On the subject of framing 2D artwork

Me: Custom framing is expensive!

You: Everybody knows that!

The average price for custom framing around the DMV is brutal - and sometimes complicated (or made complicated by frustrated designers posing as framers or artists who have seen too many Rococo framing in museums).

Unless you're Frida Kahlo, generally speaking, the job of a frame for a work of visual art is first and foremost to protect the art.

Period.

And in the 21st century, and most of the 20th, the simpler the better; the less noticeable the frame, the more that the art is noticed.

If you have plenty of shekels, then a good framer will do a great job.

For the vast majority of artists, a frame should not cost as much as repairing your transmission.

For the Women Artists of the DMV exhibition, one of the requirements for wall-hung, 2D artwork is that all framing will be done to professional gallery/museum standards.  That generally means simple, minimalist frames in either wood or metal moulding of black/white/gray colors.  Matted work must be to full conservation standards for mats, professionally cut, and backing - all pH balanced, acid free materials.  Mats should only be neutral tones (all ranges of whites and grays). No need for a colored mat to "match the artwork." No acidic materials at all!

Painters who paint on stretched canvas sometimes have the option to hang stretched canvas unframed as long as edges are professionally dressed or nice and clean or what's called "gallery wrap", where the canvas curves into the back.  Note: The venue which exhibits the work determines the final say.

You: Can you get to the guerrilla technique part already?

Most artwork is done on geometric substrates; even if you cut paper or stretch your own canvas, most of the times it is either a square or a rectangle; ovals went out ages ago; in fact they were never really in - that's just my opinion - not a rule!

In the USA, these art substrates come in standard sizes that apply not only to the substrates (paper, canvas, board, wood, etc.), but also to mats, frames, and glass.

Thus, if you work on a standard size substrate to start with, you're almost home, because then you can eliminate the middle man to getting your work on a wall: the custom framer.

An 8x10 substrate will fit into an 11x14 pre-cut mat and into an 11x14 pre-cut frame; and 11x14 substrate will fit into a 16x20, a 16x20 into a 20x24 and so on.

Around the DMV, both Ikea and AC Moore's have ridiculously affordable prices for acceptable, minimalist frames. With AC Moore's if you sign up for sales alerts, you'll be bombarded with coupons (the best one is their 25% off for your purchase - including sales items; otherwise you get their 55% off regular price coupon emailed to you every 30 seconds).  Practically every frame at Ikea is a minimalist frame, but be careful because many of them are European size standards, which are different from US; however, Ikea frames generally come with acid-buffered mats, with is a nice "bennie" to have.

By the way, if you need a lot of frames in the same size - let's say two dozen frames, then I suggest that you find the ready made frame that you like and that will accommodate tour work (this usually works for photographers), turn it over and see who makes the frame and then contact the manufacturer (if it's in the USA) and see if they will sell you the frames directly. There's usually a minimum order to "qualify" for this option, and thus situations may vary according to your needs.

If you want to do artwork in other than standard sizes, then more power to you, and framing just got a little pricier, but there's also a technique.

First find a ready made frame that is bigger than your odd shaped artwork and visualize the artwork inside the frame. If the proportions are agreeable to you -- let's say you have a rectangular work which can be matted with both sides and top the same and bottom "heavy" - that is perfectly acceptable.

Once you have the frame, go to a professional framer and have them cut you a conservation mat that has the outside dimensions of your frame and have them cut a window that fits your work. Now you are only paying them to cut a custom mat, rather than paying them to do that as well as creating a custom frame and glass from scratch. It should reduce your costs by about 80%.

Then just bring your matted work home, pop it into the frame, attach your work with acid free artist tape or photo corners, and as the Brits say: "Bob's your uncle."

Best way to attach art to the back of the mat board, is by using acid-free hinging tape. You then place it on the top edge of the artwork, allowing the art to hang down without being permanently taped at the bottom. This method allows for natural expansion and contraction of the art, preventing damage over time - important around DMV as we get such drastic changes in humidity around here from super humid to super dry!

