Calendars, Art Shows, and Graves, Oh my!

Yes, those calendars are going like hotcakes. Thank you to all who came out to the Artwalk Ravenwood this past weekend! At one point, I was graced with the presence of 3 of the 5 clowns (featured in June of the calendar) at the same time! (L-R Erin, Alan, Dave.) Some calendars are still available on-line at my etsy store: jeanfitz.etsy.com. Remember this is a Limited Edition (!!!) so snatch ‘em while you can. And, of course, we’re going into a rough patch for this here country of ours and you’ll need to look at nice, uplifting pictures…but who can afford such a thing as fine art in a “crisis moooohment?” You betchya, I understand. That’s why I have a neat-o little set of $8 greeting cards (with envelopes that still taste like basil when you lick them like last year!) and then I’m selling fine art prints of some of my paintings…yep, all for sale at my etsy store.

 Yippee! Affordable art! If you’d still like to see some real, live art, head on over to the Main St. Metra Station in Evanston. The Evanston Arts Depot has re-purposed the old train station into a theatre/cafe and arts space. My paintings are now hanging there during October for commuters and theatre-goers to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my way home from hanging paintings in Evanston, I just happened to pass by another great Chicagoland cemetery. It’s not featured in my calendar, but it’s certainly worth a browse… Calvary Cemetery, beautifully located along Sheridan Road facing Lake Michigan and bordering between Evanston and Rogers Park. It is the eternal home of many of Chicago’s Irish, and many of whom, unsurprisingly, are of relation to me.

 

More pictures from this particular trip to the cemetery are at my flickr site.

 

The 2009 Calendar Debut is here!

The moment we all have been waiting for: The unveiling of the 2009 Calendar of Famous Chicago Graves! 

You can visit me and pick one up in person at the ArtWalkRavenswood: http://www.artwalkravenswood.org/ this weekend. (In addition to the calendars, I will have greeting cards, new paintings, and fine art prints for sale. It’s free to look! And did I mention you get to see live artists stand near their work?)

I am offering the calendars for $15 as a special ArtWalk discount this weekend only! They will be for sale on-line at my etsy store as well for $20 starting now and after the ArtWalk. 

This homegrown 2009 calendar, collaged lovingly by hand, features 12 gravesites “brought to life” in the Chicagoland area. ( January: Marshall Field, February; Victims of Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, March: Oscar Mayer, April: Dick Tracy cartoonist, May: Emma Goldman, June: Circus Disaster Gravesite, July: Mrs. O’Leary-and her legendary cow, August: bicycle maker, Ignaz Schwinn, September: the legendary ghost and statue of Inez Clarke, October: Chicago’s famous ghost, Ressurection Mary, November: Enrico Fermi, December: Indian burial grounds.) Learn about rich history buried around Chicago and keep track of your days at the same time!

 

Clown car

Finally, it’s appropriate to call the polka dot car a clown car. It was full of clowns this weekend! I took some clowns to visit Showman’s Rest of Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, IL. Yes, this blog post, among many of late, are shameless attempts at promoting my forthcoming 2009 Chicago Cemetery Calendar. These are just sneak previews of what is to come. These clowns–this is not their day job– just looked so good I had to share some pics before the calendar debut! Meet the cemetery characters pictured below: (L-R: Vivian, Alan, Erin, Dave, and Scarlett.)

The whole crew got suited up at Alan and Erin’s place in the neighboring town of Berwyn. (They did not know me and my project until the day of the photo shoot; this speaks volumes of their character.)

You know you have good models when they come with sketchbooks of their own face paint designs!

We headed over to Woodlawn Cemetery to pay our respects to some circus performers. See the whole train wreck story of 1918 here. or at findagrave.com here.

There are so many amazing pictures of this photo shoot I am tempted to purchase a “Pro” account at Flickr and share them all. I’d like to think my 200 picture limit on my free Flickr account keeps my picture sharing to a finely crafted and curated venue of only my best. Otherwise, I fear my pictures would be interred in its own vast, unvisited cyber graveyard. These are the decisions of our generation, folks, to go “flickr pro” or not…

Amazingly enough, that same day, The Creature (himself!) from the Black Lagoon (remember him?), was signing autographs at “Horrorbles,” The Sci-Fi movie memorbilia store in town. “The craziest things happen in Berwyn.”-Scarlett. So clowns got in on that, too:

And what better way to end a perfect clown day then with a perfect Italian ice from Gina. I’m not sure Gina fully understood our clown agenda but that’s okay, she gave us free refills.

