Porno Stamps? Odie, what are you doing?


Perhaps I'm a big fan of hidden clues and messages in artwork. I do this all the time in my own work - hide clues, figures, words, etc. in the shadowing or lines, etc. - and I'm always looking at visual imagery from a "hidden image" perspective. I'd love to say that it comes from a cool artsy background, but in reality it stems from the whole scandal of the subliminal nudes claimed to be hidden in the ice cubes of some commercials when I was a teen.

Today I bought some stamps, including two sheets of the new Sunday Funnies stamps recently issued by the US Post Office. When I looked at them for the first time, a couple of things in two of the panels jumped at me and I did a double take.

I don't want to plant any further ideas in your head, so just look at the Garfield panel above and then take a closer look at Odie with the perspective of looking for something sexual hidden in plain sight through the magic of lines and shapes.

More on Odie and what I see him doing tomorrow... but now I'll decipher Archie for you.

Archie and Betty Looking for a Ménage à trois?



And nu? Look at the way that Archie and Betty are both looking at Veronica; not at each other. And then there are two hearts popping out of Betty's head as she stares dreamily at bad, rich girl Veronica.

Veronica smiles coyly, eyes closed, but her hand shows the hand signal for "swing."

Now look at the little blue "bar codes" underneath the three characters' arms; if you break that to binary code (notice that there are "fat" and "thin" lines or "zeroes" and "ones") then it breaks to 11010011, which is this character: Ó

Accent on the "O" - Text for the Big "O"?

It gets better; If you translate 11010011 to base64, then you get this penis emoticon character: 0w==

Fun with American stamps and The Lenster...

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: April 30, 2011.

Call for Entries: The Graceful Envelope Contest - Artists everywhere are invited to participate in the 2011 Graceful Envelope Contest, conducted by the Washington (DC) Calligraphers Guild under the sponsorship of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

There is no entry fee.

This year's theme is "Time Flies," so design an envelope that explores good times, quality time, the times of our lives, time travel, or any other idea you have time to develop.

Address the envelope artistically to:

The Graceful Envelope Contest
Washington Calligraphers Guild
P.O. Box 3688
Merrifield, VA 22116

This is the contest's 17th year. The Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum created and administered it until delegating responsibility to the Washington Calligraphers Guild in 2001. The National Association of Letter Carriers exhibits the winners, which are also exhibited online at www.calligraphersguild.org. The complete Call for Entries (including categories for children) is posted on the Washington Calligraphers Guild website or you may contact contest coordinator Lorraine Swerdloff at swerdloff@gmail.com.

Sunday Funnies: Porno Stamps?

Don't shoot the messenger, but am I the only one who sees a little too much in the new Sunday Funnies stamp set from the US Post Office?


Has some stamp-designing-artist at the USPS pulled a fast one on the ole Post Office?

Study the stamps and later on tonight or tomorrow I will reveal what I see, to see if you see what I see...

Torpedo Factory Art Center Visiting Artist Program

Deadline: February 28, 2011.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC) invites emerging and experienced artists to apply for one, two, or three-month residencies (June, July and/or August, 2011). The TFAC (www.torpedofactory.org) in Alexandria VA is home to more than 140 visual artists working in 82 studios. Artists create in a wide variety of media including painting, fiber, jewelry, ceramics, printmaking, and sculpture. The TFAC is open to the public every day; visitors are invited and welcomed into studios to watch artists at work, ask questions, and purchase original art.

Visiting artists will be provided with studio space and will be able to display and sell original work. Finalists will be selected by yours truly.

There is no application fee.

Download the Prospectus and Application Form from www.torpedofactory.org/vap. Send questions to: vap@torpedofactory.org.

Rousseau on Winslow

Winslow, whose career spans decades in the Washington, D.C., metro area, has been widely recognized as among the best around, and he just keeps getting better. His art continues to show tendencies toward exploring unusual perspectives, themes of memory and references to art history. However, in this recent work, autobiographical themes play a dominant role in ways that result in images that are both dreamlike and intense.

Read the full review here. John Winslow's work is on view in the King Street Gallery of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Arts Center in downtown Silver Spring.

Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Annual Call

Deadline: February 28, 2011.

Open call for Washington, D.C. area (the ole DMV) metro area artists for Torpedo Factory Art Center’s 2011 annual jury for artist members. Drop off date: February 28, 2011. The Torpedo Factory's annual jury will be held February 28 - March 3, 2011.

The Torpedo Factory houses more than 165 artists in combination studio/gallery space. The application form and submission requirements are available on their website www.torpedofactory.org/jury. Accepting submissions by emerging and established artists in all media.