I left glass out because there's ordinary glass and UV-glass... and I am not a big fan of plexiglass, although sometimes it is unavoidable.

You want more?

Then this post from well over a decade ago is still a good lesson -- the prices and estimates have gone up, keep that in mind:

A strategy for saving money on framing costs...

According to some stats I read a few years ago in a framing trade magazine, the average cost of framing in the Greater DC region was $67 an hour. It’s probably more than that now.

Other than time, framing two-dimensional work is often the most expensive step in organizing an exhibition (to the artist), and it’s astounding how little most art schools prepare students (and faculty) for avoiding the trap of spending a lot of money on framing.

There are some steps that artists can take to significantly reduce the cost of framing. Here I will try to list the most common mistakes, how to avoid them, and more importantly, how to get your artwork framed for a lot less than taking it to a framing shop to get it framed.

First and foremost: Prepare! Do not leave your framing to the very last minute. Having said that, I know that most of you will leave the framing to the last minute and then panic – go to your neighborhood framing shop, and drop way too much money to get custom frames made for your artwork. If you can afford it, and the price history of you artwork can sustain it – then skip this posting. But if you want to save a lot of money on framing, then prepare!

Do not, under any circumstances let the gallery or a second party take care of your framing unless you have the full costs ahead of time and in writing. Otherwise you will get stuck at the end of your exhibition with a framing bill rather than a commission check.

First of all: If (and only if) you can, work in standard sizes. Most photographers and painters already do. But unless your compositional demands call for it (like mine do), avoid working in one of a kind sizes. American and European standard sizes are different, but US sizes cover a huge range of sizes, such as 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 12x16, 20x24, etc. If you can work within one of those sizes – i.e. do your watercolor on a sheet in one of those sizes, or print your photo on paper that size, etc. then half the battle is won, as then you should be able to buy ready-made frames that will automatically accommodate your matted work. This is important, as a good frame from any craft store, or from any art catalog, is usually a lot less than having one built from scratch! For example, a 16x20 metal molding frame, back metal brace/clips, wire, glass, pH-balanced acid free mat, hanging wire and acid free foam core backing is anywhere from $20 - $30 in any art catalog or locally (in the Greater DC region) from Apex Moulding in Alexandria (tell them Lenny sent you). Having the exact same frame hand-made in a frame shop is around $100.

If your work, because of composition or whatever, doesn’t fit into a standard size mat or frame, then another tactic is to go and shop for a ready-made frame that is larger than your artwork – at least three inches all around the diameter of the artwork. Then take that frame and your artwork to a frame shop and have them cut the mat for you. Now you are only paying for the labor and materials to cut a mat – not to build everything from scratch.

If you can’t find a frame in a shop that fits your unique sizes, then shop through art supply catalogs and have them make you one. The savings over storefront framers is still significant. I personally buy a lot of frames from this place. Once you sign up, you get their catalogs as well, and then I hit them when they have a sale going on! From any supplier you can order moldings in one inch increments, so if your work is 18x30 inches, then you'd order a set of 18 inch molding, a set of 30 inch molding and it will be delivered with the hardware needed to assemble it - all you'll need is a screwdriver. Then visit your local glass shop for a piece of glass.

Because most solo shows involve a larger number of works, you should start thinking way ahead of time as to the number of frames that you will need. If you can decide that you will need twenty frames for your show, and you know what size they will all be, then go shopping for ready-made frames in any of our local area arts and crafts stores, or other stores that stock frames, such as IKEA or Bed, Bath and Beyond. Once you find a frame that you like, turn it over and see who makes them. Write the manufacturer’s information down, and when you get home, call the manufacturer of the frame and place an order for the number of frames that you will need. You are now buying the frames wholesale and saving yourself the entire store mark-up!

