I freely admit that I’m not a particularly “artsy” person. I mean, I sort of get music, theater/film, and photography, but when it comes to fine art or dance, I’m clueless. Several people have told me that I need to stop trying to interpret it and just let it “be,” and I’m getting there, but it still sort of frightens and confuses me.

Last night I got another chance to immerse myself in the art world of Fort Worth, and I really like what I’m seeing. Tom Huckabee’s photos are rich and colorful, almost to the point of being abstract. They’re just flowers floating or submerged in water, but they’re so hyper-realistic and colorful that they look like they couldn’t be possible in nature. They’re truly beautiful, and would look great on the wall of my living room.

Pete Asplund gave me a preview of Grayson Harper’s work when he sent me a reminder e-mail about the event, and I have to say that I REALLY like Grayson’s paintings. They’re powerful in a way that I can’t really explain, but if you click on that link above and check out the painting on the bottom right of the page, “Home For Christmas,” you’ll get an idea of what I mean. (I also just realized that Grayson has a blog, Tholos of Athena, that you should totally check out.)

The other artist of note displaying her work is Georgia James Clarke. Many of her paintings are done on a massive scale, several feet by several feet in both directions. She works in “mixed media,” which I think means that she takes digital photos, then paints them onto canvas. Either way, the results in many of them are breathtaking. They’re the kind of landscapes that gave Texas its reputation for wide open spaces; areas that are so frequently now dotted with oil and gas wells and power lines, etc.

Although I must admit that I didn’t like everything there, please don’t take that in any way as a knock on the quality of the work displayed. I think there’s something for everyone in this grouping of artists, and you definitely need to go out and see it.

I’d also like to take a moment to comment on the space. If you’ve never been to the new Fort Worth Community Arts Center, you owe it to yourself and your city to get up there soon. The exhibition spaces are a great environment for viewing art, there is a theater which is currently being renovated and will be used for dance, theater, and music shows, and they’re also working on a cafe which will be open soon. I was at the grand opening after the Gallery Walk last year, and it really is an impressive space. (If I remember correctly, the building used to house another major museum in Fort Worth, but that collection moved into a new facility, and I can’t remember which one it was now.)

Come on down to the Fort Worth Community Arts Center tonight, it’s the monthly reception for all the gallery exhibitions from 6 - 9. Friend of West and Clear Tom Huckabee will be showing his photography, along with Grayson Harper and several other artists. I’ll be out, along with PeteG, covering the arts scene in Fort Worth. If you spot one of us, please stop us and say hello! We always love it when we run into readers of the site.

Hope to see you there!