Direct inquiries to Michele Hoben at mphoben@aol.com.

Postconceptualism: The Malleable Object at UMD


The Opening Reception of Postconceptualism: The Malleable Object is on Thursday, Mar. 10, 2011 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. They also welcome your presence at the Panel Discussion with Artists & Curator on Thursday, Mar. 17 beginning at 6:00 pm.

The Stamp Gallery is located on the first floor of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union-Center for Campus Life, at the University of Maryland, College Park. The gallery is free and open to the public Mondays-Thursdays 10:00am – 8:00pm; Fridays 10:00am – 6:00am, and Saturdays 11:00am – 5:00pm. For more information visit the gallery’s website or call (301) 314-8493.

TBD: D for Downsize

Six months after its debut, the TBD news website is losing most of its work force and will retool as an arts and entertainment niche site.

Arlington-based Allbritton Communications Co. — which also owns television station WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington — launched TBD in August with plans to aggressively cover local news in the region.

Initial plans called for a staff of about 50 journalists. But TBD editor Erik Wemple said that Wednesday's restructuring will reduce TBD staff from about two dozen to about eight staffers.

Read it all here and read editor Erik Wemple's thoughts here.

Facebook scares

I don't know why, but my Facebook profile always had this scary picture as part of the ads to the right of the profile. I write "had", because as soon as I clicked on the ad in order to get the below image for this post, it no longer shows up trying to sell me stuff to grow huge muscles.

These are supposed to be "smart ads" that learn about the person (me) and then try to show them ads that they think the person will like. They are the main, and only reason that Facebook is apparently worth $25 billion dollars.

I have news for whoever designs the logic that learns to make these "smart" ads: you're really fucking up when it comes to me.

I can clearly and honestly tell you that I don't want to look like Mal'akh (a.k.a. Zachary Solomon, the estranged son of Peter Solomon in Dan Brown's impossible to put down thriller The Lost Symbol, easily the best ever fictional (I think) literary work set in Washington, DC).

If you haven't read the book and love weird, slightly historical thrillers which teach you a lot about DC's buildings and architectural historical provenance, buy one here.

Carlos Hathcock

Today is the anniversary of the death of USMC legend Carlos Hathcock. To get called a "legend" in the USMC takes a lot of legend-making, and few Marines are more legendary than Hathcock, perhaps the American most deserving of the Medal of Honor who was never awarded that medal (he declined being recommended for it).

We salute you Gunny!

Over in Norfolk

Several DMV area artists, such as Tim Tate, Andrew Wodzianski and yours truly are in MFA's Winter show. The reception is February 26, from 7-9PM.

Mayer Fine Art
333 Waterside Drive
Norfolk, VA 23510
(757) 803-4749

Get your free copy

Jonathan Fisher tells you how to get your free copy of The Folly (the DMV's new literary arts magazine) here.

Worn Magazine Mixer


Worn Magazine's third issue is on its way... In the meantime, join Worn Magazine for their second industry mixer to connect with fellow photography and fashion entrepreneurs living and working in the DC-metro area.

* When: Wednesday, March 2nd from 6 – 8pm
* Where: The Gibson, 2nd Floor | 2009 14th St. NW
* Tickets: Available for $5 on EventBrite

Virginia Pastel Society being organized

A new artists' group for Virginia and area pastel artists is being organized and for now, they have secured a room at the Sully District Police Substation in
Chantilly. It is very near I-66, Rt. 28, and Rt. 50 in Western Fairfax County.

They will meet on the fourth Tuesday monthly at 10am. The first meeting will be
March 22. They "want to gather people to possibly expand this to include other locations, plein air, etc..."

For details contact Bonnie Ferguson Butler at skyvine@yahoo.com - please put "Virginia Pastels" in the subject line of the email.

Bachelor Prediction

Like millions of husbands in America, every Monday night I (we) watch ABC's The Bachelor, and tonight's show (still on the air as I write this) essentially gives away the ending.

Let me hereby predict that Brad will pick Seattle's breathtaking Chantal to marry him, although my predictions have a lot to do with the bachelor's inch-deep character as they relate with all the newly discovered Chantalian bennies: a lot of Samolians in the deal.

Remember who called it first.

Torpedo Factory Art Center Visiting Artist Program

Deadline: February 28, 2011.

The Torpedo Factory Art Center (TFAC) invites emerging and experienced artists to apply for one, two, or three-month residencies (June, July and/or August, 2011). The TFAC (www.torpedofactory.org) in Alexandria VA is home to more than 140 visual artists working in 82 studios. Artists create in a wide variety of media including painting, fiber, jewelry, ceramics, printmaking, and sculpture. The TFAC is open to the public every day; visitors are invited and welcomed into studios to watch artists at work, ask questions, and purchase original art.

