Lest we forget...

"Studio View, 9/11"
Oil on Canvas c. 9/11/2001 by David FeBland

Another 9/11 to remember...

Things that I notice...

A few days ago, my amazing athlete wife, who twice represented the US in world competitions, and was once ranked fifth in the world, and was twice the Maryland state Triathlon champion, decided out of the blue to run a half marathon.

So on Sunday she ran the Parks Half Marathon, which starts in Rockville and ends in Bethesda. Even though she hasn't competed in over a decade, she still managed to beat her predicted time by almost nine minutes and finish in the top 10% of runners..

But that's not why I'm posting this.

Over the years of both running and (more recently) waiting at the finish line for my wife, I have perfected the art of people watching, or in this case, of runner watching.

I have noticed a new, unique class of runners, that I must comment on, but first a little side story.

Anderson and I get the the finish area (corner of Elm and 47th Street), and it's pretty crowded, but I noticed about half a block of sidewalk on the inside line that's all empty, and thus we walk over some orange cones and stand there to cheer the runners and wait for mommy.

A race official comes over and warns me that the owner of the house behind me has been coming out and shooing people away from "her sidewalk."

I thank him and shrug my shoulders. After all, this is the People's Soviet Socialist Republic of Montgomery County, and last I've heard, everyone (except David Gregory and apparently this lady) knows that public sidewalks are public property.

Surely enough, soon a nice lady comes out of her huge dacha and asks me politely to get off her sidewalk.

I look at her, sensing that a learning moment for this otherwise Bethesda progressive... cough, cough... is about to take place.

"This is a public sidewalk," I say, also nicely, and pointing to the sidewalk areas that extend beyond the facade of her huge, massive house.

"It's in front of my house," she responds.

"That is obvious to the most causal observer... so it's that park," I note, pointing to the park across the street, "But it is still a public park... and so is this sidewalk..."

"Please get off my sidewalk," she re-affirms, her face full of indignation.

"No," I say, and then add, "Are you aware that it is probably some sort of misdemeanor to claim and usurp public property as your private property?" I say nicely to her. She looks a little puzzled.

"Maybe I should get a nice policeman and ask him if it is some sort of an offense for a citizen to try to kick another citizen out of public property." I start looking around.

She looks a little concerned, and I can tell that my use of the word "citizen" has kicked some dust in her Bolshevik brain... but then she turns around and leaves in a huff... probably returning to her favorite MSNBC show.

Immediately several other citizens, until then crowded in the other side of the orange cones, begin migrating onto "her sidewalk."

Back to my initial observation about runners.

Over the last few years I have detected a whole new "class" of runners whom:

(a) don't usually "look" like serious runners (gaunt, and sunburned, and wearing alien-looking sunglasses, and really expensive running shoes that always look new, because they only run 500 miles per shoe set before replacing them - I know this) and

(b) come to these organized races looking like they're getting ready for WWIII.

They have the most amazing and latest Under Armour outfits: compression socks, glow in the dark running shoes, Batbelts with ten pounds of super-Astronaut food stuff in all kinds of compartments, water camels on their backs, Ipods strapped to their upper arms, really expensive watches that can pinpoint your location on planet Earth within inches, etc.

They looks like dressed down Borgs on PT day!

Funny thing is that the winners of these races are usually long-legged, sleek, beautiful African runners in tiny running shorts, regular running shoes and little else!

Just sayin'

Art Scam Alert!

Beware of this scam artist:

From:	Alison McCoy (a.mccoy009@yahoo.com)
Sent:	Mon 9/09/13 10:26 AM
To:	lennycampello@hotmail.com (lennycampello@hotmail.com)

Hello,

My name is Alison McCoy.  I found your profile on the internet. I am interested in purchasing an artwork from you for the decoration of my guest room at my new residence in Munich, Germany. Would appreciate if you can send me few pictures of the works you have available for sale so that I can make an easy choice of mine. Better still, send me a web link where I can have a view of your recent works.

I look forward to read back from you.

Thanks.

Alison.

36 STUDIOS - PART 2 (Charm City Edition)

Remember when Mera Rubell kick started a sudden new interest in DC area artists with her studio visits? If not, read all about it here.

Anyway - it's all about to happen again in B'more!

Mera Rubell, co-founder of the Rubell Family Collection and co-owner of the  Capitol Skyline Hotel and the Lord Baltimore Hotel, will be conducting studio visits of Baltimore-area artists in a 36-hour marathon session from 6:00 am Saturday, October 26 through 6:00 pm Sunday, October 27, 2013.

