Carole Sikes Artist / Writer in Austin, Texas

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 ...

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...