Mitch Notes Archive, Jan-March 2006

Mitch writes about his travels throughout the vast neighborhood known as the Houston Heights.

Mitch Links

...check out these photos from the M2 Gallery opening last Saturday by Michael Ann Belin: Click Here. I'm really proud of the new location for the Yale Street Arts Market, have a look at some photos Click here.

Have you seen this paint? Tell me!

Thursday, March 23rd No news, not really

Well, back to Carolyn, the weather hasn't exactly helped her progress much this week. So I'll get some of those photos up later...rather than sooner.

The Bayou City Arts Festival is this weekend, and a ton of other events, I think I spent an hour updating the Event Listings last night. Check it out! There are some great shows coming up. If you are out and about this weekend, I highly recommend Houston Studio Glass' open house and demonstrations. I think it is one of the only full fledged glass studios in Houston. I've been there and it is quite amazing. Dick & Kathy are the owners, and have a story to tell too! Go ask them. Details are on events or visit their website here.
Have a great weekend! I'll be back here Monday or Tuesday with a full written report!
Mitch March 23, 2006, at 07:36 AM

Tuesday, March 21st Tootin my horn

Walnut

For a living, Carolyn and I paint decortive finishes. We've been at since 1993, and used to have a pretty extensive website for our business. I've been working on a page for us on this site, but it keeps getting pushed back down the priorty list. SO thought I'd toot our horn today and show you what's kept us busy lately. This first photo is a walnut finish that we did together last month. That is all paint. There are a total of about 10 coats of glazes and graining layers to get this look.

This column Carolyn and I gilded, distressed and then I put a light marbled finish on the main part. There were a total of four, and I still find gold flakes floating around that house!

The distressed finish on the left is what I'm working on now. The wood on top half of the panel is very old and distressed oak, on the bottom it is all new and very smooth poplar. Which has no grain. To get these very dissimilar woods to look good together, I am using Old Fashioned Milk Paint. It comes in a powder and you add water. So after two coats, I sand the paint back, then apply a tinted wax to antique and seal. In the big photo, look at the bottom right and you'll see the completed finish. Almost done with my first coat of paint, so I'll post more when I'm done.

Carolyn is painting a garage door! I don't have photos yet so I'll tell you it will be fabulous! It's a garage apartment and Carolyn is painting two windows, shutters, topiaries and I think a little dog named snowball! Carolyn is also stage managing for HITS Theatre again this year. The show is The King and I and will be at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in April, I think the 2nd and 3rd weekends. I expect all my friends and family will join me each night on the hill! Bring some vino too!

On a much more somber note, one of my friends from college passed away Sunday. Myk McGinn. Quite a shock for me. Myk taught me what "nonconformist" is all about and we praticed it on a regular basis. Myk, don't give them to much trouble up there. We're going to miss you.

-M

Gabriella

MONDAY! Oy, what a great day huh? Rainy...so yesterday on a trek to find a place to have some breakfast that isn't oh, mainstream(?) we went to- Bamboo House! Yep, they open at 11am on Sundays. I know Asian isn't what you'd normally think of for breakfast, but we'd already been up for awhile. That place still rocks! Everything we have had to date tastes as fresh as you can get it. Carolyn had Pho, a noodle/soup dish with beef steak, bean sprouts, mint, basil, cilantro and onions. That mint makes the dish, it is GOOD. SO I had the Shrimp Tempura Udon, another noodle/soup based dish. The shrimp tempura is served on the side. We're thinking we need to go back next Sunday with all of our friends. Wanna join us? Say 11:00am Sunday the 26th? Next weekend is the Bayou City Arts Festival too, we could head over there after and visit John Mercado at his booth. You know, I have no idea who else is there from Artists At Large. I think Jimmy McDonald may be. Let me know if you are!
Okay then it's a date.
Sunday, March 26th @ 11am
Bamboo house, 540 Waugh Dr., Houston TX 770019 Tel: 713-522-3442
If your coming, email me here: hey@artvalet.com
Don't want to overwhelm them with a surprise visit of huge proportions eh?

