Art Fair Types

As we approach (we hope) the end of The Covidian Age, and art fairs (hopefully) make a come back, and as we prepare to do art fairs in NYC, Miami, Houston, London, and maybe Seattle, I thought that this would be a good time to republish this post from 2004:

---

One of the more eye-opening things in attending an art fair is seeing the dynamics that go onto the decision to buy a piece of art. Put together a few thousand people, paying an entry fee to enter the fair, an assortment of dealers, and a huge diverse variety of offerings and it's an education in people watching.

The married couple: 

"Do you like it?" 

"Yeah, I like it- it's just what we've been looking for." 

"Where would we put it?" 

"We have a couple of spots that it'd fit."

"Do you really like it." 

"Yeah, how about you?" 

"Yeah, I kinda of like it." 

"Should we get it?" 

"If you want it." 

(five minutes later) "Let's think about it." 

"OK" 

[To me] "Do you have a business card?" 

The couple (not married): 

Her: "Do you like it?" 

Him: "Sssoright" 

Her: "Where would we put it?" 

Him: "Dunno." 

Her: "Do you really like it." 

Him: "So'OK.. Yeah, how about you?" 

Her: "Yeah, I kinda, sorta, really like it." 

Him: "Dunno though" 

Her: "What? You don't like it?" 

Him: "If you want it." 

(five minutes later) Him: "Let's think about it." 

Her or Him: "OK" [To me] "Do you have a business card?" 

The Single Woman (SW) with a Woman Friend: 

SW: "WOW! Now, I really like this!" 

Friend: "Yeah... it's nice" 

SW: "It's exactly what I've been looking for!" 

Friend: "I have a friend who does work just like this..." 

SW: "I am really drawn to it!" 

Friend: "Are you really sure you like it?" 

SW: "Uh - yeah!... why? Don't you like it?" 

Friend: "Yeah... it's OK" 

SW: "I think it's really good... I think it's the first piece in this whole show that I really like." 

Friend: "There's a few more booths we haven't seen." 

SW: "I think I'm going to buy this." 

Friend: "Are you sure?" 

SW: "Uh - yeah!... It's a good price too.... why? Don't you like it?" 

(five minutes later) SW: "Do you have a business card?" 

The Single Woman (SW) with a Man Friend: 

SW: "WOW! Now, I really like this!" 

Friend: "Yeah... Cool" 

SW: "It's exactly what I've been looking for!" 

Friend: "I think it's a lithograph" [it's actually a charcoal] 

SW: "I am really drawn to it!" 

Friend: "Are you really sure you like it?" 

SW: "Uh - yeah!... why? Don't you like it?" 

Friend: "I have something like it... I got it cheaper though..." 

SW: "I think it's really good... I think it's the first piece in this whole show that I really like." 

Friend: "You like lithographs?" 

SW: "I think I'm going to buy this." 

Friend: "Are you sure?" 

SW: "Uh - yeah!... It's a good price too.... why? Don't you like it?" 

(five minutes later) SW: "Do you have a business card?" 

The Single Focus Dream Buyer: [Walks straight up to one piece, never looks at the rest of the work in your booth] "I'll take this" 

[Me] "Thank you... it's a very striking charcoal drawing - will be that be a check or charge?"

 "Charge" 

[Me] "I can send you more information on this artist..." 

"That will be great - I love this work - it's exactly what I'm interested in!"

[Me] "I have a few more pieces here, would you like to see them?" "

No, thanks..."  (He/She buys it and walks away)

The "I'm glad you're here guy (IGYHG)": 

IGYHG: "Hey! I've been looking for you!" 

[Me]: "Hi, how are you?" 

IGYHG: "... been walking this whole fair looking for you!" 

[Me]: "Yeah... lots of dealers this year... glad you found us!" 

IGYHG: "Howsa been goin'?" 

[Me]: "Yes... quite good actually..." 

IGYHG: "Well, let me look at what you've got!" 

