Fairouz Cafe And Gallery

Today I had lunch at one of the best Mediterranean/Greek/Middle Eastern restaurants that I can recall - ever.

I'm talking about Fairouz Cafe And Gallery in San Diego (Gallery because the owner is quite an accomplished artist - Ibrahim Al Nashashibi - and loads of his work decorates the restaurant).

The lunch buffet was amazing! It has both a vegan side and also a "regular" fare of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean delicacies - but many of them (I talked to the owner) come from Nashashibi's mother's recipes - which have been in the family for centuries.

And I mean centuries - for example Nashashibi was born in a house on Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa which the Nashashibi family has owned for centuries!

"You must try the Lemon and Chicken soup!" he begged me as I was about to leave. "It has been voted San Diego's best soup for the last two years in a row!" he told me.

I tried it and it was delicious. As was the saffron chicken, which also tasted as it had been infused with lemon. The combo of saffron and lemon was a fantasy to the taste buds.

Even simple dishes, like the garlic cabbage were amazing.

And all of that and much, much more in a buffet for $8.99 - simply a spectacular deal for the money for home cooked food from the east part of the Med.

Fairouz Cafe And Gallery
3166 Midway Drive #102
San Diego, California 92110
Phone: 619.225.030

WGS Studio Coordinator Position Open

The Washington Glass School has an immediate opening for a Studio Coordinator in its Mt. Rainier location. Founded 8 years ago, this is one of the busiest studios on the East coast. They are not only an educational venue, but they are also the home of many successful independent artists. The School also works with large scale public art projects.

The successful candidate will have many of the following traits:

~ Extremely organized and punctual
~ Ability to move from one project to the next very quickly
~ Be a self starter and able to work independently
~ Skills in sculpting clay would be helpful…..as well as skills in computer work, administrative paperwork, warm glass, shipping and delivery
~ Comfortable with people and able to possible teach classes

Duties will include:

~ Daily studio clean-ups
~ Working with plaster, lost wax, warm glass
~ Installing sculptural work
~ Assisting or taking over some classes.
~ 100 things that might come up….and do. This can be hard, dirty work

What they offer:

~ To learn numerous methods of relating to glass and sculpture (all classes are free to you)
~ Free studio space to work on your warm glass
~ $10 an hour to start
~ The ability to see how a very successful sculpture studio operates.
~ Many gallery and show opportunities.
~ The ability to become part of a much larger community
~ Mentoring for your career as an artist

This is a great opportunity for someone who would like to further their sculpture or glass career, and to join one of the most successful teams in the region. Please email Tim Tate at TimTateGlass@aol.com.

Washington Glass School
3700 Otis St.
Mt. Rainier, Md. 20712
202-744-8222
WashGlass.com

Tape Sculptures

There's a contest going on to see who can create the best sculptures in Scotch Tape's first annual tape sculpture contest.

Current entries can be viewed, and voted, online here.

Persons interested in submitting their sculptures can still do so through the end of this month. A press release with details - and instructional
videos for how to make tape art - is online here.

Winners will be selected among the finalists by (who else but) DC-based tape sculptor Mark Jenkins.

Airborne


Heading to the Left Coast for some unexpected last minute lecturin' - more when I get there.

Temp Gallery?

I hear that an interested party is looking for a short term lease to occupy the empty space where the Numark Gallery used to be on E Street. That gorgeous space has remained empty since Cheryl Numark closed a few years ago.

Gallery moves

Washington Printmakers will move to their new home at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center tomorrow. Their inaugural opening reception for their 25th Anniversary Reunion Show will be Friday, February 5, 5:30-8:00 pm.

25 years in gallery years is like 100 in any other business. One of the reasons that some of our oldest galleries in the DMV are collectives is because all the artist members share the load of the costs of running the space, which allows it to survive rocky austere times such as we are experiencing now.

And WP is by far the best DMV area gallery in its specialty of printmaking.

One word that has been hijacked from the art lexicon by the art merchants is the word "print."

A print is a woodcut, or a linocut, or an intaglio etching, etc. It is created by the printmaker, from beginning to printmaking. Anything else is a reproduction.

So if the original is a watercolor, or an oil, etc. and then you get digital copies of it, or four color separations, etc. all of those are reproductions of the original. However, it's hard to sell something when you describe it as a reproduction, and thus why dealers and artists alike describe their reproductions are "prints."

Giclees is a modern artsy way to describe a reproduction. Giclee is the French word for "spray" or "spurt." It describes the Iris burst printers originally used to make the beautiful new digital reproductions that started appearing in the art world around 15 years ago.

Nothing pisses off a printmaker faster than hearing a reproduction called a print. Want to see some good prints? Visit Washington Printmakers and Pyramid Atlantic often.

Cultural Capital

If you are a fan of live performances, arts events and cultural programs, then you should know about CultureCapital.com, The Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington's Arts & Cultural Events Resource Site.

CultureCapital.com, includes over 300 participant arts and cultural organizations in DC, MD and VA (complete list here) and is easily searchable by date, category, keyword and region.

Use the advanced search on the upper left to customize your search by date range, subcategory and keywords and be sure to click on the map to search the area you prefer. On the right side of the site you will see a link to TICKETPLACE, where you can find half-price tickets online, in advance which they will hold for you at will call for shows at various arts and cultural events at The Kennedy Center and many other great venues!

Also on the site, you will find a place to sign up to for the new weekly email, CultureCapital Insider, which highlights special events, openings and closings, one night only and free events for that week.

CultureCapital.com is a great online guide that can help you to explore the creative side of this city and the entire DC region by providing a one-stop-shop that helps you to discover all of the wonderful arts and cultural events happening in the area.