USS Saratoga (CV-60)

Found these old photos -- this is USS Saratoga (CV-60) doing flight ops somewhere in the Med in 1975!

USS Saratoga (CV-60) flight ops in Med in 1975

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this scammer trying to rip off artists!

From: Dorothy Ortiz - dorothyortiz864@gmail.com -

I recently found your work, and I’m beyond impressed by your artistry. I’d love to inquire about available pieces for my collection.

Let me know if we can discuss further—I’d be delighted to connect!

Best wishes.

Harriet Lesser

Harriet Lesser notes that she "started out as a poet. Slowly the images behind the words and phrases overwhelmed the words themselves, and I became a painter."

She adds that she "lived as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria, where I met artist Uche Okeke and had the great opportunity to understand narrative line.

In India I experienced working with a new palette and met fearless artists.

In Belgium I encountered new outlooks in art history, and in Rwanda I could work and teach in two languages."

Lesser has been a magnetic leader of the DMV art scene for decades - she has not only exhibited her work, but also curated countless exhibitions and notes that for her, "curating is another form of composing. It is producing artwork of another genre."

Behold "Sugar Cane", a wondrous mixed media work that allows Lesser to showcase her artistic super powers - it will be part of the Women Artists of the DMV survey show coming to eight venues around the DMV this Fall!"

Coming soon: The Chronicles of Anderdingus!

 The Chronicles of Anderdingus will drop on March 11, 2025 - really new young rap with excellent, intelligent lyrics!

Check it out here!

From Instagram to art world darling: The meteoric rise of Danielle Mckinney

From CNN:

Danielle Mckinney’s ladies are in a permanent state of relaxation.

They lounge alone on couches or in bed. They sleep. Some are playful — toying with a butterfly or eying a praying mantis. Others are naked and seemingly unaware of the viewer, cigarettes in hand and gazes soft.

The 44-year-old artist has been painting these women her whole life, she said. As a little girl, she painted little girls, too, but her subjects have aged as she has. In conversation, Mckinney refers to them singularly as her “lady,” and, taken together, the moody portraits reflect intimate moments of solitude and repose.

For years, however, these works were private endeavors by an artist who formally trained as a photographer and only painted on the side. They were never meant to see the world.

Now, a little over four years after first publicly posting her portraits on social media, Mckinney has become one of the art world’s buzziest painters. 

Read the full article here.

For the record: "prints" of a painting are "reproductions", not "prints" - cough... cough...

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of the below asswipe trying to rip off artists!

From: Lisa Martinez -- martinezlisa269@gmail.com --

Hello,

I discovered your artwork on artbuy  and I'm impressed by your talent. I'm currently curating pieces for a project and would like to inquire about the availability and pricing of certain works from your portfolio. I eagerly await your response.

Thank you.

Art Scam Alert!

 Beware of this asswipe trying to rip off artists:

From: ministerpeg@mail.com

​Hello there.

I came across some  of your art piece online and I feel in love with your work and talent. You deserve to be seen and known on a global level, and I can help your with that.

But first i would love to purchase some of your art work on behalf of my clients. I have notable art lovers and collectors like Steve Cohen on my clients list.

My clients are always willing to pay a fortune for an art piece that resonate with them and some of your art work fit into the kind of art work my client likes.

So kindly send some of your available art work or a link to a website so I can see more of your work and have them sent to my clients.

kindly reach me with the details below

Email: art_piece@collector.org

Phone: +13105644618(text only)

I will be looking forward to a response from you.

Best regards.

Updated list of invited artists for Women Artists of the DMV

Another updated list of the DMV area female artists who have agreed to participate so far in the 2025 "Women Artists of the DMV" survey show!

Before I forget: If I've invited you to the show and you've agreed to participate, but you're not listed below, please email me (lennycampello@hotmail.com) and let me know... or if I've misspelled your name :-) 

I've received nearly 4,000 emails, DMs, Facebooks, texts, etc. from female artists interested in being considered for the show.  Granted, there are a LOT of emails from artists living waaaay far from the Greater DC area who are not eligible, but still...

Deadline to apply: April 30, 2025

I have eight venues lined up, and at best I will be able to physically exhibit 240+ artists... but all applicants who meet the "DMV criteria" will be surveyed and catalogued for the SI American Art Archives, as I've contacted the Smithsonian American Art Archives with a proposal to document and archive ALL artists - of them - see that here.

