I have a question

I'm always amazed by the size, the huge size, of thighs in the ice speed skating world. The size on Apolo Ohno and those Koreans and northern European men and women is something to behold.

It is clear to me that those monster thighs can't fit your standard "off the rack" pants when the skaters go mufti and discard those alien sex suits that they skate with.

And nu... so my question is: what do they wear when they're out and about in civilian clothes?

Stretchy stuff (like Haggars)? Big baggy pants? Jodhpurs?

Speaking of thighs... chickens have some really huge thighs too, don't they? I have always wondered about "boneless chicken thighs."

My interest is that I am curious about the process of how they get rid of the bone. Work with me here... a boneless breast is easy to visualize the process of removing the bone.

But the bone in the chicken's thigh is in the middle of the thigh (I think). So how come I can walk into my supermarket and buy plump, full, boneless chicken thighs?

Man I'd love to see the machine that does that bone-removing process...

I don't even want to think about "boneless chicken wings."

That would make my head hurt.

Art(202)TV

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH), in partnership with the DC Office of Cable Television (OCT), announces the premiere of Art (202) TV, an innovative one-hour television segment that showcases the diverse talents of the District’s art scene. Art (202) TV will be featured on TV-16 of the District’s cable system on Fridays at 9 pm and Saturdays at 11 pm.

Details here.

Hotel Art Intervention Project A few years ago I told you about my "hotel art intervention project" where, starting in the late 70's and through the early 2000's, it was my usual practice, as sort of a personal artistic jihad, to take down the framed "art" in hotel rooms, take the frame apart, and remove the usual poster or reproduction that was the art, turn it around, and draw (and once in a while actually paint) a "new" original work on the verso of the poster. It was usually a simple, figurative line drawing, more often than not done while watching TV, and often inspired by the TV show itself. Some were more elaborate than others, and every once in a while a really involved drawing would emerge. Once finished, I would re-frame the new work, and re-hang it on the wall. Sometimes I would add touches to an existing piece. I especially loved those mass produced oil paintings of beaches and huts and glorious sunsets. To the beaches I would "add" other elements, such as footprints spelling out messages, discarded syringes, a dead octopus, etc. To the glorious sunsets perhaps an UFO or the odd-looking airplane, or even Superman flying around. Between the late 1970s and up to maybe 2002-3 I did this probably around 200 times in hotel rooms in Europe, Canada, Mexico and all over the United States. A few weeks ago I visited the Left Coast and stayed in a hotel that I had previously been in many times. It has been refurbished recently and all the rooms were nice and clean. My room was decorated with some acceptable "wall decor" of flower prints (see the images below). And then, to my utter surprise I discovered a piece of artwork hanging in this room which was one of the works that I had "improved" upon a few years ago! I recognized it instantly!

Here's the "improved" print hanging on the hotel room wall today What are the chances that from all the rooms in that hotel I would end up in the one where my intervention was hanging? Or better put re-hung. Here's another shot of the piece in the corner of the room I documented most of the earlier hotel work via slides (remember slides?) - the vast majority of which were lost in the mid 90s when the storage facility where I had a lot of books, tons of art slides and other stuff was flooded. But this latter "intervention" documentation survives thanks to digital cameras, as it is one of the later ones, from around 2002. So I went back through a couple of old PCs that I need to throw away as soon as I copy everything that's in the C drive, and found some vintage digital images of the original process. This is the original flower poster, image taken in 2002 before I "improved" the wall decor What I did in this particular case, was to create a furious battle scene going on the flower itself. From a distance it looks like the flower is being invaded by bugs, but once we get close, we see a barbaric battle going on, as Cimmerians attack the flower, being defended well by armed guards. What movie was I watching at the time in that hotel room in 2002? A TV re-run of Conan The Barbarian! Here's the piece back in 2002, unframed on my hotel bed and ready to be improved Here's a close up of the "improved" flower poster Here's a close up of one of the bulbs showing the furious action going on Then, I re-discovered that in this particular instance I had done a second drawing on the back of the frame. I used the nice masonite backing to do a quick charcoal and conte drawing: two for the price of one! Here's the "extra" piece of art done on the back of the frame I never did check when I was in the room to see if that drawing is still on the back of the frame. It is probably impossible to do so anyway, as the wall decor in most hotels these days are anchored to the wall in such a way that it takes a concentrated effort to get them off the wall (as if anyone would steal it?). Here's a close up of the drawing on the back of the frame I'm not saying anything, but I feel the jihad rekindling!

