Freedom of the Press

This past summer I made a homemade press using a car bottlejack, assembling some pieces of wood and metal–not without spending hours walking in circles in the black hole that can be Home Depot–and expending a little sawing sweat. I’m very proud of this DIY project (care of an article in the intermittantly useful magazine Readymade.) I’ve done a couple basic linoleum prints just trying it out but I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and really start squishing things. I’ve contemplated all things around my home that could be pressed…a soda can, apples into cider!, grapes into wine!…well, that’s a stretch), handbound books pressed together,…or the mother of all printing adventures…old school letterpress.

I took a mini 2-day workshop in the Letterpress studio at Columbia College recently. Their presses are probably from the 1920’s and were manufactured by a company named Vandercook. I learned such cute terms as quoin and quoin keys and composing sticks and arranging furniture around your type. I knew I was in the right place when someone went to the trouble of making a rubbing of Vandercook’s grave in a nearyby cemetery and then displaying it on the studio wall. Letterpress and Gravestones: my passions collide!

This relatively new process (to me) was invented (at least in the West) by good ole Gutenburg in the 1500s using a wine press similar to the one I have. Long live the freedom of the press! Sweet sweet mass produced prints for the masses. So if you see some antique letterpress equipment in a local store or you’re trying to get it off your hands, let me help you! Calling all letterpress equipment!

I am slowly acquiring my own letterpress equipment in my own space and I’ll keep you updated on this crazy project!

 

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!

 

Calendar Round-Up

Are you counting down the days until you can get a Chicago Graves Calendar in your hands?

The Calendars will be available starting October 4th at the  Artwalk Ravenswood. The good folks who organize this artwalk have graced me with some wall space at the corner of Berteau and Ravenswood. Come find me and your calendar both Saturday, October 4th, and Sunday, October 5th, from 11am-6pm. (I will remind you all about this plenty!) I will be standing by some unrelated paintings of mine trying to explain why I dressed people up in costumes, drove them to a patch of grass in a graveyard and why there’s this polka dot car always in the background…and this will help you keep track of your days throughout the year, too. Makes sense to me! So what is to be expected in this calendar?… let’s see, you might recall sneak peaks of Resurrection Mary (vanishing hitchhiker), Frank and Peter Gusenberg (gangsters), the Clowns (clowns), Oscar Mayer (sausage maker), Enrico Fermi (father of atomic bomb.) Also expect great months of the year that will feature: the famous ghost of Inez Clarke, Ignaz Schwinn (bicycle maker), Mrs. O’Leary (whose cow did NOT start the Great Chicago Fire-the family has officially cleared her name,) Marshall Field (department store maker,) Emma Goldman (troublemaker,) Chester Gould (DIck Tracey cartoonist,) and the 12th mystery grave???? You will have to buy the calendar. If you can not make it to the art walk, you may find me crashing your holiday parties with calendars in my trench coat. If you don’t throw a party, I will have them for sale at my etsy store. So many options.

 

Science and Art Make Chemistry

An acid/base reaction in Oak Woods Cemetery  in Hyde Park! Thanks to my brother, Dan, for his high tech equipment. Thanks to my friend, Adam, for his willingness to participate in this science/art experiment. Thanks to Enrico for being buried so conveniently on my commute to work. (If you’ve been following the blog of late…yes, this, too, is to be a part of the 2009 Calendar!) I, of course, save the best pictures for the calendar.

I thought it was also fitting during these Olympic times that we give Jesse Owens, buried across the way, a little “cyberspace” here.

 

Tightlipped graves

What’s a Chicago Calendar without a few Gangsters? Well, here are a few hints of what’s to come for the month of February. (For those who know last year’s calendar…they were featured in front of the Green Mill for the month of February. Get it? Now they’re dead.)

Special thanks to Catherine and Ryan for helping bring these historical figures back into focus. The brothers Peter and Frankie “Tightlips” Gusenberg are buried in Irving Park Cemetery. They were 2 of the 7 North Side Mob gangsters killed by Al Capone’s gang at the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. Despite being riddled with bullets, Frank stayed alive for a few more hours and was sent to the hospital where he refused to squeal to the detectives.