I am also contacting ALL local universities/colleges and ALL of the DMV art commissions to ask them to buy one work by one alumni or county resident for their permanent collections.  I can use some help with that if you know board members, big donors, etc.

I need your help with the various DMV Art commissions/councils from the counties surrounding the DMV (Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington, etc.  See this letter/email as an example - feel free to copy and adapt and send to your council members, county executive, art commission, etc.

And the "in the show" list so far...

Shiri Achu 

Esperanza Alzona

Maremi Andreozzi 

Erin Antognoli  

Courtney Applequist

Sondra N. Arkin

Suzi Balamaci 

Michele Banks 

Marilyn Banner 

Kate Barfield 

Veronica Barker-Barzel 

Jennifer Barlow 

Denée Barr

Holly Bass 

Lisa Battle

Jennifer Lynn Beaudet 

Judith Benderson 

Sarah Bentley  

Anne Bouie

Karin Birch 

Jennifer Bishop

Julia Bloom 

Lori Boocks 

Margaret Boozer  

Vian Borchert  

Claire Brandt

Laurie Breen

Lisa Brotman  

Amy Bruce

Dianne Bugash 

Shante Bullock

Melissa Burley 

Judy Byron 

Denise Calisti 

Stephane Calvin

Rachel Carren 

Elizabeth Casqueiro 

Shanthi Chandrasekar

Mei Mei Chang 

Hsin-Hsi Chen 

Anne Cherubim

Irene Clouthier 

Amanda Coelho

Diane Cooper Cabe

Ellen Cornett 

Kathy Cornwell

Rosemary Feit Covey  

Lea Craigie-Marshall

Sheila Crider 

Jacqui Crocetta

Andrea Cullins 

Andrea Cybyk

Joan Danziger 

Delna Dastur 

Anna U. Davis 

Jenny Davis 

Tanya Davis 

Elizabeth Davison 

Danni Dawson 

Patricia de Poel Wilberg 

Wendy Donahoe

Margaret Dowell  

Jen Droblyen

Mary Early 

Susan Eder

Bria Edwards

Cheryl Edwards

Dana Ellyn 

Rita Elsner 

Hyunsuk Erickson 

Cynthia Farrell Johnson 

Felisa Federman Cogut 

Sharon Fishel

Cianne Fragione  

Mary Annella Frank

Helen Frederick   

Jenny Freestone 

Emily Fussner

Marie Gauthiez-Charpentier

Genie Ghim 

Carol Brown Goldberg 

Margery Goldberg

Susan Goldman

Janis Goodman 

Pat Goslee 

Freya Grand 

Graciela Granek 

Josephine Haden 

Debra Halprin 

Beatrice Hamblett

Elyse Harrison

Muriel Hasbun  

Seemeen Hashem

Rania Hassan 

Jennifer Hayes

Mira Hecht 

Michelle Lisa Herman 

Francie Hester 

Ellen Hill 

Pattee Hipschen 

Leslie Holt 

Susan Hostetler 

Sarah J. Hull

Michal Hunter 

Melissa Ichiuji 

Sadieh Ilchi

Selena Jackson 

Martha Jackson Jarvis  

Barbara Januszkiewicz 

M. Jane Johnson 

Jessica Kallista 

Jenny Kanzler

Maria Karametou

Lori Katz 

Sally Kauffman  

Trish Kent 

Megan King

Zofie King 

Kate Kretz 

Bridget Sue Lambert

Susan LaMont 

Linda Lawler 

Ngoc Le 

Jun Lee

Kyujin Lee 

Harriet Lesser 

Carol Levin 

Jennifer Lillis 

Amy Lin

Kara Lin 

June Linowitz 

Barbara Liotta

Kirsty Little

Taina Litwak 

Shelley Lowenstein 

Laurel Lukaszewski 

Dalya Luttwak 

Caroline MacKinnon

Akemi Maegawa 

Susan Makara

Isabel Manalo  

Joey Mánlapaz 

Sheryl Massaro

Katherine Mann

Anne Marchand  

Lucinda Marshall

Isabella Martire 

Amy Marx  

Sheryl Massaro

J.J. McCracken

Sophia McCroklin

Donna McCullough 

Anne Meagher-Cook  

Maggie Michael 

Regina Miele  

Ramona Militaru

Marily Mojica 

Michele Montalbano 

E.J. Montgomery

Sharon Moody 

Ally Morgan  

Meredith Morris

Camille Mosley-Pasley  

Adrienne Moumin

Jody Mussoff

Georgia Nassikas 

Leslie Nolan

Teresa Oaxaca 

Ronnie Offen 

Claudia Olivos 

Helena Gallegos O'Neill 

Erica Orgen 

Marian Osher 

Betsy Packard 

Dora Patin

Judith Peck 

Monica Perdomo

Sandra Pérez-Ramos  

Anne Pham

Pearl Ping Shen 

Patricia Edwine Poku-Speight

Susana Raab 

Gail Rebhan

Carol Reed 

Cindy K. Renteria  

Marie Riccio

Lesley Riley

Marie Ringwald 

Amber Robles-Gordon

Sarah Rodman  

Alla Rogers 

Roxana Rojas 

Lisa K Rosenstein 

Lori Niland Rounds

Christine Ryan 

Madalaine Sargent

