The chef prepares seared foie gras under glass. Warning: this video will make you so, so hungry.

Known for his editorial cartoons, featured weekly in The Virginian-Pilot, Walt Taylor is an elusive Hampton Roads local whose illustrations capture the essence of the area’s cultural beauty.

Norfologists are past their cynicism about Norfolk; they see in it a blank canvas, a place where they can actually make a difference. And nothing could be more exciting to them. In fact, a true Norfologist thrives on this challenge.

It makes me feel ridiculously proud and fortunate to be a part of what makes Hampton Roads super fucking awesome. But those things that I’m so proud of doing here will cease to exist if we do not reach our fundraising goals with the Drive AltDaily Drive.

The goal of Westboro Baptist Church–who staged protests around HR the last two days–is not to recruit followers. More so, it is to make known how unholy the rest of us are, to let us know that “God hates YOU.”

A fairly cracked out video Hannah and Jesse made talking all crazy about what they like about Hampton Roads.

A 24-hour event, starting tonight at midnight, involves just two simple things: doing something good and taking a picture. Be part of something bigger than yourself.

What I’m stoked on today. (Hint: There are three of them, they have beards, and their name rhymes with Shmavett.)

One of the only instances that “sucking the head” does not mean what you think it means, you freak.

In case you needed something kind of awkward and humorous to watch this Friday afternoon.

On June 6th AltDaily teamed up with the Naro to present The Princess Bride. You guys come out in full force, dressed in magnificent costume, and gave us an array of hilarious film quotes recited to a T. Here’s the video of the night.

Here’s a taste. #2: $2 PBRs. #5: Parker Posey. #8: To find out the true meanings behind the images on the dollar bill. Let’s just leave it at this: “George Washington was in a cult, and the cult was into aliens, man.”

With our first Canvas project behind us and a huge success, we’re moving onto our second building: the former Boys & Girls Club on Colonial Avenue in Park Place. With a little paint and a lot of creativity, we can help breathe new life into this space. Local artists: this is your call to action!

AltDaily.com, a local news, arts and culture magazine, is seeking an Outside Sales Representative to sell advertising space both online as well as in a printed publication.

His is a story of the American Dream; of being haunted by depression, disease and death; and being inspired and spiritually fulfilled despite it all.

Virginia is called the mother of presidents, but her lineage of groundbreaking hip hop stars may eventually be what truly puts this state on the map.

Wedding photographer, John Cachero, and recent bride, Sarah Serrano, take a look back at her October 1st wedding at the Harrison Opera House, and all the local vendors that helped make it amazing.

16 things to do, including the much-anticipated opening of Kerouac, the kickoff of the VA Jewish Film Festival, a Roaring 20s Party, and so much more this weekend.

A live from Williamsburg, where AltDaily publisher Hannah Serrano will be speaking on a panel this evening.

Blue Man Group, MarCon, Derby Girls, and so, so much more.

“Assisting individuals achieve true citizenship requires us all to make the concepts of freedom and choice a reality; we do this through our services, our participation in our community and within our hearts…each day, every day.”

Take a break from the Xmas shopping, bickering with the family, oversleeping and car-crashing in the snow. Get out. Party. Here’s where we’ll be…

Talking with Lisa Howard, a preschool teacher at Dam Neck Child Development Center in Virginia Beach. The center is participating in Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads’ Quality Rating Improvement System.

“ForKids helps homeless families in Hampton Roads and Western Tidewater, and our mission is to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families and children.”

A winter fashion editorial featuring designer label clothes perfect for work, cocktails, holiday parties, and everything in between; plus, stylish local models in an exciting new downtown space.

Bunches of benefit shows, lots of great music, and a flash mob to boot.

“Good music really comes from life experience. Get your heart broke and I’ll listen to whatever you want to sing me.”

If you only do one thing this weekend, make it The Rise Up! But of course, you, our AltDaily readers, are likely to be weekend warriors like us, and you’re probably hitting up a bunch of things. So check out what’s on our agenda, and hopefully we will run into you plenty…

How to make a local music scene in just one easy step. Plus, a Rise Up playlist to whet your appetite for this Saturday’s show.

The Pushers do two nights, Long Division rocks out Chesapeake, Norfolk illuminates itself and Santa comes to town.

Weepies, Fashion Week, NaNoWriMo, and oh so much more.

A Q&A with Brennan Dunn, founder of the technology consultancy We Are Titans, which, despite its heavily Silicon Valley-based clientele, has just established its headquarters in Ghent.

