Crazy NYC

I just returned from a trip to New York City. My first time in that crazy city, so vibrant and bursting with energy. It was overwhelming. A real workout for the visual and olfactory senses. The latter being mostly stimulated in the subway. Everything I saw was beyond my wildest expectations. The concentration of people, the wealth of interesting and varied architectural styles, the fabulous shops, the impressive quality of the collections at the museums, the restaurants, ...... it has the best, the biggest, the most of everything. It's undescribable. It left a very strong impression. Not a place where I could live - it's way too hectic, too crowded, too fast paced. Certainly worth visiting again. If it's all you see of the US, just don't think that the whole country is like that.

Options - the sequel

Mule Ears oil on canvas 48" X 48" Chris De Dier

The second choice in this commission is again a somewhat stylized landscape at Big Bend National Park by the Mexican border in deep south Texas. The two peaks of rock breaking the horizon line are almost twins and are known as the Mule Ears.

Options

Expanse oil on canvas 48" X 48" Chris De Dier

This painting is a commission for a client who wants to pair it with Brighter. Since I don't know what precisely they have in mind nor haven't seen the space where it will be hanging, and to give them a choice, I am still working on a second painting of the same dimensions, which will be posted as soon as it is finished. But that will be after my trip to New York.

Dallas Art

The Dallas Museum Of Art is big. Its size befits that of the city it is located in. Yet, nothing that I saw there was exceptional enough to be worth remembering. Oh wait, I saw an extremely poor curated exhibit about Roman architectural artifacts found under the ashes of the Vesuvius. The tacky polyester bird bath surrounded by fake foliage around its base as the center piece in one of the halls of the exhibit was totally inapropriate also.
I must admit however, they have a fine selection of Piet Mondrian's work, spanning his entire career. It is always interesting to observe the dramatic evolution in groundbreaking artists' body of work from before and after they experimented with drugs.



On the return to Austin, TX, the skies were breathtaking. Those heavy clouds were the last remnants of the prolonged period of rain showers that inundated our area.

Nasher Garden

Inside Dallas

Recently I was in Dallas, TX and had the time to visit a couple of musea. The Nasher Sculpture Center, designed by acclaimed architect Renzo Piano, is a gem of a museum, inside and out. The indoor space has a glass roof, topped by a metal grille that funnels only the northern light to the space below. The collection is of world-class top quality and certainly worth a detour, even as there is absolutely nothing else of interest in this pretentious city.

After The Rain.....

...sunshine. Woohoo! After several weeks of overcast dark skies and lots of precipitation, finally the sun came out and my backyard no longer looks like a marsh. I like to work on several paintings simultaneously, placing one or two outside in the sun to speed the drying while working on the other... then switching them. That has not been possible with the weather situation we've had this whole summer, but now finally it's back to normal.


Darkness 36" X 36" oil on canvas Chris De Dier available at Davis Gallery, Austin, TX