Don’t let the process of establishing an account with the frame manufacturer scare you. They may require an Employee Identification Number (EIN) – you can give them your social security number -- and they will have a minimum purchase (usually $250) – but by the time that you purchase 20-25 frames, that will be easy to meet. All you are doing is ordering the frame directly from the manufacturer rather than buying them through a store – it’s perfectly legal and saves you a considerable amount of money.

If you work on canvas, you may not even need to frame them. Ask the gallery owner – a lot of galleries will be happy to hang canvasses that are “gallery dressed.” That means that the edge of the canvas wraps to the back and that’s where it is stapled – rather than the side. We actually prefer to show canvas paintings that way.

Do not cheapen your artwork by choosing cheap materials. At all costs avoid using acidic mats (use only pH-balanced, acid free mats) and do not use cardboard to back the work – use acid free foam core. Using cheap materials not only damages the work eventually (as the acid migrates to the artwork) but also tells a potential collector that you are not serious as an artist to properly display your work. I am shocked at the number of badly hand-cut mats in acidic mats that I see in galleries all over the country – a lot of time is just plain ignorance of the business side of the fine arts – and the importance of presentation of artwork in a professional environment – such as a reputable fine arts gallery should be.

If you are an artist that moves a lot of work a year, then you should seriously consider learning how to cut your own mats. A sheet of museum quality archival 32x40 inches mat board is around $6-8 and you can get four 16x20 inches mats from it. To have one 16x20 archival mat cut in a frame shop will be around $20. You can buy a decent mat cutter for around $150, and it comes with a video to teach you how to cut mats.

The bottom line is that minimizing framing costs not only reduces the amount of money that an artist has to invest in offering a show, but also reduces the price point of the artwork – a very important issue, especially for young, emerging artists without a sales history track.

Jenny Freestone and the art of prints

The most abused word in the art lingo is the word "print."

Jenny Freestone works in the printmaking media of etching, drypoint, monoprint, stone lithography, photogravure, direct gravure, and photopolymer gravure. Those are all "real prints." If you paint a watercolor and then have it reproduced on paper, those are "reproductions" - not prints!

And Freestone is a master printmaker! She writes about her work:

 I choose my printmaking medium carefully –  the stark etching line, the soft lithograph line, the rich drypoint line or the gravure method, the quality of a photographic image – to reflect the meaning I intend within the print.

Behold "Bird II", c. 2018. Photogravure with chine colle. 10x11 inches.

Jenny Freestone, "Bird II"
c. 2018. Photogravure with chine colle. 10x11 inches

Suzi Balamaci and energy

I met Suzi Balamaci's artwork last year at Strathmore where she was taking part in the exhibition of artists from the three-year Master Artist Program at The Compass Atelier.

Her work stood out to me because it transmitted the subjects so well! One could almost smell the bodies of the sweaty dancers, feel the aura of bought erotica, and they placed the viewer with them; there was a palpable energy radiation from the artwork!

She writes about her work:

I seek out the exhilaration and energy of a scene and capture them in my painting. These micro-moments observing people and their experiences are both nostalgic and reassuring to me. It is within every detail, line, and  snapshot of time in a place that I am inspired to hold onto these moments through my painting. 

About this series she adds:

I started this series after coming out of the pandemic with a desire to paint scenes that gave me a greater connection to the world through a means of something fun – which I was missing so much during that time. I am primarily focused on snapshot moments and capturing an instant on canvas. I seek out the exhilaration and energy of a moving or energetic scene and capture that in my painting. The series has grown to new ideas coming in 2025 that I am excited about.

Behold Bliss, oil on board, 11x11 inches.

Women Artists of the DMV - All that you need to know!

WOMEN ARTISTS OF THE DMV

Describe the organizing principle(s) of the exhibition.

The “elevator pitch” or how I would describe the project in 30 seconds.

·   Me talking: This exhibition will be the first ever survey of female visual artists from the DMV (“local” acronym for District, Maryland and Virginia – or the Greater Washington, DC Capital region) ever done – it will be staged in six major art spaces in 2025 in each state area bordering the District: they are the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center at American University in DC, The Athenaeum in Alexandria, and The McLean Project for the Arts, both in Virginia; and Artists & Makers Galleries and the Galleries at Strathmore Mansion, both in Rockville, Maryland, and Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Hyattsville, Maryland!

