I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Houston, Texas to visit a college fraternity brother of mine, Jim Pirtle. Great to see another NoZe Brother!

He is an amazing artist and has had gallery showings around the world. It was like living with Picasso for a couple of days.

His whole house looks like an art instillation.

He owns a night club in Houston called notsuoH. Super funky place. I loved the decor.

The signage on the building is original.

Jim lives above notsuoH on the third floor. He was so gracious to open up his place to me.

I used public transport a lot while I was there. Only $1.25 to get downtown from the airport. Fast too. I never ask people to pick me up at the airport if there’s public transport.

I loved the architecture. The geometry. The colors.

This building looked like fluorite to me.

I saw some fantastic museums while I was there.

This globe could spin.

The paleontology exhibits were world class.

I thought the lighting was incredible.

I liked the people skeletons getting involved.

Huh?

The petrified wood section was beautiful.

What?!

I liked this lemur.

I’m big on Egypt.

They also had an extraordinary exhibit on feather head dresses from the Amazon. EXACTLY what I’ve been thinking about with our theme “Get Tribal.”

They look better on the birds.

The Natural Science Museum is also known for its collection of minerals. Although the Smithsonian in Washington, DC and the Science Museum in London have MORE minerals, I think the lighting of these was exceptional.

The hanging fish were cool.

My final day in Houston, I went to the Museum of Fine Arts, specifically to see the exhibit by Ron Mueck! His background is in making props for TV shows and movies.

He does hyper realistic sculpture. Absolutely fantastic and mind boggling.

This is the size of a car.

This is about 1/3 scale.

I was glad to meet Jim’s daughter, Martha.

He has a gigantic collection of art at his house. He sifted through it to show me his collection of Ike Morgans.

This is the one I chose. Morgan made over 100 pictures of George Washington. I kind of liked the bug eaten look.

We went on Safari to the Row Houses project that Jim’s friend Rick Lowe had created. He won a MacArthur grant for his work in Houston.

Such a super trip! GREAT to be back in the ATL!