CC Magazine September 2013

CC MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2013 SPECIAL EDITION

STEVE TREVIﾃ前 COMEDY SPECIAL SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 WITH ROGER CREAGER AT AMERICAN BANK CENTER ARENA

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JEFF CRAFT Publisher

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Samantha Koepp, Dale Rankin, Georgia Griffin, Ronnie Narmour, Aletha Eyerman, Charlz Vinson

PHOTOGRAPHY Tony Martinez, Miles Merwin, Jeff Dolan, Janette Park-Rankin, Dale Rankin, Georgia Griffin, Max Strycharske, Ronnie Narmour

CONTACT CC @ 361.443.2137 505 S Water St Suite 545 Corpus Christi, Tx 78401

ADVERTISING JEFF CRAFT 361.443.2137 JAN RANKIN 361.949.7700

From the Publisher Special thanks this month to Tony Martinez from the Crush Girls (www.thecrushgirls.com) for providing some great photos of Steve Trevino and Roger Creager together. All the other photos of Steve, Dan, and Jesus were taken

by Jeff Dolan of Jeff Dolan Photography.

If you don't know the crush girls, please check out their site. TheCrushGirls.com is a great source of entertainment news in CC.

Subject: Star Wars Synopsis Editor's note: This was an honest description of the original Star Wars Trilogy, as texted by my wife to her friend. Somehow neither she or her friend has ever managed to watch Star Wars. It is included here in honor of Realms Con, more details on p.18.

Part 1 It is all confusing and hard to wrap my head around. I know there is a tall dude in a black outfit who breathes funny. And he sounds like James Earl Jones. And he dated this hot girl back in the day and she gave birth to a son who would eventually be really hot. Well, hot by 70s standards. Then something happened and lalala...

Hot guy meets up with a short robot that goes "Blurpblipbloo" and a tall skinny gold robot that talks. They run into a green genius, short and furry with big ears, and he's like a wise grandpa. He always knows what to say to make you feel better. And they all know a big fat guy who holds a half naked hot girl, with hair that looks like bagels, captive and when she is freed by hot guy and his posse, she goes off on a journey into space with them.

Part 2 Oh and somewhere there is a really tall sasquatch looking guy named Chewy. (he's probably from Premont.) He purrs. Only it sounds like he purrs underwater.

Like if a noisy, emotional fish could purr. And he knows a bunch of little furry gremlins. They're more like bears and not so much like lizards.

I think they squeal.

Part 3 (The Finale) And... eventually hot guy's dad comes back into the picture. I guess he was one of those ding dong ditch dads and left when hot guy was young. I think he is supposed to be an [expletive deleted] so it's probably because he never got over leaving his hot wife. Anyhoo, dad is back and the mask / helmet part of his outfit gets knocked off and it is revealed that he is a BURN VICTIM. Yeah I know, sucks right?Actually that's probably why he left. I kinda feel bad for him now.

Ok. so somewhere in there people get beamed up like in star trek, only there's nobody named Scotty in star wars. There's antelopes and fencing with laser beams and fire balls. That's all I know. I must have fallen asleep at the end.

Carpet Cleaning

--end-I'm not going to follow that. Enjoy!

Jeff Craft Š Copyright 2013 all rights reserved. CC Publishing, LLC reserves the right to edit, rewrite & refuse editorial materials and assumes no responsibility for accuracy, errors, omissions, or consequence arising from it. CC magazine shall be held harmless indemnified against any third party claims. CC Publishing, LLC accepts no claims made by agents, contributors or photographers. Opinions expressed by contributing writers or columnists are not necessarily those of CC Publishing, LLC or its affiliates. Advertisers appearing in CC magazine present only the viewpoint of the advertisers. CC magazine is printed in the USA. We assume no responsibility for advertising claims made in this publication. All correspondence to this publication becomes the property of CC magazine. Publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without express permission of the publisher and author(s).

10 Iced Tea With Steve, Jesus & Dan

Last spring I got to spend some time hanging out with Steve Trevino, Dan Medonia, and Jesus Trejo. Dan and Jesus were on tour with Steve

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RealmsCon Realms Con is one of those conventions that peaks the interests of all multimedia and pop culture and will be coming to the American Bank Center on October 4-6.

Realms Con is a multi-genre convention that offers the general public the latest in pop culture in the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, comic, anime, and gaming community.

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The Rangers End a Feud & Run out of Room By the time the Rangers got to Cuero where the Taylor-Sutton feud was centered the fight had been going on for ten years.

It all started in 1868 over accusations of horse stealing which led to gunfights, which led to the deaths of at least 150 people without a single charged being filed against any of the killers.

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22

Cell Phone Privacy Metadata is stuff you never really think is being constantly written down, but it is.

Every minute that your cell phone is on, it is collecting data about you.

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The Canvas Vicki Allen paints natural subjects in a graceful unpretentious style. Her works are welcoming. Even when seeing a new piece it at once feels familiar – painting is clearly something she is utterly at ease with.

17 Dining Guide 19 ArtScene 21 The Lenz

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Steve Trevino

Stevie T has never graced my couch with his bare bottom but he’s always kind and generous, and compliments me to illustrate just how well his wife and mother have trained him. I’ve known Steve Trevino since 2007. Someone told me he was a comic so I did what any waiting-to-be-impressed gal would do, I told him to prove it. I doubt he remembers, but I do. I also remember he rolled his eyes at me. (One day he will suffer.)

T

Steve

Trevino

Listen to those that matter around you. Be authentic. If you listen as a parent, you give them what they need.

By Aletha Craft It’s always nice to see an old friend, isn’t it? Unless, of course, that old friend always asks for/owes you money, sits naked on your couch and rummages through your medicine cabinet (hide the good stuff/ replace with random things like pencils, canned beans, action figures and “marital aids” –because sometimes you just gotta do things for yourself.)

The nice friends, the ones you are genuinely glad to see, make your life better every time they come to town. They remember you and notice subtle changes about you or recognize if you're a bit “off.” They ask after your family, work and intently listen to your reply. The good ones make you feel like they are genuinely glad to see you, too.

And in the case of Stevie T., they make you laugh.

Stevie T has never graced my couch with his bare bottom but he’s always kind and generous, and compliments me to illustrate just how well his wife and mother have trained him.

I’ve known Steve Trevino since 2007. I met him at a poker game one Friday night in Portland. He was

one of the motley crew who met pretty regularly in the hopes of out-bluffing the other fellas. Someone told me he was a comic so I did what any waiting-tobe-impressed gal would do, I told him to prove it. I doubt he remembers, but I do. I also remember he rolled his eyes at me. (One day he will suffer.)

Throughout the years, I would see him off and on – never really having the opportunity to get to know him like I did the other poker boys. He was always polite and friendly but he was quiet and it always made me nervous. You have to watch out for the quiet ones. I’d hear he was writing for this or that television show, or on tour, or working the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Once I heard he was attacked by a deranged raccoon in his backyard, He won't show me the scars though...

Eventually, I realized that it was here that he was home. When he came to town for a visit, he didn’t have to be anyone but “Steve.” No one expected anything from him here. At home, he didn’t have to be “on” or think about "The Industry." He could relax and be quiet if he wanted.

