It is with great reverence and appreciation that we celebrate the life and many creations of Rex Foster. Whether you knew him through his words and song; his inimitable works of art in silver, bone and fossilized tusk; or his friendship and generosity of spirit, you were fortunate. He invited us to be present, to create and express and share, to know what life in each moment is worth.

We recall Rex as a charming, soulful artist and musician who brightened the gallery anytime he visited. We have already missed him during the long months of his illness, and his physical absence will continue to be felt. But he is still with us. 

Studio Comfort Texas will continue representing Rex Foster Jewelry as his hometown gallery, featuring one-of-a-kind sterling silver jewelry crafted by Rex, as well as designs created and inspired by him. We will begin adding stock to Rex's online shop on our website to facilitate online purchases for you far-flung Rex foster friends, fans and admirers.

For Studio Comfort Texas, I select art and artists who respond to and dialogue with the forward momentum of life: the yearning, the connection, the expansion of our humanity. Life positive. Earth positive. Nature positive. Nurture positive. Solution seeking—searching and fumbling as it may be, but hopeful and upward turned.

Danville Chadbourne’s sculptures and two-dimensional objects are tactile manifestations of this inward delving and upward reaching life force. His studio process incorporates an endless series of improvisational moments and mirrors his life philosophy—fully present discovery informed by objects, colors, patterns, textures, shapes, forms, experiences and ideas. He often takes what has been tossed aside and reinvents them, to include past forms and ideas he worked with 30 and 40 years ago, rediscovering and introducing them as new expressions.
 
Danville’s forms are a discourse with our child selves, our ancient selves, the playful and mischievous within us. They invite us into a shared mythology that is ancient, humanistic, and universal, forgotten though it may be to our conscious selves. His titles are koans in the form of statements—playful but serious, and tugging at our collective, cellular memory of some ancient primal impulse.
 
I was fortunate enough to meet Danville Chadbourne during the 2016 Biennial SculpTour event in Abilene, Texas. As then Gallery Manager at the Center for Contemporary Arts, I helped produce a compelling solo exhibition of Danville’s work in one of the Center’s five galleries. I was immediately taken in by the sense of “serious play” evoked by his work, his discourse and his presence. When we opened Studio Comfort Texas in 2019, Danville was one of the first artists my then business partner Jeannette MacDougall and I invited to join our new gallery.  
 
Danville’s work remains a central focus here, and it brings me great pleasure to highlight his newest this Fall. The New Works of Danville Chadbourne include 2-dimension wall-mounted objects, suspended sculptures, table-top and outdoor sculptures. This is also the first time we are exhibiting a featured artist concurrently at the historic Hotel Giles across the street. This combination of exhibition in a gallery setting and a functioning space offers viewers the opportunity to see his works in situ where they are “lived with.” The juxtaposition of his forms with the 140-year-old architectural gem is a testament to the enduring universal qualities of both. It is an honor to offer this exhibition in the charming destination location of Comfort, Texas, where contemporary art and rich history dialogue with each other, and with visitors, in yet another series of improvisational moments. 
 
– Cara Hines, Managing Principal

What we do at Studio Comfort Texas is make art, promote and support Texas artists and poets, teach art classes and art workshops, craft fun and inspiring art experiences and excursions, and through this all, we find joy. But at the core of everything we do is gratitude and appreciation. 

No matter the time of year, gratitude is a beautiful gesture. Today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, and tomorrow our days start getting just a bit longer with each journey around the sun. Our moon is beginning to wane after a spectacular, full Cold Moon, which represents our ability to remain warm even through the coldest and darkest of times. And one of the best ways we’ve found to remain warm and optimistic in the face of dark times is to count our blessings. While there is some debate about this being the darkest of times for our world, the last couple of years in particular have certainly been a challenge for many, and it’s perhaps the first time in history that we’ve experienced it as such a connected, global community. 

