Painters

It's springtime, and with the beautiful weather and perfect light comes an age-old ritual as artists set up their easels around Maryland. You can find them working in a variety of mediums in Druid Hill Park, roadside in the Green Spring and Worthington valleys, along the winding stone-lined streets of Ellicott City, or on the wharves of St. Michaels and Rock Hall. And among the artists will be many members of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the nation's third-oldest such organization.

It's springtime, and with the beautiful weather and perfect light comes an age-old ritual as artists set up their easels around Maryland. You can find them working in a variety of mediums in Druid Hill Park, roadside in the Green Spring and Worthington valleys, along the winding stone-lined streets of Ellicott City, or on the wharves of St. Michaels and Rock Hall. And among the artists will be many members of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the nation's third-oldest such organization.

One show scheduled for the fire-damaged Painters Mill Theatre in Owings Mills has been moved to Towson State University's Towson Center, but another has been canceled, the promoter said yesterday.The concert by the rock group Great White, scheduled for Monday at Painters Mill, has been moved to the Towson Center, said Michael Jaworek, spokesman for Chesapeake Concerts. The 8 p.m. starting time for the concert remains the same.But a show by Pilobolus, a modern dance troupe, scheduled for Painters Mill April 12, has been canceled because no appropriate venue could be found for the show, Mr. Jaworek said.

Baltimore helped the avant-garde painter Max Weber forge a national reputation in 1915. Now, nearly 100 years later, this could be the city where the late artist begins his long-overdue comeback. It's not that critics and curators are unfamiliar with the Russian-born, Brooklyn-raised painter's work. As a new exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art makes clear, Weber has long been considered one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century. But, at the peak of his career, Weber was a bona fide celebrity, with spreads in "Time," "Life," "Look" and 'The Saturday Evening Post.

Joseph Thomas Slechter never considered screen painting to be trendy or down-home or Baltimore kitsch. He thought of his unique painting medium as a sure way to make extra cash.Mr. Slechter, who died Sunday of heart failure at his Perry Hall home, was one of the early Baltimore screen painters in the 1920s, when he began the quaint folk art that has remained popular locally, especially in east side communities. He was 93.Mr. Slechter was known for his plain but colorful screen paintings, usually a farm setting with a red barn or a red house, or of a lake with swans and ducks.

Baltimore County officials today were considering condemning the Painters Mill Music Fair in Owings Mills after an intentionally set, four-alarm fire extensively damaged the complex and brought down portions of the roof."

LAST SATURDAY, Chesapeake Concerts' major entry into the Baltimore concert scene was looking very smart indeed. That night's sold-out show for the Kentucky Headhunters at the Painters Mill theater was just the latest in a string of recent sellouts for the facility, coming on the heels of Bob Dylan, Slayer and Danzig.On Monday, that optimism turned to ash -- so to speak. A fire at the Painters Mill theater early that morning, apparently caused by, police say, a burglar attempting to break in with a blowtorch, caused an estimated $4 million in damage and left the venue unusable for the foreseeable future.

Baltimore County police said today that four people have been arrested in connection with the arson fire Monday at Painters Mill Music Fair that caused an estimated $4 million in damage.Two of the suspects, escapees from a state minimum-security prison who were recaptured earlier this week, will be charged with actually setting the fire, police said.Bradley Spitler, 20, and William Harlow, 20, were being held at the House of Correction in Jessup on escape charges.The other two, Freddie Lee Ferguson, 28, of the 100 block of Wilgate Road in Owings Mills, and Debra Ann Mann, 23, of the 11000 block of Reisterstown Road, have been charged with breaking into the theater.

At the Brandywine River Museum, you have a choice. You can look at the stunning pastoral vistas depicted in the paintings of various American masters. Or you can step outside and take in some of the stunning pastoral vistas yourself. Or you can do both. The museum, which is in Chadds Ford, Pa., right outside Wilmington, Del., is in a renovated 19th-century gristmill overlooking the river. Full floor-to-ceiling windows provide an expansive view of the water below and the fields beyond. The building is surrounded by native trees, shrubs and wildflowers, which were planted by the Brandywine Conservancy, the environmental organization that runs the museum.

Hairstyles, clothing and manners may have changed radically since the 18th century, but certain essential aspects of human behavior remain much the same. The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting, an exhibition that opens today at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, illuminates that point, offering an appealing and comprehensive look at how men, women and children in 18th-century France whiled away their daily hours. The exhibition gathers together a hundred or so genre paintings -- scenes of everyday life -- by those three painters and others.