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But he has a job to do and it involves a little bit of laughter and a lot of making his family squirm in the process.

When Steve moved to L.A. his ultimate goal was to be respected at The Comedy Store. (You may have heard of it?) He landed in the City of Angels back in 2004, found his way onto the stage during Open Mic Nights, paid his dues, maybe parked some cars (parking cars at The Comedy Store will earn you three minutes on stage on Sunday and Monday nights!) and is now a paid regular. From what I understand, it's not that you really get paid a lot, its more that you're good enough to work the store just about every day if you want.

If you’ve ever seen his show or watched his family

as they squirm in their seats in the audience, you know that he tells a story with his comedy. He gets personal and real, sometimes sharing things that his wife, mother or mother-in-law might not want to hear blurted out to a room full of strangers.

How does he decide what to use? “I take an idea that is floating in my head. I write while on stage, write in my head. At The Comedy Store, I will try it and try it and try it again until it keeps getting better.

I do it until it is better and funnier, til every word is exactly what I want it to be.” He tells his stories, like the one about his wife’s Louis Vuitton, “until they get smaller, better and the laughs come. The Louis Vuitton story was over the fence the first time I told it, so I worked with it until it was tight.”

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Don’t dismiss his comedy as a mere script. While he does “write” his material and develop a routine from which to work with, to organize his thoughts and time on stage, he insists “you can play a crowd and still be yourself.” He fesses up to “getting emotional, angry, pissed onstage and I shouldn’t let the audience in on that,” which is something he doesn’t tend to do these days. Steve constantly works on new material and admits it is not as easy, as effortless as he makes it appear.

He has me fooled. I'm too busy rolling in my chair, along with a packed house, to notice any sort of hesitation or “work” on his part.

“I do what I love. I’m able to support myself, my wife and, hopefully, our children. I make my family and friends proud.”

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How do you write? What does the creative process look like?

By Aletha Craft Last spring I got to spend some time hanging out with Steve Trevino, Dan Medonia, and Jesus Trejo.

Dan and Jesus were on tour with Steve, who says he took them with him because "they work hard, don't complain, and want it bader than anyone else. They don't ask where they're gonna stay, or how much it pays, they just want it."

Since then, both Dan and Jesus have seen their careers take off. When I spoke to Jesus in May, he was telling me about a show he got to do in a stadium setting- the biggest he'd done so far.

"The timing is different. You have to count to three.

I go out, I do my first line, and one Mississippi, two Mississippi, then on three it's like a wave starts at the very back and just blows into you. I've never felt anything like it."

Jesus: I write in my little notebook, on my phone.

I'm very physical on stage.

What's the best part of your job? The worst?

Jesus Trejo is afraid of dogs. According to Steve, the first time Jesus got on stage at the Comedy Store, "He was probably the worst I'd seen. But there was ONE minute where I knew he was funny." Jesus speaks French, English and Spanish fluently and has an ABA certification (meaning he can work with kids with disabilities like autism)

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Jesus: The best part is travelling. I went on my first airplane ride at 22 or 23. Thanks to comedy I've been able to see things I never thought I could see. The worst part is being away from my family. My family doesn't get what I'm doing. It's hard not getting to share that with them.

Did you ever say anything on stage you regretted later?

Jesus: If I caught myself making fun of stuff because I'm conscious of it. If someone in the audience catches my attention. I try to keep the comedy within, keep it out of the audience.

Did you ever have a teacher who inspired you?

about me is a reflection of yourself.

Steve: I had a in high school - Mr. Benson.

Anthropology and government. He used Humor to reach students. He was able to teach bad students, made them get good grades.

If someone says I'm the greatest comedian they've ever seen, that just means they've never seen better.

If they say I'm the worst, they've just never seen worse.

In college I took sociology - that taught me so much about people, that rules are there, rules of what's normal, but they can be broken. It helped me understand that normal doesn't mean good or bad, that what's normal changes based on who you are, that I could do something different, not what was expected.

The key to all this is knowing the difference between hate and criticism. There's a lot of putrid anonymous hate on the internet. You have to be honest with yourself. you can't let those forces effect you. As long as you keep asking questions, you'll be fine.

How do you stay balanced?

Do you remember your first time on stage?

Steve: The Laugh Factory. I never dreamed of being a comedian. when I was 19 or 20 I threw myself into it. My first night on stage I had an epiphany. I knew what God put me on stage to do.

What's your creative process like? How do you write new material?

Steve: Family. My wife. I do the best I can every single day and I walk away from it every night.

One day it's enough, the next, it's not enough. every day as humans we wake up differently, either happy or not as happy. Listen to those that matter around you. Be authentic if you listen as a parent, you give them what they need.

Steve: I live, I exist I put mind body and soul out there. It's like static electricity. whatever gets stuck to me, it's important. I may think of five jokes a day, I'll only remember one on stage. if it sticks, it was important.

Are certain things off limits? Family, personal stuff?

Steve: If you don't want me to talk about things, you need to tell me when it happens so I don't discuss it. Don't ask for money then get mad about it.

This is my truth, not yours. You can't tell me it's not my truth.

Do you ever warn friends or family that they're going to be mentioned?

Steve: I don't practice a routine- I know I'm funny. I know how to make things funny. My brain is shaped, formatted, like a funnel. Put something in- it comes out funny.

How do you handle criticism?

Steve: It's not my business to care about what you think about me. I can't control that. How you think

Dan Madonia has a strain of cannibis named after him, Dank Madonia. Dan was arrested once in Los Angeles for walking naked down a busy street.

How do you write? What does the creative process look like?

Dan: I use social media in my writing, I'll post stuff on Facebook to test the waters. no pen to paper. Just post it.

What's the best part of your job? The worst?

Dan: There's nobody off stage telling us what to say, or that we are wrong, we have tons of freedom.

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Realms Con: The Convention for Everyone

By Kristen Billy As pop culture and multimedia become a part of our everyday lives and interests, the demand continues to grow. Conventions for fans of anime, design, movies, and music are vastly expanding with followings in the thousands. What first began as a meeting ground for the nerd culture, these conventions have become so much more, reaching out to more than just the comic book lover and enthusiast of the fantasy world. Realms Con is one of those conventions that peaks the interests of all multimedia and pop culture and will be coming to the American Bank Center on October 4-6. Realms Con is a multi-genre convention that offers the general public the latest in pop culture in the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, comic, anime, and gaming community. This 3 day event will bring people of all passions from the Coastal Bend, Texas, and other states to meet their favorite media, anime, comic, or artist celebrity and enjoy gaming and viewing rooms. People attending this event will get to learn from a variety of workshops and panels conducted by celebrity’s guests, artists, and movie professionals that will be sharing their knowledge and experience with the public.