[three minutes later] IGYHG: "Well... I'm glad you're here... see ya next year!"

The "I Shudda Bought It Last Year Guy (Shudda)": 

Shudda: "Hey! You're here again!" 

[Me]: "Hi, how are you? Yeah... It's our 7th year here..." 

Shudda: "... been walking this whole fair looking for you!" 

[Me]: "Yeah... lots of dealers this year... glad you found us!" 

Shudda: "Howsa been goin'?" 

[Me]: "Yes... quite good actually..." 

Shudda: "Well, let me look at what you've got!" 

[three minutes later] Shudda: "Where's that really good watercolor of the fill-in-the-blank?" 

[Me]: "Uh... I sold it last year - but I have a few more pieces by that artist." 

Shudda: "Ah! - I really wanted that one! Do you have another one?" 

[Me]: "Well, no... it was an original watercolor, and I sold it; but I have ---" 

Shudda: "I really wanted that piece; and it was a good price too..." 

[Me]: "Maybe you'd like some of his new work..." 

Shudda: "I shudda bought it last year" [Walks away] 

Shudda: "You gonna be here next year?" 

The "Where's That Piece Guy (WTP)": 

WTP: "Hey! You're here again!" 

[Me]: "Hi, how are you? Yeah... It's our 7th year here..." 

WTP: "... been walking this whole fair specifically looking for you!" 

[Me]: "Yeah... lots of dealers this year... glad you found us!" 

WTP: "Howsa been goin'?" 

[Me]: "Yes... quite good actually..." 

WTP: "OK... last year I saw this piece... it was a fill-in-the-bank and I should have bought it then! " 

[Me]: "Yeah... that is a nice piece." 

WTP: "I've been thinking about it for a whole year" [Looks around the booth and doesn't see it]

WTP: "Do you still have it?" 

[From here there are two paths...] 

Path One - [Me]: "Uh... I sold it last year - but I have a few more pieces by that artist." 

WTP: "Ah! - I really wanted that one! Do you have another one?" 

[Me]: "Well, no... it was an original watercolor, and I sold it; but I have ---" 

WTP: "I really wanted that piece; and it was a good price too..." 

[Me]: "Maybe you'd like some of his new work..." 

WTP: "I shudda bought it last year" 

[Walks away] WTP: "You gonna be here next year?" 

Path Two [Me]: "Let me get it for you... I have it in the back!" 

WTP: "Great" [I bring it out and give to WTP] 

WTP: "Yeah this is it! It's great!" 

[Me]: "This artist has done really well this last year and ---" 

WTP: [Handing it back] "Excellent! I'm glad you still have it... until what time are you going to be here?" [Walks away...]

Skies over Gig Harbor, Washington

Things that you find in storage: "Skies over Gig Harbor, Washington", these are several 1980 watercolor assignments from the University of Washington School of Art that I did while a student on a field day trip to Gig Harbor.

#gigharbor #gigharborwa #gigharborrealestate #gigharborliving #universityofwashington

Why most of the DMV's museum curators... are not DMV curators

 This quote from this article in Washingtonian is as true today as it was when first published...

“Curators from the Hirshhorn or National Gallery would rather take a cab to Dulles Airport to look at emerging artists in Berlin than they would take a cab to Adams Morgan to look at emerging artists here,” says Lennox Campello, an artist and former gallery owner. “They don’t do a good job of tending their own back garden.”

Anatomy of another commission

More later on what this new commission for a nice Illinois couple will end up as - but here are the draft sketches... the last one borrows heavily from a Romantic period piece that I once saw in a museum (can't recall the artist).

More get a thick skin ops!

 As I preach - artists need a thick skin!

Dear Florencio,

On behalf of the Washington Project for the Arts, I would like to thank you for submitting your work to the open call for our Collectors' Night 2021 benefit auction. And to thank you for your patience. With the extended deadline, we had many more submissions to review and consider in relationship to the auction's theme "Am I Altering Your Aura?" and the Audre Lorde quote. We regret to inform you that your work was not selected for inclusion in the auction this year.

