The Orange Show

 McKissack created this environment right in suburbia.
Modest homes surround the Orange Show.

If you're in Houston, you need to visit the amazing and astonishing "Orange Show" environment created by the late Jefferson Davis McKissack. Now managed by a foundation and staffed by dedicated volunteers, The Orange Show is a star attraction in East Houston.

 Eye candy abounds at The fabulous Orange Show.

I have been to the site several times--it is a wonderful place to take visitors, truly a gem.  This Sunday, I took my daughter and her girlfriend, after they decided that the Delta Con Gaming Event wasn't worth the $20 entry fee.  We had driven down from The Woodlands to the University of Houston campus, which is only blocks from Munger Street, where the Orange show is located.

 A perfect spot for a fashion shoot!

We braved record-breaking heat to take a quick walk-through.  My daughter wants to go back for more photos when it's cooler.

Jeff McKissack, a mail carrier in Houston, Texas, transformed a small suburban lot near his wood frame house into The Orange Show in honor of his favorite fruit. Between 1956 and 1980, when he died, McKissack used common building materials and recycled junk such as bricks, tiles, fenc
ing, and farm implements to transform his home into an architectural maze of walkways, balconies, arenas and exhibits decorated with mosaics and brightly painted iron figures.—From Wikipedia

 I have one of these metal bucking broncos.
Originally they were ornaments for screen doors or fences.

These are my most recent photos from the Orange Show, but you can visit my Flickr page to view photos that date back to 2006.

I hope you enjoyed this virtual visit to this veritable oasis of art!

Photoshop Fun

While I am not the creator of the primary layer "Rainbow Fireflies Room," used in this composition, I wanted to use with a subject that it could enhance.  I carefully cut out this photo of my daughter in a purple gingham dress and reconstructed the soles of her cowboy boots (she was standing in grass).  I used the "Gaussian blur" filter to create a second layer over the cutout to give the figure depth, glow and to help ground it to the background.  My next task is to have a go at placing a shadow across the floor.

Alice in Wonderland Dress

My 16-year-old daughter is an anime fan, and loves Japanese street fashion.  She enjoys wearing the puffy sleeved, frilly-skirted dresses known as "Sweet Lolita."  Japanese fashion incorporates western clothing without much regard to original situational meanings, creating new and ever-evolving styles.

The "Sweet Lolita" girl wears these exquisitely made cotton frocks, replete with lace and darts, plackets and big bows, and adds knee socks or hosiery with specially designed Mary Jane-style shoes, and finishes the affair with a girly-girl parasol and hair bows.  This dress, made by "Baby the Stars Shine Bright" has blue gingham checks and a fanciful tea party design.

My daughter and her friends don their dresses for special outings such as picnics in the park, tea parties with finger sandwiches, and theater events.  I have never ever dressed so fabulously, not even in my BC (before children) days when I had money and a waistline!

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If you'd like to see how this photo looks as a "Mini Moo Card", scroll down and see "How Do You Moo?"