After being an avid lover of the these conventions himself, Daniel Velasquez would often volunteer at many of these events, always seeing an opportunity to expand these conventions and really make one for everyone’s interests. After coming up with a plan to bring fans of sci-fi, horror, comics, and anime together, this plan became a reality in August 2005 with an attendance of over 700 fans. The convention has quickly grown each year and 2013 has proved to be no exception because Realms Con will be held in the American Bank Center with this year’s attendance expected to reach over 4,000. “When our attendees want to take a break from learning, they can choose from various live entertainment events such as concerts, variety shows, costume contests, haunted house, shadow cast performances and much more” says Daniel Velasquez, convention chairman and promoter for Realms Con. This three day event will

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feature a large variety of events such as The Crow Reunion with Tony Todd, Rochelle Davis & James O’Barr, Interactive Games, Comedy Performance by Alien Warrior Comic who appeared on the 7th season of Last Comic Standing, and Special FX Panels by Sergio Guerra, a contestant on the 1st season of Face Off. Actors will also be stopping by such as Verne Troyer from the Austin Powers’s movies and Billy Blair, who has appeared in Machete and Sin City. Voice actors will also be in attendance as well such as Jonathan Joss from King of the Hill and Richard Horvitz from Invader Zim. The comic book lover will also get to see their favorite writers and artists such as Brian Augustyn, who is known for his work in Flash and Sam De La Rosa, a comic book artist known for his work in Captain America and Star Wars. Musical guests will feature such acts like Voltaire, Yunmao Ayakawa, and Salia. Also coming, the Honky Tonk Man & Luke Williams from the Bushwackers. Sponsors for the upcoming Realms Con Convention include Flexi Compras, Game Stop, and the Asylum. For more information on Realms Con and getting your weekend passes, go to www.RealmsCon.com .

SMG managed American Bank Center is Corpus Christi’s premier event center providing unprecedented guest experiences. Follow us online at www.Americanbankcenter.om, facebook. com/AmericanBankCenter, twitter.com/AmericanBankCtr, and Instagram @AmericanBankCenter.

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The Rangers Stop A Feud

Editor’s note: This is the latest in a series of stories based on the book Taming the Nueces Strip written

by George Durham who was a member of the troop of Texas Rangers formed under Captain L.H. McNelly in 1875 to stop raiding into the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. In the last issue the Rangers had been called to DeWitt and Karnes Counties to the north of the Strip to quell a feud between two ranching families.

the men charged, let out a yell and slapped his thigh.

“Consarn!,” he said. “They’re claiming it took seven men to kill one country doctor. All of us must be bad gunmen. Seven to kill one old doc…”

“And a twelve year old boy,” the Ranger interrupted, his lip curling. He signed for the Rangers to come forward. Only two of the men at the party, Sitterlee and Meader, were armed, since they were the only lawmen present at the dance. The others had been “dehorned” at the door as was the custom at the time in Texas.

By Dale Rankin By the time the Rangers got to Cuero where the Taylor-Sutton feud was centered the fight had been going on for ten years. It all started in 1868 over accusations of horse stealing which led to gunfights, which led to the deaths of at least 150 people without a single charge being filed against any of the killers.

But things finally got out of hand when a man named Doc Brazell was shot dead by eight men the night before he was to testify before a grand jury. To make things worse Brazell’s twelve year old son had also been shot dead probably because he recognized some of the men who had killed his father. At that point the Judge in Cuerro, Judge Pleasants called in the Ranger to put a stop to the feud.

The Rangers arrive The troop of Rangers, including George Durham, was called in from their camps which were scattered across South Texas with the majority of the troop camped in Corpus Christi rounding up horse thieves.

The Rangers made their way to a camp just outside Cuerro to await developments.

The fact that a troop of Rangers had moved into the area shook the locals up. They did not know that Captain McNelly had recently been fired by the new Governor for his “take no prisoners” approach. His reputation alone was enough to send the feuders underground and emboldened the citizenry who had long since tired of the feud with its two militias of two hundred or more men on each side. The citizens demanded that the murderers of Doc Brazell and his son be arrested.

Judge Pleasants was given a Ranger escort wherever he went as he was in charge of empaneling the Grand Jury. The Rangers had a standing order to shoot to kill anyone who threatened the judge. The Rangers began rounding up the members of the Grand Jury – “whether they wanted to be rounded up or not.” Soon the Grand Jury had returned indictments on seven people, including the Marshall in Cuero, and a Deputy Sheriff. The problem now was to find the men charged and bring them in. One of them, Joe Sitterlee, the Deputy Sheriff was to be married on December 24, only a few days away, at the annual Cowboy’s Christmas Ball.

Swing your partner pull your gun Twelve of the Rangers were dispatched to the Ball to round up the culprits. It was late evening when the Rangers arrived at the dance. The Rangers advance was covered by the sound of six fiddles grinding out

Creed Taylo,r the man who started the feud a dance tune as they approached. They could hear the caller guiding the dancers through their moves: Salute your lovely critter – now swing and let her go.

Climb the grapevine round them; now all hands do-si-do.

You mavericks join the roundup, skip the waterfall!

Whirl ‘em like you always do, at the Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.

The wedding had already taken place and the drinks were flowing freely as the newlyweds were given the floor. The music switched to Oh Suzanna! as the couple made their way around the floor, the bride’s long veil trailing along the floor. All eyes were on the bride and groom as the Rangers swept into the room.

“We’re Rangers. Joe Satterlee, you’re under arrest,” the Ranger Captain said.

Sitterlee turned his bride lose and said, “You can go to h---.”

“You’re under arrest come with me,” the Ranger said.

“Go to h---,” Sitterlee said again. “This is my wedding night. I ain’t coming. If you got enough men come and get me.”

“I’ve go enough men,” the Ranger Captain replied.

“I’ve got papers here for six others: If you don’t want to come peacefully, then clear the women and children from the room. We’ll take you.”

Pistol fights were nothing new to the women of 1877 Cuerro. None of them moved. One of them spoke up.

“Mr. Big Texas Ranger, would it be alright if we women stood alongside the wall where we could see?”

“Lady,” the Ranger Captain said. “you can do as you feel like. I’m here to take out these seven men. I’ve got papers signed by Judge Pleasants charging you seven men with the murder of Doctor Brazell. All of you.”

Bill Meader, the Cuerro Marshall who was one of 14

A woman stepped between the revelers and the Rangers and said, “Why not let the party go on?

There’s enough liquor and food for all. Let it go on.

These men won’t run out on you. They’ll go with you in the morning and make bond. They haven’t broken the law.”

Sitterlee spoke up, “I’ll guarantee you every one of them will be here at sunup in the morning.”

“I’m placing you all under arrest,” the Ranger said, “I’ll furlough all but one until sunup. I’ll hold one under guard. He dies if you try to break him loose or break this furlough. Is that understood?”

The men agreed and the Ranger said, “I’ll hold Sitterlee.”

“This is my wedding night,” Sitterlee said. “I don’t want a Ranger nurse around me all night. Won’t Meader do?”

“He will,” the Ranger said. “But he dies if any attempt is made to break him loose. That’s a Ranger law.”

An uneasy truce An uneasy truce was settled and the dance continued with the Rangers as witnessed and some Rangers danced. The next day on Christmas morning the men were taken against their wishes to the Ranger camp. Word came back from Judge Pleasants that the men were to be held without bond. This looked like it would re-ignite the Taylor-Sutton feud bigger than ever. The prisoners were leading men of the community and all were members of the Sutton clan.