We know that you invested time and energy in this process and that this might be disappointing news. If you are interested in remaining connected to WPA, we encourage you to sign up for our e-newsletter or to follow us on Facebook or Instagram--if you haven't already. We post opportunities throughout the year and we review submissions to Open Call for Ideas on a quarterly basis.

As we come up on a year of the pandemic, we look to the future with hope and wish you all the best!

Sincerely,

Emily

Emily Fussner, Event Manager

WASHINGTON PROJECT FOR THE ARTS

Maremi Andreozzi and Wayson Jones at Adah Rose

 Awright folks - the Covidian Age is almost over (one hopes) - time to start getting back to visiting galleries, creating art, doing art fairs...

Start here:

"May You Live In Interesting Times" -- Maremi Andreozzi and Wayson Jones at Adah Rose Gallery

Maremi has created a remarkable and sensitive group of portraits of women entitled "History Adorned". Some of the women are famous, others have only recently begun to have their fascinating stories told.  They range from teachers to doctors, queens to courtesans, scientists to poets, couturiers to activists. Each is painted in silhouette, ageless and beautiful. Their adornments; brooches, lace, earrings, hats and dress are exquisite and give them each a wonderful uniqueness.

Maremi grew up and lives in Alexandria Virginia. She earned a BFA from Cornell University and a MFA from Clemson University. She was an artist in residence at the International Artist Residency in La Macina di San Cresci in Chianti, Italy. She has exhibited at the Tephra Institute for Contemporary Art, the Smith Center, the Rachel Schlesinger Art Center/NOVA, the Torpedo Factory, Radford University, Glenview Mansion and the Howard County Council for the Arts. Her work is in many private and public collections including Marriott Corporation and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. This is Maremi's first show with Adah Rose Gallery.

The paintings of Wayson Jones are a mere six by six inches, yet each has a monumental presence. They are tactile, lavish, alluring and modest. The physicality of paint is explored in each painting and the beauty of color. Some of the paintings have a rich impasto with bold gestures and energy. Other works are smooth as silk. Wayson has a background in music and each painting performs in wonderful and powerful ways.

Wayson is a painter, musician, and spoken-word artist. He received a degree in music from the University of Maryland and later went on to perform with the renowned poet Essex Hemphill, as part of Washington DC's burgeoning Black gay and lesbian arts scene of the 80's and 90's. The two performed at DC Space, Blues Alley, The Kennedy Center, The Painted Bride (Philadelphia), LACE (Los Angeles) and LaMama Theater (NYC) They appeared in works by filmmaker Isaac Julien and Videographer Marlon Riggs. Wayson's visual art is informed by his performance experience and an exuberant approach to materiality and process. He has exhibited at the Black Rock Center for the Arts, Arts/Harmony Hall, Northern Virginia Community College and DCAC. 
Wayson received a 2017 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council. His work is in numerous public and private collections including the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the MGM National Harbour. This is Wayson's first show with Adah Rose Gallery.

March 3- April 10, 2021

Open by Appointment Most Days

Adah Rose Gallery

3766 Howard Ave

Kensington MD 20895

301-922-0162

www.adahrosegallery.com

Thick skin

 I'm always preaching that artists need to have thick skins... 

Dear Florencio,

 Thank you for applying for an Independent Artist Award (IAA) from the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). Unfortunately, panelists did not recommend your submitted work for an IAA this year. Please know that this decision in no way diminishes the fact that MSAC values the work of every artist in our state and honors your contributions to improving the quality of life for all Marylanders. A list of the 2021 MSAC IAA Panelists as well as a complete list of artists selected for 2021 awards will be posted on the MSAC website, msac.org, by May 15, 2021.

