Douglas Newby Insights - Page 18
Urban Steps
I love nature and I love cities. Vibrancy and solitude within steps of each other. In some cities you might find this in a walled villa, or maybe a hidden garden in a hotel, or an expanse of a lush park when you didn’t expect one. A stone path leading to stone steps helps one deliberately and subliminally make the transition from purpose to something even more important. *Urban Steps
#StoneSteps #StonePath #Nature #DallasNeighborhood #Solitude #Garden #SwissAvenue #MungerPlace #City #Neighborhood #Dallas #Design #LandscapeDesign #Architecture
Hurricane Harvey Prompts Preservation
The Texas Legislature assembled over $9 million to preserve, restore, and study damaged buildings and sites as a result of Hurricane Harvey. The Texas Legislature authorized the Texas Historical Commission, Texas Preservation Trust Fund to award this money to the most worthwhile preservation projects. I was elected by the Commission to serve on the professional advisory board which reviewed the 50 projects applying for the grants and the staff evaluations and background on each project that were candidates to receive these resources. This board included a place for two architects, two archeologists, two preservationists, two non-profit organization preservationists, one lawyer, and a real estate broker, which is the place I filled. The Texas Preservation Trust Fund staff is dedicated and knowledgeable. They provided fabulous information on each site that ranged from monumental county courthouses, to one-room frame schoolhouses, to private residences, to abandoned cemeteries. The conversations, thoughts and discussion of the board were vigorous, interesting, and collegial. I was pleased to be able to second a motion that directed a majority of the funds and make a motion that also passed prioritizing the distribution of the funds for the incredible worthwhile projects that did not score as high. It is always disappointing to see historic and architectural buildings and sites compromised but it is encouraging to see how much money is being discharged to put these buildings and sites back in good or better order. *Hurricane Harvey Prompts Preservation
#TexasPreservationTrustFund #HurricaneHarvey #Texas #TexasPreservation #HistoricBuildings #HistoricSites #SiteSurveys #Architecture #Architects #Archeologists
Porch by Park
There are many enticing environments and views. One of my favorites is looking into the tops of trees. I am not fond of heights, so the idea of climbing a sequoia 500 feet to explore a whole different ecosystem is something beyond my physical and mental capability. However, the sense of living within the architecture of trees is romantically primordial. Fluttering leaves, swaying branches, large and small birds swooping in and out, and wildlife cavorting brings a special appreciation of life. Of course, as sailors know, the higher up the sail, the stronger the wind. On a still day, balconies still enjoy cooling breezes and especially when they are filtered by a surrounding forest. *Porch by Park
#Balcony #Park #Arbor #Breeze #Forest #WhiteRockLake #ArboretumPoint #Nature #Dallas #DallasNeighborhood #Architecture #porch #Architecture
Summer Joyspotting
A car rapidly slows down and quickly pulls over as two women spot a cherry-painted wall. Of course, what would any joyspotting woman, dressed in a two-piece cherry print ensemble do—handstands in front of the matching wall! Ingrid Fetell Lee reminds us, summer also includes the joy of seeing others joyspotting. *Summer Joyspotting
#Joyspotting @AestheticsOfJoy @LindsayAttaway #Notation #Yoga #GraffitiJoy #Dallas #DallasNeighborhood #VickeryPlace #Urban #CityLife #Art #Design #CherryEnsemble #City
Penguin Repair Tool