Project genesis, its development and its relevance today.

The Greater Washington, D.C., capital region (the DMV) is not only home to some of the best art museums in the world, dozens of commercial art galleries, non-profit art spaces, alternative art venues, and art organizations, but it also supports and fertilizes some of the best and most creative visual art scenes in the nation.

Celebrating this art scene, which spreads across the three areas that make up the DMV, local DC area curator, artist, and arts activist Florencio Lennox Campello (that's me again in fancy words) proposed in 2023 to curate an exhibition of 100-150 works by 100-150 women artists comprised of both leading and established female artists plus talented emerging contemporary female visual artists who represent the tens of thousands of women artists working in this culturally and ethnically diverse region in order to assemble a group show to showcase the immense power of the visual arts being created by these artists.

In late 2024, led by the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in DC, and as part of the generous Alper Initiative, five other DMV art venues agreed to co-stage the show, which will run the six separate art spaces starting in September 2025 for 6-12 weeks. 

Three days after its announcement, over 1,000 entries came in (and are still coming), delivering empirical proof of the depth, diversity, and range of the of the exhibitions. As the date of this post, nearly 3,000 entries have been received.

In an effort to be more inclusive, the mechanics of the exhibition were revised to be able to archive and exhibit in some manner or form all the artists. This will be accomplished as follows:

• All artists will be documented for the Smithsonian Art Archives as follows: A flash drive which would contain a PowerPoint presentation documenting all 3,000+ female artists who submitted art for consideration, and one image per artist.  Additionally, in view of how fast technology ages, the documentation will also include a digital screen device (a digital frame) to “play” the PowerPoint presentation as needed in the future.
• The referenced PowerPoint presentation will be projected onto the walls of the Katzen Museum at American University during the duration of the exhibition (September through October 2025).

About the participating artists.

At this point, we have nearly 200 female artists selected for the six-venue exhibitions, which will include 2D, 3D, video, and performance art. Others may be selected on an ongoing basis, after studio visits, artwork review, etc. As of the date of this post, review is still ongoing - if you are a female artist from the DMV and wish to be reviewed, simply send an email with your website and/or Instagram feed to lenny@lennycampello.com

How were they selected, by whom, why, what work will they be showing?

Who: The artists are being selected by Florencio Lennox Campello, a well-known and respected DC area artist, curator, writer, and artist (that's me again). A DC area resident since the late 80s, Mr. Campello was once described by the Washington City Paper as “one of the most interesting people of Washington, DC.”  In 2011 he authored “100 Artists of Washington, D.C.” (Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA), and his art blog, Daily Campello Art News is ranked among the top 15 art blogs in the world and has received over seven million visits over the last 20 years.

Why: Few people know the DC area art scene like Campello. Over the last few decades, he has curated or organized over 200 visual art shows. Furthermore, he has ample experience organizing and curating shows of this large scale.

He has the proven background and experience to curate large, multi-space art survey exhibitions. In 2007 he curated “Seven”, a seven-gallery exhibition across various spaces in Washington DC that surveyed the thousands of artist members of the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA)/Corcoran. Over 6500 slides (remember slides?) were reviewed by Campello and a nearly a hundred artists selected for the multi-gallery show, which received multiple reviews in the press, both local and national.  Earlier, in 2001 Campello curated “Contemporary Realism: A Survey of Washington Area Realists” for the Athenaeum in Alexandria – another show that exhibited over 60 artists and received wide reviews in the regional and national press. 

Furthermore, as he has previously done with great success, Campello has engaged a variety of Greater DC area visual arts curators, gallerists and collectors to “crowd source” portions of the exhibitions; each person will nominate anonymously up to 10 artists for consideration to be included in the show.