Pucks, tats, and Fighting Cocks…who could ask for anything more?

Major upcoming events, news about our development, words from our sponsors, and other little notes from my jumbled-up mind.

“I have literally seen photojournalism exponentially improve, and even save, lives.”

It is the key to all the other things that will make this region great.

2 Describe your journey since then. When and how did you get started as a working illustrator/designer? What has it been like since then? After high school I started to land some freelance gigs with small businesses and other stuff I can’t remember. Then about two years ago, I began to get serious about my [...]

“You really can’t sit there and have this really great talent and expect people to just find you. You have to go out there and push your art.”

We’ve extended the deadline to September 17. Arists and designers: don’t miss this chance to design ALL of the artwork that will hang on the walls of The Public House, a new gastropub-style restaurant to open in Ghent later this fall.

“I paint to reclaim my faith in humanity. I paint because I once would argue that people are innately good and now I don’t know anymore. I paint because we’ve all messed up and we need someone to love us and forgive us.”

A couple funny stories and then on to the most important issue of this moment in Hampton Roads.

“My vision is to have a very eclectic market, where there’s something for everyone,” says Jeannie Steele, owner of Chesapeake Bay Peddler. “We want to open a more cultural environment.”

Their new music capitalizes on the best of what they already had. That is to say, it is more rocking than ever, richer, more layered. The guitar sections are shredders. It all seems more honed.

The Commonwealth’s only LGBT and LGBT-friendly Chamber has quickly become an influential force in our community. It’s time you knew more about HRBOR.

Premier is a high-end gallery with a wide price range and vibrant works that are, as owner Tyrone Kercher puts it, “off the beaten path.”

Why a campaign targeting young professionals and creatives in and outside of Norfolk? In May, The Brookings Institution’s State of Metropolitan America report noted Hampton Roads’ slow-growing, aging population with less diversity than the national average. (…That’s bad.)

“When I was about 8, I found a piece of wood, sneaked into my father’s workshop and carved a wooden shoe. That was when I first started making sculpture.”

Artist Pamela Hill, better known to collectors and art lovers as dzaet, reveals her process, inspiration, and discovering Frida Kahlo in a bookstore and realizing, “Hey, she paints like me!”

A gallery of avant-garde video art by Richmond-based electronic artist Jennida Chase.

Young, talented, and versatile–artist Tim Skirven (whose works are on view in a two-man show with Jeff Guinn at 37th & Zen) talks about his craft, his process and his inspirations.

Well, it’s a few days after Friday, but that just means we get to double up this week with two featured artist sets, both of whom will be exhibiting work at 37th & Zen starting this weekend: Today, Jeff Guinn. Friday, Tim Skirven. Guinn is a versatile designer and fine artist making his mark in both communities. Check out his Q&A and gallery…

A gallery and Q&A with the artist sometimes known as Dripping Neon Design, Nichole Ashikis, who is fast making a name for herself amongst the area’s most talented art community. It’s time you knew her, too.

A sleek downtown salon, two awesome and charismatic owners, and cuts that make you look like your best and most beautiful self–what else could you possibly ask for?

Raise some money for The Bay, win some Jack Johnson tickets. Easy as that.

On Waterside: “This building can be anything. It’s got good bone structure. It’s a glass house with a lot of potential, but it’s basically gutted right now. “It should’ve been a train station, I think, with a train going right behind it. It should’ve had a post office and all those other things you actually [...]

On his sense of humor: “All your attitude is already there. Even if life gets you down, you already have you in you. You have to take a step back and listen to yourself. “It’s like all that Hare Krishna shit–that shit is real… It’s your own religion within your body that you have to [...]

On high art versus business: “This area has a lot of trained artists and craftsmen. But some of the fun has been taken out of it. Some of them have been beat down trying to make a living out of it, and that’s very bad for art.” << Previous | Next >>

I asked Bell if he sees the final sculpted product when he looks at a block of wood. “You work on the surface and close in on it, and then you find what you’re looking for. It’s like mashed potatoes: after three bites you can tell if you like it. You gotta get into it. [...]

On drawing: “All you have to do is look at it and try. Don’t try to make a happy apple. Just draw what you see.” I tell him that this was the most important thing I learned in art school–how to disengage our mind’s eye. “The older you get, the harder it’s going to be. [...]