Information about MSAC’s regular grants and programs - including Creativity Grants that support independent artist’s projects and Professional Development Grants that support learning opportunities for artists - can be found at msac.org. Additionally, MSAC offers an array of online offerings, including professional development topics, which can be found on msac.org/events/virtual-events

We also look forward to launching our new website in the coming weeks, and invite you to create or update your Artist Registry profile so MSAC can showcase and promote your work for sale. Please keep an eye out for instructions to update your profile soon. To stay connected with the latest Maryland arts events, opportunities, and news, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @mdartscouncil.

Thank you again for participating in this year’s program, and we encourage you to apply again in the future. Should you have any questions, please connect with Program Directors, Emily Sollenberger or Laura Weiss for further information.

Thank you,

Maryland State Arts Council

Patria y Vida

Titled "Patria y Vida", this video is incredible! Why? Because it comes out of Cuba and it is Black Cubans taking the lead in the start of a new Revolution to get rid of the Marxist yoke!

They're coming!!!

The 17-year-cycle of cicada invaders is coming! That's Anderso when he was around 4 playing with a couple of the giant bugs!

Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan
1979 pen and ink drawi g by F. Lennox Campello done whila at art school

 

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens
1984 litho by F. Lennox Campello

 

Dan Marino

Dan Marino
1983 litho by F. Lennox Campello

 

Tom Suever

 xx

Tom Suever
1980 lithographh by F. Lennox Campello done while at art school

The Morrigan

 Just came across this print of The Morrigan being offered at a gallery in Virginia - see it here.  This work was done in 1999 as an homage both to the late, great Frank Frazetta as well as my obsession with Celtic deities.

"The Morrigan"
1999 Edition of 10 signed and numbered prints
from an original drawing by F. Lennox Campello

The Morrígan or Mórrígan, also known as Morrígu, is a figure from Irish mythology. The name is Mór-Ríoghain in Modern Irish, and it has been translated as "great queen" or "phantom queen". In this Frazetta-like depiction, her powerful legs stamp upon the world. She is often seen as the goddess of battle and war and of sex.

You can buy it here. They have a lot of other 1990s works of mine for resale!

Opportunities for Artists

Artists wishing to be considered for an exhibit in the Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) galleries are invited to submit a general exhibit application. The HCAC Exhibits Committee meets quarterly to review applications and select artists for the exhibit space. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. The Committee also welcomes proposals from curators and organizations.

For detailed entry guidelines, visit this website or email exhibits@hocoarts.org. The next deadline for submissions is April 1, 2021.

HCAC manages two galleries at the Howard County Center for the Arts with over 2,100 square feet of exhibit space. The HCAC gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists.

HCAC presents 11-12 exhibits per year of national, regional, and local artists, including two-person, small and large group, juried, curated, and community shows.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, gallery hours may be subject to change. For current gallery hours, or to learn more about HCAC programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit hocoarts.org.

Art scam alert!!!

Beware of this mutant trying to rip off artists!

From: Barbara Flower barbaraflower1327@gmail.com

Subject: Aqua Marine Needed Urgently

Hello There,

          My Name is Barbara Flower from TEXAS. I actually observed my Husband has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess he likes your piece of work. I'm also impressed and amazed to have seen your various works too,  You are doing a Great job. I would like to purchase one of The "Aqua Marine" Series, as a surprise to my Husband on our anniversary. Also, let me know if you accept CHECK as mode of Payment.

Thanks and best regards

Barbara.

This showed up at an auction recently

Two Canadas over Brechin, Scotland by F. Lennox Campello, c. 1990

 

Art Scam Alert!

 Beware of this rip off master trying to steal from artists:

Subject:  Artwork Enquiry

From:  "Gilbert Henry" henrygilbert360@gmail.com

Good day, my name is Gilbert Henry from California, CA. I have been on the lookout for some artworks lately in regard to me and my wife's anniversary which is just around the corner. I stormed on some of your works which I found quite impressive and intriguing. I must admit you are doing quite an impressive job. You are undoubtedly good at what you do.

With that being said, I would like to purchase some of your works as a surprise gift to my wife in honor of our upcoming wedding anniversary.

