Happy Thanksgiving! No time like the present to continue with the wild art tour through Houston. Both events are next weekend.
Archway Gallery will present “The Drift of Stars,” featuring recent paintings and works in fused glass by Liz Conces Spencer on Dec. 1–Jan. 3.
The artist will visit with guests at the opening reception on Saturday, Dec. 1 from 5–8 p.m. and will discuss her work in a talk at 6:30 p.m. She will be joined by poet Diana Conces, who will read from selected works which have been paired to pieces in the exhibition.
Spencer’s new body of work, The Drift of Stars, explores her visual thoughts on the passage and mystery of time.
Spencer’s landscape, figurative, and non-representational studies are often reworked extensively, creating new realities far removed from the moment of inception. The figurative works frequently superimpose human forms from several different sessions and models. Landscapes are abstracted to abide by a generous dollop of creative intuition in color placement and patterning. Some works are deceptively simple. The blending of timelines, subjects and materials is intentional, with threads of meaning suggested in titles that focus attention on our shared mortality, our memories of the past and our hopeful-yet-flawed expectation of the future.
Liz Conces Spencer joined Archway Gallery in 2005 and has offered two one-person shows since that time. She has shown in a three-person show with Vorakit Chinooksowong and Dr. Ron Outen. Her past three featured shows have been partnerships with her frequent collaborator Gene Hester.
Spencer is a teaching artist with Young Audiences of Houston, and with Kevin Cromwell she manages the figure drawing sessions at Archway every Sunday morning.
Reception is Saturday, Dec. 1 from 5 – 8 p.m. Artist talk and poetry reading at 6:30 p.m. Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy, 77006. Complimentary valet parking and light refreshments. ArchwayGallery.com
This past summer I told you about the Clay Houston Pop-Up that took place in the Heights. It was an impressive group of clay artists and I’m happy to tell you that they are back with a vengeance Sunday, Dec. 2.
“Our annual studio crawl, the Bayou City Clay Crawl, is scheduled for Dec. 2 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.,” said Clara Hoag, the board fundraising chair of ClayHouston. “Thirty ceramic artists are opening their studios (10 studios total) to the public. Visitors get to see where and how our member artists work and see in-progress pieces, purchase finished work and can meet the artists.”
Looking at the Bayou City Clay Crawl flyer, I unknowingly picked Hoag’s as my favorite. It’s a cityscape sculpted out of clay on a woman’s head and all but her ears, nose and mouth are covered by the clay.
“I just finished a new series of photographs that expand on the visual language in my sculptures and drawings,” Hoag said. “That piece you like is an actual clay headpiece on a live model, photographed in my studio.”
There’s something magical and familiar at the same time about visiting a working ceramic studio and here is the opportunity to see 10. The 10 studios on the crawl are all located in the Heights, Midtown and Braeswood. A full listing of studios and participating artists and print or downloadable map are at www.clayhouston.org.
Cohen is an artist and founder of First Saturday Arts Market and the Market at Sawyer Yards, find him at ArtValet.com
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