  And here's the room, in case you ever happen to be out West

These days I am doing a similar, but modified project - which I will call my "art deployment" project, where I get and use frames from area thrift shops, remove the cheap reproductions (usually) that are in these frames, replace them with my own artwork -- usually art school era vintage "real" prints such as etchings, linocuts, lithos, etc. and even some original work -- and then "sneak" it back into the thrift shop for some lucky and sharp-eyed person to acquire and "boom" a Campello gets into another collection.

Tonight at the Katzen

Cream's on at the Katzen and there's a talk by the curators tonight, Thursday, February 25, 2010, 6:30-9:30pm at the Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, WDC.

Check out the selected artwork here.

Mary Early
Untitled, 2006
Wood, putty, beeswax
48" diameter x 6"
Courtesy of the Artist and Hemphill Fine Arts
Retail Price: $6,000
Reserve Price: $3,600
See ya there tonight!

How to make the luge more exciting

Nothing can help curling, but I've got this great idea for the Olympic committee to make the luge event more exciting: rebuild the courses to be wider so that all of those little cars can come down at once and thus they're really racing against each other instead of individually against the clock.

Then it would be like NASCAR on ice and the event would get huge ratings from NASCARites.

Ideas to help curling be more exciting welcomed.

Artist Interview: Frank Warren

In my opinion, Frank Warren is the best-known DC-based artist in the world. And to add evidence to that opinion, Warren's worldwide art project PostSecret is not only one of the Internet's most popular and visited websites, but also has spawned a whole series of best-selling books and launched an interesting career for Frank as a speaker on the university and museum circuit. DC Art News asked Warren a few questions:

DC: Who or what has been your biggest influence as an artist?

Artomatic was my gateway to the artistic work I do now. At my first Artomatic I was overwhelmed by the vastness of the work. Some works fired me with inspiration, others I found mediocre. But ultimately, it was the mediocre works that gave me belief that: “hey, I could do that”.

DC: What are some of the challenges or mistakes that you have experienced as an artist and what did you learn from it?

My three biggest mistakes as the founder of PostSecret

1. Not being able to delegate.
2. Not colleting email addresses from the first day of the Blog.
3. Having a bad interview with one of the producers of Oprah.
4. (Actually, not being able to delegate might be just the opposite of a mistake.)

DC: What key event, or person, if any, has attributed the most to your success or progress as an artist so far?

My literary agent, Brian DeFiore helped me create the kind of PostSecret book series I had imagined. Theo Moll, helps me set up speaking events at schools, performing arts centers, and museums. I am enjoying that part of the project -- sharing the stories and listening to secrets -- more than anything else now.

DC: What advise would you give to emerging artists?

Create art that one of your parents likes but the other hates.

DC: Who is your favorite DC area artist?

I have work hanging in my home from my favorite artists. Most of them I met through Artomatic. Mark Jenkins, John Adams, Scott Brooks and Tim Tate.

DC: Anything coming up in the near future for you?

I have been working on short PostSecret films here are two I’m proud of: click here.


Above are the hour-long lines to get into one of Warren's shows in Georgetown a few years ago. And everywhere that he takes his PostSecret show to, the lines are just as long.

Fellowships for Artists


The Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship Program is now accepting applications for their 2010-2012 Term.

Deadline: Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Hamiltonian Artists, a 501(c)3, has announced its third annual open call to new, emerging artists to apply to their two-year Fellowship Program, aimed to aid in the professional development of visual artists.

Please refer to their website for application requirements, restrictions and forms. The application process will close at 5:00 pm on on Tuesday, March 2, 2010, and any applications received after that date will not be considered.