In a review of the Walters Art Museum show of paintings by 19 t h -century American artist Richard Caton Woodville, reporter Mary McCauley writes that "the real mystery ... is why so little about the painter is known today - even in his hometown" ("Walters explores work of Caton heir who lived fast, died young," March 9). However, the article does little to give readers a greater understanding of the painter or his works. Woodville challenged (and continues to challenge)

The handsome young man sitting in the pink parlor chair radiates restlessness, a disdain for social conventions and undeniable self-satisfaction. The impatience in Richard Caton Woodville's "Self-Portrait with Flowered Wallpaper" can be detected in the wide-thrust knees of the artist born to a wealthy and prominent Baltimore family, and in his hastily buttoned and pointedly shabby jacket. His ego can be gleaned from the care he lavished on painting his face. Woodville imbued his visage with the high, broad forehead and aquiline nose that were thought in that age to signify a lofty mind and an aristocratic, resolute temperament.

Curtis Painter is all too familiar with the fleeting nature of job security in the NFL. In the span of less than a full calendar year, Painter went from backing up Peyton Manning to replacing the Hall of Fame-bound quarterback to being unceremoniously released by the Indianapolis Colts. That's why he's not putting too much stock into the sentiment that he has outperformed Tyrod Taylor in the Ravens' first two preseason games. "I think it's a little too soon to jump to those conclusions, but I think for me, I just want to keep getting better each time," Painter said Sunday.

By the end of the first quarter at the Georgia Dome on Thursday, the Ravens offense had no first downs and 9 total yards. Their starting defense had already allowed one touchdown and was on the verge of giving up another, and appeared powerless in trying to slow Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones who had a touchdown and more than 100 yards in less than 15 minutes. Even the special teams got into the disappointing act by allowing Dominique Franks to return a punt to the Ravens' 15-yard line.

With four quarterbacks on the Ravens' roster, the number of balls they get to throw in training camp can be a premium. That seems to be the case with Curtis Painter, who has gotten fewer snaps than starter Joe Flacco and Tyrod Taylor -- Painter's primary competition to back up Flacco. But Painter, who made eight starts with the Indianapolis Colts last season, said he's not fretting about his playing time in camp. “I guess it's kind of part of the way it is,” he said after Tuesday's practice at the team's headquarters in Owings Mills.

If the Ravens' plan for inserting their backup quarterbacks plays out as it has in training camp and according to the depth chart, Tyrod Taylor will likely get the first opportunity to succeed starter Joe Flacco in the team's preseason opener at the Atlanta Falcons. To observers, that could be construed as an indicator of the state of the competition between Taylor, the organization's sixth-round pick in last year's NFL draft, and Curtis Painter for the right to back up Flacco. But that's not the approach that Taylor is taking.

One day in 1968 when Juan and Abel Velazquez were 15 years old, their father sat them down and placed before them canvases of black velvet. Jose Velazquez had been a boxer in Mexico City. Later, he taught himself cartooning and, from there, to paint on velvet, which is how he was supporting his family. "Time for playing is over," he told them. "It's time to make money." He took up a brush, dabbed it in pink paint and handed down to his sons the one craft he knew. Starting with a simple classic of Tijuana velvet, he taught them to paint the Pink Panther.

Plein Air exhibit -- Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts is exhibiting Paint Annapolis 2005 through Oct. 21 at 801 Chase St., Annapolis. The exhibit features work by the artists from Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association who spent a day last week painting in Annapolis. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday. 410-263-5544.

The Ravens will hold their first full-team practice of training camp on Thursday, July 26. Each day leading up to the official start of camp, The Sun will examine several key position battles that will be decided during preseason. BACKUP QUARTERBACK The competitors : Tyrod Taylor, Curtis Painter Breaking it down : Even the most ardent Joe Flacco critic can't question the quarterback's toughness and durability. Flacco has never missed a game in four NFL seasons so Ravens' fans haven't had to fret about the identity of their backup quarterback.

A Washington, D.C., artist who works in multiple media was awarded the 2012 Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize - a $30,000 purse - at a ceremony Saturday evening at the Baltimore Museum of Art . Renee Stout, whose painting, drawing, prints, sculpture and photography explore her African-American heritage, beat five other finalists for the honor, according to a statement from the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, which sponsors...