Armed parties showed up at the Ranger camp demanding bond be set but no one dared to confront the Rangers in a firefight. Judge Pleasants holed up in his house and denied all requests for bond. The Ranger captain told his men that they could probably win a mob fight but there would be much killing. The Judge knew that court was likely to be the place where things would come to a head and he wanted Ranger Captain McNelly, fired or not, to be there when court began. The hearing was set for January 2 in open court. McNelly arrived the day before. He may not have been officially still a Ranger Captain but there wasn’t much doubt about who was in charge.

Anyone who raises a hand will die The next morning the prisoners were taken to

Gone were L.H. McNelly’s days as the premier Texas lawman. “If you ever get down around Burton come out to the farm and see us,” he told Durham. “I aim to try and get some cotton in. I’ve missed two years.” Durham never made the trip. It was the last time he saw his Captain. The famed Captain McNelly had become a sodbuster.

Downtown Cuerro circa 1886 the second floor of the courthouse in the town of Clinton, then the DeWitt County seat, along with seventeen armed Rangers who were followed along the way by a group of citizens, also armed. McNelly stepped from the door in the back of the courtroom and stopped before the Judge’s bench. In his right hand was his service pistol with the hammer back.

He waited until things quieted down then said, “This court is now opening for regular business. Any man who lifts a hand to hamper its functions will die.”

There wasn’t much room for misunderstanding there, especially coming from a man with McNelly’s reputation. He turned and looked around the courtroom making eye contact with anyone willing to look back. The Judge entered and took the bench.

A lawyer for Sitterlee stood up and the Judge read the charge. “Joe Sitterlee, you are charged by indictment with the murder of Doctor Philip Brazell, on or about September 19, 1876. What is your plea?”

As Sitterlee’s lawyer said, “My client pleads not guilty your honor,” McNelly raised his cocked pistol above his head. Each of the Rangers followed suit.

If anyone was looking for a gunfight with a troop of Rangers they had come to the right place. No one was. The Judge ordered Sitterlee held without bond and the courtroom erupted in shouts and curses aimed at the Judge – but no one lifted a pistol. In less than one hour all the suspects were back in Ranger custody held without bond. They were taken to Galveston in the charge of six Rangers.

That effectively put an end to the Taylor-Sutton feud eight years after it started. The town was weary of the killing and glad the Rangers had been called in. The prisoners were held for about one month in Galveston then transferred to Austin and later taken to the jail known as the Bat Cave in San Antonio.

Six years later an attorney in San Antonio got the charges against them thrown out because the Rangers, at the Judge’s order, had forced the Grand Jury into session. But after six years the wind had gone out of the feud and when the men were released they scattered to other places to live and peace reigned in Karnes and DeWitt counties ending the bloodiest feud in Texas history.

Sodbusters take over In the meantime, John Wesley Hardin who was related to the Suttons and set the feud in full blaze by killing two Taylors along with two black reconstruction police who tried to arrest him, had bushwhacked his way to fame as a Texas gunfighter.

The Ranger outfit went to pieces against the wishes of Texas stockmen who gathered money for their pay. But the new Governor Richard Hubbard had campaigned on a promise to disband the Rangers. Some of the Rangers hired out in small bands but were not under orders.

The days of wholesale Texas Justice were done.

Law books had come West with the sodbusters and now disputes were solved with lawsuits rather than bullets. Men who wished to continue their old ways had to move West with the frontier or north to the Indian Territories.

The Nueces Strip was tamed as well as most of Texas; at the least the parts where crops could be grown or cattle raised. Rangers and their captains had to find new ways to make a living.

What do Rangers do when the shooting stops?

The quelling of the Taylor/Sutton Feud was the last hurrah for legendary Ranger Captain L.H. McNelly.

He returned to his farm near Burton where he died less than a year later on September 4, 1877 at the age of thirty-three after a long bout with tuberculosis.

His career as a fighter began in the Civil War and stretched long enough to see the taming of the Nueces Strip between the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers. Well known in Texas at the time, his fame outside of Texas was limited to stories in newspapers across the country to the half dozen or so major battles he had led his Rangers into; his most famous fight being his raid into Mexico which almost started a war between the two countries. Had it not been for the book by Durham his story would have been reduced to a few random contemporary newspaper accounts and would have died with the last of his Rangers.

The next time you drive south toward the Rio Grande Valley take a look at the rugged and vast country down there and imagine a group of twentynine Texas Rangers on horseback riding into it and taking on hundreds of roving horse thieves and cattle rustlers. It was not a job for the faint of heart.

Durham rides south For his part George Durham was now a twenty year old with no job whose only skill was hunting bandits who no longer were a threat thanks to the Rangers.

He rode south out of Corpus with another McNelly Ranger named George Talley who was from The Nations (Oklahoma) and was half Choctaw. They had badges and guns but no orders. They still considered themselves McNelly Rangers as they crossed the Nueces heading toward Santa Gertrudis on the King Ranch looking for work and in Durham’s case hoping to find Caroline, the niece of King Ranch Captain Richard King with matrimony in mind.

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John Wesley Hardin They picked up the trail of four bandits who had recently robbed the Brownsville stage at the same river crossing a week back. They had heard the men worked as maverickers who branded stock at two dollars a head for ranchers – whether the stock belonged to someone else or not – and in slow times simply plundered and robbed.

The Rangers headed for Banquette because sooner or later all bandits in the Nueces Strip ended up in Banquette and there and there they ran into the man known as W6 for his cattle brand. Since they had last seen him two years ago he had acquired a limp and his left armed dangled uselessly at his side as a result of some bullet wounds. “But I’m sure the other fellow was no better off,” Durham said. “For Old W6 was no bargain.”

A poor way to make a living “From what I’ve heard I’d say following McNelly was a poor way to make a living. That sort of work ain’t got no future,” W6 said. “The only fellow to make any money off you boys was old Tom Noakes over at Nuecestown. Them bandits only took eighteen of them Dick Heye saddles but he has already got back twenty-six. He can’t even give them away. Nobody wants to be straddling one after you boys killed everybody that had one.”

Durham and Talley waited around Banquette to see if any of the bandits they were trailing would show up. In the meantime Talley got hold of some tequila and decided it would be a lark to tie a tin can to the tail of a sorrel gelding. The horse got spooked and ended up hurting himself. The next day the horse’s owner, one Jess Peters, showed up in Banquette in a bad mood.

“What %$#*&^! Tin-canned my horse?” he demanded. “Speak up and get up!”

CC History Continued from previous page Talley was sitting crossed-legged playing pitch on the ground with Durham and “came to his knees fast a rattler uncoiling” and fired one shot into Jess Peters’ ribs. In Durham’s word, “Killing Jess Peters was a h--- of a mistake, even if it was one of those fast actions where some man was bound to die quick.” The Peters were large stockmen in Nueces County and there would be trouble.

Tally hit the door running and was on his horse headed west. He called back “I’ll see you pretty soon.” Durham next saw him forty years later almost to the day when he showed up at the King Ranch.