Why? To survey the key, established female artists of the Greater Washington, DC region, mid-career artists, and just as important, identify the emerging female artists who can benefit from this exposure.  Additionally, as done in previous curated shows, Campello has approached and received the commitment of several Greater DC area gallerists, museum curators, and collectors to attend several guided tours of the exhibitions.  The goal here is to force the exposure of these artists to some of the key members of the city’s visual arts tapestry.  This is a proven process for success; for the previous “Seven” multi-gallery show, 28 of the artists were offered representation and/or solo gallery shows as a result of the exposure in the exhibition.

What work will they be showing?

All genres of the visual arts will be considered, to include public art. Each artist will have one work selected by the curator.

How will participation in this show help to further their career and/or creative practice?

Exposure – As noted earlier, the curator will coordinate both group and individual walk-throughs of the exhibition with key DC area curators, collectors, gallerists, etc. This is a proven tactic to get artists, especially emerging artists, noticed.

Expanding the footprint - So far, the curator has secured intentions to cover the exhibition by multiple DC area news organizations such as The Washington Post, NPR, two local radio stations, and one local TV station.  More are being cultivated at all times.

Boot camp for artists – As part of the process, participating artists will be invited to participate in the curator’s “Boot Camp for Artists” seminar, a 4-hour free seminar which over the last 30 years has been presented to over 6000 artists and arts professionals. The seminar is designed to deliver information, data and proven tactics to allow artists to develop and sustain a career in the fine arts.

1. Materials - Buying materials; strategies for lowering your costs, where and how to get it, etc.

2. Presentation – How to properly present your artwork including Conservation issues, Archival Matting and Framing, Longevity of materials, a discussion on Limited editions, signing and numbering, Prints vs. Reproduction, discussion on Iris Prints (Pros and Cons).

3. Creating a resume - Strategy for building your art resume, including how to write one, what should be in it, presentation, etc.

4. Juried Shows – An Insider's view and strategy to get in the competitions.

5. How to take images of your artwork

6. Selling your art – A variety of avenues to actually selling your artwork, including art fairs, outdoor fine arts festivals, corporate acquisitions, galleries, public arts, etc.

7. Creating a Body of Works

8. How to write a news release

9. Publicity – How to get in newspapers, magazines, etc. Plus, handouts on email and addresses of newspaper critics, writers, etc.

10. Galleries – Discussion on area galleries including Vanity Galleries, Co-Operatives, Commercial Galleries, Non-profit Art spaces, etc.

11. How to approach a gallery – Realities of the business, Contracts, Gallery/Artist Relationship, Agents.

12. Outdoor Art Festivals – Discussion and advice on how to sell outwork at fine arts festivals, which to do, which to avoid, etc.

13. Resources - Display systems and tents, best juried shows and ones to avoid.

14. Accepting Credit cards – How to set up your art business.

15. Grants – Discussion on how to get grants in DC, Regional and National, including handouts on who and where and when.

16. Alternative Marketing - Cable TV, Local media

17. Internet – How to build your website at no cost, how to establish a wide and diverse Internet presence.

18. Art fairs - A strategy on how to participate in gallery art fairs

Information as about the catalogue and book.

American University will publish a catalogue about the artists selected to exhibit at the Katzen Museum. Each artist whose work is exhibited at the Katzen will have an individual essay written about their work and a large image of their selected work.

Additionally, the curator is currently negotiating with Schiffer Publishing for the publication of a hard cover art book to include 100 of the selected artists in the large format book. Each artist will have an individual essay written about their work and a large image of their selected work.

Here’s a sample chapter:

In 2022 was my distinct and unique honor to serve as the 2022 Paint the Town juror for the Montgomery Art Association, which together with the town of Kensington, Maryland stages an annual visual art exhibition and competition in the city’s ample Town Hall and on the streets of beautiful Kensington, just outside of the District of Columbia.   

As all great shows are, this was an immeasurably difficult show to judge, which is a good thing! The quality of entries was uniformly superior in almost every category, and the difference between first, second, third, and even some honorable mentions was minimal.