 

Resurrection Mary

As part of my calendar shots for 2009, I headed down with my friend, Mary, to Resurrection Cemetery on S. Archer Ave, a stretch of road that hosts Chicago’s most famous ghost: Resurrection Mary. This is the one shot that does not feature an exclusive grave as there is controversy over which grave claims the true Mary. Instead, we have featured this wandering spirit along the road where many a hitchhiker has spotted her. Here’s some hollywood-ized folklore about this ghost:

According to legend, Resurrection Mary has been sighted at Chet’s Melody Lounge, an old bar that boldly faces the cemetery from across the street. We went into the bar to freshen up from our drive down I-55. Mary walked in wearing her work clothes from the day, after a few minutes and a few sips of our drinks, Mary went to the restroom to get into costume. She returned to her bar stool wearing a long white wedding dress. Mike, (check out his myspace) he’s pictured here in his Ozzie sunglasses with Mary: was jamming it out on the keyboard in the back corner of the bar. He commented on her “nice dress” in mid-song. We looked for the Bloody Mary that is supposed to sit at the end of the bar for the famous ghost and we also looked for “The Ballad of Resurrection Mary” on the jukebox. (My Chicago Haunts book by Ursela Bielski promised these details.) Apparently only the bartender on Sunday has a Bloody Mary out for the ghost and the jukebox went digital and doesn’t have the song anymore. We got our fill of stories of ghost encounters from the locals in the bar. Gil, who bought two beers for us “two hippie chicks at the end of the bar,” told us of how he passed out outside the bar after claiming there was no such thing as ghosts. His cigarette went flying out of his hand. Rez Mary was not happy! Ray, Chet’s Melody Lounge webmaster, and an extra in the Resurrection Mary Movie made in 2004, recounted the time a beer “just flew off the bar– I swear, ask the bartender.” Ray says the movie’s horrible but he’s in the scene that they shoot at Chet’s Melody Lounge. Here is our rendition of Resurrection Mary at Chet’s with Ray seated in the background:

The real shots at the Cemetery gates will be fully revealed in the calendar but here’s a sneak preview:

The legendary steel bars where Mary is believed to have pulled the bars apart and imprinted her tiny lady-ghost hands have long since been replaced. (The cemetery claims that a truck backed into the gate. But believers insist that it mysteriously wouldn’t “take” to new coats of paint in that same spot.)

 

Virgin Mary Appears to Me at Work

This might be old news to Chicago folks but…the Virgin Mary has been sighted at the Kennedy expressway underpass at Fullerton Ave. An altar of candles and flowers surrounds this holy image made up of salt and oil on concrete. Last week, I finally pulled my car over to visit this Mary Apparition. It has gotten a fair amount of local publicity and has been on my commute for months. For a long while I thought it was just a memorial to a fatal accident, but it has been a Marian apparition all along! I parked my car and went in for a nice close-up of Big M. With all respect, I suspect a little magic marker touch-up was done to bring out her features…we all need a little touch-up with age I suppose…

So it was interesting that another Mary manifestation entered my life a week later… I encounter lots of unexpected events, requests, projects every time I go to work (where my title is the Craft Cottage coordinator) but today was extra special.

While walking out to the parking lot today, I saw the facilities manager and maintenance worker extracting something heavy and large from the back of a truck. Behold! The Virgin Mary was being dropped at my doorstep. I suddenly recalled an email from the day before asking if I wanted to restore a statue. Whether I liked it or not, there she was. I may not be the best Catholic on earth to be called on for Mary renovations, but the responsibility now rests with Jean, Craft Cottage Coordinator.

Before leaving, the maintenance worker rummaged around in the truck and procured the Virgin Mary’s detached thumb…surely broken in transit.

I giggled in awe at the heavy stone/concrete thumb rolling around in my palm. After negotiating the proper location for Mary with the workers, I quickly ran into the main building to proclaim the arrival of Mary… with her thumb, of course, proudly raised in the air! To prove that the art lady was not a crazy prophet, I took a group out to visit her and prove her existence. All afternoon, the thumb safely stayed in the pocket of my apron like a little rabbit’s foot.

