Not to get all bloggy on you: This blog post is brought to you while chewing buttered toast and listening to Michelle Shocked at the most creative hour: midnight.
Did you know a painting can get stale? I can’t turn them into croutons so they are painted over. I squeezed in some early morning painting today…like 11am early. A heroic act, really. You may recognize this FPW (frequently-painted-view) of mine out these very windows. Snow creates unusual aesthetics that I can’t resist. I won’t say it was pretty snow because right now, at the end of February, in Chicago, snow is not cute.
The Previous Stale image, a long forgotten painting from 2004, maybe:
The Fresh and so clean clean Snow picture, always a work in progress:
My dear friend/old college roommate, and practically my sister, Chelsea, was in town this week. I’d like to brag about her. She drove from Northern Michigan to Chicago and then flew to Chiapas, Mexico to witness Fair Trade up close in coffee-growing areas. Chelsea is certainly doing her part to “make things”, the theme of this blog. What? This blog has a theme? She is a graphic designer and she does amazing things at The Change, a design strategy company that works with businesses that make the world better. They have their own schnazzy blog, http://taoofchange.com/. I know Chelsea isn’t a big blogger but I hope she sees this. This one’s for you, Chelsea! heartjean
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeanfitz/2283348710/
In an effort to conserve space, money, time, and resources, I will sometimes paint over an older painting. Sometimes it’s easier to begin from a chaotic image and start rearranging the painting than to start on a “blank page.”
Colleen, we will have to do another sitting soon. I’ve painted Natasha over you. Here is the transition of this old painting into another one over the course of about an hour. It is still a work in progress.
The piece is also featured in a photostream taken by a party guest this weekend.
A dark corner of the hotel bar is a great place to sketch. 
I couldn’t tell if they were having a romantic or purely business conversation.
After having the flu, there’s nothing like a little power drilling and funky hardware parts to get back in the game. I’d like to share an attempt at being handy, crafty, and full of girl power. There is this article in one of my favorite magazines: Readymade
It describes how to make a pot and pan hanger attached to the ceiling out of a bicycle wheel. Yes, my friends, it’s time to put that spare bicycle wheel hanging from YOUR kitchen window to use! I walked confidently over to the hardware store with my list of goodies because I was plumb out of carriage bolts:
- 4 3/8″ jam nuts
- 3/8″ coupling nut
- Fully threaded 3/8″ hanger bolt (half metal threads, half wood threads)
- 7″ x 3/8″ carriage bolt
- 2 3/8″ washers
At Ace Hardware, you have to ask a salesperson for the carriage bolt, the hanger bolt, the coupling nut and the jam nuts. They are not out on the shelf for you amateurs. (This also made me look like I already knew what a carriage bolt was because you HAVE to ask for them. It was so smooth.)
So I got everything and walked back home fantasizing about my bicycle wheel pot and pan hanger twirling round and round. I then did as Readymade magazine instructed: Took a wrench and tried taking the center long thingy out of the wheel. I pried and pried but it would not budge. I even enlisted my roommate to hold one end while gnawing away at the metal. Still no luck. What are you to do next? Why, go to your nearest lesbian-owned-and-operated bicycle co-op! That’s what! (Please support UPTOWN BIKES on Broadway!) After THEY broke their own wrench and somehow got it apart, I took the wheel home and continued being crafty.
THEN came the part where I had to find the ceiling joist. I took out the electronic stud finder [insert funny stud joke here] and watched the thing beep over every square inch of the ceiling. The whole ceiling is a giant stud! Sweet! So I started drilling a hole where the stud finder lit up and beeped like crazy. I hit some sheet metal, watched half the drywall crumble to the ground, and then clumsily inserted my spinning wheel contraption, hoping for the best.
Ladies and Gentleman, I put one pot on the rack and a few moments later, Crash! Boom! The whole contraption fell out of the ceiling. Alas, I was not a successful stud finder. In fact, I dented a frying pan in the process. Maybe Uptown Bikes can help me find a stud??? Does anyone have any stud finding tips? Yes, I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m using the internet to help me find a stud.
I was recently contacted by e-mail about possibly “licensing my hilarious dog art.” I knew exactly who they were talking about–like any respectable person of the cyber-age– I googled my own name.
Jean Fitzgerald T-Shirts and Gifts
Featured Products
Please meet Jean B. Fitzgerald: http://www.jeansdogshop.com/bio
She puts dogs inside of famous paintings and makes lots of money and lives happily ever after in Florida. Or meet Jean, the Realtor in Texas:
Jean Fitzgerald NLS Member Since September `05
ROCKWALL, TX
United States
| Jean Fitzgerald Scholarship |
| Description: The scholarship is a memorial to Jean Fitzgerald who was a very active participant in the Hawai‘i Pacific Tennis Association. Jean felt it was important for young tennis players to pursue higher education in order to augment their tennis skills and be successful in other arenas besides the tennis court. |
| Prerequisites: Be an active tennis player; preference may be given to USTA/Hawai‘i Pacific Section members. Be a female. Be an incoming freshman. |
Or you can read about the fictitious Jean Fitzgerald in AfterImage by Jay Brandon: pg. 284: “… “Kristen did know me. I had been to her home. She knew me because I was dating her mother. Jean Fitzgerald and I had met at a party and started going out. We were romantically involved. …” Seriously, the books are going for $0.01 on Amazon. I’m that good in this book.
Or check out this painter in Chicago (wink wink):
jeancfitzgerald.com
Okay, gotta go to my gynecology office in Doylestown, PA now.
