Carole Sikes Artist / Writer in Austin, Texas

MERRY CHRISTMAS...Austin is buzzing with Christmas activities too numerous to mention, so I wont.  I have been writing instead of painting. The book is GROWING UP IN AUSTIN, the on-line publisher Lulu.com has copies if you are so curious you'd like to buy one. Publishing is free so Lulu makes money on the copies that are purchased. I bought 8 for grandchildren and the Austin History Center and SMU's Archives of Women of the Southwest. So I'm sure Lulu has made her costs. I have no way to compare Lulu with any other on-line publishers so I'm not recommending them. But I do recommend that all of you who are older than dirt make haste to do this. It is very satisfying and even though your grandchildren won't give it a nod until you are dead, they will be glad then. Not that you're dead but that you left them some idea of the strange life before iPads, smart phones, video games and for heavens sake even without TV and  air conditioning. So here is an excerp...an

CONGRATULATIONS TO AUSTIN MUSEUM OF ART AND ARTHOUSE! These two arts organizations have done what our U.S.Congress seems unable to do. They have reached an agreement! After much discussion the two boards of AMOA and ARTHOUSE have agreed to merge. ARTHOUSE reinvented the Texas Fine Arts Association that had shared the Laguna Gloria campus and moved downtown. LAGUNA GLORIA ART MUSEUM became Austin Museum of Art and made plans to create a downtown location on the block it purchased in the heart of the city, although that was not to be. ARTHOUSE was successful in establishing a great Congress Avenue location in a beautifully renovated building along with a tremendous debt. After several unsuccessful attempts to raise funds for a downtown building, AMOA sold its strategically located block and banked its impressive revenue. Each had what the other needed. In my opinion the two boards of directors acted wisely by recognizing this. I'm sure there will be many details to reconcile, not

The image is a RICHARD DIEBENKORN painting from his Ocean Park series on view in Ft. Worth. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Every year the fall and especially October seems to give every organization and most people a shot in the arm. There are projects galore and urgent meetings that often are not. There are things to do that you forgot that you promised to do when fall was so far in the distance. But here we are with a few of the many events for you to consider.       BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART...........an exhibition of works by African artist EL ANATSUI The examples of work in this exhibition are remarkably diverse and impressive when one realizes they are done by a single artist. The works most publicized are the metal wall hangings of small pieces cut and linked by wire into a blanket of color and texture. There are drawings, paintings, prints, and beautiful two dimensional incised wood wall pieces as well as large free standin

 "Quiet Chroma"  20 x 20 inches,  Oil on Canvas, Prepared for the "Red Dot Invitational Show" at WOMEN AND THEIR WORK, 1710 LAVACA in Austin, TX. Those who want a first chance to consider the 200 works of art, priced to sell at $500. or under, can purchase tickets for $80. or $250. depending on how eager you are to get there on Thursday evening September 15th . In addition to the art, the annual gala fundraiser offers trips and gifts for the bidding and the usual libations, party food and exitement.                   For tickets call WATW or go on-line www.womenandtheirwork.org For the rest of you not so eager or who would rather have a sober look, the exhibition continues September 15 through 25.  Enjoy. MUSEUM NEWS:       ARTHOUSE director since 1999, Sue Graze is resigniing effective October 14th. This leaves both ARTHOUSE AND AMOA (Austin Museum of Art) without directors and open for a new hand at the helm should the two decide to unite once again. Both or

Today my husband and I had a delightful lunch with the Blanton's Sarah Young. She got us up to speed on some wonderful future exhibitions at the BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART planned for the remainder of 2011 and next spring. More about that later, but if you haven't seen their "About Face" hurry to the University of Texas campus, park in the garage just east of of the museum for only a short walk in the heat to see the current exhibition. Its cool inside and so is the show. So we are off to the cool ( in lots of ways ) city of San Francisco and wonderful Carmel. The high point will be the Gertrude Stein collection of paintings by the artists of Paris who made history, big time! Catch my Sept. post for details. Before going I have posted the latest of my 30" x 30" series of paintings. This one is called "Ready for Casting". Can you guess why? See below.

August posting will be delayed because we are leaving for San Francisco and a study tour of the museums of that city. We are looking forward to the cooler weather

Former AMOA director DANA FRIIS-HANSEN left Austin a few days ago for a July 4th celebration with family and on to Michigan where he will be director of the GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM (GRAM). It is an impressive art museum with a new building, a permanent collection, and ambitious programming. A farewell party at "the plant" that he and Mark Holzbach own was attended by many friends and well wishers. We had always wanted to see this unique building near Kyle on the Kuykendall Ranch. It was designed by LAKE-FLATO and built with materials acquired from a cement plant that was dismembered. The property can be rented for parties and retreats. There is a fine kitchen and a cozy room with a fireplace plus a two story screened porch, 3 bedrooms and baths and an outdoor, covered swimming pool. Other art news is that ANNETTE CARLOZZI has survived the shake up at the BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART on the University of Texas campus. She remains Deputy Director of Art and Programs under the new di

     My husband Charles and I had our dual website updated, www.sikesart.com . Please check it out. This July blog image (below) is on my side of our website's home page along with one of the series of abstractions that Charles has been creating. To view more of our paintings click on either of our images to get into the other sections.      Charles is a modern man and does not attempt to make me invisible as was the plight for most professional women in the early 20th century and before. Currently in Paris through September 18th there is an exhibition of photographs and furniture designed by Charlotte Perriand. For 10 years during the 1930s, she was a co-creator with the famous architect Le Corbusier but stood in his shadow.  In 1900 in Scotland Charles Rennie Mackintosh married a gifted designer named Margaret Mcdonald. She suffered the same anonymity. As the saying goes, "Behind every great man stands a woman, rolling her eyes."    I was personally affected by readi