My task now is to return Mary to her proper state. She has obviously had a botched nose job.

Her missing index finger also indicates her current disqualification for the military.

I’d like to think Mary is in no hurry to acquire a prosthetic trigger finger. One fellow employee has advised me to get some epoxy for her thumb and that I can build a new finger for her. I’m also currently investigating ways to strip it of its chipping coat of paint. Are there any stone sculpture renovators out there? I’ve already been told it is NOT okay to paint her in polka dots. I would never do something so tacky-ahem- but I’m open to hearing other ideas. How can I best restore Our Lady of Crafts???

Since Mary has arrived the last day of work at the Craft Cottage before I depart on my little road trip, I think it’s only fair that Mary’s thumb sits shotgun on my trip to Virginia next week. With Mary’s thumb’s blessings, the polka-dot car will surely hold up well enough in Appalachia and we won’t need to “thumb” any rides.

 

Cemetery Censorship

The 2009 Calendar adventures have begun…but not without a little resistance. A cemetery worker escorted us out of Graceland cemetery today. The man said from his truck window, “We don’t do that here. You’re going to have to leave.” I asked if it was because I was taking pictures and he just replied, “That’s just not what we do here. I don’t have time for this. These are real people here you know.” I responded that we had nothing but respect and we proceeded to get into the car and exit the cemetery…with his truck following closely behind.

(I think I got the shots I needed before we had to go though.)

I have to understand that our get-up would make anyone a little nervous in any environment. There was a polka-dot car, Brianna in a little girl’s Victorian dress, the haunted lore surrounding this specific burial we were at, and the “tourist factor” this famous cemetery already has to deal with daily. I am guessing it is a combination of all of the above. (You’ll just have to get the calendar when it comes out to find out who Brianna was modeling next to…this picture is a hint…)

Are Americans too squeamish about death and art to experience a little color? I bet we wouldn’t be bothered in, say, France. Think Day of the Dead ceremonies in the Mexican tradition! That would be blasphemous in Graceland Cemetery! I can’t help but wonder if the “Resurrection Health Care”  bus slowly winding its way through the cemetery was trying to be funny, just in a more subtle way. That’s funny, right?

 

The Cemetery Plot Thickens

As described in my previous post, I am slowly gathering models/themes for the 2009 Chicago Cemetery Calendar. Thank you to all who have expressed interest thus far. There is plenty of room left for your idea so let’s hear them, folks! You can talk the talk but can you walk the graveyard walk?…

Here is what I have confirmed so far:

Haskel: Chester Gould (Creator of Dick Tracey–pictured above.)

Brianna: Inez Clark (little girl in Graceland)

Natasha: Emma Goldman (anarchist)

Bob and Tanja: Ignaz Schwinn (Schwinn bicycles)

Scarlett (and maybe David S.?)-Circus Clowns…Mandy, you want in on this too? There is no limit on participating clowns. We can fit all you clowns in the polka-dot car actually. (HA!) The proposed photo shoot is not until August 3rd though. Plenty of time to work on your sad face clown costume and juggling skillzzzz.

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow has not claimed itself yet. Can you believe it? Will we end up crafting this cow costume by hand?

 

Live Models for Cemetery Needed

As many people have already heard, I am putting together a 2009 Calendar in a similar spirit as the 2008 Calendar. The polka-dot car will be featured in every month as we did last year but it will be placed strategically with various Chicago Gravestones. Yes, graves. This is where I need your help. I am now recruiting models for each month of the year. In a very respectful, celebratory manner, we will be recreating the character buried approximately six feet under our feet. I will drive you in your costume with props to our chosen location for the picture and in return you get a 2009 Calendar. Sweet deal, right?

(Pictured above is the stylish Natasha at Mies Van Der Rohe’s sleek grave site in Graceland Cemetery last November.)

Here are some pre-selected burials to ponder:

1. CHESTER GOULD-creator of comic strip Dick Tracey, buried in Oakland Cemetery in Woodstock, IL. (a bit of a hike but if you can rock the Dick Tracey outfit, you’re in.)

