Closing in Dallas

Dallas has been very good to me. Processing this exhibition and all it delivered will take some time. The final days of it were like icing on a very good cake...meeting people in the gallery, having a photo shoot, amazing conversations with friends, and new contacts. My impressions of
Dallas have certainly heightened--from the Arts District now in full bloom, to the Trinity River project underway, from the heights of Oak Cliff to the depths of Turtle Creek...the synergy in Dallas is palpable.

Rick and Carol Brettell kindly fixed lunch for Mrs. McDermott, Mary Cook, Caren Prothro and me, with a MAC tour on May 14th. It was gracious hospitality at its best.
Soon afterwards I packed up art at Valley House and the MAC...it took five whole days. And then I got to make some delightful deliveries of art to new owners...here's a string of pieces I am proud to say have gone onto a better place! Some in Dallas, some elsewhere:

plus this one, a gift to the Brettells. All art is a gift in some respect, either to its maker, its owners, its viewers. There is a rate of exchange involved that has nothing to do with money. Nonetheless, I am thankful for these sales!

The Big Squeeze

In early May I started a new piece, and had 5 days to get it to a state of finish before I had to go back up to Dallas. Here 'tis...a big piece of greenware...Chlora's Accordion, drying out.


It began with a bunch of pieces cut out. I tried drying a panel on a curved support (a big oval bucket), but that didn't do.




At this early stage, it looked like some ancient Greek steps... technically it was difficult, as porcelain doesn't lend itself to sharp angles...so this accordion may look pretty beat up. Chlora's main squeeze, no wonder!

Much fun doing the piano section, pretending to peck out a tune. Turning it over to work on the bottom took some engineering.
It felt SO good to get my hands in that clay after several weeks of no studio time!!!!!!!

This thing just grew and grew...is much longer than its toy model that I got in a vintage store. It'll probably have a painting by George Bellows on it (hahaha, have to get corny or else), and maybe Hans Hoffman, for his "push/pull" theory. What else remains to be seen. It is headed for the APRIL story, after the Easter service, when Chlora muses about becoming a one-man band.

THANKS! and Galleries Talk

Back to Dallas for a gallery talk at the MAC, and one next Saturday at Valley House. When I'm not there yakking, I let the computer do it. Thanks to Angela Morales and Rusty Jackson for refurbishing the website! The wonderful review by Willard Spiegelman is on there, plus the essay by Betty Sue Flowers. The first Little Goody Book by Chlora's Book of the Month Club is online, in excerpts......not to be confused with THE little red catalogue by Rick Brettell. I am busting with pride over that one. He really makes me look good, beginning the Coco Chanel cover. Deepest thanks to you, NOW, THEN AND AGAIN!





At the gallery talk a man asked me how I market my work, and I quipped, "Not very well!" but quickly added my thanks to Valley House Gallery, who recently took me on. Cheryl and Kevin Vogel, plus Laura Green, have been enormous help. They are currently at the Chicago Art Fair and they took Chlora along.




The man pressed on, and I admitted to having part time work that keeps me afloat, at the retreat center Laity Lodge. Many thanks to Steven Purcell and many others there who support the arts and my work there with artists. Then, of course, I have to credit my main patron, Rick Geyer, for 20+ years of underwriting my art-making. My parents, Pat & Earlene Henry also fall in that financial support system, as does my poker-pro son, Adam! And all those who've purchased my work in the past.



I fired the batch of porcelain imprints from the Gilgamesh rolling pin and hope to give these to those who make up my very significant support system. We added one of the slabs to the installation. There is an "edition" of 30 of these in various sizes, called "Gilgamesh on a Roll."
My thank you list IS long, and here are some of those on it:


FROM THE MAC: Liliana Bloch, Emily Cheek, Leslie Connally, and David McCollough. Plus Susan & Claude Albritton who make it all possible!


AND FOR THE BEAUTIFUL INSTALLATION: Gary Cunningham and his crew, especially Michael Bessner... who were underwritten by The McDermott Foundation.



FOR THE CATALOGUE by Rick Brettell, thanks so much to his terrific assistant, Pierrette Lacour, and to the graphic artist Gabriel Dawe.


FOR PR WORK--my professional daughter Larkin Geyer! Also Ben Slade and Adam Rasmus, and Karen Pope. AND PARTY HELP--my sister-in-law Sandy Youman, and FLOWERS--my sisters Wendy Fenn, Linda Dickinson, and Holly Meehan


FRIENDS WHO HAVE CONTINUALLY GIVEN ME PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE: Mary Cook, Betty Sue Flowers, Kathleen Davis Niendorff, Sherry Smith, Deborah Sokolove, Ron Stevenson, Pam Wagner, Melba & Ted Whatley, Jenny Whitten, and Gregory Wolfe. And so many more...
your names appear on the Acknowledgments Page of the first Chlora book.