He had been working as a guard in silver mines in Mexico and had been pursued by General Black Jack Pershing for reasons lost to history. Durham got him cleared of the murder charge and got him a job as a roustabout on the King Ranch. More on him later.

made of scorched earthen bricks whitewashed with lime paints. When built the houses shone in the sun like those dreamed of by Spaniards when they first brought the longhorns to the region.” But by 1918 when Goodwyn came along it represented “no man’s dreams, only memories.” Its whitewash was cracking and the main ranch house was a long square-topped edifice called The Store even though no one ever came there to buy and there was nothing to sell.

Just two things connected this ranch house with the

“Neither worked anymore but still drew a salary because they were too proud to take a pension.

Talley’s self-assigned task was to limp down the road every morning to a gate to make sure it was still intact and properly latched. He went armed with cartridge belt and pistol in hopes a buzzard or hawk might appear and give him a reason to shoot.“

Hired by Captain King Durham left Banquette and headed for the King Ranch. On the way he stopped and put on the new suit of clothes he had bought in San Antonio and a clean shirt. As he rode onto the King Ranch one of the wranglers took him for a cattle buyer and took charge of his horse and Durham led him to the big house on the King Ranch “duded up like a sore wrist.” Captain King was in the front office and came out and looked him up and down.

“You’re one of McNelly’s men, aren’t you?” he said.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What brings you down this way? What are you looking for?”

“A job,” Durham said.

“That’s right. McNelly got fired. And you don’t want to work for that man Hall?"

“I think he’s fired too,” Durham said. “The new governor has cut the whole outfit off.”

“Did you ever work stock?”

Durham shook his head and tapped his gun. “The only trade I got is chopping cotton and this.”

King hired him at sixty dollars a month. “I don’t have any cotton that needs chopping right now but I can use you. Give the bookkeeper your right name.”

For the next sixty years Durham worked and lived on the King Ranch as King’s driver on trips to Corpus, San Antonio, and Brownsville. Between trips he worked at a cow camp on the Laureles division of the ranch and married Captain King’s niece in 1882.

They had nine kids. They eventually moved to the Sauz division where Durham was general foreman and King built them a house where he lived until his death. Carolyn died in 1915. During the ensuing years there survives only one written account of his daily life there. In his book Life on the King Ranch published in 1951 author Frank Goodwyn whose father was a foreman on the ranch wrote of his encounters with Durham and another retired Ranger when he was a young boy living on the Norias division of the ranch.

Adobe house on black loam Goodwyn writes that in 1918 Durham was living on the Sauz Ranch which was “located in the black loam south of the underground river that flowed through the ranch and was an adobe ranch house

“Old man Talley did not chew tobacco but he smoke and cussed constantly. He called himself a wicked old cuss and he loved his pistol as himself. He cleaned it daily and lavished on it all the devotion that most men lavish on their wives and babies. Both Durham and Talley wore high-heeled boots that came almost to their knees. Their pants and jackets were of khaki that had once been brown but now were faded to a pale, washed out cream. Their hats were blackened in the seams by dust and use and their brims were crumpled, limber and floppy.

The set of Lonesome Dove outside world; a delivery wagon that drove between it and Raymondville twenty-one miles to the west, and a new telephone.

In one of the smaller wood frame houses nestled among the mesquite trees lived a “stove-up ex-Ranger, Old Man Durham. He was tall and scarred as the adobe houses and except for his mustache he kept his face shaved so smooth of gray whiskers that it looked like a parched bacon rind. If he had not used tobacco he would never have used the phone.

Distrustful of the mechanism’s efficiency, he bellowed into it at the top of his voice and sent me away gloating over the coincidence that his name and the brand of tobacco he used were the same.

“Hello! Raymondville? This is Mister Durham. When the wagon leaves, send me some Durham tobacco.”

Gus and Call In another wing of the house lived another ex-Ranger, Old Man Talley, the same George Talley that Durham had ridden with in their McNelly days.

One can’t help but see the parallel between their existence on the King Ranch prairie and that of the fictitious Ranger Captains Augustus "Gus" McCrae and Captain Woodrow F. Call in Larry McMurtry’s iconic novel Lonesome Dove and subsequent series almost exactly one hundred years after Durham’s Ranger band broke up. It seems scant coincidence that when author McMurtry built the set for the fictional Rangers’ hometown of Lonesome Dove he placed it on the banks of the Rio Grande a scant one hundred miles from the house where Durham and Talley spent their last years.

But instead of one great last cattle drive to Montana like Captains Gus and Call, Durham and Talley rode herd on a single gate they kept in working order on a fence in the Sauz. Goodwyn’s description of the two aging Rangers bears repeating. It is the story of men who have outlived their time and have little calling in their here and now but the shared remembrance of times past in taming the land they can’t leave.

Pistols and high-heeled boots In the words of Frank Goodwyn through the eyes of a child.

16

He and Durham had earned the eternal gratitude of Captain King, long since passed away, and his descendants by ridding the land of bandits. Durham bossed his own sons who now took care of the ranch and the two men took turns visiting each other in their respective houses, the last of the men who shared the memories of the land when it was wild and in need of their services. When in Talley’s room Durham spit his tobacco juice on the toes of his boots out of respect of the lumbered floors. They wasted no words. Goodwyn listened through windows and half-opened doors.

“Been down to the gate today.”

“H---, yes, Saw a d--- skunk. Didn’t shoot him. Too d--- close.”

“I was over at the pens today. Shot a snake.

Fourteen.” And with that Durham pulled from his pocket a rattle with fourteen points he had cut from the snakes tail and handed it over.

“Hmmm. D--- good. How far?”

“Twenty feet.”

“Gonna send it to Noris?” where they paid five cents for every rattle to encourage the ridding the ranch of snakes.

“H--- no. Gonna keep it.”Durham killed rattlesnakes because it was his duty; it was a shame to take rewards for that.

“Gonna rain?”

“H--- no. Rained last month.”

Such was the life of the anachronistic Texas Ranger in the age of the singing wire. Two old warriors with no more battles to fight but with a great story to tell.

This is the last cowboy song the end of a hundred year waltz Voices sound sad as they're singing along another piece of America's lost Ed Bruce George Durham’s story of the Taming of the Nueces Strip would have been lost to history but for the work of a single writer from the San Antonio ExpressNews who sought him out near the end of his life.

The reporter’s name was Clyde Wantland and he was portrayed as the reporter at the end of Lonesome Dove who said to Captain Call, “They say you are a man of vision.”

Snoopy’s and Scoopy’s Snoopy’s Pier was literally a product of the Redfish Wars, a battle over commercial fishing rights in Texas. Ernie Buttler realized the Redfish Wars signaled the beginning of the end of the commercial fishing industry in Texas. So Ernie decided to give up trying to catch fish and shrimp and start cooking them instead. In August 1980 Ernie and his wife, Corliss, purchased a small bait stand and burger joint with a fishing pier on the Intracoastal Waterway. Over time, the place was transformed with a lot of hard work and patience into a family-friendly seafood restaurant. Special attention is given to providing local harvested quality seafood at affordable prices.

Scoopy’s was opened by Ernie’s wife and features home made soups, salads and sandwiches using only Texas products. Scoopy’s is proud of their shrimp salad, known by locals as the best in town.

They also have great house made desserts and ice cream by the scoop.

