Thursday, April 10, 2008

Ali Cavanaugh

For those of you who don't know her, I encourage you to go check Ali Cavanaugh's website.  She's a friend through Tanner and Alison, and she's a terrifically gifted artist.  I've always enjoyed her work, and when she heard I was heading to Austin, she let me know about her work which is in a gallery there, the Wally Workman gallery.  I decided I needed to track the place down, thinking how cool it would be to see a friend's work in a gallery where I was on tour.

We began trekking on 6th Street, and ended having to walk about 20 blocks or so, but it was a beautifully sunny day, and I was glad for the exercise.  We always tend to eat far too much on tour and it was good to get out and stretch our legs and break into a bit of a sweat.

The Wally Workman Gallery is a beautiful gallery, and I was able to spot Ali's work right away.  She was the cover artist for the promotional material the gallery did in December with a theme of Alice in Wonderland.  A painting of girl's knee socks was the feature, and the painting that I saw was from the same series.  

It was a lot of fun to see a friend's painting on a wall, and the woman working at the gallery expressed how much they enjoyed Ali's work, and how successful she's been for them.  She reported that Ali will be having a featured show in Portugal soon, and that it seems that people just can't get enough of Ali's paintings.  It's always exciting to see someone doing what they love to do, and succeeding at that, especially someone else who is in the arts.  I feel very fortunate to have so many close friends who are artists--I feel we tend to enrich the world around us!

We went upstairs, and found a few more of her paintings on display and it was fun showing my colleague's her work.  We ended the gallery tour with a nice cold drink at the coffee shop next door, then headed back to a place I read about at Roadfood.com, Hut's Hamburgers, home of one of the best burgers I've ever eaten.  

Ali suggested a stop at Whole Food Markets just next door, and I couldn't resist.  That place was amazing, and I picked up truffles for everyone, along with a rosemary sourdough bread which reminded me of my time at the CIA, along with a chunk of organic gouda and two bottles of wine.  We're going to have a party afterwards, and sleep in...since our flight was canceled on American.  We're stuck in Texas one more day.  We'll be in Dallas tomorrow night, and hopefully will see a movie, or a rodeo, or a concert, or go bowling.  I do believe that a good ole Texan steak will be in order too.

9 comments:

Alison Hodgson said...

I've been loving Ali (and her art) a long time.

You're clearly making the best of your extended trip. Sorry I wasn't able to talk last night. After our singing contest (without competition) we all went to bed early. Try me today, if you want.

Anonymous said...

AHHHH! dan i'm so excited that you got to see the gallery and that amazing whole foods....wasn't that place unbelievable? did you get some pictures of that place? ...the escelators?
when we were there a few years ago brett and niamh decided to grab lunch there in the whole foods. brett had BBQ and Niamh headed straight for the sushi bar. no california rolls for this girl, she wanted the sushi with the big slabs of raw fish and fish eggs everywhere. i was grossed out.
as she was eating, brett said that more than a few people commented to her (10 years old at the time) that they couldn't believe that she was eating all of that fish.
she didn't leave a scrap on her plate so it must have been good.
i should have gotten a picture.

anyway,
THANK YOU so much dan for your very kind words about my art. i really appreciate it. i'm happy that you were able to find the gallery after your 20 block pursuit! you hit austin at a really nice time of year.

thanks too for your love alison

Alison Hodgson said...

I think it's Al Green who starts a song with that phrase, "I've been loving you a long time" but it could just be me. When I say that I'm hearing a deep, man's voice in my head, though it comes nasally and female.

Dan, what are you eating today?

Anonymous said...

hellooooooooooooo! there! guess who that person i am!! chstinky!

Alison Hodgson said...

FYI: Someone got a hold of my computer while I was in another room. You can guess. He thought this was my blog.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, we artists...we're, we're greeeeaaaaat.

I love enriching the world around me, with my...business...conduct...art.

Just jabbing ya, Dan. I love artists, too. Garsh, 'specially those who make delicious cakes, cookies, chocolates, etc. That really enriches my world. : )

Dan said...

I'm finally back home, able to get back online. I didn't mind staying an extra day, honestly. We went to a beautiful park in Austin, strolled along the water, watching turtles and fish swim and sun themselves (the turtles, that is). Had a great steak later that night too and made it home without a hitch.

Ali, you were so right about Whole Foods! What an amazing place. We ate there for lunch on Saturday and ate like kings. Very tasty stuff, and you're also right about hitting Austin at a good time of the year. Any later and it would be insanely hot.

And Paul: we artists ARE great, so deal with it, Mr. Man, especially if you want more cakes.

:-)

Anonymous said...

Good grief, all you get from the east enders is love & adoration.

Dan said...

And man, am I grateful for it, my east ender buddy. I'm just playing around...and for some reason thought of Misery with the Mr. Man comment, one of my favorite quotes of all time.