Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 8, 1994 TAG: 9403080122
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Take "Marbles and Top, a tiny colorful oil painting" by Susan Talbot-Elliott of Lynchburg, which I saw last Friday night at the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge City Art Show's opening reception at the Art Museum of Western Virginia.
From across the room, the painting - which won an award of excellence - looked like a photograph. But up close... "Wow!" said I to the person
standing next to me. "It's a painting!"
The person standing next to me - Victoria Bond, our worldly director of the Roanoke Symphony - was kind enough to smile and nod her head.
Bob Sulkin's pair of award-winning black-and-white photographs prompted a lot of "Now that's interesting" comments. I wondered what they'd put in his oatmeal the day he shot them.
One - titled "Modern Methods, A Survey: Man Ray al Dente" - was of an old steam iron with what looks like rubber spaghetti coming out of the steam pores.
The other - "Modern Methods, a Survey: Readymade for Duchamps" - was of a fishing line with two lures that had captured a corn cob. The works of James Knipe, Susan Spitz and Ann Bondurant Trinkle also won awards of excellence.
Tracy Mossman of Roanoke and Suzanne Stryk of Bristol shared best in show honors.
Stryk's Egyptian-inspired shards looked like stone with fossilized dragonflies, beetles and moths.
Mossman's pair of untitled works were made of sumi ink, acrylic and watercolor.
And Simplicity dress patterns.
If you run into Mossman and see her works, don't make the mistake I made and ask if she sews. She doesn't.
Instead, she explained, her works represent "biology is destiny by Freud."
The pattern pieces were for a wasp-waisted wedding gown that only waif-model Kate Moss could wear.
Mossman pointed out the lines separating petite, small, medium, large and extra-large.
"There's only one-inch between those lines," she said. "This is how men interpret how we are supposed to be."
A sleeve positioned near the middle represented the womb.
"Men believe women were put on this earth to give them sons," she said. "We're not supposed to be happy unless we have a man in our belly."
The opening coincided with Art by Night, the moveable gallery feast held the first Friday of each month on the Roanoke City Market.
At all of the other galleries, everyone agreed the food at the Art Museum's was the very best.
Mary Bommarito of Mary's Party Works catered the affair. She and museum director Ruth Applehof gave me a crash course in the rules and regulations of catering a party in a museum.
First, no steam.
Could damage the art, explained Applehof.
Then, no red, explained Mary.
Made sense to me. These artsy types probably don't eat red meat.
"No! You can't serve strawberries or anything with a red sauce because it could stain," she corrected me. nn
Over at Studios on the Square, Jim Cubby exhibited a photo collection of black-and-white nudes, that most agreed were incredibly tasteful.
Cubby promised that he'd be shooting naked people at the party. And so he was.
Artist Ted Guerin painted a life-size nude man and woman with cut-outs so those of us who don't have bodies like this could pretend we could by sticking our head through the holes and having our pictures taken.
Cubby's parties are always unusual. In honor of the black-and-white photography, the food served was also black and white.
Oreo cookies. Grapes. Coke. 7-up.
And brownies.
"Though I find the brownies to be rather sepia-toned," cracked Jane Campbell of the local musical duo Radar Rose. nn
Those who know Jimmy Bain know that whoever married him would wind up wed to the national pastime as well.
He lives just a couple of blocks from Municipal Field in Salem. He never misses a Salem Bucs game. He even has people over to his place when the Bucs are on the road so that everyone can listen to them on the radio.
Jimmy married Anna Goodwin on Saturday in what was hands down the most creative wedding I've ever attended.
It began at 4:05 p.m. Salem Presbyterian Church.
That's because most baseball games start five minutes after the hour.
Jimmy had never been to spring training. Anna had never been to Disney World. Their wedding cake was a tribute to their honeymoon this week.
Instead of a bride and groom on top of the cake, there was a baseball. With Mickey Mouse on it.
Beneath the cake was a baseball diamond with tiny baseball players.
When it came time for the bride and groom to dance, the music they chose began with the stirring theme from Barry Levinson's film tribute to baseball, "The Natural." But the music quickly broke into "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," with everyone singing along.
May their marriage never be called on account of rain.
by CNB