Around the first part of June 2002 I stopped in to visit James Michael Starr at his home/studio in the Deep Elm area of Dallas Texas. To the right are a few of the photos that I took while there. 

The very pleasant, ample 1,200 sq. foot open floor plan warehouse space is divided more or less equally between living/display space and work space. An extra sence of spaciousness is added by James Michael's sparse furnishings and well organized  use of space.

Even the work area has a feeling of openness but this is due in large part to his not yet having aquired the requisite library of 10 trillion objects normally accumulated by long time assemblage artists as James Michael is still relativily new at the art having crossed over from a commercial art career in recent years. Still, I feel confident that he will no doubt design a well organized storage system for his ever growing collection as this seems to be his temporament.

A man of deep religious feeling, most of James Michael's works are artifacts of his own inner life. But his desire to express this inner content has not compromised his sensitivity toward the objects he works with nor inhibited his artistic dialog as can often happen when artists become heavy handed in expressing the sublte nature of the inner life.

(more later)
Cecil Touchon