It would be of help if you could send some pictures of your piece of works, with their respective prices and sizes, which are ready for immediate (or close to immediate) sales. My budget for this is within the price range of $1500 to $7000.

I look forward to reading from you in view of knowing more about your pieces of inventory. As a matter of importance, I would also like to know if you accept a check as a means of payment.

Best regards,

Gilbert Henry  

Wayne Art Center Online Exhibition: A Review from Afar

For some odd reason, this DMV critic tonight decided to take a look at the Wayne Art Center Online Faculty Exhibition.  Why is it odd? Well... I'm in the DMV and the Wayne Art Center is waaay out in Wayne, PA.

This is a really good show; in fact, it is quite a good show!

Super hard to pick a Best in Show when there are so many talented artists here... to start, Ellen Cooper s an outstanding portrait painter - really top of the food chain portraitist is that rare ability to not only capture a true likeness (I assume), but also something unique about the person being depicted.  Anne Graham is also a really good portrait artist - see her Helen here.

ELLEN COOPER
Lucca - Oil on Linen

Both of Valerie Craig's entries are also oil and also superbly done. She has a rough brush which gives her oils an interesting texture which is gorgeous and deceptively appearing to be easy to do, when in fact it is a skill that only a truly gifted painter can deliver and Craig is indeed gifted!

VALERIE CRAIG
The Hook - Oil

Also liked Louise Dusiberre's interesting light capture in her August Reflections pastel.  Joe Gyurcsak's Patina is a quizzical titled (I don't see what I understand to be a "patina") but it does deliver a really outstanding painting of a most pedestrian subject, which he elevates from the mundane to the sublime by the sheer gift of art. Neal Hughes also uses his vast talents to work on the truck subject, and once again delivers - his oil Ranch Truck is a top notch painting. Interesting how two different painters, both choosing a similar subject in different settings, deliver. Hughes muted colors, and his choice of color for the truck, makes it a magnet for the eyes - well done!

JOE GYURCSAK
Patina - Acrylic on Panel 

Kudos to Georganna Lenssen for taking a "real" subject and use powerful abstraction skills to deliver the reality of the subject submerged in a really attractive pseudo abstract!  Stefanie Lieberman can also paint really well! She's sort of (in my mind) in the same painting trance as Lenssen, but Lieberman pushes the reality a bit further to the real and in the process can flex some damn good cloud-painting artistic muscles!

 I give Nichole Michaud's the "Best Abstract of the Show" award for her oil pastel on paper titled Eighty Three.  Along the same lines, Sharon McHugh can really paint flowers! See them here.

On the subject of flowers (there are quite a few in the show)... remember what I wrote about Lenssen and Lieberman? Claudia Rilling does the same thing and her Peonies practically explode out of the canvas on a burst of abstract color.

Jon Redmond painted beets, not flowers, but they are just as beautifully delivered! Just like two old trucks discussed earlier, art is a powerful vehicle (no pun intended) to elevate through the power of a good painter.

JON REDMOND
Beets on a Plate - Oil on Board

Landscape artists Kathryn Stats and Doug Tweddale are related by a deep understanding of the power of color to deliver a great landscape -- they do not "copy" the landscape, but re-invent the landscape as smartly applied pigment on a surface - it works to deliver the wonder of our planet.

Stuart White has my top vote for the best watercolors in the show. See them here.

Frankly... there's not a single bad work in the show! Congrats to the faculty!

When you miss all the wires...

When you miss all the wires...

The Navy Chief and the Pilot
1983 US Navy drawing by F. Lennox Campello

Isla Herida

Cuba - Isla Herida
1981 Acrylic painting on gessoed stone, 4 x 9.5 inches
Florencio Lennox Campello

 

The Snipe was always the first one...