G�i��

Dining Guide

Town & Country Cafe has great breakfast and lunch specials every day, offering great food at a fair price. Town & Country Cafe is a great location for business meetings and client luncheons and there is no charge for the use of the meeting room.

4228 South Alameda

Corpus Christi, TX 78412

(361) 992-0360

Locally Owned and Operated

13313 S.P.I.D. · Corpus Christi (361) 949-8815 · snoopyspier.com

Taste The Difference!

The Gourmet Pizza Our famous Padre Pizza dough is handmade daily. Our sauces are created from the freshest tomatoes and seasoned with our own Chef’s blend of natural herbs and spices. Our lasagna made from scratch daily is the most tasty and delicious you will ever try, and our salad selections are prepared to order using the freshest produce available.

14993 SPID On the Island 949-0787

949-7737 15370 SPID- On the Island Located on Padre Island, Island Italian has been serving the community since 1987. A family friendly restaurant, Island Italian also serves beer and wine and is available for private parties of up to 53 people. Flat screen TV and DVD / VHS for meetings. Delivery on Padre Island after 5pm.

Daily Lunch and Dinner Specials.

Hours of Operation: Monday - Thursday 11am to 9:30pm Saturday 10am to 10pm Sunday 5pm to 9:30pm

The

believe that if they run 100 searches, they will find one criminal. Meanwhile, 99 people will never view their privacy the same way again. They forget, and it seems that the public is forgetting that we don't live in a nation with unrestrained government power. Our founders set up the 4th and 5th amendments so that it was hard for the government to find incriminating information. These amendments were designed so that a citizen can walk free and not have to worry about government officers searching every inch of their private lives without a warrant. The 5th amendment was created so that you cannot be compelled to testify against yourself.

(true) Privacy of Your Cell Phone

The police believe that if they run 100 searches, they will find one criminal. Meanwhile, 99 people will never view their privacy the same way again The government has a way to search a cell phone. If they have reliable information that a cell phone contains evidence of a crime, then they can get a warrant. In Nueces County, there are magistrates available 24/7 who can write a warrant. The police could get information about a cell phone and have a warrant within hours. They just don't want to do that much work. They want to just be able to grab a citizen's cell phone and search it.

Now to the scary part, the Courts are agreeing with them. There has not been a Supreme Court case on the subject, but many appeals courts are agreeing that a cell phone is just another container. There is some split and hopefully the Supreme Court will make a good decision in this matter.

By Kyle Hoelscher

What needs to be done is that people need to be informed on this important subject. We don't have to wait for the federal government to act, we can protect ourselves on the state level. If you write your legislators or talk to a state congressman, ask him how he feels on this. Tell him that we need a privacy amendment for our cell phones. Without any constitutional protections on your metadata, privacy will be erased. You will be able to be tracked, your history searched, and you will be prosecuted with that information, all without any judicial or unbiased oversight.

Think about your cell phone for a moment. How many times did you use it today? How many different people did you call? Who did you take a picture of?

Did you use the internet on it? Now, move beyond what you know, and into what your cell phone company knows. What towers did your cell phone ping today?

How many minutes did you spend talking to who? Where did you take that picture? What phone numbers do you dial the most? Who do you text the most?

The latter half of those questions is called metadata. It is the aggregate data that is constantly being recorded and attached to your identity.

Water Street Oddities

Metadata is stuff you never really think is being constantly written down, but it is. Every minute that your cell phone is on, it is collecting data about you. This is not much of a problem when people use that data to sell you something, but it is a problem when the government wants that data to send you to jail. Privacy is being eaten by technology and the cell phone is the main course. Government agencies at the federal, state, and local level also want to get a taste of that data. They say they have a right to all of it and unfortunately, our courts and legislatures are agreeing with them.

Case on point: The Michigan State Police. In 2008, this police department purchased machines that can be plugged into a person's cell phone and extract all data off of the phone within 1.5 minutes. This includes deleted information, call logs, data logs, and search history. Now, the theory behind this is that the police should have some way to investigate cell phone data. What if there is some real evidence on a cell phone that must be pulled off? I agree, unfortunately the police believe that this device can be used even if not investigating something serious. They believe it can be used anytime a person is pulled over in a vehicle or anytime a person is stopped for questioning. Luckily, three years after this program was started, when the ACLU put public pressure on Michigan to release data about the program, they stated that this device would only be used with a search warrant or by consent. That danger has been stymied for now, but future abuse looms as more police departments purchase these devices.

505 South Water Street Downtown Corpus Christi

That is a danger before arrest. But lets look at our nation's unfortunate Supreme Court decisions that are now being applied to your cell phone. In a case from 1982, US v. Ross, the Supreme Court determined that any container (briefcase, bag, wallet, ect) which is found inside a legally searched vehicle, could also be searched without a warrant. This was later extended to any container on an arrested person's body. This made some sense back in 1982, when there was no information technology as we know it today. When there wasn't wireless connectivity of every device. And though your briefcase might have some pages of information, it could not give away your entire life up to the point when you were arrested. Now, the government is trying to argue that the cellphone is merely a container. Unfortunately for your rights, this 'container' can tell the government everything that you never wanted them to know. Essentially, the government's argument in this situation is that when you use a cell phone, you are abandoning your rights under the 4th and 5th amendments.

What the government is seeking with this stretch of case law is the ability to find incriminating information without working very hard for it. The police

18

TH

E

Art Scene

A Few Items Of Note

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Art Museum of South Texas

100 N. Shoreline Drive

HOURS:

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Mon: 10am - 3pm

361-881-8325

Tue - Sat: 10am - 4pm

studiocgallery.com

K Space Contemporary 415 D Starr Street

Studio C Gallery

Owned by a group of well-recognized local artists, Studio C Gallery is situated within the Art Center of Corpus Christi on the bayfront overlooking the marina.

Studio C Gallery houses a variety of high quality wearable, functional, decorative and/or gift-able works of art created by talented Texas artists.

Hours: Wed-Sat 11a – 5p Free Admission

361.887.6834

First Friday ArtWALK

KSpaceContemporary.org

August 2nd – 5:30pm to 9pm

Main Gallery: Third Coast National A non-thematic, juried exhibition of new works of art from all across the USA. We are simply looking for innovative, interesting contemporary artwork. Now in its 7th year, The Third Coast National marks the anniversary of the opening of K Space Contemporary’s ground level space on Starr Street in 2nd Place 2012 © downtown Corpus Christi, Texas.

Nancy Lamb This exhibition has proven to be one of the most popular exhibitions in Corpus Christi and one of the artistic highlights of the year. 2013 Juror: Andy Coolquitt

Art Star Gallery: Featured Artist TBA Hot Spot Gallery: CLOSED Art Center of Corpus Christi

“Walk in the Park” © Louis A. Garcia

Treehouse Art Collective Corpus Christi, TX 78401 361.882.4822

Fine art paintings by local artist Vicki Allen – see her profile in this month’s “The Canvas” in CC Magazine. Join us for art, music, refreshments and FUN!!!

