Texas Border Business
Want a fresh take on that plant or flower in your yard? There’s a world of color and folklore in the plants around us here in the Rio Grande Valley. The seamless connection between botany and art will be illustrated on Feb. 6 at Quinta Mazatlán for Nights at the Mansion speaker series from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Mother/son duo of local artists Jan Seale and son Erren Seale will present “Plants, Posies, and Poems” combining poetry with nature photography.
Erren Seale, a local commercial artist, and businessman use photography to call attention to the unique flora of the RGV. Jan Seale, the 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, has written poems to accompany Erren’s floral images.
Erren is a McAllen native with a background in graphic arts. He is an avid observer and commentator on the RGV’s rich flora and on its architectural history. His local work includes consulting on the interior furnishings of Quinta Mazatlán’s mansion and leading the creation and development of the Ann Moore Folk Art Room housed at Quinta Mazatlán. Seale is co-owner of VIDA, a local antiques, and decoratives store.
Jan Seale is the author of twenty-one books, among them “Valley Ark”, developed with another son, visual artist Ansen Seale of San Antonio.
She has contributed to books about nature with titles such as “Texas Weather”, “Birds in the Hand, Javelinas,” and “What Wildness Is This.” Seale co-edited several of the Valley Land Fund’s volumes pairing eminent nature photographers with the region’s land owners.
For a lighthearted celebration of our area’s botanical treasures in colorful images and expressive words, attend “Plants, Posies, and Poems” on February 6 at 6:00 p.m. at Quinta Mazatlán. Nights at the Mansion speaker series presents noteworthy speakers and scholars to present lectures related to our global environment, local cuisine and the arts and culture. The program takes place on Thursday evenings through May 2020. The program fee is $3 per person and no advance reservation is required. Quinta Mazatlán is located at 600 Sunset Drive in McAllen, Texas one block south of La Plaza Mall on 10th Street. For more information, contact Quinta Mazatlán at (956) 681-3370.