Visiting artists will be provided with studio space and will be able to display and sell original work. Finalists will be selected by yours truly.

There is no application fee.

Download the Prospectus and Application Form from www.torpedofactory.org/vap. Send questions to: vap@torpedofactory.org.

Wendy Navarro Public Talk: Tonight!

Monday, February 21, 7:00pm - Free! Sponsored by Washington Project for the Arts and Foreign Policy in Focus -- at Busboys and Poets at 5th & K.

Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) are excited to announce a public talk with Wendy Navarro, an independent art critic and curator currently based in Barcelona, Spain. Since the mid 1990s, Navarro has been an active curator at the Visual Art Development Center (CDAV) in Havana, Cuba, while working as an editor of the magazine ArteCubano, and lecturing about Cuban contemporary art at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) and Havana University. The public talk is free and will take place on Monday, February 21 at Busboys and Poets at 5th and K.

About the Curator: Wendy Navarro's curatorial practice focuses on establishing links between the work of artists from different latitudes. Recent exhibitions include Collective Utopia, Casa América Cataluña, Barcelona; Asalto al Cielo: Insular Strategies of Cuban Videoart, LOOP Video Art Fair, Barcelona; Heteronimous: oneself's others: Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Madrid and Correspondence, VIII Havana Biennial. She also has collaborated with institutions including the Consortium of Museums of the Valencian Community; Hardcore Contemporary Art Space, Miami; Gallery TAIK, Berlin-Helsinski; Gallery Nogueras Blanchard, Barcelona and The Center for Contemporary Culture (CCCB), Barcelona.

Navarro has published extensively in catalogues and magazines such as ArtNexus; SalonKritik; ABC de ARCO; Revista Atlántica de las Artes CAAM and participated in several symposiums related to Latin American art including International Forum of Latin American Art, Arco Art Fair, Madrid; Latin American Dialogues, Patrimonio Cultural y Artístico of the Generalitat Valenciana; Multiculturalims, Institutions and Relationships North- South, 10 Havana Biennial; and Workshop of Carlos Garaicoa, Professional School of Fine Arts, Complutense University, Madrid, among others.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: March 31, 2011

Call for Entries: Open to all artists 18 years or older working or living in Virginia, Maryland, DC, Delaware, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia.

To Enter: Each entry requires an on-line application through Juried Art Services.

Exhibition Theme: “BITE: identity and humor” asks artists to use irony, sarcasm, and wit to shed light on issues of personal struggle in mainstream society. Artists are asked to create and share work that challenges historical, societal, and cultural norms that dictate expectations of who we are supposed to be. The selected work does not have to be “funny” as much as insightful. The work will be juried by DMV artist Jefferson Pinder.

Full Prospectus: detailing Acceptable Works, Entry fees, and Special Instructions located here

GreaterRestonArtsCenter
Reston Town Center
12001 Market Street
Suite #103
Reston, VA 20190
703.471.9242
fax 703.471.0952

White stuff

We're in the Poconos for the long weekend and woke up this AM to a lot of powdery snow... fun!

Opportunity for Artists

When: March 29, 2011.

Out of Order is the Maryland Art Place's Annual free-hung Benefit Exhibition, Silent Auction and Party!

Silent Auction and Gala: Friday, April 1st, 8 – 11pm. Join them for a fantastic evening of great art, music, food, and an open beer & wine bar.

Hanging Dates and Times: March 29, 7am – midnight. All Artists are invited to participate. During the One Day Only, Do‐It‐Yourself installation, March 29, 7am – midnight, each participating artist hangs one original piece in the MAP galleries. For submission guidelines, please visit MAP’s website www.mdartplace.org. Note: Artists are asked to support MAP by paying $10 to participate in Out of Order. Each participating artist receives one free ticket to the April 1 event.

Participation: There is a $10 participation fee to hang artwork in Out of Order. As a participating artist, you will be given one complimentary ticket to the gala on April 9th. ($40 value!). Proceeds will be split 50/50 between the artist and MAP.

How to Get Tickets: Purchase Tickets Online: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/156249
Current MAP Members must call to reserve their tickets. New or renewing members must join MAP by March 24 to receive complimentary ticket(s) to the event. Artist/Student/Individual members receive 1 Free Ticket; higher membership levels receive 2 Free Tickets. No tickets are mailed; names of ticket holders are held at the door.

For More Details: access their website: www.mdartplace.org or call 410-962-8565.