Saturday East Austin Studio Tour

I biked over from MLK and West st. with Jacqueline. We made a loop from 7th and San Marcos down to 2nd and Waller, then across to 7th and Tillery, then back. Hopefully more tomorrow, at least to see Beth :) 

I especially liked the work when it was in the artist's home. Inspiring and energizing. I really don't know this part of Austin very well. Neat, mixed media on wood canvas with grain showing through and incorporated in as part of image, which I like. 

There was a blue tin structure place with a goat that sticks in my mind. A chair made of cement stood near the entrance. We asked the artist how he made it: it was cast over an old school chair, he said.

I saw my friend Theresa Noyes' work at Fisterra studio (though most of her work was at her house instead). Fisterra was a cool house. Made me think of ideas for arranging rooms if I ever have a house. Fisterra was also serving delicious soup for warming up and refueling.

I finally got a chance to visit Iona handcrafted books. Beautiful. The photo albums are nice nice nice. I asked one of the book binders where they get the corner pieces for the albums (thinking this might be a good way to display my daily practice pages because I don't want to punch holes in the pages). He said they order them directly from the corner store company. Really. Someone's job it is to create corners. Oh, Iona had the best cookies (loaded with white chocolate, chocolate, and mint chocolate chips). Anyway, there were so many gallery clusters over there by Iona including a hand-made card studio that smelled like the letter press room.

Music Music Music

Conner Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band with The Felice Brothers. Sticker on keyboard reads: Mystic Valley Band for Obama. Music, Music, Music. Warms one up.  Waiting between sets, nose grows cold, feet get tired standing, lungs don't want to inhale any more second-hand smoke. But one forgets when the band starts playing. A stellar stellar show. Oh, and in between sets, some ideas came for daily practice.

balance

How nice it is to sit in a coffee shop every now and then. To slow down and watch how fast the other people go.

"There is more to life than increasing its speed" - Mahatma Gandhi

I found this quote on a bench in a park in Santa Fe when I was wandering around with no set place to be. 

to walk slower

I agree, I am a fast walker. With my sister visiting last week, we had to strike a walking compromise because she ambles along.  She made me more aware of my pace. I realized that I like to amble along too if I am new to a place and taking everything in or when I don't have any where to be or when I have received enough excersize. I think I ambled a lot more in Santa Fe. But here, I tend to walk fast probably because I feel like I have less time and because walking is a main way of transportation and movement (after much sitting). So, even though, when my sister was with me, I didn't have to be anywhere and we did not have to get some place on schedule, it was hard to even notice I had a habit to break. By the time she left, I was walking a lot slower and she was walking a little faster than usual.