Want a piece of Kaplan's Ben Hur memorabilia? Martin Kaplan and Rex Bass have been pretty busy cleaning up the store and have put all the cool things they find on eBay! Check it out here. Rex, known around these parts for his tall copper fountains, has a new website too. www.farmarmy.com/

Thursday, March 16th
Last week we went to the Spanish Flowers restaurant twice and happened to be waited on by the two most senior waiters. Know who I'm talking about? As long as I've been going to Spanish Flowers these two have been there. I can't begin to tell you the gentleman's name, but chances are good he's waited on you before. Now then for breakfast Sunday on the patio, Dolores (I hope that's her name!) said she's been there for 20 years! And this week is her birthday! So go in, ask for her and wish her a happy one!

Okay I'm guessing if I'm going to write about my "adventures" I should take notes huh? I'll start tomorrow! Let's see.....I picked Carolyn up yesterday from work to get a coffee at Starbucks on W. Gray and Sheperd. Occasionally I take Memorial to work and stop in at the Starbucks near Birdsall and I always run into Myra Logan, the Pet Psychic that comes to our market. Myra goes to that one her way home from running the park. So I walk in there's Myra in street clothes! Said she didn't run that day and this Starbucks is closer to home. Myra's great, make an appointment with her at the next market. The thing that gets me is when you look out the window from this W. Gray location, your looking at another Starbucks across the street! Come ON! How convenient does coffee have to be?

I'm a Heightsite. I live, shop, socialize and wish I worked more in the Heights. To define a Heightsite I'd say that was someone adamant about supporting local small businesses as well as the whole concept of our small town within a city. That's what we do here. So you want coffee? Drink Katz's coffee! Katz Coffee is roasted here in the Heights, it's Kosher, fair trade coffee! Onion Creek and McCain's Market sell and serve it. Both open at 7am too. Then there's Dry Creek over on Yale and White Oak in a remodeled gas station. That place is cool! And I might add, the hamburgers are awesome! The original (I presume) gas pumps are still in there too. Yes I said inside! Then there's one of my favorite spots for coffee and that's Shipley's Donuts on North Main St. You can't sit down and drink it, you are pretty much encouraged to buy and get on your way. And unless you indulge in a couple dozen donuts and or koloches, you should escape with a coffee and something sweet for under three dollars! Plus, you can watch them MAKE donuts! Yep, they still do that right next to the counter. They always make it look like they're having more fun at their job than you will at yours.

Last Friday night (the 10th) I went to Sippora for the Mother Earth show. Awesome! Get over there and check out the artwork by John Mercado, Salli Babbitt, Crystal Owens, Azar Halabi-Fisher, and Christopher Turnbow. Christopher has his Bonsai Trees on display. They are just amazing! I don't know if any of Crystal Owens' work will still be available, I saw a lot of red dots on hers. Her work is amazing though, very colorful and there is a glossy finish on the canvas that makes her bold brushstrokes just come alive. I'm sorry our Tribe Man "Martin de Vore" was out that night to truly tell you what it was all about. I'm not even going to go there! I saw a lot of folks, great art, Amy and Maia greeted me and I was happy! Especially that John Mercado finally had his work showcased outside of a tent! Congratulations John!

So from Sippora I drove on to M2 Gallery passing the Art Car Museum on the way. I should have stopped because Kim Enloe has his book on display for FotoFest. Well the IMAGES from his book. I have a copy! It's really cool. Kim skates and noticed awhile back little things embedded in the pavement. Many flattened out by years of tires going over them. Well Kim now photographs these unique embedded treasures and makes prints out of them. I really like his work. Go to the Art Car Museum and check it out. Kim also is a regular at the Yale Street Arts Market.

M2, pronounced MSquared had a great show! As evidenced by the photos Michael-Ann took. Ignore the ones of me please, I really didn't have THAT much fun! Okay I did. Still, it's about the art right? Carolyn stayed in that night and called me while watching the news to tell me that one of the artists, Fred George, was on the news being interviewed for his incredibly controversial artwork hanging about ten feet away from me. "What? I thought the biggest controversy was my appearance that night without YOU!" Well, it was an interesting piece but newsworthy I'm not sure. Go see for yourself and tell me. While you are there check out Michael-Ann Belin's work. My all time fave for the night. The theme for M2 FotoFest exhibit is Artists Respond to Violence and I think Michael-Ann captured it perfectly to today's deluged society of news watchers. Go!

