ZEN
by J. Claiborne Bowdon
& THE ART OF LANDSCAPING
“It would have been much less expensive to have gone eight years to a university than the lessons that I have had to learn on my own.” Glenn Bonick, owner and founder of Bonick Landscaping, has been shaping the outdoors of Dallas for over forty years, and he’s learned a lot in all that time which has made him all the more proud and grateful for the landscape architects and other talented members of his team. While some of those lessons have been hard won (and ap -
parently expensive) there aren’t any regrets. “It is what it is, and it’s been a great ride.” It all began simply enough when Glenn was in high school. He started out painting houses and then eventually began cutting grass with some of his buddies.
“One day somebody asked me if I could build a gazebo and put in a hot tub and I said ‘Sure,’ and did, and there you go.
I just kept doing this ever since.” This, of course, was all well before YouTube videos and other helpful resources on the internet allowed the average person or proto-entrepreneur the ability to tackle a project without having done it before. When I asked how he figured out how to build a gazebo and install a hot tub he responded “That’s a great question. Some people just know how to take toasters apart and put them back together again I guess. I’m a problem solver, construction makes sense and being involved and paying attention and seeing and growing, I grew in my education
and really it’s the industry, just reaching out to other people in the industry and the other people in the industry being very willing to help.” It seems no coincidence that the ability to understand how to put together the components for a gazebo and the ability to put together the components for a successful company go hand in hand.
That and taste. Beyond simply understanding how things go together comes an appreciation for how well things can complement each other. “I really appreciate amazing de -
sign, I don’t really think of myself as a great designer. I’m a great collaborator, and I love bringing ideas to life. We love working with other landscape architects, some of the best jobs we’ve ever done have been with other landscape architects … as Dallas is doing bigger projects there’s more opportunities out there because we live in an amazing city that values style, architecture, quality, and design. It’s afforded so many of us the opportunity to really hone our craft
and employ other people that are really passionate about what they do.”
In 2001, Bonick Landscaping began doing more in-house design work and, as Glenn describes it, “more robust installations.” Pool design and construction would follow shortly thereafter. It all works in congress to create an extension
of the lived environment beyond the dwelling. All of this, unsurprisingly, has been touched by changing styles and tastes. “Back in the eighties it felt like everyone wanted much more of a garden, let’s call it more of an English-style garden, as architecture has evolved landscape has evolved by simplifying lines to allow the home to really read through.
The gardens are a little more mass planting, a little cleaner in their presentation, still can have a lot of color and a lot of variety, but just simplifying the palette sometimes can allow the home to speak through a little better.”
That same sense of design requires the tempering of un-
derstanding what you’re up against. Much like any other architecture, the engineering of the sub structure for the landscape will determine the outcome of the super structure. Whereas an architect designing a house has to know if the foundation will support the building above it the landscaper has to account for the relationship of water, soil, and sun. “In Texas everything has to be irrigated in order for success. If plants can thrive without irrigation they’re going to
go dormant in the heat of the summer, and that’s not what anyone is looking for, so water management is a critical part of the entire landscape design process. Once the landscape is designed, then properly designing the irrigation is really the success of the entire landscape. There’s always tradeoffs with watering, drip or spray, zoning all of your water correctly so you’re watering sunny areas of like plants and shady areas of like plants to their needs. If you’re blessed to
have any kind of hills in North Texas then we have to understand how water rolls down those hills and then control it accordingly. It’s paramount that we get that right because otherwise you’re not going to manage it and then you’re going to have failures in the landscape.”
Experience gives a level of confidence in both knowing what the outcome, aesthetically and practically, will be by anticipating the outcomes of what a project presents. Glenn
and the team at Bonick Landscaping have been composed to answer all those potential outcomes while delivering an environment that increases the enjoyment of the home. It doesn’t stop at the threshold. “The landscape is what sets the home off. Homes can be amazing on a bare piece of dirt, but with the proper landscaping around it it’s really going to make it a home.”
// bonicklandscaping.com
Conduit Gallery
Craighead Green Gallery
Cris Worley Fine Arts
Erin Cluley Gallery
Galleri Urbane
Holly Johnson Gallery
James Harris Gallery
Keijsers Koning
Laura Rathe Fine Art
Meliksetian | Briggs
PDNB Gallery
Pencil on Paper Gallery
RO2 Art
Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
FRAGMENTS
by J. Claiborne Bowdon
Art has often been used to capture the fleeting nature of life. Still lifes make no pretense about this, their subjects are often cut flowers or fruit, bread, cheeses, and other things that in short order will be past their aesthetic prime. Though these things are only with us for days or weeks at a time they are forever lovingly captured immortally at their
best on canvas or in other mediums. In fact, if you take a longer view, the entirety of portraiture comfortably nestles under this notion. As art and culture have progressed we’ve found artists reaching towards surprising inspirations for subjects and what is worth capturing. At first blush, a humble balloon without even a message of “Happy Birthday” to
polished speech bubble, 2024 inflated steel and auto paint
9h x 13w x 6.50d in
flate tube fold-neon, 2024, inflated steel and auto paint
19h x 18.50w x 6.50d in
mark its place or significance in time-hardly seems worthy of the time, effort, and skill of an artist, but it’s hard to argue with sculptor William Cannings’ choice.
