Greenspace

Houston is trying to improve the greenspace available and pull people back to downtown. The whole length of Buffalo Bayou has been turned into a park with paths for hiking and biking. This is a small slice of the park just below the Wortham Theater where the opera and ballet perform. Because you walk down a flight of stairs to an area far below street level, the park itself is very quiet and green and peaceful. A nice escape from the city.

A Slice of Houston History

I'm always intrigued by the funky architecture on some of Houston's older churches. Today was a lovely cool and sunny day and I was out running errands and ran across this church. St. Nicholas Catholic Church is the oldest African American Catholic congregation in Houston. The congregation dates from the late 1800's, but this funny little pseudo-Mission style building was built in the 1920's.  It sits now on the east side of downtown, cut off from the Third Ward by the Gulf Freeway. For a long time this was a no-man's-land of decaying frame houses and old warehouse and industrial buildings. Slowly all the old houses have come down and the industrial buildings have been repurposed into lofts and that funny little corner of east downtown is coming back again.  I was charmed by this little red brick beauty.

DALLAS/FORT WORTH SKETCHCRAWL SATURDAY MAY 17

DALLAS/FORT WORTH SKETCHCRAWL
SATURDAY MAY 17
Hello all,
It’s taken some time to coordinate the logistics, but this month we have something different lined up for the Saturday sketch outing.  Our talented friend Vince Tam with JHP Architects in Dallas has arranged a true SketchCrawl that will have us walking to three different sites in around downtown Dallas, with sketching stops at each one.

We will meet at 3pm at the entrance to the Savor restaurant in Klyde Warren Park, which is the stunning new urban park built over the Woodall Rogers Freeway and designed by landscape architect James Burnett.  Lots of fun spaces, skyline views, food trucks to draw.  Then Vince will lead us to Belo Park in downtown (designed by landscape architects Hargreaves Associates) for more sketching, and then we’ll finish in the West End Marketplace (a classic urban warehouse district revitalization designed by The SWA Group) for drawing and optional happy hour.  Timeframe for the SketchCrawl itself is 3 to 6pm.

As always:
• Anyone can participate, be it to draw for 20 minutes or the full scheduled time.
• Any level of ability is welcome, from veteran artists to first time sketchers.
• Bring your own sketching gear.  A hat and water are always good ideas.
• Kids under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Klyde Warren Park is on Woodall Rogers Freeway between Pearl and St. Paul Streets.  There are pay parking lots in the Arts District immediately south of Klyde Warren Park, which may be a good option for parking.

Thanks to Vince Tam for organizing this outing…I look forward to seeing you there!
Cheers!