A guerrilla technique for saving money on framing costs

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, as this is part of the average artist DNA. You will then 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 article. But if you want to save a lot of money on framing, then prepare

Read the whole article here.

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show

I will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

About the Plein Air Competition: As you walk around Kensington on the Saturday of the show weekend, you'll see dozens of artists painting and drawing all over town. Those are participants of the annual Plein Air Competition. From 7 am-3 pm, adults and children complete paintings with a Kensington theme and submit them for prizes awarded by me. The competition is open to all adults and children. Free for children under 18 and current MAA members; adults pay $10 per person. Registration opens July 15.

Details here.

Schedule 

FRIDAY, JULY 15: Call for entries opens (members only)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3: Exhibit floor open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Plein air art competition, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. -- Awards ceremony, 6-8 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4: Exhibit floor open, 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5: Exhibit floor open, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Pick up purchased artwork, 5:00-8:00 p.m.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6: Pick up purchased artwork, 9-11 a.m. 

Montgomery Art Association’s annual Paint the Town Labor Day Show

I am honored to serve as 2022 judge of one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows over Labor Day Weekend: the Montgomery Art Association’s annual Paint the Town Labor Day Show at the Historic Armory in Kensington, Maryland

I will review more than 500 works in seven categories at the Montgomery Art Association’s annual Paint the Town Labor Day Show at the Historic Armory in Kensington, Maryland. I also will judge the one-day Kensington plein air painting competition and will present prizes at the September 3 reception.

The annual art show runs for three days—September 3-5—and features hundreds of pieces of artwork by member artists. Original paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photography—plus prints and notecards—will all be for sale. A portion of proceeds goes in support of MAA’s educational mission.

The show is accepting entries from artists 18 years or older in Maryland, Virginia, and DC. MAA annual membership is required to participate. In addition to the main show, MAA will host its annual plein air competition. Members, plus adults and children from the community, are invited to participate and have up to eight hours to complete a work within the boundaries of Kensington. Free for children and members, and $10 for non-member adults.

About MAA: The Montgomery Art Association (MAA) is a Maryland-based nonprofit membership group supporting the visual arts and artists in the DC area. A portion of sales goes to support our educational mission, including providing scholarships to art students. Learn more.

About the Show: The annual three-day Paint the Town Labor Day Show will take place at the Kensington Historic Armory, 3710 Mitchell St., Kensington, MD, September 3-5. The event is free and open to the public. The Town of Kensington is a proud sponsor.

Register here.

The Coronavirulization of the art world

Covidian? …Covidism? …Covidnineteenism?…Coronaism?

A couple of months ago I wrote about some help lines for artists as the Coronavirulization of the art world, another victim of the planetary infection in what I now call The Covidian Age, was in full attack...

... Leave it to artists to actually do something positive not only with these two political interpretations of a disease, but also with a myriad of interpretations of the Covidian Age and Covidism – and I suspect that a millennia from now, when perhaps even more dark events have been survived by the human race, it is the First Covidian Age artwork which will truly tell the story and mark the crowning spot (pun intended) of the Coronavirulization of art.

Read the whole article here.

What shows up on Ebay

 

Skies above the Montrose Links, Scotland
1990 Watercolor on paper by F. Lennox Campello

This 1990 watercolor - done while I lived in Scotland is currently up on Ebay for a steal! See it here

When you get grease on paper

Master iguana-eaters perfect their eating craft while carrying one of those giant buckets of popcorn (at the movies) in one hand, and a giant soft drink in the other. No one can resist waiting to be seated to start on the popcorn, and so many of us iguana the popcorn enroute to our seat… the head dips, the mouth opens and popcorn is iguana into the gullet.

As a master iguana-style-eater, I decided to grab another piece of steak, and then head upstairs for the utensils…. my head dipped down into the plate… black charcoaly hands spread out for balance.

I iguana’d the steak bite, raised my neck, and a smaller piece of meat, which had been barely attached to the larger piece in my mouth, went flying… and landed squarely on the middle of the drawing.

Read the whole 2017 article here.

My picks for the current Art League show

An easy way to spend most of a summer rainy afternoon (and there are plenty of hem coming!) is a visit to the Torpedo Factory, host to many art studios and some key galleries. While you’re there, go check out the current Open Exhibit, juried by artist Jessie Boyland.

If you’re a constant reader of this blog, then you know what comes next: The Campello awards!

Are you ready for a shock? I believe that for the first time since I’ve been messing around with re-jurying other jurors’ shows and awards (first time was around 1981), this is the FIRST time that I’ve agreed with the Best of Show!

Wendy Donahoe’s “Traveler”, a spectacular charcoal and carbon pencil drawing, is not only a superbly crafted technical masterpiece, but also a work that does something that a master like Donahoe does so simply: in this case capture the psychologic presence of the subject.  She nails it and do not be fooled by the simplicity of my words in describing her accomplishment with this piece. These are finely tuned and trained artistic muscles which Donahoe flexes so easily in this work and which are in reality impossibly difficult to deliver.

I also quite liked some of the Honorable Mentions, especially “Transposition” by Susan O'Neill, an elegant figure study employing charcoal, red chalk, and mixed media on paper.

Personally I would have given an award to “Art Lovers 1 - Picasso - Le Gourmet 0” by Leni Gurin, a very elegant Acrylic and a take off on the great Spanish master.  That painting is the steal of the show! At 14 × 78 × 11 inches, the cool painting by Leni Gurin is a steal at $900! Go buy it!

Traveler by Wendy Donahoe

Transposition by Susan O'Neill

"Art Lovers 1 - Picasso - Le Gourmet 0" by Leni Gurin