Ms. Rubell will be conducting the studio visits in her role as a curator for SELECT 2014, Washington Project for the Arts' 33rd annual art auction exhibition, taking place at Artisphere in Rosslyn, VA from February 27 through March 21, 2014. (Artwork will be available for purchase the night of the SELECT gala, March 22, 2014. Check WPA's website next month for details.) Rubell, who is based in Miami and New York, but frequently visits Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD for 36-hour periods to visit her hotel properties, is known for her passion for contemporary art and her deep commitment to artists. Since the family's acquisition of the Lord Baltimore Hotel in the spring of 2013, Rubell has been increasingly interested in the vibrant Baltimore art scene and engaging with artists there.

In 2009, Rubell and WPA Executive Director, Lisa Gold, conducted a similar studio visit marathon when Rubell participated as a curator for WPA's 2010 auction exhibition, selecting works by 16 artists from the DC region and generating a substantial buzz in the art community. While 36 straight hours of looking at artwork may be considered extreme by some people, Ms. Rubell and her husband, Don, often conduct brief, intense studio visits during their collecting trips to China or Europe, so this project is just business as usual for the Rubells.

"We are thrilled that Mera is set on exploring and discovering the artists of Baltimore, " says Lisa Gold, who will again be accompanying Ms. Rubell on her studio visit marathon. "I was so impressed with Mera's focus and intensity during the entire duration of our last adventure. I'm sure she'll bring it all back to Baltimore so these artists better have their game on!"

Artists will be invited to sign up for a studio visit appointment via an open call. Any practicing artist with a studio in the Baltimore area (inside I-695) can submit their name, contact information, studio address, and website URL to WPA through the WPA website by midnight on October 1 to be entered into a lottery for studio visits. 36 artists will be selected and their studios plotted on a map which will be used to determine appointment times beginning at 6:00 am on Saturday, October 26. From these visits, Rubell will select 12-15 artists whose work will be included in the SELECT exhibition and art auction gala.

Reporters interested in joining a portion of the 36 Studios tour may contact Lisa Gold at lgold@wpadc.org to make arrangements. For more information about 36 Studios, SELECT 2014: WPA Art Auction Exhibition and Gala, or Washington Project for the Arts, please contact Blair Murphy, Program Director, at 202-234-7103 x1 or bmurphy@wpadc.org.

At Gallery Har Shalom...

Gallery Har Shalom announces the opening of "The Power of Color,"  an exhibit that includes acrylic paintings by Alexandria artist Ana Elisa Benavent, blown glass by Bethesda artist Jane Callen, fiber art by Bethesda artist Floris Flam, and photography by Richard Paul Weiblinger of Laurel, MD.

Benavent (www.anaelisabenavent.com) explains that she paints emotions in colors.  In her words, " . . . large fields of colors start talking to and playing with each other, layer over layer . . . ."   She exhibits at The Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and at Foundry Gallery in Washington, DC.

Callen (www.ncagg.org/gallery/callen) blows glass in clean shapes inspired by nature's colors.  Her intention is "to maintain a beginner's heart and mind: open, no assumptions except love."   She blows glass at Glen Echo Park and has also studied at DC Glassworks/Sculpture Studios and Corning Museum of Glass.

Flam (www.florisflam.com) enjoys using a wide range of fabrics and quilting threads and often incorporates her own dyed and painted fabric. She discovered the world of art quilts in 1986 and, since 1991, has studied design and technique at workshops at the Quilt/Surface Design Symposium in Columbus, OH.

Weiblinger (www.weiblingerphotography.smugmug.com) prefers images with chromatic strength and notes that photography allows him to "pursue the art of transforming everyday objects into images that progress from 'everyday' to art."  A self-taught photographer, his work has been shown in numerous juried exhibits and included in magazines such as Smithsonian Zoogoer and Audubon Naturalist.

Gallery Har Shalom, located at Congregation Har Shalom, 11510 Falls Road, Potomac, MD

Opening Reception: Sunday, September 22, 2013, 11am - 1 pm
Exhibit dates:  Through Monday, October 28, 2013
Call for hours and directions:  301-299-7087

For further information and directions to Gallery Har Shalom, please call the Har Shalom office at 301-299-7087.

Enough...

Ladies and gentlemen, enough with dictatorships, with the last dictatorship of the Americas. Stop supporting the Castro government. Enough. Whomever supports the Castro government dirties their hands with blood.

-- Carlos Rafael Jorge Jimenez, Cuban doctor exiled in Brazil, during a presentation to Brazil's Congress, 9/4/13