On his creative process: “If I walk into a space and someone says, ‘I need something here.’ I get an image of a line and go from there. I have to see that basic line, and one that hits, I know exactly what I’m doing.” << Previous | Next >>

Bell is a formally-trained artist, and he believes “If you don’t know the rules, you can’t play the game.” << Previous | Next >>

Bell works in every kind of media: clay, wood, painting, drawing, set design, metal, cinderblock, flowers. You name it, he’s worked with it, and worked it well. “My style imitates my signature. I see my character in the signature and that carries through in the art. I use the same basics of art of art [...]

Did you always want to be an artist? “Art teachers started pulling it out of me in the third or fourth grade.” Bell was tasked with creating the costumes for a Thanksgiving play. He put the turkey costume on the young actor backwards so that the the bend of his knees mimicked truly the nature [...]

Dozens and dozens of works in nearly every media will fill Waterside for the next 30 days. And it’s all by one (hugely talented, prodigious) man. Mike Bell.

Plus week in review and highlights from the calendar.

What we have planned so far. Talented local artists, awesome prizes, and a pizza party with FREE slices! (Trust us, it’s gonna be great!)

A look into the process of choosing our new logo, and a request for your participation.

Excellent company and conversation with designers and non-designers alike, some pimped out blocks of wood, prizes, some trash talk and drinking.

Sunday morning Jess and I agreed that the night before was one of the best nights of each or our lives. Hundreds of people showed up. And the art was worth it.

Pictures from inside:

“It’s one thing to work with artists that you pretend to like because they’re your clients; it’s another thing to work with artists you do like. And then to work with artists you like who have already made it, and they’re giving you that chance to work with them–it’s a great feeling.”

McD’s first 100 days, buckle-downs at HRT, another soldier dies in Iraq, pro-legalization council members in Scottsville VA, illegal stripping.

A photo tour of GreenBuildIt’s latest green home project in Park Place, by Eric Fadden.

John Porter, Nick Shawyer and Lucas Doan of GreenBuildIt are young and cosmopolitan and exactly the kind of guys that you can trust to build you a modern, green space. Their newly constructed property at 439 W. 30th in Park Place, is just that.

War protester jailed, shads on planks and politics, ethics in Virginia government.

Octopus and scorpion soup, pizza with meal worms and crickets, lamb’s brains and eyes… I’ll take one of everything.

Sorry McDonnell, snowball missiles, pure evil coal mine CEO, “joy bomb” to drop on the Chrysler.

Artists out there: Dream with us about what Norfolk ought to look like.

Downtown construction, overfishing, McNabb, iPads.

My ultimate reaction to Clash of the Titans was “eh…this is cool, I guess.” It’s Troy meets Transformers.

A preview of Renewal, an annual juried show that brings out the absolute best in underground Hampton Roads art, opening tonight at The Warehouse.

One of the most thrilling art events of the year, Renewal Art Show, takes place this Friday night at The Warehouse.

Flooding today (surprise!), closing military school, Virginia oysters, NASA’s wind turbines and Belharbour.

Tax increases in VB, PETA + Octomom, gays in the military.

Insiders’ perspectives on the potential move of an aircraft carrier from Norfolk to Mayport.

Offshore royalties, the slimmed-down state budget, Suffolk’s big stink, paying for one student’s schooling, makeovers for Beach strip malls.

RIP Sparklehorse; Internet access, “a fundamental right”; Blackwater; and the success or failure of Newport News City Center.

Watching the show with my mom, sister and niece. We’ve seen few of the films, but God help us, we have our opinions.

Renewal and Selden Arcade accepting submissions. City of Norfolk seeking public input re: Slover Library and Waterside.

Gun bills shot down, no more mail on Saturdays, City Council races, Christian molesters, and other news today.

A renowned glass artist from Greensboro, North Carolina relocates to Norfolk in a brand new studio and with a newfound vigor.

The survival of the Virginia Commission for the Arts depends on your action right now.

VB to pay for light rail, deep budget cuts hit schools and health care, Portsmouth council seats up for grabs, and pot-smoking seniors.

A juried art and fine craft show that takes place this weekend at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

The day’s top headlines. Our takes.

Artist Statement My work is a series of tabletop still lifes that comment on current issues or places by choice of objects and their juxtaposition to each other. My topics are the socio-political issues that define our country—race, war, global warming and consumerism. The toys and common consumer objects are always depicted actual size and [...]

Hear Our Prayer Sonya Paclob graduated from Tidewater Community College in December of 2009 with an Associates degree specializing in Photography. She currently works at the Visual Arts Center of Tidewater Community College as the Graphic Design Instructional Assistant. She plans to enroll in Regent University’s Cinema-Television program in the fall of 2010. Artist Statement [...]