Ladies, You're Sewing It All Wrong

"Singer Sewing - Pink Thread" oil on panel, (11" x 14") 2015

A friend, knowing that I love to paint various images of the vintage Singer sewing machine which  I found in our basement, sent me this section of a brochure which came with the 1949 Singer Machine. It is pointed directly at the homemaker of post-WWII era. I wonder how many women took this advice seriously and never sewed in a bad mood or with crooked lipstick or heaven forbid, in a messy house.

Sometimes I do my best paintings when I'm not wearing lipstick. In fact when I did the painting above two weeks ago, I probably left the house without doing all my urgent household chores. Does it show in the artwork?

"Singer Sewing Rear" oil on panel, (8" x 10") 2015

"Singer Sewing w/Green Thread" oil on panel, (11" x 14") 2015

It's Pretty Crabby Around Here

This past weekend I felt very crabby. So I painted a leftover crustacean from a crab feast. He'd been in the freezer for a few weeks. Then I searched my collection of Maryland tin cans and found one with a crab on the front of it. This crab meat was from Cambridge, MD. The packing company is named Epicure which is still in business. It's nearly impossible to find tin containers of crab meat. Everything I see in the stores is plastic. So I'm  glad to have found this one at a flea market. Remember, if it's not Maryland crab meat, it won't taste as good. And included here below are the paintings I did over the weekend.

"Loner Crab" oil on panel (6" x 12") 2015

"Epicure Crab Meat" oil on panel, (6" x 8") 2015

WORKING WOMEN PAINTINGS and the BALTIMORE ORIOLES

"Betterton Lunch" oil on canvas

18" x 36"

Over the weekend I exhibited at HONFEST in Baltimore, MD. This street festival offers a venue for men and women to dress up as 1950s women at work and play.  Some are even awarded prizes for their costumes. It's always fun to watch the parade of people as they stroll by and/or stop in my tent. This year one particular visitor to my booth gave me a great surprise. As he began to speak to me I  gleefully interrupted him and said,
 "I know that voice! You are on our TV every evening as we watch Baltimore Oriole's baseball."
Gary Thorne,  MASN play by play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles, humbly acknowledged my remark and then began to talk about my paintings and prints of working women before purchasing several pieces.
The next day, I missed the game since I was at HONFEST for the entire weekend. A friend of mine was watching  the Sunday afternoon game though, as Gary Thorne honored the working women of Baltimore, mentioning HONFEST, while showing some of my work. What a thrill to have a blending of two of my favorite subjects...paintings of women and d'em Os.

"Operators Are Standing By" oil on board
24" x 24"

"Grossmudder with Her Chickens" oil on canvas
18" x 24

Vintage 1947 Telephone Obsession - made in Baltimore

Telephone 1947 (6" x 6") oil on board 2015

I have this inspiring telephone given to me by an old friend. It pulls me towards it more often than I'd like to admit. Yes, some imaginary conversations have taken place on it but it also got some good  reality workouts in my studio until a few years ago when we went digital. I like how substantial it feels in my hand. I have several vintage telephones but this old, heavy black device cries out to me to be painted from time to time. I'll show you what I mean. Below are three additional paintings of the same phone made by Western Electric in 1947. More than likely it was made here in Baltimore at Western Electric's former, gigantic facility in Point Breeze.

Green Telephone on Table (12" x 16") oil on canvas 2010

Telephone ( 10" x 10") oil on panel 2014

Telephone (12" x 16") oil on canvas (2011)

Here is a little film of Point Breeze and its history. I guess I didn't realize that Western Electric stood on the former grounds of the Riverview Amusement Park. This film includes footage that shows the destruction of the park to clear the way for the industrial plant.



Also included in my collection is this very old phone. The bell box is large and heavy. I hope to paint more of this one soon. Hollywood actress Betty Davis uses this model quite often in her earlier films.

