Another Visit to the Texas Art Asylum

Do wish their prices weren't so high. They have a lot of stuff that I would like to use for props but they like it much better than I do or more than I can afford to like it. I was going to buy a book that I passed up on the last visit but it had been sold. This was only our second trip and although many of the items were the same it seemed that everything had been rearranged so the compositions were different. May make it a point to go over every month or so.

As usual I concentrated on the toys, dolls mainly. Alcy says that my doll photographs make her have nightmares. Then again, she seems okay with my photos of dead fish, flattened frogs, even the dog skeleton at the abandoned building on Shepherd a few weeks ago and now Cock Robin.

 

Yes, I know it is a Starling not a Robin but it reminds me of the illustrations of Cock Robin that I saw when I was young--so if I want to make reference to Cock Robin, Cock Robin it is. Cock Starling just doesn't ring as well. I don't usually like to photograph dead things on roadways. I have photographed a few but the texture of the background always in the past seems to fight with the object. The aforementioned dog skeleton was on asphalt and the pattern fought with the bones so badly that I didn't process any of the images. This one seems to work for me because the Starling and the roadway are both neutral in color and the Starling is speckled like the asphalt. Besides that I liked the Cock Robin appearance of the carcase.

 

 

 

 

Something that does bother me, although not to the point of having nightmares, is the hundreds of family photographs they have. A hundred or so of them and I could make a cool project. There is a certain sadness to wedding photos, portraits, school photos, photos of family holidays and vacations when they are seperated from the people in the photographs, or even from people that may possibly care about the people in the photographs. They are almost as sad as many of my cemetery photographs. Of course, the last thing I need right now is a new project but I think I would enjoy that one. Sadness, whether it is dolls, gravesites or photographs seems to be up my alley.

 

 

 We have an assigned competition coming up at the club to photograph time. I don't think I am going to use a photograph of clocks, I'm thinking more time line, or progression of time but I snapped a couple of shots of clocks just to cover myself if needed.

 



To fill out the day, I had a notification that Barnes and Noble had received a book I had ordered so I drove out to pick it up. B&N doesn't get anywhere near my neighborhood. The book is great. It is The Aperture Magazine Anthology 1952 to 1976--my era. However, I learned why I buy everything from Amazon. When I ordered it I did not ask the price but at Amazon it was $26. I knew it would be a little higher at B&N but I was a little taken back when the clerk rang up $46. So in the future I'll stop in B&N for browsing and possibly a cafe mocha at the Starbucks--but no more ordering books.