OKAY! I've got my little Mole Skin book with me and I promise to deliver more notes sooner and with less fluff and more details. I'll keep an eye out for you this weekend!
I know there are typos and no links...they're coming too.
Katz Coffee: Find it here too.

Friday, March 10th

Showtime!

FotoFest is here woo hoo! Check the Events page for more, or go to their website http://www.fotofest.org/ I can tell you where I'll be...Sippora Gallery and M2 Gallery. John Mercado will be showing his work at Sippora, and Michael Ann Belin will be at M2.

Here's a tip: Cut out the ad for the Yale Grill (In this weeks Leader Newspaper) for breakfast or lunch and get over there quick! Awesome deal, and quite tasty too! The new owners are trying out advertising for the first time, let's show them how well it works eh? If you go in for lunch, pop in to the Squash Blossom Shop and say hello to Kathy. You won't miss it.

Well, all my worry about the Yale Street Arts Market squeezing into the new space was just silly. The place is AWESOME! If you didn't get by there don't miss the next one on April 1st. The market looked and felt like a European market place! We had an awesome day. And don't worry about us melting this summer, we are going to be open ONLY at night! That's right, night. Probably from about 6pm to 10pm with lights, great music and art! So have some dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and stroll on over! I recommend all of them. Vietnam across the street, the new Thai Spice, Collina's (spelling?) or Shade. Don't forget the Heights is dry, so bring your own adult libations. Okay, gotta go work now. Cheers!

Monday the 27th Well dang, what a bittersweet day it was. This afternoon I swung by the old site for the Yale Street Arts Market to pick up our "stuff." When I arrived, Martin Kaplan and Rex Bass were waiting by a huge pile of tents, signs, balloons and various other things we used every month. Was nice of them to pull all that stuff out of the building for me though! Martin, true to form reminded me that at 39 minutes after 5, that I was being charged by the minute for being late! Thanks Martin!

This Saturday is the big day though! And it's going to rock, we've got some great new artists and all our favorites returning too. I've got most of the artists attending up on the site now, have a look here.

After Martin De Vore explained to everyone last week in his Tribe Report..."homage to Overlord Mitch with the old Roman clinched-fist salute..." (I do not by the way like that by the way), I decided to pay tribute back to Martin in my own way. With your help this will become a great success! Since our man Martin is seen all over town I have created a page entitled, Where's Martin? Just send your Martin sightings to I Saw Martin! @ artvalet.com with or without photos and your sighting will be posted forthwith! There are couple on there now, have a looksy: Where's Martin?
Okay then, happy hour again this Wednesday at the Onion! See ya there! -MC

Tuesday the 21st Hey relax, I can't write EVERY day! I'll tell ya this, we're going to Onion Creek next Wednesday the 1st for anonther Happy Hour! Then on March 15th, Marie Weichman is having a Happy Hour and Put Kinky On The Ballot over at the Mucky Duck. THAT will be fun! I'll post the details on the site soon. I sure hope all our friends can make it to Marie's this Saturday too. She's got a show and from what I got to see yesterday it is worth the look. I did post that one on the Event listing...just click Events on the left...Carolyn and I have been wrapping up a big job of faux walnut wainscoting (is that with two T's?), and getting ready for the next market. The deadline is still not till this Friday and we're almost full! From what I've seen of the registration forms so far this is going to be an awesome Yale St. And yes, to those of you that keep asking, we are keeping the name Yale Street Arts Market even though we'll be on 19th St. ...see ya later! -MC

Sunday...
Quick note. I ran into two gallery owners yesterday. First up was Navid, owner of Mind Puddles on Dunvale. Navid told me that his coffee shop is close to being finished in the gallery and will be open soon! I can't wait for this one, it'll be open on Saturday's till midnight. Then last night I went over to the Karen Derr's office on Heights for their office Mardi Gras party and Bering & James art viewing. Austin and Blakely told me about their upcoming opening preview of the new space this Thursday and how the gallery is coming along. Sounds top notch! I'll post their upcoming events soon.