It was at this show that I was first astounded by the paintings of Dora Patin, who ended up winning “Best in Show.

I do not throw around the word “astounded” easily. Over the last four decades I’ve seen the work of hundreds if not thousands of artists who just started painting a few years ago, and already deliver immensely intelligent work.

Patin smokes them all – in fact, I think that Patin is a painting prodigy.  She has only been painting for a handful of years, and yet her trompe l’oeil paintings are breathtaking in their ability to fool the eye.  Either Patin has painting super powers or owns the most enviable painting learning skills on a planetary level.

Over those same decades I have seen many artists who, after decades and decades of practice, failures and successes, have accomplished the spectacular technical painting skills of this artist, but none, zero, not one, in such a short time after first grabbing a painting brush and opening a paint tube.

And technical painting skills alone do not make great art, and this is where Patin’s natural skills assist her in also delivering intelligent compositions and works full of psychological storylines – such as her series on some of the “key” hands of the poker game, or “Alice.”

Breathtaking technical skills in the hand of an intelligent artist are formidable art assets.

Who is writing?

The curator, Florencio Lennox Campello is writing both the Katzen Museum exhibition catalogue, and the Schiffer Publishing large format art book.

What are the essay topics?

Each artist in both the Katzen catalogue and the book will have an individual essay written about them and their work – here is another example:

Lida Moser

Lida Moser remains the greatest photographer whom I’ve ever met in person.

She was once called the "grandmother of American street photography" by an art critic, which prompted a quick rebuttal by Moser, who called the writer's editor and told him that she wasn't the "effing grandmother of anything or anyone, and would he [the writer] ever describe Ansel Adams or any other male photographer as the 'grandfather' of any style’."

Moser was born and lived most of her life in New York City, but a couple of decades ago moved to our area and was immediately adopted by the DC area art scene. 

Lida Moser's photographic career started as a student and studio assistant in 1947 in Berenice Abbott's studio in New York City, where she became an active member of the New York Photo League. She then worked for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Look and many other magazines throughout the next few decades, and traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. 

She also authored and has been part of many books and publications on and about photography. She also wrote a series of "Camera View" articles on photography for The New York Times between 1974-81.

Her work has been exhibited in many museums worldwide and is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, the National Archives, Ottawa, the National Galleries of Scotland, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, the Library of Congress, Les Archives Nationales du Quebec, Corcoran Gallery, Phillips Collection and many others. And one of her most iconic photos, depicting of the window washers cleaning windows at the Exxon Building in NYC was actually made into a 3D sculpture at Legoland (without Moser's permission) in Florida.

She wielded her camera like a weapon, and her photos are gritty, full of life, city narratives, police sirens, and stories of all kinds and flavors – like Lida.

Will the catalogue document or expand upon the exhibition’s premise?

Both the catalogue and book will both document and expand upon the exhibition’s premise.

Specific opportunit(ies) for the artists: residencies/performances/public programs.

• For many of these artists, this may be their first-ever exhibition in a museum as well as their first cataloguing in a book or museum catalogue.
• For nearly all of these artists, this will be their first exposure in a major national review outlet such as The Washington Post, NPR, etc.
• As the curator has many inside connections with DC area galleries, this will also present these artists with their first ever opportunity to be exposed to a curator, to a collector and to a gallerist.
• Most of these artists will also (for the first time) be exposed to Art Bank – this is the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities Commission process to acquire art for the city’s collection; coordination with the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities Commission is ongoing to secure a commitment from the commission to review the shows with the goal of acquiring some of the work for the City’s collection.
• The curator is also coordinating with the National Museum of Women in the Arts to conduct a curator visit to the four venues, and select at least one work for acquisition and addition to the permanent collection of the museum. Similar seminal coordination is ongoing with several local universities, with the goal being for them to acquire a work from an exhibiting alumni artist for the permanent collection of the university.
• All artists will be invited to attend the “BootCamp for Artists” seminar, to be staged at American University, at no cost to the artists.