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Tuesday through Sunday

Tel: 361.884.6406

CLOSED Monday

505 S Water Street Suite 545

Fax: 361.884.8836

Admission is always FREE

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Introducing the art of Fine Art International Printmakers to expand the public interest in the value and collection of fine art prints, also an exchange of prints among the Fine Art International Printmakers.

Saturday September 7th from 10am from 2pm Steam roller printmaking demonstration with help from our friends at Nueces Power Equipment.

NEXUS Affiliated Group Exhibit of 8 TAMUCC Art Department Graduates through September 26th.

Hours: Tues - Sat 10a to 5p

Sundays 1p to 5p

Closed Mondays & Holidays

Seniors (60 and older) - $6 Active Military - $6 Students (13+) - $4 Free to all members, children 12 and under;, and TAMU-CC students.

Free Admission every First Friday in honor of ArtWALK!

Greg Reuter: For the Record 14 July through 29 September 2013

Experience nature like never before. Exhibition

organized by Greg Reuter, and Deborah Fullerton, AMST Curator.

September 12th through November 7th, 2013 Widely respected as one of the most important artists in the history of photography, Paul Strand made two trips to Mexico during 1932 to 1934. This collection is from the Paul Stand Archive of the Aperture Foundation in New York City.

Check the museum website calendar for lots of fun family and adult events throughout the month The Merriman-Bobys House

CreativeConnectionsCC.org

Heritage Park

Wednesday – Saturday 11a – 3p

361-883-ARTS (2787)

© Vicki Allen

or By Appointment Always Free Admission

First Friday, ArtWALK August 2nd, 6p – 9p

Hours: Mon – Thursday 10a - 8p Fri & Sat 10a - 10:30p Sunday Closed

First Friday ArtWALK New featured artist each month. First Friday drummers, dancers, and street performers.

Art, music, poetry, fabulous food, and shopping, all in one!

Downtown Corpus Christi Farmer's Market Every Wednesday 5-7 pm featuring local growers and crafters

Featured Artist: Ed Portis Terrific Exhibits extended through Labor Day Weekend!

Two simultaneous exhibitions by local photographer, Ed Portis: The Culture Ed Portis of Boats and Mexican Culture. Both exhibitions approach familiar subjects with a fresh eye. Watch for a new exhibition later in the month.

First Saturday and Sunday

Open Mic Every Thursday Night 6-9pm

Birds In Art Exhibition, Reception

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Located inside the Art Center of Corpus Christi. The Barry Brown Clay Studio is open to the public for classes and available for studio use by members only.

The Clay Studio Group is a volunteer organization

that maintains and runs the studio.

artmuseumofsouthtexas.org

Corpus Christi, Texas 78401

100 N. Shoreline Drive

Fax: 361.825.3520

1521 North Chaparral Street

Rockport Center for the Arts

Barry Brown Clay Studio

Tel: 361.825.3500

Creative Connections Gallery

361.883.9123

Fine Art Print Exhibition and Exchange

Noon to 6p

Featured Artist: Vicki Allen

Tango Tea Room

Printmakers International 2013

Sunday

September 6th, 5:30 – 9pm

Hours: 10a – 4p

Check the website for art camp and class information & registration!

11a – 8p

First Friday ArtWALK

100 Shoreline Blvd

ArtCenterCC.org

Tue-Sat

Free Admission Always

TreehouseArtCC.com

Adults - $8

Corpus Christi, TX 78401

Paul Strand: The Mexico Portfolio

Hours:

309 North Water Street, Suite D

Admission:

1902 N. Shoreline Blvd

Saturday, September 14th, 5-7 pm 19

NEW HOURS!!

Cor�us Christi Dancer & Yellow Rose of Texas Caroly� Ar�ood

Carolyn’s students, both youth and adult, gain skill, confidence and showmanship through her performance focused approach. But more than anything else, she shares and promotes her love for the art of dance. Carolyn relocated to Corpus over ten years ago. Thus far she has been “the best kept secret” in Corpus Christi. It's time now for everyone to know what she has to offer.

Caroylyn's life has been totally dedicated to dance.

Starting the age of at four she studied many forms of dance. She went from a tap dancer to a hoofer after having had the honor of learning from some of the greats including Gregory Hines, Henry Le Tang and the Nicholas Brothers. She also extensively studied jazz, ballet, pointe, modern, lyrical, contemporary, Polynesian (Hawaiian Hula, Tahitian & Maori), clogging, line dancing, Flamenco, Afro-Hatian, Ballroom, including American style Waltz, E C Swing, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Rumba, Samba, WC Swing, Cha Cha Cha, Tango, Argen-tine Tango, Hustle, Night Club Two Step, Country Western Two Step, Salsa, Bachata and Cumbia. She currently teaches all these except Flamenco and Afro-Hatian. Carolyn started her professional career early at the age of 16 both as a performer and teacher. She opened her first dance studio at age 17 and sold it 13 years later with an enrollment of over 250 students. As a performer her career included 6 years as an entertainer at Disneyland, working as a dancer and dance captain with Greg Thompson Productions (currently a leading show producer in Las Vegas) and then on Celebrity Cruise Lines for 5 years as a dancer and Dance Captain. She has also performed in many Theater Musicals in California including “Singing in the Rain” and “Sugar Babies” staring Rip Taylor. Carolyn's television credits include “The Nanny” episode “The Ship of Fran’s.” In competition, Carolyn won a slew of gold awards and overall championships in Waltz, Cha Cha, WC Swing, Hustle, Two Step and Night Club Two Step. In 1999 she and her partner won the California Swing Dance Championship. She also earned her degree in dance at Orange Coast College in CA. Once Carolyn settled in Corpus Christi she decided to apply her years of experience to create a new, more performance-oriented type of dance studio.

She has taken the emphasis away from an annual recital and replaced it with many public performances. So far this year her students at Rhythm and Moves Dance Academy and Leilani’s Aloha of Polynesia have done 37 performances at 22 different venues to 60 different songs. They’ve performed in 3 parades Shrimporee, Barefoot Mardi Gras and Flour Bluff Homecoming. Most of these were free to the public. Parents get to see their children’s developing dance and performance skills many times instead of just one recital, and students gain confidence in their skills and gain real experience performing at many events.

Carolyn also hosted a workshop with master instructor Kumu Hula from Waikiki, Hawaii, and ran 2 summer camps. Carolyn has choreographed 26 main stage musicals in South Texas - 14 at the Harbor Playhouse (Hairspray voted Best Musical of 2011), 6 at the Aurora Arts Theater (season one exclusive choreographer), 4 at Flour Bluff High School and 2 at Texas A & M Kingsville.

In 2009 she was honored to be named a “Yellow Rose of Texas” by Governor Rick Perry. It is an award given to Texas women who display exemplary service to the State of Texas and their community. This award was petitioned to the Gov. and presented to her by former State Legislator Curtis Ford for her providing both entertainment for the community and life enriching experiences to all of her students.

Although Carolyn loves to teach dance and see the rewards that all of her students gain, she is first and foremost a dancer at heart. She continues to actively perform and study dance.

She participated in the “International Hula Conference” in Waikiki last summer and she was a featured soloist in a Hawaiian Local’s wedding in Waikiki with “Halau Tiare Tahiti Nui” in February 2013. Carolyn believes that staying active in her art is essential and it doesn't take much arm-twisting to get her on stage. In fact it doesn't take any twisting at all and she is often seen up on stage where her heart and soul are happy.