Well, I suppose this is more of a blog type thing than a column, so if you don't mind, I'll just keep going that way. More later! -MC

February 18th,

Lazy-butt here. Just wanted to sneak in here and say that I will have a new entry this weekend. Not only will I tell you all about my adventures, I will also write a thing or two about Martin de Vore's suggestion on how to greet me in public! I might have an idea on how you should greet Martin!
Ya ya, well I have to go paint a checkered floor, be back later today!
Promise!- MC

January 20th,

Not much to report this week...yet. Seems like we spent all of our time working, and then donated a generous amount of our income to the mechanics that "fixed" our vehicles. I just hate that! This is a busy weekend, so check back Sunday for photos of Martin in a Toga and other wild antics of the Tribal art world.

January 16th,

Haven't had the adventures of late that my by-line claims. I did get out Saturday night to the Blages show at Gallery 101, The Studio Gallery and finally to M2 on 19th. Awesome art and a great time visiting with all the artists. I can't describe it better than Martin de Vore in his Tribe Report, or the anonymous wine & food critic from the Any Free Wine? Column. Have a look.

What I have to say is about food. Sunday afternoon Carolyn and I decided to try the new Thai Spice on W. 19th on Nicholson. It was closed! They were getting ready for the Opera in the Heights fund raising party, and though it was a good cause and sounded like fun, our tummy's wouldn't wait. So off we go, debating where to try to get our fix for some good Asian food. Vietnam Restaurant is closed Sunday's or we would've gone there. They are always good. We ended up at Pei Wei at 1005 Waugh St. between W. Dallas & W. Gray. Looked very chic, nice décor and an interesting menu. Warning bells should have gone off though when we had to order and pay first, kind of like a cafeteria, but most of cafeterias even let you eat before you pay. We were greeted by an expressionless young lady who instead of saying hello slapped a round disc with the number “99” on the counter and asked us what we wanted to order...okay...2 spring rolls, an order of Kung Pao Beef for Carolyn and Spicy Korean Pork for me (no, that is not kosher). We get our own drinks and sit down with our “number.” The spring rolls arrived pretty quick and we enjoyed those. We're thinking better sign for things to come.

OH THE HORROR! My dish was supposed to be spicy and it tasted like they substituted the salt for the spice. Same with Carolyn's, and nothing tasted fresh or looked it. The rice had clearly sat out for awhile because it was dry and not even remotely sticky. We were so mad, we just looked at each other and agreed to leave. We didn't even stop and ask for our money back. I normally would, I just had to get out of there. I think I'll send them a copy of this column and the latest web statistics instead.

So. We drove back down towards Allen Pkwy and went to Bamboo house. You read that right, we went to ANOTHER restaurant! We had to eat! And it had to be Asian. Well this time we were greeted properly, “Hello, two to dine?” This place is pretty new too, and the décor was very nice. Modern Asian with clean lines. The waitress, YES a waitress came right over and offered us a wine menu!
Well, we were very pleased with Bamboo house. Service was great, the prices were moderate and the food (important part) incredible!

We decided to have two more spring rolls and they were great, served with big fresh lettuce leaves and that fish sauce with julienned carrots. We looked over the menu a long time, trying to talk each other into ordering different dishes so we could still sample “our” second choice. Finally I settled on Pad Thai Noodle, and Carolyn ordered the Thai Curry Chicken (score!). Awesome! What a difference!

This food was prepared by someone that loves to cook! My Pad Thai had wonderful hints of seasonings that I still can't place. Ginger? It had fresh basil, cilantro, chicken and the best shrimp I've had in awhile. The noodles are just awesome, thick and only coated with all the seasonings without a hint of oil that you might find at other restaurants. Carolyn's curry was amazing. I actually had the honor of being quite well fed as a teen by my friend's Mother's curry. They are from Singapore and I've always compared future curries to hers. This one could've been one of her recipes. The dish was served in a bowl with lots of different peppers, fresh string beans and egg plant. The curry was prepared as broth with great texture. The egg plant was gooooood. So we got our fix, and now have a favorite new restaurant, and a warning about the first. You MUST go to Bamboo house, you and your tummy will be glad you did. One bit of advice first, order more than you can eat, you will want some more later! Oh, and call us.

Bamboo house, 540 Waugh Dr., Houston TX 770019 Tel: 713-522-3442

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