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

I keep giving this advice out...

This month this column is just going to re-address some thoughts about our DMV area non-profits – an idea which I’ve been venting on about for years

The Art League in Alexandria is not only one of our area’s largest artists’ organization, with over 1,200 members, but also a jewel in our area’s art presence. The Art League also operates a school with over 2500 students per term and a supply store for the purchase of art supplies by students and members.

Read what my idea is here.

Death on Tik Tok

The arrival of Death will be on Tik Tok
2022 watercolor by Florencio Lennox Campello