Nancy Sausser 

Karen Schmitz

Deanna Schwartzberg  

Martina Sestakova

Lian Sever 

Susan Shalowitz 

Janathel Shaw 

Gail Shaw-Clemons 

April Shelford

Alison Sigethy

Elzbieta Sikorska 

Alexandra Silverthorne 

Pauline Siple  

Judy Southerland 

Molly Springfield 

Pritha Srinivasan

Renee Stout 

Veronica Szalus

Zsudayka Nzinga Terrel  

Kat Thompson

Patricia Underwood 

Christine Uskievitch

Jessica Van Brakle 

Gloria Vasquez  

Rosa Inés Vera  

Claudia Vess

Marite Vidales 

Lori Walsh

Andrea Way 

Ellyn Weiss 

Joyce Wellman 

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Sharon Wolpoff 

Helen Wood

Sue Wrbican 

Shawn Yancy

Suzanne Yurdin  

Paula Zeller

Barbara Ziselberger

Helen Zughaib 

The Montpelier Arts Center: 8th venue added to Women Artists of the DMV survey show!

We are now up to eight art spaces to exhibit what is now the largest ever curated fine arts exhibition in the history of the DMV!

The art exhibition spaces at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, MD confirmed yesterday that they will participate in the survey exhibition -- that means that I can now curate about 30-40 more female artists for this DMV-wide show.

The Center is located at 9652 Muirkirk Road in Laurel, MD and online here.

The eight confirmed venues are:

• The American University Art Museum at the Katzen - Washington, DC
• The Athenaeum - Alexandria, VA
• The McLean Project for the Arts - McLean, VA
• The Strathmore Mansion Art Galleries - Rockville, MD
• The Artists & Makers Studios and Galleries in Rockville, MD
• The Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center - Hyattsville, MD
• The Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD
• The Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, MD

RFQ: Ceiling-based/hanging & wall artwork at New Highmark Stadium

Entry Deadline: 3/24/25

Budget: $200,000 to $250,000

The Buffalo Bills Public Art Program seeks to commission professional visual artists, or artist teams, to create site-specific public artwork(s) to be placed in (new) Highmark Stadium. This artwork will be thematic, public-facing, and part of the permanent collection at the Stadium.

Through an open Call for Artists Request for Qualifications (RFQ) /  Request for Proposals (RFP) process, the Public Art Program will solicit applicants, review portfolios, and select qualified artists or artist teams who can innovatively and thoughtfully design within the context of the new stadium.

Over three separate Calls for Artists, the Buffalo Bills Public Art Program will be seeking sculptural ceiling art, murals, and wall-based artworks of various sizes and budgets to be curated on multiple levels of the Stadium.

The public art at Highmark Stadium should reflect the city’s diverse demographics, team and fan engagement, and be welcoming to travelers of all backgrounds to experience artwork in an inclusive environment. Arts and sports are universal languages that allow people to express themselves and connect with others across communities, cultures, and generations.

About the Buffalo Bills Public Art Program & General Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are located at https://www.buffalobills.com/new-stadium/public-art-program

The Buffalo Bills Public Art Program at Highmark Stadium is for new site-specific work created to best fit each stadium location.

Please do not send portfolios or links directly to us. Applications will only be accepted through the CallForEntry.org platform. Creating a profile and applying is free.

Details here.

Separate call for wall based artwork at https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=15001

Open letter to Montgomery County Council

Variations of this letter were both mailed and emailed to most members of the Montgomery County Council as well as Marc Ehrlich, the Montgomery County Executive.

