Loads of talent in one pic

At a recent booksigning at the home of a major DMV art collector...

That's me in the background signing a copy of 100 Washington, DC Artists... which continues to sell surprisingly well as more and more DMV area shops and book stores order copies...

And in the foreground there's some major talent... that's Prof. Chawky Frenn, the top gun at GMU's Art School taking a pic of the legendary Lida Moser - yep... she whose's work is in every major museum in the world (including all DMV museums except the Hirshhorn... hello H?), and whose life has been documented in not one but two documentaries, and whose image (painted by Alice Neel not once but four times) hangs in a few major museums of their own around the planet...

Just bragging...

New Video Drawing: Ave Frida

Here's the first stage of the drawing


Here's a better view of the drawing's first stage


The drawing itself is now pretty much finished and it's ready for the narrative video to be embedded


The pattern of the window to be cut in the drawing has been measured and now the drawing is ready to be cut


The window has been cut in the shape of a heart with fangs. A short loop of Kahlo and a young, frightened girl plays in the video player embedded within the drawing


Ave Frida, Mater Omnium Artificum. 22 x 18. Charcoal and conte on paper with embedded video player and historical video in loop. 2011 by F. Lennox Campello.

Why?

A wave of repression is currently taking place in Cuba – but you wouldn’t know about it from the lack of media coverage.

Why is the press at home and abroad ignoring blatant human rights violations?

Why has the current administration consistently coddled this neighboring and brutal dictatorship?

And, what should our elected leaders be saying about Cuba and these human rights abuses?

This will all be discussed tomorrow here.

You can't make this stuff up

From the current issue of The Gazette:

Brindie Lynn Fish and Nicholas Drew Frye were married June 24 at The First and Franklin Presbyterian Church, followed by a reception at The Belvedere in Baltimore.

Tomorrow: Red Dirt Open Studio


Serving warm drinks for your November art-browsing experience
Free parking
Lots of other art studios open nearby, within walking distance...

Nearest metro: Red line to Rhode Island Ave (+ bus to Mt. Rainier) or green line to West Hyattsville and easy 1 mile bike ride from W. Hyattsville

Sunday, Nov. 13 from 1-5 pm for Red Dirt's Fall Open Studio
3706-08 Otis Street
Mt. Rainier, MD 20712

The Miraculous Mass

From Carolina Mayorga:

Hello Sons and Daughters, join me this November 17 at Hillyer Art Space for my next performance art piece The Miraculous Mass. Don't miss the 3rd apparition of the Miraculous Artist in the Nation's Capital, this time performing a ceremony that will turn your life around forever! You might've got the invite via Facebook too, I just can't wait to bless you all, hope to see you there,
Carolina

Hillyer Art Space
9 Hillyer Court, NW (Behind the Philips Collection)
Washington, DC 20008
Service begins at 7pm sharp.
More info at:
carolinamayorga.com

Veterans Day

That's me in 1992 in Skaggs Island, California, and below us my favorite poem about veterans.

In the poem Rudyard Kipling captures what so often in history men and women in uniform have felt and experienced... my favorite lines are at the bottom, when Kipling writes:

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot

Enjoy the poem and a well deserved "thank you!" to all the men and women in uniform around the world and their families, and to all who have had the honor and privilege to wear the uniform of the armed forces of the United States.

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

-- Rudyard Kipling