Sunday, April 13, 2014

Art shows and food trucks....Life Is Good!

My second favorite time of the year after Autumn (football season, cooler weather) is this too-brief anomaly known as "Spring".  It's that tiny little gap between blah winter and hotter 'n hell summer when all the artsy types bring their cool stuff out to art shows for the rest of us to admire (and hopefully buy).  


Last weekend we found a new show, this one in Deep Ellum. 



 This is a seedy area of Dallas just east of downtown that has become a magnet for all the bohemian types in town. 



Lots of bars....


 ....and tattoo parlors and little hole-in-the-wall clubs buried deep in the alleys


....and some really talented artists.


Down a six-block stretch they set up their stalls, and young and old alike showed up to admire their talents.  The people-watching was phenomenal.  Wanna know where all the old hippies went?  I found 'em.  :)

This weeks art show couldn't have been any more opposite....suffice it to say the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Foat Wuth was classy with a capital K.


 It was a judged show, meaning only the best of the best (as chosen by judges) were invited to participate.


This was apparently judged tops in the "carved horns and old bottle caps" category.  (Hey, it's Fort Worth.  Cowboy hats and boots are still considered de rigueur.)

I must hand it to our cousins to the west....they have fixed up their downtown and made it a true fun destination with....


 Little urban oasis scattered around  


The Bass Performance Center


Impromptu "guy juggling fire while riding unicycle" venue


Quiet little sidewalk bistros


And they're apparently much more open minded than I would have thought, too, as evidenced by this topiary  commemorating....umm....mans' desire to do unnatural things to animals?


  I was even inspired to try my hand at creative photography.  *Look ma....I'm an artiste!*


The one piece of art that impressed me the most was this "kinetic sculpture" by Jeffrey Zachmann.  To truly appreciate it you have to see all the moving pieces working together.  Just click on any one of the pieces shown on his website here and you'll see for yourself how hypnotizing they can be.

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After all that we went back towards home, stopping in at the Frisco Food Truck Expo (or whatever they called it).


I almost went Italian, but passed because I was sorta scared of where it might be in my digestive system when it exploded.


Instead I had a coupla sliders from Easy Slider.  They were awesome!  Angus beef, grilled jalapenos and onions, barbecue sauce and....oh yeah....BACON!


Apparently the Dallas Cowboys souvenir shop on wheels sold out of Jerry Jones Voodoo dolls early as I didn't see even one patron buy anything the whole time we were there.  *snicker*

That was our weekend(s).  Hope you had a good one, too.   :)

S


9 comments:

  1. There is never a dull Saturday in Texas!

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  2. Art shows, bars, food trucks... doesn't get any better. The kinetic sculptures on his website are amazing.

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  3. You will miss the downtown easy access if you move away and build a house. My nephew rented a downtown loft apartment in Denver and fell in love with the place. He moved a short way out of town and misses the bars and shows and events a lot.

    Thanks for taking us along on the tour.

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  4. Until I started reading your blog I had no idea Texas was such a cultural mecca.

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  5. Don't you just love it when old hippies move in and turn a seedy, decrepit, dangerous part of town into something hip and happening?

    Ummm...that topiary, did it apply for a marriage license yet? :-p

    Love all your pictures! Thanks for taking us along on the tour.

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  6. Great day for sure! This week - no art fair due to Easter week but after that...Southlake! Last year that one was amazing looking forward to it. Then it's on to Cottonwood in May and after that the Dallas Zoo Art Fest and then we are done until Fall. We call Spring "Art Show Season"

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  7. That topiary is either very risque or REALLY badly done - ha! I thought what you did before I read your caption :)

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  8. The food you had looked great.

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  9. I love these kinds of areas. But it looks like it's gentrifying and the old hippies will be priced out of the area. Unless they're the ones doing the gentifrying.

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