20

Halau Leilani's Aloha of Polynesia Entertainment & Classes

361-548-9878

aloha.luaus@yahoo.com 6347 SPID Corpus Christi TX 78418

Leilani Arwood

Ryithm & Moves Dance Academy

THE

Lenz

21

The

Canvas Exposing Local Artists…

By Georgia Griffin

VV

Vicki Allen – Painting What She Knows…

icki Allen paints natural subjects in a graceful unpretentious style. Her works are welcoming. Even when seeing a new piece it at once feels familiar – painting is clearly something she is utterly at ease with. Artists find their niche at different points in life, with various motivations. I asked Vicki why she does what she does, and her immediate answer struck a chord many an artist can relate to: “I do it because I’ve been an artist all my life, and even as a child I knew I could draw. I always excelled at that in school, that’s when I got my most positive reinforcement – chuckling - it wasn’t for MATH! “So, it just kind of stuck with me and that’s what I do. It’s almost as instinctual as anything I do. I got a Bachelor of Arts degree and worked as a commercial artist for years in television and newspaper. That was back in the mid 70s through the 1980s, back before we had computers and stuff, and artists had to be really utilized to do things. There was a lot of work along that line back then.

“Everything stopped while I raised children. Now I’m back into it, and the children are out of the nest.

So, painting’s what I do. I do oil and watercolor – I do more oil right now because that seems to be what’s selling. People don’t even comprehend that watercolor is a very difficult media, but I like to say I speak both languages. I can do watercolor or I can paint with oil or acrylic, but watercolor is far more challenging.

“A drawing is not flashy and colorful, and watercolors unless you have an extraordinary piece are not necessarily flashy either… oils, I can crank

those out and have giclées.

That mule for example: The big one is the original; the little one is the reproduction.”

A giclée is an archival reproduction print made from a very high-resolution image of an original painting. It is less costly than purchasing an original, allowing you to have a high quality color-true reproduction of a work of art that will last much longer than an ordinary photographic print. These are often popular with bourgeoning art collectors.

“I have a (local) gentleman; he scans them for me and reproduces them when I need them. I don’t have to keep an inventory. I don’t have to keep an industrial building full of them or anything, thank goodness!

But the giclées sell very well, because they’re more price-appropriate for most budgets. In Corpus Christi, as you know, you get what the market can bear here. You might sell some piece for twice the price in Dallas.

“I really need to be cloned. I’m kind of at that growing point right now where I need to spend a lot of time on marketing, but I spend as much time creating as marketing – it’s a challenge. I have some things in my mind that I’m fairly confident that I could go do; I’ve just got to get organized and do it,

g i a ‘ I m p h a c p w m i

o s A S h a t you know? It’s a time thing. Then you have personal family issues too and yeah, boy, that’s kinda where I’m at. Things are going well, it’s just getting to that point…buying materials, and paying to have it reproduced is not cheap. Getting from that original to that giclée piece is not cheap. Ultimately you do make it back, but it’s investment.” Vicki laughs as she tells me, “I’d be in hog heaven if I had somebody doing the marketing half of it, but I haven’t met those people yet.”

Every artist has their muse – something or someone who inspires and drives them to create their work.

Vicki’s work is so evocative of the Coastal Bend, capturing the scenic flora and fauna of the region. I asked what drives her inspiration.

“Initially I’m talking about my husband (Ray Allen); he’s the Executive Director of the Bays and Estuaries Program. I’ve been married to a man for 40 years who is a biologist, and that’s part of our recreation.

Bird watching and being knowledgeable about environmental issues. It’s just something that I enjoy and love, so here come the bird paintings. I travel a lot with my husband so I shoot a lot of stuff. There’re some boats from Puerto Rico, you know, on the other side of the wall, things like that. That’s part of my muse or whatever.

“I grew up around horses, in San Antonio, and when I was younger we lived in Iowa, but I had horses all the time so, I know horses fairly intimately, and they get painted. I have a painting over there of 3 little girls in their ballet tutus because now I’ve got grandkids, so here they come, you know? It’s just what I know and enjoy at the time; that’s what comes out. I’m definitely affected by my environment and what’s going on in my life; it’s fairly accurate.”

We talked about Vicki’s process once she has the source photos, and what makes her lean one way or the other as to whether this piece really needs to be watercolor, or that piece really needs to be oil…

22

w t y s b s o r

“Oh yeah!! Some of them, you just know. I don’t know why but you just know, this will interpret better in oil, this will interpret better in watercolor. It’s just the way you want to approach it. I shoot a lot of photos and sometimes as I shoot I’ll go, ‘whoa boy is this gonna be a painting!’ You know? It’s drop dead. And then sometimes I’ll be turning myself inside out trying to figure out what I’m going to paint next. That’s just the way we roll.

“I’ll have more pieces here, and it’ll be more dominantly shown. I’ve got some new stuff that will be hung. I’ve shown in here about 3 years now, and it’s been a good venue for me. The Treehouse has been a good venue because of location and everything.

“I think a lot of my personal sales are affected by tourism, and I really don’t know what to expect with the Destination Bayfront or whatever. I mean, if it brings in more tourists, that’ll be a good thing. So I don’t know.

I’m still kinda watching and wondering if we need that, or if we’re ready for it.

“Sometimes some paintings you just really know are gonna work, the composition’s perfect, the use of color is perfect, you know, and for some reason your skills are really in a good mood that day. It’s just that it’s ‘happening’ today, and I don’t even try to paint unless I’m in that because I don’t want to waste my time or the money or materials. I don’t do anything unless I’ve got a plan. You have to plan it out. You have to sit down, you have to do rough sketches, you have to make decisions about whether it’s going to be oil or watercolor, your color palette, don’t even bother until you have it totally planned, or it’s just not going to work…it just won’t work. In the magic of Photoshop® I can use that to help me visualize changes and figure out where I’m going with it.”

“I’ve been a tourist and I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve gone and visited places that are kind of in a slump like we are, and other places that are just really happening, and you just…it’s hard to say. I think it’s picked up a bit over the past couple of years. I think there’s been a real effort by the Downtown Management people, the Treehouse going in and various assorted art groups, I mean, there’s an effort there. Still, we don’t seem to have access to, or I don’t know of any, really good high-end gallery in Corpus proper. There is none, and Corpus is just not ready to support that yet – but I think Corpus is doing all right…”

While Corpus is doing all right, artist Vicki Allen is doing very well indeed! Stop by on First Friday, September 6th, between 5:30 and 9 pm, for their Opening Reception with refreshments and fun! The Treehouse Art Collective LLC is located in the Water Street Market, 509 N. Water Street (Suite D), in downtown Corpus Christi.

All that planning belies the result, which is a collection of very relaxed works that flow. Vicki has been sharing these works with the patrons of the Treehouse Art Collective for a long time, and for the month of September Vicki Allen will be their featured artist. I asked her what being the featured artist means, how she feels about the art scene in general here, and what impact she thinks Destination Bayfront might have.

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