Another one... As I noted earlier, when I was in the Navy I did dozens of illustrations and cartoons for many newspapers (such as The Stars & Stripes), and hundreds of sketches of my shipmates and other US Navy sailors in ports in the US and European ports. Most of these drawings, cartoons, and paintings were given away to my shipmates over the years, but I also kept many of them, and I see them often being sold at auctions online and by galleries - I have no idea where this one is today! I digitized some old slides!

The Snipe was always the first to spot the liberty boat
1975 US Navy watercolor by F. Lennox Campello

Wanna work at the Washington Glass School?

The Washington Glass School and Studio is seeking candidates for position of full-time Studio Coordinator!

Details here.

Located just outside of Washington DC, WGS is a privately owned, public access art studio. Washington Glass School and Studio is dedicated to creating and promoting kiln-formed glass and mixed-media sculpture.

 Washington Glass School and Studio has 3 primary missions:

• 1. Community involvement through engagement of large-scale public artworks
• 2. Educate through teaching art classes and mixed-media classes
• 3. Promote and support Washington Glass Studio artists

They are "looking for someone who is excited about fabricating artwork, hands-on glass and art education, community involvement, and managing a studio. We seek someone who wants to learn about the contemporary art world and to expose themselves to  new techniques and mediums. The Studio Coordinator serves two roles: assisting studio artist Tim Tate and coordinating an active mixed media studio and school.. A great candidate will be self-motivated with positive energy, who can independently organize and manage studio activities, as well as collaborate closely with all staff and studio residents."

 Start date: May 1st, 2021.

Isla Golpeada

"Isla Golpeada"
5x7 inches, c. 1980 by Florencio Lennox Campello
Hand-colored monoprint with embossed surface bumps and poem by Jose Marti

 

The Best New Passive Income Ideas for Your Art Business in 2021

 Check out Artwork Archive's tips and ideas here.

Frazetta style

 The late, great master Frank Frazetta was one of my very early idols and my main inspiration for applying to art school at the University of Washington.

Little did I know in 1977 that the art world thought little of "illustrators", regardless of their impact, skill and artistic footprint.

The below drawing, titled "The Hunted" is a pen and ink drawing on paper, and was part of my application package to the school. I recall the otherwise affable and nice career counselor denigrating it as "illustration rather than art."

Feh!

THE HUNTED
1977 ink drawing by F. Lennox Campello done in the style of Frank Frazetta

Opportunity for Artists

BlackRock Center for the Arts invites artists from the mid-Atlantic region to submit their work to be considered for two exhibition opportunities. The first is their biennial juried printmaking exhibit, INK IT: Contemporary Print Practices, with online entries due this Sunday, January 17.

ENTRY FEE:

$20 - Professional Artists (up to 3 works per entry)

$10 - Student Artists (up to 3 works per entry)

The second opportunity is their annual open call for exhibition proposals, for solo and group shows in all media. Online submissions due by Monday, February 1.

ELIGIBILITY: Resident of MD, DC, VA, PA, DE, or WV. Must be age 18 or older.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 1, 2021 (online submission by 11:59 pm EST)

APPLICATION FEE: $35 (non-refundable)

Details here.

Celia Cruz

While looking for my old passports (don't ask why), as usual I found a lot of other things first...

These are some lithographs that I did for a printmaking class at the University of Washington School of Art, where I studied art from 1977-1981.  They depict The Queen of Salsa: Cuban superstar Celia Cruz.

DARKNESS WEAVES by Karl Edward Wagner

The late, great master Frank Frazetta was one of my very early idols and my main inspiration for applying to art school at the University of Washington.

Little did I know in 1977 that the art world thought little of "illustrators", regardless of their impact, skill and artistic footprint.

The below drawing, titled "The Hunter" is a pen and ink drawing on paper, and was part of a drawing assignment at the school. I recall the otherwise affable and nice drawing teacher denigrating it as "illustration rather than art."

Feh!

"The Hunter"
1978 pen and ink on paper by F. Lennox Campello
Done in the style of Frank Frazetta

A name option for the Washington Football Club

 A few years ago I told you in 2013 about my wife's suggestions for the name controversy for the football team now called The Washington Football team.