2. MRS. O’LEARY-yes, the one whose cow started the great Chicago fire. You’ve pretty much got the part if you have a cow costume and a lantern. She’s in Mt. Olivet on the Southside.

3. CHARLES COMISKEY- White Sox guy in Calvary Cemetery in Evanston. This cemetery is very close to a good place to eat chocolate. I’m just saying.

4. HAREY CAREY-buried in All Saints in Des Plaines. Big glasses and a microphone anyone?

5. CLARENCE and GRACE HEMINGWAY- yup, Ernest’s parents are in Forest Park at the Forest Home/German Waldheim Cemetery. Forest Park is a neighboring suburb of Oak Park. And Oak Park is where Mr. Hemingway was known to have said, “is a place of broad lawns and narrow minds.”–or something like that.

6. EMMA GOLDMAN-anarchist who could only get back into the country dead. The fabulous Natasha may have already claimed this rebel rouser as her chosen character. She’s got Russian connections ‘n stuff. This rebel rouser’s final resting place is also in Forest Park near the aforementioned broad lawns. Poor Emma.

7. 4 HORSE DRIVER/BALDY- and while we’re in Forest Park, we could go to Woodlawn Cemetery and recreate the circus from 1918. This famous story can be found here about the Circus train crash that killed scores of Circus performers. There is a mourning elephant statue commemorating the victims. Sad Clown anyone?

8. FRANK & PETER GUSENBURG-gangsters killed at the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. I think it’s in ‘gangster row’ in Irving Park Cemetery. I know a few good gangster get-ups from last year, hmmm?

9. DINAH WASHINGTON-jazz legend in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip.

10. INEZ CLARKE-in Graceland (the King of Kings when it comes to Cemeteries). This legendary and perhaps haunted grave site has a glass-encased statue of this 6 year old girl. It could be our spookiest one yet.

11. CIVIL WAR MONUMENT (in St. Boniface perhaps?)-I have some possible recruits willing to display their stage combat skills with swords and stuff. That one is in the works.

12. ???

There are 12 months to fill but this should get us started. Respond quickly to secure a spot in the Calendar!!! Here are some great websites to start your own searches: Graveyards of Illinois: www.graveyards.com

findagrave.com

 

HEAR the Cemetery

So here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for…go to my sloppily rigged podcast on this temporarily generic “big sister” sponsored blog (pardon the cyberdundance)— you’ll hear the fiddle tune: “Chief O’Neill’s Favourite Hornpipe”, Bob’s stories, the wind, among other things. It’s even an “Enhanced Podcast” with an accompanying slideshow. Notice the well thought out zoom-ins!

Now playing:

The Sounds of the Cemetery (click here)

As planned from my previous entry, I can now present the audio dimension of my expedition to Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

I’d like to give a shout out to my big sister, Theresa, for helping to put my very first podcast up. Just like she’s let me crash on her couch many times, she’s letting me crash my podcast on her site for a little while until I get my cyber-self on its own two podcasting feet.

Theresa is an amazing art teacher who puts clay-mation videos from her 5th graders online! It makes me want to go back to the 5th grade! They’re hilarious little videos that make any self-respecting grown-up say: I, too, can use technology to better the world. Hey Theresa, care to share the link to those clay-mation videos?

 

Cyberdundance

An altar was created this evening in my home. If you don’t recognize these angelic faces, then you probably never went to Catholic school and you haven’t gotten the latest “Men” issue of BUST magazine, featuring Jermaine and Bret of Flight of the Conchords.

At this point I am going to partake in what I call “cyberdundancy.”

cyberdundance: the act of re-posting, regurgitating, or recycling Internet information in another Internet location.

So pardon my cyberdundant youtube link but I think we should all spread the Good News during this Easter time :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5hrUGFhsXo

Oh, it’s so good and so catchy. Watch them all.

And while I’m spending time in the adoration-sphere, let’s take a visit to Leslie Hall Land. You may be aware that I had the privilege of posing with the famous ‘cewebrity’ last month in front of the Polka-Dot car. After our photo shoot we totally high -fived.

In true cyberdundance, I have just recently made a comment on her myspace page. Check it out before it gets buried under her other comments from fans.

The pictures are also on my flickr page…hmm, where else can I be cyberdundant?