Betty Davis Phone (6" x 6") oil on panel 2015

Baltimore Shops Exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Industry

Poster included in the exhibit of Baltimore Shops at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry on Key Highway has a terrific exhibit which runs through March 8, 2015. It features an assortment of shops and stores that many of us patronized before the big chains appeared in our city and suburbs. Among those locally owned stores is a known favorite of Baltimoreans who shopped at Edmondson Village and Eastpoint Shopping Center. Of course I'm talking about Hess Monkey Town.

"Hess Monkey Town" oil on canvas 

The painting that I did nearly 30 years ago one night as I tried to imagine what it looked like appears again here in this blog.  However my breath was nearly taken away when I saw a photograph of the interior of Hess Monkey Town's barbershop The Snippery. (I'm not sure if this photo below is Eastpoint or Edmondson because of the exterior landscape). It was the first time in my life that I saw a photo of this memorable shoe store/barbershop. I am happily surprised at how much I remembered about how Monkey Town looked. Even the spooky, fake monkeys on the wall seemed to leave an impression on me since the primates that I painted were just as crazed looking.

"The Snippery" at Hess Shoes in Edmondson Village or Eastpoint

I know the photo is a bit rough, after all I shot it with my iphone and it's behind glass. I highly recommend that you get yourselves to the museum to see this exhibit. You will feel a thrill as you enter this magical environment created by the BMI's dedicated employees and volunteers. And you will see the sign in this photograph that has a monkey menu which is impossible to read here.
The Baltimore Museum of Industry is open Tuesday through Sunday - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you have some additional thoughts after visiting please post your thoughts here. I'd be very pleased to hear from you.

Drowsier Days of Washington, D.C.

Sometimes when I go to flea marts and various collectors' shows, there are pieces of Washington, D.C. ephemera that I cannot resist to buy. As a teen in the 1960s it was not unusual to visit our sleepy neighbor south of Baltimore on weekend nights because the legal drinking age was 18.   In Maryland at that time you had to be 21-years-old to sit and sip beer or wine on a barstool. So off we would go down route 295 for a night of drinking and getting lost on our way home. That was my first "adult" experience with our nation's capital. I never regarded it as a political hot spot in those days.  It was a town where people lived and worked and played despite having their traffic signals mounted on the side of the intersections. Pairing this experience with countless childhood school bus trips to the museums and monuments, I  regarded DC as a town for fun and shopping which was not Baltimore. And that's how I came to name my collage "Drowsier Days of D. C." It's familiar and it's what I know.

"Drowsier Days of D.C." (24" x 36")  mixed media on board 2014

That's the way I had it in my head until about 15-20 years ago when DC shed its heavy-eyed image with $5 parking lots for the wide-awake cosmopolitan scene with clattering construction sites.

The collage was an instant hit with visitors to my art show booth. There are various restaurants and clubs that represent a particular experience in the memories of many Washingtonians. Streetcar rides to Glen Echo, Griffith stadium or downtown hold a dear spot in the hearts of many. And I have also included some tv shows and personalities that we all tuned in to watch. People love to tell me their stories and I am eager to hear them. I sold the original collage recently, but I have poster size prints in my Etsy shop for sale for those who need to see this on their wall.

SEWING in the RAIN

"Singer Sewing Orange" 2014,  oil on board (12" x 18")

In May 2014, we came home from a week-long show only to find that nine inches of rainwater had been marinating in the basement for six days. Our neighbors and friends immediately swung into action to help us with their equipment and labor. That act of generosity was one of several gifts resulting from the cellar's swampy circumstances. Sometimes catastrophe results in solutions for your life. We did finally clear out the basement!  Our chaotic misfortune also revealed a hidden gem after the fetid waters subsided. 

"Singer Sewing Machine Turquoise" 2014, oil on board (9" x 12")

 Among the injured and ruined objects was an item I had long been wanting to paint but its sheer weight kept me from making the purchase at flea markets. Then, there in the dankness was an odd shaped piece of luggage. When I pried open the mushy case an antique, black singer sewing machine lay within its contents. I was overjoyed at the sight and set it aside. Months later I cleaned it so that it could model for me in the studio. More paintings are underway.