BALTIMORE BINGO !

"Baltimore Bingo" mixed media on board
(30" x 24") 2014

Bingo was the game we played on rainy days at the beach or weekend nights with our babysitter. The manufacturer's name of  the home version that we had escapes my memory, but I remember the excitement upon hearing the letter and number being called out. We would frantically examine our card to see if we matched it and then place the brittle plastic disc on the corresponding number announcing our victory when we had enough for the winning pattern. Who did not love to yell BINGO!

 In the early 1980's when I moved to Hampden in north Baltimore I saw bingo buses picking up passengers and transporting them to various bingo halls for grownups. I guessed that some people just loved the excitement of the game and spent their evenings in the casino-like atmosphere with other bingo lovers. The prizes could be as big as a TV for some lucky winners I was told back then. Now I think that this game is bigger and more serious.  I never boarded the bus so it will remain a mystery to me as I continue to fantasize about Baltimore bingo halls which are still very popular.

In my journey to collect vintage ephemera I stumbled upon a bingo card made in Baltimore by the National Novelty Company. Their address is 334 N. Howard Street - right in the middle of our once bustling  Baltimore shopping district. Additionally I found a letterhead dating from 1901 with an address at 106 East Saratoga Street in Baltimore…right around the corner. Perhaps this is where they manufactured the cards. 

Well  since my imagination does not give me much rest I just had to do something with my bingo thoughts so I created this mixed media piece based on the vintage bingo card in my collection. It is 30" high by 24" wide. I like the size and the big friendly numbers. I'm also creating 8" x 10"  archival canvas reproductions on panels that are ready to hang on your wall.

BINGO!

Glen Echo - DC Transit Attraction

"DC Transit Glen Echo" oil on canvas (30 x 40) 2014

The ads for Glen Echo which aired during the Captain Tugg show on WTTG-tv channel 5 were as close as I got to this Washington, DC area amusement park. Our parents said it was too far away and besides, we had Baltimore's Gwynn Oak Amusement Park. Well we missed a lot never having visited this splendid playground. It had classier attractions than Gwynn Oak including a  sparkling swimming pool about which I fantasized. So I can visit the park these days in my imagination looking at one of my latest paintings. I can almost hear the streetcar door open and close while the riders are screaming with glee on the big wooden roller coaster.

Like many electric parks Glen Echo gave a welcome boost to streetcar ridership on the weekends. I discovered this clipping in a DC Transit Brochure that I have in my collection. You are encouraged to "take the Number 20 car marked Cabin John anywhere along Pennsylvania Avenue west of Peace Monument" in order to get to Glen Echo. The former PCC operators of this line like to reminisce about hurtling along the streetcar tracks over the  Cabin John Bridge at the nearly top speed of 65 m.p.h.  What a great story they tell.

The park has been preserved in many ways. There are dances on weekends and an active arts organization with exhibits among the range of interests. The streetcar is also memorialized there but no tracks to fly over the Cabin John Bridge exist anymore.

Ding Ding

BAZAART! American Visionary Art Museum

I love to exhibit at this holiday show presented by the American Visionary Art Museum in Federal Hill, Baltimore. All 50 artists and artisans are exhibiting on the third floor of the beautiful Jim Rouse Building located just behind the barn building on Key Highway. It is a lovely show filled with the exuberant spirit of this distinctive museum whose collection includes some of the most unique art you will ever see.

BAZAART!  is always held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving which is a perfect time to shop. Everyone is in a holiday mood. The art on display is festive and unusual. For serious shoppers there is a "first dibs" preview party on the night before on Friday. The fun begins at 5:30. And the show opens on Saturday at 10 a.m.  PREPARE TO HAVE FUN and see many of your friends not only exhibiting but attending as well. Admission is free to the show. I sincerely hope to see everyone there.

2014 Baltimore Calendar

Well it is here. My first wall calendar for 2014. Beginning with November 2013, it consists of Baltimore images from my original artwork.

Cover - unfolded - of Baltimore Calendar.

Package insert depicting all the images used inside the calendar.

Each month features a single, square image of one of my paintings. For example Domino Sugars is the image for November 2013. At the bottom of each month is a short description of the painting

and a bit of my stories about the picture. The calendar measures 10.5" high by 5.25" wide.

June 2014 might be the favorite month with many local Baltimoreans.

December 2014

So far the response has been very, very positive. I've been selling them at art fairs and shows in great numbers. You can find them in my Etsy shop. And they are also carried in some local shops and museums such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, With Gratitude, Hontown and the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The calendar price is $20.