Artist David McManaway and my father, the recipient of this art piece, shared a July 12 birthday. The Penguin Repair Tool was first exhibited at DW Gallery. At the opening I told David I would like to buy this piece if he would consider including an instruction manual. He agreed. (slide through to see the image of the instructions on how to use a Penguin Repair Tool. It is pure David McManaway and has the tone of notes, missives, and letters his friends received for years). D magazine later that month did a long feature on David McManaway including a photograph of the Penguin Repair Tool. SMU also borrowed the Penguin Repair Tool for the David McManaway Twenty Year Retrospective that it mounted two years later. Besides loving this piece, I thought it would be an appropriate birthday present for my father who was taking a two-month sabbatical from work as his health recovered. He was a naturally muscular man with a barrel chest, narrow hips, strong legs, long torso, which in a white shirt and blue jacket, if his children positioned his feet just so, could take on the look of a penguin. He disagreed but was a good sport. My father was also very adept at mechanical reasoning and appreciated the instructions that I would immediately toss aside with the Christmas paper, he would then retrieve the instructions and assemble the toy for which they accompanied. Thus, the instruction manual became an important part of this piece. Executed on foldover glossy manual and appropriately signed, only a faded photocopy now remains but the sentiment and directions are clear. The Penguin Repair Tool went on permanent display in the living room except when it was on loan for an art exhibition. It, of course, helped repair my father’s health, who lived a vibrant life for another 15 years. It is also a wonderful remembrance of my father’s generous spirit and that of David McManaway. *Penguin Repair Tool
#DavidMcManaway #TremontArtists #WilliamHNewby #Art #Artist #DMagazine @DMagazine #Dallas #DWGallery #Penguin #PenguinRepairTool #RepairTool #MedicalDevice #DavidMcManawayTwentyYearRetrospective #Instructions #InstructionManual #Assemblage #Birthday #July12 #Hinsdale #Chicago #Jomo
Mount Hood as a Cloud
An early departure from Oregon reminded me of my 8:00 a.m. science requirement class, Climatology, first semester at SMU. I lifted the airplane window shade to see if we had left the runway after a short nap. Seeing clouds, I realized we were in the air and I thought, “I took Climatology, I should know what type of clouds these are.” However, the early hour of an 8 o’clock class, sitting in the back row needing glasses that I still didn’t have, made seeing projected cloud images on the screen a bit blurry, as was my state of consciousness. This resulted in my only collegiate D, but it put me in a great position for Most Improved GPA when I graduated on the High Dean’s List. Looking out the window, not surprisingly, no Climatology knowledge kicked in. Fortunately, I took another course to satisfy my other science requirement—Geology. As you can see when you slide to the second image, at the same visual elevation as the clouds in the foreground, is what looks at a glance to be a cloud in the background. I wasn’t fooled! My keen university study of geology allowed me to successfully identify that this was not a cloud formation but a rock formation—Mount Hood. Thank you, SMU! *Mount Hood as a Cloud
#Climatology #Geology #CloudFormation #RockFormation #MountHood #MountainViews #CloudViews #Mountains #Clouds #WindowViews #Photograph #Design #Oregon
Ross Perot
Almost the whole world knows Ross Perot. Those in Dallas know him a little better, even those like me that have just had peripheral interactions with him or have been the beneficiary of his many generosities. For years before I met him the first time in front of the Hall of State where he was being honored, I read and heard much about him. I subsequently read Ken Follett’s book On Wings of Eagles about Ross Perot’s extraordinary civilian rescue mission of two employees (whom I later met) from a Middle-Eastern jail. I became good friends with early Ross Perot hires, have had top executives of his as real estate clients, met his family, been a guest at Ross Perot’s Strait Lane home, applauded his many civic and philanthropic contributions. While there are thousands upon thousands who have had a close and important relationship with Ross Perot, I knew him just from fleeting exchanges. Still were many things about Ross Perot that were immediately apparent. Ross Perot was intense, competitive, and aware. Almost as quickly one could sense his love of family, friends, and country. But what I will always remember most about Ross Perot is his politeness, sense of humor, and tender friendship with Margaret McDermott. For years he would always stop by on weekends to see Margaret McDermott at her country home on his way back from his lake house. He might chat with her when she was in the water swimming with guests, or sit down at a table where lunch had been served, or just pop his head in the door and say hello. Their friendship is well documented, but it was fun for me to see these two people with an international influence and who had so profoundly shaped Dallas have such a relaxed way with each other in a simple environment. This image is on a screen porch of a small country house architect Scott Lyons designed for Margaret and Eugene McDermott. Thank you, Ross Perot. My prayers go to your family and friends. *Ross Perot