This coming September, the largest ever area-wide curated art show will be coming to six art venues in the DMV, including two art spaces in Montgomery County!  I am currently curating this survey show, which will feature over 225 women artists from the Greater DC area, including around 40 or so Montgomery County female artists. They show will be spread to six venues: The American University Art Museum at the Katzen Art Center in Washington, DC; the McLean Project for the Arts in McLean, VA; the Athenaeum in Alexandria; the Strathmore Mansion Galleries and the Artists & Makers Gallery (both in Rockville) and the Pyramid Arts Center in Hyattsville.

I am contacting you in the hope that your office can work with Suzan E. Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer of the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County (I have been in touch with her) to endorse a "Montgomery County Art Award" for one of the county's artists in the survey show. At the very least an award ribbon, in an ideal world acquiring one work for the county's art collection.

Thank you for your time and attention, and maybe we'll see you at one of the openings!

Very Respectfully,

Lenny Campello

Cell: 301/__________

Everything that you'd need to know about the show is here: https://dcartnews.blogspot.com/2025/01/women-artists-of-dmv-all-that-you-need.html

The Writer's Center: A new art exhibition venue added to Women Artists of the DMV survey show!

We are now up to seven art spaces to exhibit what is now the largest ever curated fine arts exhibition in the history of the DMV!

The art exhibition spaces at the Writer's Center in Bethesda confirmed yesterday that they will participate in the survey exhibition -- that means that I can ow curate about 20-24 more female artists for this DMV-wide show! Below is an image of the show spaces from the recent "Panorama" exhibition by the very talented DMV area artist Sophia McCrocklin, who (by the way) creates artwork that is not only socially important and superbly done, but also defies categorization!

The Center is located at 4508 Walsh Street in Bethesda MD 20815 and online here.

The seven confirmed venues are:

• The American University Art Museum at the Katzen - Washington, DC
• The Athenaeum - Alexandria, VA
• The McLean Project for the Arts - McLean, VA
• The Strathmore Mansion Art Galleries - Rockville, MD
• The Artists & Makers Studios and Galleries in Rockville, MD
• The Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center - Hyattsville, MD
• The Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD

Who's in the Top 100?

Daily Campello Art News has been selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 100 Art Blogs on the web!

This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Art Blogs on the internet and I'm honored to be part of this!

Check it out here.

Participating in Art Fairs 101

"Participating in Art Fairs 101" with yours truly as the host - 12 February at 8pm on Google Meet. 

I'm going to go over the process and answer questions about entering outdoor art fairs. I will cover applications, logistics, sales and much more! 

Contact info@artomatic.org to register and submit your questions in advance.

Google Meet joining info: Email info@artomatic.org for Video call link or dial: ‪(US) +1 551-900-1744‬ PIN: ‪447 552 265#

Ally Morgan and the delivery of ideas

I'm always discussing and identifying some of the super powers that great artists have in their arsenal of artistic weapons. Ally Morgan is one of those artists who is lucky enough to have multiple superpowers, but in my opinion, first and foremost is her superpower to visually transmit ideas onto a visual artwork in such a way that the idea stops the viewer, mesmerizes the frontal lobe (which in men doesn't fully develop until their 30s - sorry dudes) and reaches deep into the solar plexus of the mind.

That's a lot of art lingo... Ally says:

"I’ve long been captivated by the American Southwest. In 2011, I moved to Arizona to pursue my master’s degree, and during my time there, I immersed myself in exploring the vast, rugged beauty of the desert landscape. While many might view the desert as a harsh, barren place, I have always found it to be meditative, beautiful, and deeply spiritual. It’s a space that has inspired countless historical prophets who sought enlightenment through its solitude. 

“I Can See Through the Rain” is a gouache painting that reflects my interpretation of the contemporary West. The work focuses on the color blue, a hue rich with symbolic meaning, and features figures bathed in various shades of blue, quietly lost in thought within a flat, simplified, surreal landscape. These figures are surrounded by golden raindrops, which hover between the real and the metaphysical—a visual representation of both the tangible and the spiritual realms. 

When my father passed away in 2020, I began painting raindrops as a way to process my grief and express my emotions surrounding his death. In this piece, “I Can See Through the Rain” continues that symbolism. Where raindrops once embodied sorrow, here they have transformed into symbols of spiritual peace and healing."

Behold “I Can See Through the Rain” by Ally Morgan , 2024, Gouache on panel, 10"x8" and it will be at the Women Artists of the DMV survey show!

I Can See Through the Rain by Ally Morgan
Gouache on panel 10"x8"

Rejected!