She had suggested in 2013 to 

(a) Just change the mascot to a red potato and then call them the Washington Redskin Potatoes... Cough, cough... and change the helmet design so that instead of the old one, it would now depict a ferocious-looking red skin potato!

(b) She also thought of another great name option: The Washington Federals!

Dan Snyder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wounded deer

 The poem by Jose Marti goes like this:

Si ves un monte de espumas

Es mi verso lo que ves:

Mi verso es un monte, y es

Un abanico de plumas.

Mi verso es como un puñal

Que por el puño echa flor:

Mi verso es un surtidor

Que da un agua de coral.

Mi verso es de un verde claro

Y de un carmín encendido:

Mi verso es un ciervo herido

Que busca en el monte amparo.

Mi verso al valiente agrada:

Mi verso, breve y sincero,

Es del vigor del acero

Con que se funde la espada.  

And this is the painting that I did back in 1979 for an art school assignment at the University of Washington. The assignment was to create a new work, but in the style of a master.  This work is thus an adaptation of Jackson Pollock's style.  It is titled Mi verso es un ciervo herido que busca en el monte amparo.

Mi verso es un ciervo herido que busca en el monte amparo
1979 Acrylic on 600 pound paper by F. Lennox Campello

The Navy pilot

When I was in the Navy I did dozens of illustrations for newspapers (such as The Stars & Stripes), and sketches of his shipmates and other US Navy sailors in ports in the US and European ports.  Most of these drawings and paintings were given away to his shipmates, but I also kept many of them - this one has been in storage for over 40 years and was recently found!

The Navy Chief and the Pilot
1983 US Navy drawing by F. Lennox Campello

On the anniversary of a hero's death

Six years ago my father died on this day... here's my eulogy from that date:

"Hoy se ha caido otro roble en la selva del amargo exilio" is how I always thought that my father's eulogy would begin once he died.

"Today another oak falls in the jungle of bitter exile," began the eulogy for the man whose bloodlines my children and I carry on.

Florencio Campello Alonso died today at age 90 in Miami, the heart of the bitter Cuban Diaspora. Like many Cubans of his generation, he was the son of European immigrants to Cuba. His Galician parents left the scraggy mountains of northern Spain's ancient Celtic kingdom and in the first decade of the 1900s migrated to the new nation of Cuba upon its liberation from Spain.

Galicians have always been uneasy subjects of the Spanish crown, stubbornly hanging on to their ancient Celtic traditions, to their own language and to their bagpipes, so it is no historical surprise that they left their mountain homelands en-masse and headed to the new tropical paradise of Cuba, free from the heavy hand of the Spanish monarchy.

And thus it was never a surprise to me that my father was both a fighter against heavy-handed rulers, a lover of freedom, and one who was never afraid to re-start a life for the better, even if it involved discarding the old. 

My father could have been one of the privileged few who currently rule  atop the food chain of Cuba's Workers' Paradise. But instead of accepting the benefits of oppression, this most valiant of men chose the harsh path of right over wrong.

And he paid for it dearly (he spent years in Concentration Camps), but when he died, his soul was clean.

In his youth, my dad worked the brutal hours of the son of an immigrant who was slowly building a small financial empire in eastern Cuba. My father was pulled from school as soon as he learned to read and write, and like his two other brothers and eight sisters, he was expected to work and contribute to building a familial empire.

And he did, as my mother relates the stories of my father's childhood in the fields of eastern Cuba, a blond creole in a land of jingoist natives... he trying to out-Cuban the "real Cubans"... how he organized a labor union of the exploited Haitians who worked almost as slaves at the Los Canos Sugar Mill, how he joined a group of bearded rebels in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra in the fight against a tyrant, how he ran for the leadership of the Sugar Workers' Union and beat the Communists to the post, and how he spent years in a Castro Concentration Camp, jailed for the crime of refusing to join the Party, because he believed in Democracy and not Communism. 

