Artwalk in Alpine, Texas

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

As the picture shows, our start from Terlingua was gloomy, sprinkles here and there, cold and windy! Winter is definitely making its presence here! It really is a welcome change, makes for a check into the reality of time passing by, a bit rugged times… electric gear is out, windproof vest, glove liners and yes… Spirit had his coat on. Always a nice ride to Alpine, we arrived in the mid afternoon, always nice to run some errands and find a good parking spot right by the Galleries… and food vendors!

 

I use to own one of those mini’s in the 60’s and I had never realized that the present rig was actually as wide, if not wider then the car! It actually at the time was a Cooper SS 1500cc with dual gas tank. I must have been a happy teenager, we use to race a lot of local Rally’s… I do remember destroying the car quite often… it must have been a good way for my father to keep me out of his hair.

 

It did not take too long for the paparazzis to gather up around the Star while he was still wearing his helmet and Doggles, some of them are the San Antonio Riders in town for the weekend, lead by the "Red Speeding Demon" herself… Voni Glaves… So yes, I should tell the story told to me first hand by our local Deputy Sheriff Philip, an ex motorcycle racer himself. As he saw a red shadow making a deep imprint in his line of vision, he finally caught up with it… only to discover this "charming" lady under the helmet… only a warning was issued as he was thinking to himself "Wow… what a great rider…", but of course… could not disclose his feelings of admiration for her skills while on duty! It is a non advertised news flash… you have heard it from me first.

Nighttime arrived quickly, traffic backed up, the lights came on, the Artists came out, cookies… coffee… pastries… Passer byes turkey legs in hand gesticulating their emotions in and out of Galleries, other devouring these huge funnel cakes complete with powdered sugar on their faces, some local colors from Terlingua unusually dressed up in their nice suit and evening dresses, hardly recognizable… there was no lack of interest for the curious.

   There was Art, and there was more Art. The "ambiance"… the "vibes" were uplifting last night for one such as myself that does not do so well in crowds. All the Artists were present, eager to talk and explain their Arts, there was public voting for the "best" one… a hard and difficult task. When asked how I would vote, my reply was that it would be for the one that I would buy and hang on the wall. I voted for a beautiful framed stained glass landscape. The San Antonio riders one more time passed by following their dinner down the street… back to the sterile walls of their motel compared to the treasures I was experiencing, that is generally was happens when one has only one weekend to see "14 countries at once", the same as today when they ride through the Park as they did last year at warp speed missing the real feel of the area.

Outdoors, mostly indoors, Art was everywhere. So these above I found funny… the tin can Dog was one of my favorites, of course! But much more serious Art was on display and became to me quite some source of thoughts regarding its interaction with myself and the public.

This painting was my favorite, the picture does no do much justice. Painted on hand made paper its vibrant colors and the scenery took me exactly where my Soul feels the most comfortable. I bypassed many other paintings that did not catch my attention, the ones that did not move me and deep inside I felt so unfair at first of my "dislike" for other canvasses. Thinking about it, analyzing my own feelings toward the Artists themselves quickly turned around this "dislike" to "personal taste". And I felt better as I was being judgmental toward much Artwork that others loved, bought… had taken the decision to let them in their daily lives in their home or office. I drew a parallel to this Blog that has become such a part of our life, as I always thought it is not of everyone’s taste. I have received, not many, a few that I can count on one hand, letters very unkind and hurtful toward it… replying only for the senders not to read it! As the World turns…

It would be a horrible boring world if we all had the same taste! The same "genre"… I felt more at peace finding respect toward it all, as every Artist was so proud of their work and the chance to display it to so many people that have taken the time to come and experience the evening. Spirit and I went for some walks at times, I like it when he is around a crowd, he is not used to it but does well, much better than he used to. The rest of time?… well, he just lays in his car, sleeps and waits. As nighttime fell and he curls up on his cushion, no one even knows that he is there… a break for him!

There was music, every event in Texas has great music… Everyone closed down at 10pm, it was starting to get seriously cold again as Alpine is at a much higher elevation and sleeping in my own bed, even if we had 80 miles to ride back, was a welcome thought. Electric heated gear on, blanket for Spirit and his coat, we made it back safely around midnight, after missing only one deer! It was a late night for us, Spirit sure did not want to get up this morning. We had such a good time and great conversations that I was thinking about going back tonight! Maybe get there early again and do some food shopping… bite the bullet and have a… turkey leg with a funnel cake!!!

And of course I overheard that this coming week was Thanksgiving! I knew it a couple weeks ago when I made this Holiday… dish, as I have sworn that I would never want to look or feel or cook a turkey again (besides a leg!!!). You can have the complete recipes here… it is of course in the "recipe" section of the website, "Pork Medallions with a Pumpkin Mole Sauce, Sweet Potatoes and Glazed Carrots". Give it a try if you are tired of turkey… and if any questions, just ask.

Till next time, be well…

Ara and Spirit

We are under deep appreciation toward the readers that have send in a contribution helping this website’s expenditures. For those who have not, continue enjoying the site, pictures, recipes, and if you feel it’s worth $1 a month, the contribution button is above, snail mail is below…

Ara Gureghian   853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245   Naples, Fl 34108

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One Response to “Artwalk in Alpine, Texas”

  1. missy Says:

    I love reading about your and spirits adventures and seeing the pictures. You have inspired my 16 year old to want to do some traveling with his pit bull. He loves to read your blog with me. Safe travels for you and spirit.

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