Texas Draws Opening Reception Tonight!

I never get tired and still totally dig the thrill of seeing finished projects in print for the first time - especially when it's for something that's puro San Antonio!

The Southwest School Of Art & Craft presents: Texas Draws, the inaugural exhibition of a new series instituted to highlight contemporary drawing in Texas.

It was a pleasure and a big gracias to Kathy Armstrong, Barbara Hill and all the awesome folks over at the Southwest School Of Art & Craft for including me in this project as the designer of the Texas Draws logo for the inaugural of this biennial exhibition.

The awesome cover illustration, Trace, is by Lubbock, Texas artist Alice Leora Briggs.

Opening Reception for Texas Draws 1 is Thursday, July 2, 2009 form 5:30-7:30.

More info: www.swschool.org

Hope to see you there, have a great July 4th!

That's Right,

HMK

Handel: First Musical Recording 1888

On this day, June 29, 1888, the earliest known musical recording is made. The piece, Georg Friedrich Handel's Handel's Israel In Egypt, is recorded on a paraffin cylinder.

Israel in Egypt, assigned the catalog number HWV 54, is an oratorio, a form in which Handel excelled. Like his more famous Messiah, Israel in Egypt is composed using biblical passages, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms.

Unlike the Messiah, however, it didn't enjoy much of a reception when it premiered in 1739. As a result, Handel shortened the work and inserted a few Italian arias to lighten the mood a bit.

Nevertheless, it was selected by Col. George Gourand, Thomas Edison's foreign sales agent, for the first musical recording. Gourand made his recording in London's Crystal Palace, using Edison's yellow paraffin cylinder -- candle wax, essentially.

Click Hear: Handel's Israel In Egypt.

That's Right,

HMK

(Source: Stanford University, National Park Service)