Etching

The Maryland Anti-Car Theft Committee and the Howard County Police Department will sponsor a free vehicle-identification etching from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at the North Laurel Community Police Department office in the Whiskey Bottom shopping center, 9205G All Saints Road. Identifying numbers can be etched on all of the major pieces of glass in the vehicle to deter car theft. The process takes about 10 minutes. Car owners can also register in the "Watch Your Car" program, a national effort to deter auto theft.

John E. Sparks, an artist, educator and a nationally known printmaker who developed and chaired the department of printmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art for nearly 40 years, died Aug. 2 of prostate cancer and pneumonia at Meritus Health Center in Hagerstown. The former longtime Charles Village resident was 69. "I respected John a great deal. He had, how shall I put it, a lot of attitude and I'm sure he rubbed some people the wrong way, but he was an artist," said artist Raoul Middleman.

Just as ranchers brand their cattle to prevent losses or thefts, the "branding" of cars with an acid-etched, traceable code in as many places as possible will make it less attractive to thieves, police say. And tomorrow morning, in an event being co-sponsored by the Howard County police, the car-branding known as VIN-etching will be offered for free at a parking lot in Columbia. "This protects you against a professional thief," said Joe Asplen, vice president of the Maryland/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee, the other co-sponsor of tomorrow's event with Howard County police.

Gov. Martin O'Malleycontinued his national media blitz Tuesday night with an appearance on MSNBC's"The Ed Show," taking the opportunity to bash former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and the Republican budget plan authored by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. O'Malley dismissed Romney's easy victory in the Maryland primary, saying "Governor Etch A Sketch" was always expected to be the victor in the state.  Appearing on one of the left-leaning network's most aggressively liberal shows -- a program that attracts the type of Democratic activists who could help decide the 2016 presidential nomination race -- the Maryland governor praised President Obama's remarks Tuesday afternoon assailing the Ryan budget and Romney's endorsement of the plan.

Have you ever wondered how decorations are added to glass?Frederick Carder, the famous artist at the equally famous Steuben Glass Works, established an etching room about 1906. He had worked at Stevens & Williams in England.To make cameo glass, Carder sandwiched several layers of different-colored glass, and formed a bowl. A design was then acid-etched into the outer layer, leaving a design of one colored glass exposed over another colored glass.The design was "inked" on a paper and transferred to the glass bowl.

Who says you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs? Don Castronova does it all the time.The 52-year-old industrial artist, employed at Bethlehem Steel for 33 years, is eating more eggs than usual as Easter approaches because he needs the empty shells for his religious paintings.Mr. Castronova has been creating holiday gifts for his family and friends since he was 13 -- inspired by the jewel-like colors and rich designs on Ukrainian Easter eggs he admired growing up in Baltimore's Highlandtown neighborhood.

Menacing ravens, peering eyes, black cats and rats, ominous bells, violent eddies - imagery that fueled many a text by Edgar Allan Poe, and generated a good deal of art. For its contribution to the bicentennial commemoration of the author's birth, the Baltimore Museum of Art has put together a dynamic collection of works directly or seemingly inspired by the author. The displays are divided into three thematic groupings: Love and Loss, Fear and Terror, Madness and Obsession. "As you can see, this is an uplifting exhibit," says BMA director Doreen Bolger, who curated the show.

Martha Macks had every intention of using her artistic skills for something more commercial. "I was going to be an interior designer," she says.Then, in 1972, Macks took one class in printmaking, and that was that."

"I am haunted by characters, by images," writes Elisabeth Stevens, and 40 of those images are gathered in the exhibit "Word into Image: Visualizations of Fiction, Poetry and Other Imaginings" at the College of Notre Dame. Stevens, former art critic of The Sun, is a writer of short stories and poetry, and an artist who creates images to accompany her writing. The exhibit includes, from "Fire & Water: Six Stories," linoleum block prints with an occasionally expressionist feel, but also a humorous touch in the picture with the story "An Old Lover."

The Oakland Mills International Fall Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 8 at Oakland Mills Village Center. Entertainment is to include the Kinderman, the Teelin Irish Dancers, the Polka Kids, Columbia's Teen Idol and MirMar Klezmers. Food, games and activities for children are planned. Children's events, which include pumpkin decorating, a Moon Bounce and "tattoos," are free. A display of foreign cars will be featured, and handmade crafts will be for sale. Local nonprofit groups plan to be at the festival to offer information about their services.