#RossPerot #MargaretMcDermott #ScottLyons #ScreenPorch #MargaretMcDermottAndRossPerot #CountryHome #Architect #Architecture #TexasModern #Dallas #Contributor #Legend #AllenTexas @PerotMuseum
Colors of Portland
Green, gray and brown are the prevailing colors of Portland. One sees them in the natural landscape, the palette of many paintings donated to the Portland Art Museum, and at the Portland Golf Club. Here, the Chair of the Portland Golf Club Archive Committee drives by in a 35-year-old brown vintage Jaguar against the backdrop of this beautiful Orgeon golf course. Just the idea of a gorgeous golf course and a voted club membership invokes a vintage feel of exclusivity and environmental privilege. On the other hand, it is a shared privilege of using the land versus that of the Hollywood elite and business tycoons that buy thousands of acres in the Pacific Northwest and mountain states and promptly post “no trespassing” signs on land that has been accessed communally for years. I love the soft rains of Portland in which the many layered leaves of towering trees keep one dry, the endless green and muted earthtone palette, and while not a car person or golfer, the elegance of a vintage Jaguar and old school golf course. By the way, the last time I was really sunburned was ten years ago playing golf on this course. When the sun shines in Portland, it really shines. *Colors of Portland
#Portland #PortlandGolfClub #Jaguar #VintageJaguar #ColorsOfPortland #Design #Habitat #Oregon #Summer
Take off the sunglasses
The photographer at the African Film Festival told me, “You are not the director, producer, actor, you are a guest, take off the sunglasses.” I was clearly channeling producer/director Rob Allyn, because after all I was the guest of Sandra Washburn, the Executive Director and Producer of Pathbreakers, the award winner of the Best Short Documentary. Pathbreakers is a documentary about Oysters & Pearls, an organization working with sighted and nonsighted students in Uganda in a STEM-oriented program emphasizing robotics and video game design. As you can see sliding through the images, in response to the photographer, I tried putting the sunglasses on top of my head, but the photographer dismissively said, “Off with the shades.” The result is the third image, the portrait of a chastened me standing stoically on the red carpet. Congratulations to Sandra Washburn, Debi Lang, Director, @JacobSOdur, Tim Werner, Colorist, and many others that contributed to this important documentary. Wardrobe by: glasses—Barton Perreira; doublebreasted jacket—John Coggins, Savile Row; pocket square—Etro; trousers—Incotex; banana motif shoes—Stubbs and Wootton. *Take off the sunglasses
#AfricanFilmFestival #Pathbreakers #Oysters&Pearls #Dallas #DallasArtsDistrict #Documentary #ShortDocumentary #FilmAwards #Film #SandraWashburn #Uganda #AfricanFilm #Art #RedCarpet #Fashion #Costume #Joyspotting #downtowndallas #dallasneighborhoods
PoetsBench
When one discovers a carved stone bench set amidst lush foliage at the end of a stone path, one wonders what is the intention of this well placed destination. Maybe a retreat for quiet meditation? Maybe a place to hear the sounds of nature? Maybe a spot to be visually immersed in shades of green? Maybe a hidden site for reflection? Maybe a thinking man’s bench for contemplation? I tend to think of this as a place for creation—a poet’s bench—for the spoken word, the unspoken word, the written word, the unapologetic sacred word. *PoetsBench
#StoneBench #Bench #PoetsBench #Garden #Contemplation #Reflection #Sacred #Word #Poet #UnspokenWord #SpokenWord #Creation #Meditation #Green #Immersed #Discover #StonePath #Design #LandscapeDesign #Architecture #Site #Dallas #UrbanNeighborhood #DallasNeighborhood #JoySpotting