For the cover I used a piece of my Food Galore collage which by now many of you have hanging in your homes and offices. I say this because sales of the poster size print have been very, very good since last year when it was introduced. And it really inspired me to do the calendar as a follow up project.

Food Galore in Baltimore

Thank you all for your wonderful enthusiasm and support of my work. I never stop being surprised that people like to look at what I need to create. Thank you again from the bottom of my Baltimore heart.

Streetcars, Buses and Independence

"Eutaw and Howard" oil on canvas (22" x 20") 2011

The Baltimore Transit Company's streetcars and buses offered independence to many local pre-teens like myself who could travel downtown with just her best friend (Charlotte) for the day.  On Saturday morning there were the obligatory piano lessons at the Peabody but sometimes  they were rewarded with a grilled hamburger at the Rexall lunch counter on the corner of Charles and Centre Streets.  After a  quick tour of the mummies at the Walter’s Art Gallery we walked to the Joke Shop on Park Avenue near Lexington Street.  There we discovered rubber vomit, fake dog-do, peppery-hot trick chewing gum and the adult joke section. Numbingly mild by today’s standards we spent hours supressing giggles at the assortment of dirty jokes.
We varied our shopping habits some weekends by browsing in the four major department stores (Hutzler's, Hochschild's, Stewarts and Hecht's) that served as the hub of that downtown Baltimore universe. Afterwards, we found the time to wander east on Lexington Street to explore McCrory's for pierced earrings, Read's Drug Store for a tuna salad, pickle and chips, Brager Gutman's for bargains on clothing and Kresge's for the newest resident in the pet department. If our time and weekly allowance had not yet run out then we stopped at the Hot Peanuts store on the corner of Liberty Street for a late afternoon snack.
We chose to wait for our ride home at the Fayette Street stop across from the the Town Movie Theatre.  It was fun to speculate about the movie titles advertised on the marquee. We also anxiously read the destinations on the front of each car hoping to see Number 8 Catonsville to board for home.

"Fayette and Eutaw" oil on canvas (30" x 48") 2007

"Fayette and Liberty" oil on canvas (30" x 48") 2007

CAPE MAY - LEWES FERRY

"Cape May - Lewes Ferry" oil on canvas (18" x 36") 2013

Every July when we visit Lewes, Delaware I always reserve the time to wander around the docks of the Cape May - Lewes Ferry. I bask in the energy and the upbeat atmosphere generated by people on vacation slowing their pace to float across the 17-mile-stretch between Lewes, DE and Cape May, NJ. The system has five vessels that cross the Delaware Bay during the  daily 16 hour schedule.
The ferries began their service in 1964 with a fleet of boats that had been previously crossing the Chesapeake Bay between Cape Charles and Virginia Beach, VA.  At that time they were still steam powered but a decade later they were replaced with the current collection of vessels which includes names such as  M.V. Twin Capes and M.V. Cape Henlopen. The terminal in Lewes is staffed by cheerful men and women who not only load the passengers and their cars but they sell tickets, tend bar and operate a gift shop.

I love the clattering sounds of the ferry being loaded.

 The terminal itself can be a destination with a gorgeous view of the bay from the outdoor lounge and piers. If you go you will be reminded of a time  when vacations were true getaways from the grinding pace of every day life. Even though the ferries run on a schedule no one makes you feel in a hurry. After all, if you miss one ferry another one will arrive soon.

Ferries arrive and depart on a daily 16 hour schedule.

FRESH FRENCH FISH

"Merlan Brilliant" oil on canvas (16" x 12") 2013

Some of my favorite places to explore when we visit La Belle France are the markets. The produce, meat and fish are artistically arranged making them nearly irresistible. The creative layouts entice one to paint their bright colors and unusual shapes. As we move among the colorful ambiance of the stalls, making purchases for dinner, I am all the while taking pictures of the amazing variety of fish, fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat. The vendors are very friendly and eager to make a sale so they are proud to have their wares photographed.

France is on my mind as we recently said good-bye to six Parisian  house guests aged two to 52.  The two older children were keen to practice their English and soak up the teenage music and fashion.  I  secretly wished that we had beautiful markets to show off  but our guests were delighted to be in the United States and dine on Baltimore's famous steamed crabs. In fact it was a request that they made. I was impressed by how naturally the younger ones just took to the crustaceans. You see, where they come from it is not abnormal to be served your dinner with the head still attached! When you dine with the French there is never a wasted piece of food! Everything gets used.

"Rouget Barbet avec Herbs" oil on canvas (9" x 12") 2013

"Poissons sur Glace"  oil on canvas (14" x 23") 2013