Rainy days bring mind ramblings

I love old photos.  The funnier and more mysterious the better.  I can't help but look at them and make up the life stories, circumstances, and thoughts of the folks in the photo.  Rainy days always bring me to lose myself and time in our various boxes of collected photos.
I have a number of photos of this young man and they all bring a smile to my face with his self-secure and slight smirk. I tend to write a tiny short story for each image.  I wrote this one for valentines this year.
I wish I the girl of my dreams.  How hard can it be?  Put on a suit, give a wink like Uncle Saul taught me, a nod of the head and a quick glance back as you turn to run out of pure envy of the good life.

Art, Woody Guthrie, and the Bellfuries

We took a little trip through Arkansas and Oklahoma this past week.  
We live in a great world now, where it is easy to find good restaurants with fresh local fare.  Lord, we have had many a disappointing meal in the past just trying a place based on the review of local folks, a great building, or a good neon sign.
We ate at a nice place called The Greenhouse Grill in Fayetteville, loved their barley risotto so much, we struck out the next day to visit the local War Eagle Mill where we could purchase some and take it home.  Then we headed to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.  This museum was started and funded by Alice Walton, Walmart heiress.  The building alone is worth the visit.  The collection is nice and there are surely pieces worth traveling to see, but for us the scope was limited in American Art.  But it is really nice gift for the area as it's free to visit and the guards are all enjoying their jobs and very mid-western pleasant.
We then headed to Tulsa to see one of my world favorite museums - The Phillbrook.  I can't even begin to tell of all of the great food we enjoyed in Tulsa.  You wouldn't have to leave downtown....nice hotels, great food, THE WOODY GURTHRIE CENTER, Contemporary 108, and my favorite of bars - the Cellar Dweller. 
We lucked out on getting to see our friends, The Bellfuries at the Mercury Lounge on Valentines Day.  The full moon brought the best show we had ever seen by these guys.  They are from Austin and have the early rock and roll sound down.  Such talented guys!!!!
On the way home, we went through several old downtown districts and in a sadly empty district, we saw one thriving business...The House of Overalls.  One super smart business mind in a country town brings me happiness every time.

Showtime!

Today's the day that BIG HAIR & SPARKLY PANTS is up for public consumption. Folks always ask us to explain what kind of place we have here in Waxahachie and honestly it is beyond any words other than to just say it's our brain's turned inside out.
We show what we like and work with folks we want to work with.  
Of course pieces are for sale and can go out into the world beyond Webb Gallery, but we are the ones who truly benefit from each exhibit, as all these pieces here in our building are enjoyed every day by us and enrich our lives for the next few months.
That is something to celebrate with some libations, food, great music and  a super fun gathering of all kinds of people.   

Got 'em!

Well i had to show the end result after i posted the inspiration!  My goodness, I love them!!!
I have been working on Rex to make me some all white boots for years.  He had repeatedly shot down my idea, having never worked with the white kangaroo i was wanting for the shoe tops.  
Rex learned boot making from his Grandfather and has his own way and style.  He is a dry character and I love nothing more than a visit to a dry Texas character who possesses a ton of talent.
He has made some wonderful crazy ideas of boots for Bruce and I for years now.  In fact, he let me know upon my visit this week, that he had been making boots for us for 10 years.  He treasures that we have introduced him to some interesting artistic types who challenge his learned ideas of boot making.  We treasure him, his wit, his talent, and his old school timeless way of doing things....He is definately an example of the quote "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

a great day for some handmade boots

Over the last decade we have fallen in love with the tradition of handmade cowboy boots!
Once you have someone put down an old ledger, trace, and measure all parts of your feet you know the specialness.  We have been collecting the boots of Rex Klingelhoefer for a number of years now.  He makes boots for ranchers, so they are made for wearing and comfort.  He, himself is a piece of artwork, which makes his boots so sincere, not to mention the care in his creations.  I'm heading to pick up a pair of new boots I ordered for our upcoming opening of our Texas exhibit.  He and his boots are as Texas as it gets.  
For me ordering boots brings on a slight sense of panic in just what I want, knowing that I am only giving Rex an idea to run with and he is the true creator from my suggestions.
Rex takes about 3-6 months to complete a pair of boots.  When i visited him to talk about the new pair i wanted, I had all kinds of ideas in my mind; but on the way I ran across this book cover and knew that was the thing for me.....Webb - Web - Spider - it's all such an obvious choice.  
I can't wait to see and slip into my new boots, but even more the step back in time with the visit to Rex is opening a door into old-school Texas culture and history, which is magical.

Joe Ely, Drug Deal & Fort Worth Stock Show

We traveled to Fort Worth last night to see the Fort Worth Stock Show and meet up with Joe Ely.  We are friends and admirers of Joe, his music, his words, and his artwork. So, we are super excited that he is part of our next exhibit opening here at the gallery.  It's an exhibit about what we think about Texas and Texas isn't Texas without Joe Ely.
Picking up Joe's work was like a drug deal in the Garden Hilton Inn parking lot.  He passed us a suitcase and a bundle of wrapped pieces which are framed with prison glass. 
"Rambler Gambler" is the suitcase piece.  It's based upon a story from Joe's plumber friend Ducky.  Ducky once grabbed the opportunity to look into Hank Williams suitcase.  Let's just say that Hank had the essentials.......

Lubbock

Dexter loves to travel and we do a plenty of it.  
We enjoy going around looking at interesting stuff in wonderous places.
West Texas is one of these wonderlands and Lubbock is surely the pinnacle of wonderment. Flat, flat and flat....but the nicest and real folks there!  
We have long been fans of that era of musical talent from Lubbock like Terry Allen, Jo Harvey, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.  Not to mention Buddy Holly was from there and others we are not mentioning.
We recently went to visit Dirk Fowler & Jeff Wheeler about their artwork for our next show here at the gallery.  Both so nice and real folks in such a surreal setting.The neighboring town of Slaton has a sweet museum in an antique mall run by some super sweet German ladies who told us about the German idea of eating 7 sours and 7 sweets at each meal.  I have never heard of such and imagine it to make for a big meal, but she seemed to say it with conviction. And the sausage house combined with yet another antique mall.  I love a good combo business. 
What is it about Lubbock?  I love every time we visit.