I'll be brief because I am having technical trouble with blogging. It is either the Google Blog's problem or my computer's recent bout with a Trojan virus. Hope that never happens to you!      The big news continues to be AUSTIN MUSEUM OF ART (AMOA) and ARTHOUSE. Front page news on the Austin American Statesman's Friday, May 27th issue was entitled "ARTHOUSE, AMOA TO BEGIN MERGER TALKS". I recommend you go the the Statesman's website for details. Look either on the Friday front page or in the Thursday 360 section. It appeared in both places.      Although I have been contacted by "insiders" from both organizations, there is very little to know at this time except what appeared in the article by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin. Because each group has what the other needs and does not have, I am hopeful the merger will work. One has money but soon will give up their Congress Ave. location. The other has a fine, remodeled building on Congress Ave. and the

It seems appropriate to display "Into the Pond" oil on canvas, 30" x 30" painting because summer is here in Austin, Texas.

CHARLESTON PALMS, oil on canvas, 30" x 30 " This painting was produced after traveling with friends two months ago to Charleston, SC. If you like to learn and share ideas with interesting poeople while on vacation, I recommend the trips and programs of ROAD SCHOLAR. We experienced Charleston's gardens and homes with lectures about the city's history from before the American Revolution until after the Civil War, including commerce, black history and plantation life, southern cooking, and much more. We stayed in a beautifully restored hotel in the historical district, toured the city, the Battery, Fort Sumter and the Citidel. All the while looking and learning. BOOKS AND EVENTS At the University of Texas' VISUAL ARTS CENTER (VAC) until May 14th there are art and design works by students pursuing bachelors' degrees and the master's degree. The opening was a big draw. Several days later the alumni of the fine arts department were privileged to gather in the a

On the right is the image of the finished Golden Grasses, oil on canvas, 30"x30". More about this below. But first, I want to clarify my reporting of the Austin Statesman article last month about AUSTIN MUSEUM OF ART- LAGUNA GLORA. JUDITH SIMS at LAGUNA GLORIA and interim AMOA administrator JACK NOKES both sent emails, some of which I want to pass on. According to Judith, the Board of AMOA is still wide open and exploring multiple ideas with enthusiasm and excitement. They are financially responsible and addressing the planning by prioritizing the needs. Examples of the priorities are: closing 823 Congress and selecting a new central location, finding a new director, completing and perhaps improving the master plan for Laguna Gloria. Jack summarized the AMOA plan as follows: "1) to stabilize our budget and operations, 2) to hire the best possible Executive Director, 3) to find an affordable space in which to continue exhibitions and programs in Central Austin, 4) to mak

I'm producing a new 30" x 30" painting of some beautiful grasses like those that have turned golden after our frosty February. I thought it might be interesting to capture at least a couple of stages of the work in progress. Unfortunately I didn't photograph the initial marks on the canvas which to me always are exciting, but here is stage #2. Perhaps next month I will have the final results.

MUSEUM NEWS The rumor is true. Front page news on the Feb. 25 issue of the Austin American Statesman was that AUSTIN MUSEUM OF ART is regrouping, restructuring and moving from its downtown location. The board is considering a focus of their resources on the AMOA-Laguna Gloria Campus. JUDITH SIMS, has been artfully directing activities and improvements at the school, the villa and the gatehouse gallery for many years. She has worked at LAGUNA GLORIA with former directors Laurence Miller and Dana Fris-Hansen. Dana recently resigned as director of AMOA and is currently traveling abroad but hopefully will return to Austin and its arts scene. He will be missed by so many of us who considered him the friendly, gentlemanly face of Austin's first important art museum. AMOA's former administrator JACK NOKES is interim director. He and the downtown staff and some of the "FIFTEEN ARTISTS TO WATCH" were at the Director's Circle gathering on the 23rd of February for a previ

I don't like cold weather but I love what winter does to nature. The tracery of bare branches against a cloudless winter sky is stunning to me.This recently completed painting, that I'm calling NIGHT LIGHT, is a 30" x 30" oil painting on canvas. There are many beautiful native grasses that change color during the fall and winter. Where we live on Lake Travis there are varieties of Muhly and Little Bluestem in abundance. Also there are patches of Yellow Indiangrass, Love grass, Switchgrass and many others that I can't identify. This is the case with these yellow ochre grasses and bare stalks in this month's painting. Looking through the dark stems and heads in the foreground gives a sense of depth and breaks up the large blue background. The blue is an evening sky blue, and the grasses are spot lighted by a setting sun that accentuates the color. This painting is more freely painted than the series of Chautauqua Porches on which I'm still working.

No images of my paintings this month. In fact, not much evidence of may painting except three works in progress not yet ready to display. We'll see if they pass muster. BOOKS AND A MOVIE Here's an idea: A novel by STEVE MARTIN (for heaven's sake!) entitiled AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY. I haven't read it yet so you are on your own. However the review maikes me want to check it out and I'm not a Martin fan. "An attractive, ambitious young woman rises through artist and writer boyfriends, curators, FBI agents, international dealers and art collectors. The talk is contemporary art and ...money." The reveiwer (also a painter) goes on, "Steve gets the art world, human nature, body language, as well as the dark and funny twists of fate. He know his stuff and he nails it." This is my guess about what we can expect to take away. Much of the stuff that calls itself art IS, but much of it IS NOT. So enjoy what you like and ignore the rest. Collectiing contem