With that, we propose that gratitude can be practiced as an art every day, all year long. We can express it inwardly in the little moments of our day, running errands, picking up the mail, walking to our cars, sitting at our computers. We can express it outwardly with demonstrations of thanks to those who play roles in our lives that make them better or easier. We can write notes of thanks or practice small (or big!) acts of kindness, whether in return or paying forward. Gratitude can be an act, a thought, a meditation, a prayer, an attitude–and it can be an art form. How will you hone your skills as an artist of gratitude?

What are we grateful for? 

• We’re grateful for our artists and poets and their ability to perceive, process and express the world around and within them for the rest of us to enjoy and contemplate. 
• We’re grateful for our students and their courage to try something new or deepen their existing skills. 
• We’re grateful for our art collectors, customers and clients, for your support of our artists and business with your dollars as well as your abiding interest, curiosity and enthusiasm for the artwork and poetry we offer in our little Texas art gallery. 
• We’re grateful for the two beautiful buildings we get to inhabit and for the owners of those properties who genuinely want to see us succeed. Thank you Marlene and Kai Geschke and Lisa and Mike Kelleher for your support. 
• We’re grateful for our Comfort Chamber of Commerce, the Comfort News, Merchant’s Association and others who work hard to help promote us and local other businesses.
• We’re grateful for our neighbors and fellow business owners who look out for each other and operate as though one business’ success is a success for us all. This is such a special dynamic and is not to be taken for granted!
• We’re grateful for our families and friends who have helped us scrape, paint, build, clean, decorate, cater, organize, plan, calculate and celebrate. There are too many to list!
• We’re grateful for our supportive local community, which brings us great Comfort! 
• We’re grateful for the natural wonders of The Texas Hill Country we get to call home.
• We’re grateful for you…for your interest in what we do and for reading this whole blog post! 

With this holiday season, we give the gift of gratitude and invite you to do the same. May we all be more mindful of who and what we're grateful for and do a better job of acknowledging that to ourselves and to others. We love what we do and have so much to be thankful for. We wish you all whatever it is you most need and want, what will bring you that much closer to your happiest, most fulfilled and fully expressed self. Whether you prefer Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, Feliz Navidad, Happy Hanukkah or another greeting, we wish Happy Holidays and a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year to you all!

With appreciation, 
Cara Hines and Jeannette MacDougall
Managing Partners

A PERFECT PREMISE
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We were also struck by the perfection of Paula's curatorial premise, which she selected long before any of us knew about COVID-19. Yet April Dressed In All Its Trim seems tailor-made for the collective conversation about navigating and transcending the current and future state of the world, as well as the longing many of us feel during our time of separation from friends and loved ones. Some are seeing their dreams stalled by the cancellation of jobs and opportunities. Others are experiencing the loss of home, health, and life. There seem to be many endings and an excess of waiting. Some of us are thriving in this time of unstructured time, breathing more deeply and expanding into this great global pause. Others are overcome by fear and anxiety. 

Therein lies the perfection of April Dressed In All Its Trim––artwork about a great unrequited love, an unrestrained longing for what is yet to come and for some, what may never; artwork about nature and our relationship to her, the sprouting and decaying that are required of all life in some form or another; artwork about waiting to become something as yet unknown; artwork by artists who despite not knowing us yet as a gallery, trusted us to incorporate their work into our story of becoming and allowed us to be part of theirs. Had we asked artists to produce work exploring the ethos of transcendence in a global pandemic, it's doubtful we would have received such a broad and well-nuanced story as what is presented in this collection of twenty-one works. There is great beauty and hope underpinning this strange and sometimes ugly part of history, and the lyricism of a natural world that will go on despite our aspirations. Time spent with each of the works in this exhibition reveals a personal story, prayer or pledge to these processes and stages of life, by which we are all connected. 

There is a conversation to be had through this work and at this time in history. We invite you to share your thoughts on specific works, artists, the collection as a whole, poetry, or your own story as it relates to the themes of April Dressed In All Its Trim--of longing, hope, or transcendence in the face of the unknown and sometimes unwanted.

– Cara Hines, Managing Partner