2025 Women's Caucus for ArtDC Visual Art Scholarship

The Women’s Caucus for Art of Greater Washington, DC (WCADC) is excited to offer scholarships to promote and recognize artistic excellence among Black, Indigenous and People of Color, female-identifying students from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area.

This opportunity is available to: 

• High school seniors who have been enrolled in a public school in DC, Maryland, or Virginia for the past two years.  
• College freshmen or sophomores originally from the DMV area.  

Applicants are judged on creativity, originality, and quality

Award Amount: Up to $5,000 

Deadline: April 30, 2025, 11:59 pm 

Please forward this email to potential applicants, art instructors, and guidance counselors. 

Questions? Email scholarship@wcadc.org 

June Linowitz and Planet in Peril

June Linowitz is one of those "can do" artists who has been engaged with art her whole life.  In addition to being a very prolific artist, she has also been at one point ot another: an art teacher, a gallery director, an exhibition curator, and an art consultant with her own business, ArtSeen Inc. 

For the Women of the DMV exhibition, I chose one of her key pieces from her "Planet in Peril" series. She writes about this series:

The work in the Planet In Peril series reflects my concern about climate change. From ancient times, The Four Elements have been a way to structure and understand our environment. When The Four Elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, are in balance, our world is in balance. This is clearly not the case nowadays. The Planet in Peril series depicts what are now everyday occurrences: fire, flood, drought, hurricanes and tornadoes. I decided to make my portrayals of these catastrophes as beautiful as I could, and to also to use unusual materials and techniques, so the viewer would be enticed into interacting with the work. I want the viewer to respond to the beauty and then recognize the destruction. In its own way, this series is a call to action.

Each mixed media work starts with a full scale drawing. A forty year old copy machine is then used to transfer the drawing onto handmade abaca paper that has been painted with encaustic. The transferred drawing is further enhanced with pan pastels and crochet thread. Finally, a “frame” is fashioned from dyed and shaped canvas.

Behold Planet in Peril: AIR by June Linowitz, Mixed Media, 39 x 52 x 2 inches, c. 2022.

Planet in Peril: AIR by June Linowitz
Mixed Media, 39 x 52 x 2 inches, c. 2022

The incredible presence of Margaret Dowell

I once wrote:

“Margaret Dowell is one of the most talented, exquisitely gifted, and technically proficient painters that I know”, and through the years Dowell has proven me right time after time. 

Dowell, who grew up working with her family on the tobacco farm where she now paints, has flexed her enviable painting skills for several decades now – and yet still manages to amaze with each new work via her intelligent representational style, often loaded with social commentary.

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She is also a hard-working artist, with paintings that show not only her extraordinary technical skills, but also deliver an omnipresent sense of mental desire and an intelligent understanding of her subjects. 

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As you enter her art world, be prepared to be amazed, entertained, shocked, and educated in a way that only a sublime work can deliver!"

As great as a writer and commentator and observer and critic as I am, I am not sure that I can top that - I love, admire, and envy Dowell's artwork and I am pretty sure that in some past life we've met because of art.

Behold Self-Portrait with Concerned Bunny, Oil on Canvas, 36" X 48".

Self-Portrait with Concerned Bunny by Margaret Dowell
Oil on Canvas, c. 1998, 36" X 48" 

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Two new venues added to the Women Artists of the DMV survey show!

In case this is the first time you're hearing about the upcoming Women Artists of the DMV survey show coming in September to several DMV art spaces, and curated by yours truly: 

Originally the proposal started keyed to the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in DC as part of their wonderful Alper Initiative.  Once my proposal was approved a few weeks ago, then The Athenaeum in Old Town Alexandria in Virginia, and Judith Heartsong's Artists and Makers Gallery in Rockville,  Maryland became the other two venues.

To say that I was deluged and shocked to receive about 1,000 inquiries and entries within a few days after the announcement of the show may be the understatement of the still young 2025.