The Etch-a-Sketch gaffe by Mitt Romney's aide -- that played out here in Maryland during the candidate's visit Wednesday -- has added some fun and sparkle to a race that needed a good prop. Newt Gingrich waved around one of the classic kids toys during a campaign stop in Louisiana. Time magazine called it "Mitt Romney's Etch-a-Disaster. The oops happened on CNN. Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said, asked if his candidates positions in the primary might be too far to the right to win in November, replied: “Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign.

Menacing ravens, peering eyes, black cats and rats, ominous bells, violent eddies - imagery that fueled many a text by Edgar Allan Poe, and generated a good deal of art. For its contribution to the bicentennial commemoration of the author's birth, the Baltimore Museum of Art has put together a dynamic collection of works directly or seemingly inspired by the author. The displays are divided into three thematic groupings: Love and Loss, Fear and Terror, Madness and Obsession. "As you can see, this is an uplifting exhibit," says BMA director Doreen Bolger, who curated the show.

The Maryland/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee and the Howard County Police Department will offer a free Vehicle Identification Etching session for the Savage Community Association from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday. The event, an opportunity to have a unique vehicle identification number engraved on all the major pieces of glass in each car, will be held at the Savage Volunteer Fire Department, 8925 Lincoln St., Savage. The VIN is designed as a deterrent to theft and as a help in returning stolen vehicles to their rightful owners.

The Maryland/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee and the Howard County Police Department will offer a free Vehicle Identification Etching event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 26 at Amherst House in the Village of Kings Contrivance, 7251 Eden Brook Drive. A unique vehicle identification number can be engraved on all of the major pieces of glass in each car as a deterrent to theft and to assist in returning stolen vehicles to their owners. Owners can also register in the Watch Your Car Program, a national effort to prevent auto theft.

The Maryland/DC Anti-Car Theft Committee and the Howard County Police Department will offer free vehicle-identification etching from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Oakland Mills Village Center. People can have a unique number engraved on all the major pieces of glass in their cars to deter theft or help recover stolen vehicles. Registration in the national Watch Your Car Program will also be available. Some anti-theft devices will be distributed. Information: Janet Stabile, vehicle theft prevention specialist, Howard County Police Department, 410-313-3337.

Local dance studios will join together to present a concert and reception in support of Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 28 at Howard Community College's Smith Theatre, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. "On Our Toes for Humanity" will feature dancers from Ballet with Cindee Velle, Ballet Royale, Bombay Beats, Kinetics Dance Theatre, Howard Community College Dance Company, Teelin School of Irish Dance, Turning Pointe Dance Studio and Troupe MiaNaja.

La Leche of Columbia, a chapter of a nonprofit international organization, will offer a "Mommy and Me Cafe" at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the east Columbia library, 6600 Cradlerock Way. The drop-in cafe will offer a chance to meet and chat with other mothers, grandmothers and children. Information: 410-309-4940. The group will hold regular meetings at 10 a.m. April 6 and 7:30 p.m. April 17 at Owen Brown Community Center. Pregnant women, as well as infants and toddlers, are welcome. La Leche of Columbia offers support, information and guidance for breast-feeding mothers.

The summer show at C. Grimaldis Gallery is always a lively affair, being a recapitulation of artists we've come to know in previous exhibitions and an intriguing taste of what's in store when the fall season arrives. This year's show is as varied and elegant as ever, with many beautiful and poignant paintings by Grace Hartigan, Raoul Middleman, Eugene Leake and Henry Coe. Coe's modestly scaled landscapes of the French countryside, in particular, are marvels of pastoral quietude. A highlight of this show is two recent, large-scale color photographs by Athens-based artist Dimitra Lazaridou, whose virtuosic control of composition and color signals a major evolution in this gifted photographer's work.

The Long Reach High School drama department will present the musical, Grease, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the school auditorium. Tickets, available at lunch or from a cast member, are $7. Tickets are $10 at the door. Information: Marla Blasko, 410-313-7117. Plants to be available at The Other Barn The Oakland Mills Community Association will hold a plant sale at The Other Barn in Oakland Mills Village Center from 9 a.m. to noon April 21. Hanging baskets and pots, and a wide selection of plants will be available at reasonable prices.

La Leche of Columbia, a chapter of a nonprofit international organization, will offer a "Mommy and Me Cafe" at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the east Columbia library, 6600 Cradlerock Way. The drop-in cafe will offer a chance to meet and chat with other mothers, grandmothers and children. Information: 410-309-4940. The group will hold regular meetings at 10 a.m. April 6 and 7:30 p.m. April 17 at Owen Brown Community Center. Pregnant women, as well as infants and toddlers, are welcome. La Leche of Columbia offers support, information and guidance for breast-feeding mothers.