Another example of why artists need to have thick skins! I've been rejected from an outdoor art festival -- one which I've done for many years, and one for which I have won multiple awards in the past, and one for which I was one of the jurors in the past!

But... we must all understand that jurors are people, and thus subjective - and the three jurors this year (Jordan Brown from the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Nicola Charles, who worked at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery and whom I knew from the many years that I've been at the Affordable Art Fairs, and Mallory Kimmel, who makes "conceptual furniture to address exclusionary design practices") did not like my work, so they gave me a thumbs down, as it is their right as jurors.

Make sure that you visit the festival! It is an amazing show and well-worth the visit to see incredibly talented artists!

Bottom line: Learn from it, breathe in, and re-apply next year! I've been accepted like 20 years out of 22 or so, so pretty good batting average!

Dear F. Lennox,

Thank you for applying to the 34th annual Tephra ICA Arts Festival.

The highly competitive pool of applications was individually evaluated by three independent jurors and selections were made based on their reviews. Unfortunately, your application was not selected for display at the Festival this year. We encourage you to apply again next year when we have a new panel of qualified professional jurors whose perceptions may vary. As a 2025 Festival applicant, you will automatically receive notification regarding the 2026 Festival application in the fall.

We sincerely appreciate your support and interest in the Festival, and we wish you much success in all your artistic endeavors.

Sincerely,

Hannah Barco

Associate Curator and Festival Director

Michal Hunter and the power of vision

I've been lucky enough to have met and admired Michal Hunter's artwork for decades now. And the first meeting, way back at the very beginning of the second decade of the 21st century,  during the glory days of the iconic Fraser Gallery, still remains as vivid as the last time that I saw her work in person a few months ago.

Hunter is a master painter. She will forget more about painting techniques, skills and applications than most artists will ever learn.  

But it takes more than immense technical skill to make a great artist. It takes the vision to recognize a moment on time, which in life may be mundane and ordinary, but once elevated to the canvas, becomes sublime and unique.

Hunter has that vision, and when married to her immense skill, it delivers artwork that would have astounded centuries ago, and will astound in centuries to come.

Behold "Floating", 37" x 60", 2018 oil on canvas. It will be at the Women Artists of the DMV survey show.

"Floating" by Michal Hunter
37" x 60", 2018 oil on canvas

Vintage 2013 Campello original at auction!

Vallot Auctioneers in Rhode Island has a cool 2013 framed Campello original at auction starting at only $50!

Bid for it here.

Diane Cooper Cabe and scent

Another one of the super powers of artists is the ability to get influences, ideas, subjects, etc. from nearly any and everything in the Universe.  And if you also have the super power to deliver narrative artwork, then your work stands out as more than just a visual gem.

Diane Cooper Cabe can do that and more. She writes about her work:

Through my sculptures, I tell stories that appeal to our senses. My current series revolves around the idea of scent as a medium of artistic creation. We appreciate art with all our ve senses, and our olfactory perceptions are no exception. The artists who create perfumes appeal to many of our senses: Look Feel, Smell, Touch. To add to the glamour, perfume designers make beautiful glass vessels to hold the lovely aromas. Many scent artists are also designers, painters and sculptors who are considered masters of their craft. Glass blowers, painters and sculptors created containers to hold scents throughout the centuries. Recently, Corning Museum of Glass held a symposium on the historic relationship between glass and scent.

Madame Zed is in homage to the legendary perfumer who lived and worked in Paris in the 1920s. She created many perfumes for JeanneMarie Lanvin, founder of the Lanvin Fashion House and gained fame with the formulation of the perfume My Sin. Madame Zed features Bas Relief glass sculptured panels adorned with glass owers that highlight the beauty of the perfume bottles and evoke the aura of scent and its effect on our mood.

Behold Madame Zed by Diane Cooper Cabe, Glass and Steel, c. 2024, 27 inches by 10 inches by 2 inches.

Madame Zed by Diane Cooper Cabe
Glass and Steel 27 inches by 10 inches by 2 inches

Wanna go to an opening today? Sheila Giolitti at Adah Rose Gallery

"Any Season Will Be The Finest Hour" - with the spectacular work of Maremi Andreozzi and Sheila Giolitti at Adah Rose!

February 8-March 9

Opening Reception: Saturday Feb 8 5-7pm

Open All Week..please call first

​301-922-0162

Adah Rose at Art Seen/Tri Graphics

12115 Parklawn Drive

Rockville Md 20852

 

Anthology of memories #8 by Sheila Giolitti
20”x40”