I realized that I needed more walls to show more artists, and I approached the amazing Lesley Morris at the beautiful Strathmore Mansion in Rockville, and she and her staff moved mountains to fit the show in their beautiful first floor galleries at the Mansion. 

And still, entries kept pouring in... nearly 3,000 by now.

I then spread out my considerable social media reach and immediately received immense input and help from many of you: thank you!

As a result of that...

Wait for it... wait for it....

I am adding not one, but two more art venues to the exhibition line-up! And not just "any ole venue", but two of the more established and respected art centers in the DMV!

Women Artists of the DMV will be now also exhibited at the McLean Project for the Arts in McLean,  Virginia and at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Hyattsville, Maryland!

Wooooooo!!!

With those two highly respected venues added, I believe that I can pick another 50-75 artists for the show!

This is huge... so as my daughter would say: BOOM CHOKOLATA!

Cianne Fragione for the Women Artists of the DMV show

Cianne Fragione is known for her mixed-media works that often incorporate found objects and textiles into her oil paintings and collages. Over many years of developing and refining her artwork, Fragione has established herself as one of the key DMV artists and was one of the earliest artists that I selected for the Women Artists of the DMV show.

In the selection process for this one, one of the landmines that I am hoping to avoid - and will probably be unable to avoid - is to "skip" an artist that by all logic of the focus of the show, should be included.  In order to minimize the damage of that landmine, as part of the selection process I've "crowdsourced" the nomination process and asked about two dozen or so DMV area art illuminati to help me develop the show by nominating 10 or so artists.

Fragione is one of those names who keeps coming up on multiple lists; evidence of this talented painter's deep footprint in the DMV art scene.

Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Cecil H. Green Library at Stanford University, and Georgetown College.

Behold Workers Wearing Toe Shoes, 2021- 2022, oil base paint, conté crayon, chalk pastel, recyle paint tube metal, collage, on paper.

Workers Wearing Toe Shoes
2021- 2022 by Cianne Fragionne
oil base paint, conté crayon, chalk pastel, recyle paint tube metal, collage, on paper
44 x 31.25 in (111.76 x 79.38 cm) 48 x 34 in (121.92 x 86.36 cm) Framed

First encaustic selected for Women Artists of the DMV

Marcy Wolf-Hubbard is a very hard working and talented artist - and I say that as a lesson for young artists - not young in age necessarily, but also in "artistness." A quick visit to her website will immediately tell you that this artist busts her tuchis in showing her work, teaching art classes, doing workshops, and essentially making most of us look like lazy whiners.

And she's really, really, really good.

She describes herself as a "Visual Artist - Paintings in Encaustic & Mixed Media." And then we discover her sculptures here, and are awed by how really good and different and powerful they are! 

For years I've been a big fan of her figurative work (see that here), and yet for this show I've selected a memorable encaustic work of birds.

I picked that work because it is a lesson not only in the arcane and almost magical genre of encaustic artwork, but also in composition, form factor, texture and psychological punch.

Look at it, study it, and learn from it.

Behold Birdfeeders, 9" x 12" x 1" - Charcoal, encaustic on cradled board. c. 2022.

Marcy Wolf-Hubbard - Birdfeeders
9"H x 12"W x 1"D Charcoal, encaustic on cradled board. c. 2022

Erin Antognoli reinventing all the rules

There are some artists who, once they discover a niche in the creation of art, often get trapped inside that sliver of artistic creativity. 

Erin Antognoli is not such an artist, in fact, she's essentially the antithesis of those artists.

Erin Antognoli likes to push, and blend, and experiment, and reinvent, and redesign forms and genres until she carves, or melts, or welds, or photographs, or writes something so striking and new to the visual senses that the solar plexus of our minds gets punched as we discover her final production!

Behold "A Glimpse Of That Fire", (20.5" H x 19" W x 3" D), glass and steel.

"A Glimpse Of That Fire" by Erin Antognoli
(20.5" H x 19" W x 3" D), glass and steel