand of Dirk, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas (click to enlarge)

Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas
(click to enlarge)

I’m still working through older photographs – I need some bicycle shots with my new Xootr Swift, instead of my old commuter bike.

“We have to do something about our bad starts because it’s not the first time it’s happened to us all year. Maybe we should get up at 6 o’clock and run around the block.”
—-Dirk Nowitzki

“I sat down in the producer’s office and he handed me a basketball. It had my name on it.”
—-Spalding Gray

Dirk Nowitzki Gives Conan The Texas Citizenship Test

Jazz Age Dancing

At the Jazz Age Sunday Social
Dallas, Texas

jazz_age1

“Artists use frauds to make human beings seem more wonderful than they really are. Dancers show us human beings who move much more gracefully than human beings really move. Films and books and plays show us people talking much more entertainingly than people really talk, make paltry human enterprises seem important. Singers and musicians show us human beings making sounds far more lovely than human beings really make. Architects give us temples in which something marvelous is obviously going on. Actually, practically nothing is going on.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

Holding Up the Sun

“By day the banished sun circles the earth like a grieving mother with a lamp.”
― Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Mural by Richard Ross
Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

“See,” Sasha muttered, eyeing the sun. “It’s mine.”
― Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad

Richard Ross, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

Richard Ross, Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas

“Here I came to the very edge
where nothing at all needs saying,
everything is absorbed through weather and the sea,
and the moon swam back,
its rays all silvered,
and time and again the darkness would be broken
by the crash of a wave,
and every day on the balcony of the sea,
wings open, fire is born,
and everything is blue again like morning. ”
― Pablo Neruda