And because of that stubbornness, in the 1960s he was offered the bitter pill of exile, and this brave man decided to choose family... and left his birth place, and thus became another immigrant within two familial generations and brought his wife and child to another new land.

And it is to him that I owe the greatest gift that a father can give a son: the opportunity to grow in freedom in the greatest nation in the history of this planet.

It is because of my father's courage that I was raised in this country and not in a land bloodied by brutality and oppression.

It is because of my father's teachings that I was raised with the conviction that freedom is not free and never to be taken for granted; after all, he fought for freedom and then Castro, the man who inspired  the fight, ended up being a worse dictator, eventually destroying all notions of freedom for all of his people.

It is because of my father that I was taught that every citizen owes his  nation some form of service, and that's the main reason that I signed (at age 17) to serve in the US Navy.

It is because of my father that I despise anyone who hides behind the mask of victimism to excuse failures and shortcomings.

When our family arrived in New York in the 1960s, my father began to work in a factory three days after he landed at the airport; my mother (who came from a privileged Cuban family and had never worked a day in her life) found a job as a seamstress five days later. That pattern was repeated for decades as they worked their way in a new nation.

"We thought we'd be back within a few years," was the answer given to me when I once asked the question about leaving their birthplace. When that didn't materialize, they became fierce Americans in the "United States of Americans" sense... these were the "America None Better!" set of immigrants, and in my Dad's case, you better be ready to fight if you dissed the USA.

"Americans"!

Always a fighter he was... and always for the right reasons.

Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we  recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

And my Dad loved this nation even more than he once loved Cuba... perhaps it is the genetic disposition of the serial immigrant. After all, his father had left his own ancient Celtic lands and kin for a new land... which he learned to love dearly.

My father always wanted to make sure that I knew that I was an "Americano" and not another forced-on label.

"Labels," he'd say, "are just a way to separate people."

By labels he meant "Hispanic" or "Latino" or anything with a "-" between two ethnic words.

I also remember as a kid in New York, when he bought a huge Hi-Fi record player-color-TV console... that thing was huge. He bought it "lay-away" and he'd pay $10 a week to the store and him and I would walk all the way from our house on Sackman Street to the store on Pitkin Avenue to make the payments every Saturday - he never missed a single payment, and that taught me a lesson.

It was soon playing my Dad's favorite music, which oddly enough was Mexican music (Cuban music was a close second)... and he knew all the words to every charro song.

Guadalajara en un llano, Mejico en una laguna... 

Guadalajara en un llano, Mejico en una laguna...Me he de comer esa tuna 

Me he de comer esa tuna.... aunque me espine la mano.

That Jorge Negrete song... being shouted often on weekends at the top of his lungs from our apartment in a mostly Italian neighborhood in East New York in Brooklyn must have raised some eyebrows.

My dad and I watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon on that TV set... we also watched loads of Mets games... and in 1969 and 1972 went to Shea Stadium to see the Mets win in '69 and lose in '72. He really loved baseball and he really loved those Mets!

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, so my Dad decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

He and my mother spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

When I visited him today in Miami, he looked good and freshly shaven... this is a good thing, as my father was a freak about hygiene... and that's a common "creole" trait.

The Hospice nurse almost teared up when I told her that my parents have been married for 60 years.

I looked at this old "gallego"... his skin as white as paper, his eyes as blue as the sky, and his head (once full of blond hair) as bald and shiny as the old Cuban sing song ("Mira la Luna, mira al Sol... mira la calva de ese.....") and I saw the generations of Neanderthals, Denisovans and Gallego Homo Sapiens that led to my bloodlines... the generations of fighters, of strugglers, and of tough guys who didn't take no for an answer and who made a better place for others. 

And I felt at peace and grateful.

And as my father died tonight, after an extubation,  all that I can think  to say to him is "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Dad... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children and it is no coincidence that you died on El Dia de Los Reyes.