Professor Art: MRI and More

The Professor saw the bone and joint doctor for the MRI results. He expected the worse. The doctor said "Yes, you have a tear in your arm joint and bicep. Many older folks do." He said he would not recommend an operation. The Professor told the doctor about the pain patches that Jay had given him. The doctor said, "Good. Use those while your arm heals itself and you probably will not need an operation." He gave The Professor a prescription for physical therapy to help the process along. The Professor will begin physical therapy and will not overwork the arm and will continue to use the patches when needed.

The Professor is actively looking for a studio. He likes the studios at Art Supply on Main Street. They are private spaces. He is on a waiting list.

Mary Margaret has been telling the Professor about Box 13 Gallery and its studio spaces on Harrisburg. They went to a benefit auction at Robert Boyd’s suggestion. By the way, Boyd's blog The Great God Pan is Dead is the only independent gallery review art blog in Houston.

The Professor recommends it. He met Robert and was introduced to Elaine Bradford who showed him what studios were available. The Box 13 space is full of energy; a postgraduate school. Open doors and communal vibes. Really good if you are in your 20s or 30’s.

WhenThe Professor was in his early thirties, he was associated with communal spaces with
Bob Camblin and Joe Tate. Both now deceased. No gallery in our spaces, but we did communal shows at Saint Thomas University. The Professor was Chairperson then. They called themselves the Holding Firm. The first studio was off Montrose behind what is now Zimm’s Wine Bar. An old two story with a garage apartment (now torn down). The Professor had the top floor and Bob took the garage apt and then Joe appeared teaching with Bob at Rice and built a stair and landing connecting the building and they worked jointly on collaborative and their own work.

They then moved to a large house behind what is now the Blue Bird Circle shop off Alabama. They rearranged the space and built a huge two-story deck and a fenced backyard using recycled lumber. They had no building permit. The interior was open for joint endeavors. The Professor learned to become who he is there. But he had to work on his own without the communal spirit so he left for his own space that he rented on Peveto Street off Waugh Drive near what is now the Printing Museum. It was there he found himself.

The Holding Firm dissipated.

The Processor and Mary Margaret enjoyed the show at Box 13 Gallery. None of the gallery pretense. Just good energy. Small works filled with ideas not fully formed. Having such a place to work and exhibit with like-minded artists keeps the dream alive. There is discourse and sharing.

Looking at the work in the gallery and in the studios (he admits he did not see them all) there were very few paintings. The Professor is an old school painter. Painting is hard to do and takes a lifetime to understand. It also takes a lifetime to know how to express what there is in one’s life to be expressed. These young artists are making art from a different perspective with new materials. It seems they define art differently and some of it is not easily accessed for someone who is 72 and content with painting.

As for those open doored studios at Box 13, The Professor prefers his own private work space. He is comfortable painting in public in his classroom at Lonestar College-Tomball, but in his private studio space where he builds his own persona, he'd like to be able to close the door.
Here is a painting The Professor calls Aztec which he painted in his classroom. Here are its three stages of creation.