In his eighth solo exhibition at Cris Worley Fine Art we find Canning’s familiar subjects of inflated metal objects cap -
tured with realistic fealty to their inspirations. In some of the sculptor’s work he carefully engineers the weightlessness you would expect of a helium-filled balloon, but the collection of work on view here is less about the whimsical or sentimental, and more of a mediation on the sensual, tactile qualities of these inflatable objects. Around each
neon cloud, 2024, inflated steel and auto paint
11h x 19w x 6.50d in
abstract horsey, 2024 inflated steel and auto paint
17h x 8w x 14d in
of the sculpture’s edges you’ll find the ridges, creases, and wrinkles of the seams you see along a real balloon’s outline. These are the boundaries that hold in the air or helium that animates them, and this is where they reveal their personalities and vulnerabilities. Over the taut surfaces of the centers you can appreciate the solid color or iridescent
effect that Canning’s has given his creations, but their own peculiar appearances are guided along where he’s captured these seams and, in some examples, the folds over the surface where perhaps the inflatable isn’t quite inflated enough.
neon muff, 2024, inflated steel and auto paint
8h x 8w x 8.50d in
black + white tube, 2024 inflated steel and auto paint
33h x 32w x 9d in
These pieces are all largely to scale. There’s nothing monumental or overwhelming in their size, but it is the focus on what inspired their creation that overwhelms. As if to do away with pretense Cannings has even made some of these sculptures mere segments of balloons and even panels of just their surfaces, fragments displaying what enticed their making. In these examples we see nothing but the rippling curves and curious expressive indentions
that fascinated the artist to so carefully reproduce and share them with us. It’s not so much that a new world is opened to us by this work, but certainly as only art can do at its best, it opens up a new way of seeing and viewing the world around us. Fragments is on view now at Cris Worley Fine Art through October 26.
// crisworley.com
Engage Educate Experience Enjoy
The Dallas Architecture Forum is for everyone who wants to experience inspired design. The Forum presents an award-winning Lecture Series that brings outstanding architects,interior designers, landscape architects and urban planners from around the world, as well as Symposia, Receptions at architecturally significant residences, and Panel Discussions on issues impacting North Texas.
Northpark Center is always a wonderful civic space, home to numerous modern paintings and sculptures that make shopping a unique experience. This month there will be some very special sculptures that have a purpose beyond just the esthetic enjoyment of visitors, it’s art with a very practical purpose.
CANstruction - Saddle Up & Lasso Hunger featuring 29 western-themed structures built entirely out of canned foods and other non-perishable food items by teams consisting of architecture, design, engineering and construction companies. Teams will transform thousands of cans of donated food into sculptures. Sometimes whimsical and
sometimes gravity-defying. Texans continue to experience economic uncertainty and unprecedented hunger caused by record inflation. Now in its 28th year, CANstruction Dallas has provided millions of canned food items for the NTFB, distributed to North Texas neighbors experiencing hunger through a feeding network of 500 partner food
pantries and other community organizations. These food resources are critical now as North Texans continue to experience economic uncertainty and unprecedented hunger caused by record inflation. “Last year, the North Texas Food Bank provided over 130,000 meals through the money and food donated from the event.
The exhibit is on display at Northpark Center through October 06th where you can check out all 29 structures and vote for your favorite, NorthPark Center visitors can vote on their favorite structure by donating to that team’s fundraising page. We could not do what we do in the fight against hunger without the community’s support and hope you
will take the opportunity to see the impressive displays that the teams create.”
The exhibit is on display at Northpark Center through October 06th where you can check out all 29 structures and vote for your favorite
an architecturally curated tour of homes, beautifully designed.
Each Fall, the AIA Dallas Tour of Homes features the best in residential architecture. The Tour of Homes is a self-guided tour of unique and creative residences in late October showcasing the work of our city’s talented architects. Curated by local architects, each year’s tour features groundbreaking homes in neighborhoods across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Tour of Homes Hours of Operation are 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27.
ARCHITECTURE
Ron Stemarski Perkins&Will
ARCHITECTURE:
Bruce Bernbaum + Patricia Magadini Bernbaum/Magadini Architects
cravings modern
// evo-c designed by jasper morrison for vtra - 100% recyclable available. scottcooner
// 9090 manico forate pays tribute to the genis of its creator richard sapper. available alessi
// nessino is the smaller version of the nesso lamp, originally designed by giancarlo mattioli. available: artemide
your modern calendar
Modern events and activities make for fun around the Metroplex.
WALKING TOURS
Discover the Arts District + Fair Park Tram Tour
Ad Ex
FAIR PARK ARCHITECTURAL TRAM TOUR
Ad Ex
PATRICK MARTINES + WHO’S AFRAID OF CARTOONY CONFIGURATION?
Dallas Contemporary
HUGH HAYDEN + SAMARA GOLDEN
Nasher Sculpture Center
TIFFANY CHUNG: RISE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE BACKS IN FASHION: MANGBETU WOMEN’S EDGE WHEN YOU SEE ME: VISIBILITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART/HISTORY
Dallas Museum Of Art
JAPAN, FORM & FUNCTION EXHIBITION
Crow Museum Of Asian Art
DRAWN TO NATURE
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art
RUPTURE & CONNECTION
Green family Art Foundation
THE WILSON HOUSE
Preservation Dallas
Modern art, exhibits, around the Metroplex
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modern art galleries
GIL ROCHA
Kirk Hopper Fine Art
ANNETTE LAWRENCE + MARGARET MEEHAN
Conduit Gallery
WILLIAM CANNINGS
Cris Worley Fine Arts
MOLLY VAUGHAN
James Harris Gallery JOHN COBB
Valley House Gallery
SV RANDALL SITE 131
NOMIN BOLD + BATAARZORIG BATJARGAL
Liliana Bloch Gallery
BUILDING: GREG CARIDEO + MILANO CHOW + WILL ROGAN
12.26
DAVID AYLSWORTH + JACKIE TILESTON
Holly Johnson Gallery
KEN CRAFT + MATTHEW WOOD + WIN WALLACE
ro2art
PAULETTE MARTSOLF
Umbrella Gallery