His alleged famous last words are: “I ain’t no copper.” His legacy lives on perhaps with the character on The Simpsons:

Johnny Tightlips.

The cemetery markers for these two souls also remain tightlipped. I went into the cemetery office and inquired about the location of Frank and Peter Gusenberg. A woman, who was “filling in” that day, asked me if I was a relative and if I was sure they were buried there. I told her I was not related. (I did not mention this but findagrave.com has their grave pictured and recorded.) She had me follow her down the corridor to a row of card catalog-like drawers. Sure enough, two note cards appeared with their names in one of the dusty drawers. I wasn’t allowed to take a picture of them so I quickly wrote down the lot numbers. Interestingly, the card stated that Frank was removed from Rosehill Cemetery on July 2, 1929 and Peter was removed June 12, 1929 and buried at Irving Park Cemetery. I wonder if there was fear of more vandalism at Rosehill. Catherine, Ryan, and I began dutifully combing through the section. After no luck, I went back into the office again and got a map. We searched further and came to the conclusion that they must have unmarked graves or there was some error. Those gangsters got away from us. The show must go on though and we set up our scene where, according to the map, they are said to be buried.

Rest in Peace, Frank and Peter.

 

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.)

 

In the heat of the summer…

It’s just another day in Chicago…kayaking down the Chicago river and then placing a hot dog in front of Oscar Mayer’s grave. Yep, just another day. (You’ll have to wait until the calendar comes out to see the hot dog vendor in front of the sausage maker’s grave.) You won’t have to wait to go kayaking at kayakchicago.com though. The garbage in the river is pretty bad, like don’t touch it with a 10 foot stick or kayak paddle… but it gets a little “sparkly” and “clear” as you paddle further into the loop. A few more pics are at my flickr site.

August is jam packed with”cemetery dates.” I’m still looking for a cow costume for Mrs O’Leary’s grave. I’ll dress up in it if I have to. A two person costume would be ideal. And if anyone doesn’t like their photo taken, you can hide in the rear legs… Anyone?

 

The Polka Dot Road Trip through the Mountains

Natasha and Jean on fiddle,

Stacie on guitar,

Camping gear, too much non-perishable food for our own good, and a polka dot car:

The makings for a road trip! We went through the Crooked Road for 6 days and five nights in a tent fending off raccoons with pepper spray and an axe. (Well, not really, but we had the means.) This road, “Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail”, located in the Southwestern corner of Virginia, brags in its brochure and website, thecrookedroad.org, various towns offering old-time and bluegrass music jams. The brochure never shed light on WHEN these jams happened but we managed to play our instruments in the campgrounds nightly…. sometimes welcomed by fellow campers when they turned their own music off to listen…but one time we were told to “turn it in.” Tsk, tsk. Those crazy Chicago girls and their wild country songs. There are several music festivals in this region that, sadly, never coincided with our haphazard itinerary.

Our first major “Crooked Road” attraction was the Ralph Stanley Museum in Clintwood, VA. At this museum, we got some “Virgina directions” to the Stanley Family Cemetery way out in the mountains in McClure, VA.

“You can go left, you can go right, but you’re gonna wanna go straight up the hill.” And up the hills we went, while enjoying such country music lyrics as “I’d like to check you for tics” and “There’s nothing as pure as the kindness of an atheist.” (Thank you to the band, Freakwater.) White-knuckled, sweaty, and nauseated from the dips and turns of mountain roads for over an hour, my spirits were at an all-time low. But the polka-dot sputtered its way to probably it’s all-time high (in elevation.) This part of the country does not have strict laws on burials on their own property–the run-off issue has been skirted thus far– so we stumbled upon quite a few small family cemeteries, psyching ourselves out for the real deal Stanley grave. “Oh, Death,” indeed.

(The wrong cemetery but worth a look-see.)

Sure enough, we took a wrong turn, not following our Virginia directions, and stumbled upon our long sought after grave–clearly, no longer in a state of “constant sorrow.”

We drove up one final hill and promptly retrieved the instruments out of the back seat. None of us knew how to play any Stanley Brothers stuff so we just sat at the Stanley Family benches and played, well, pretty much whatever. It was twangy and old-timey enough for the Stanleys, I’m sure.

We continued winding down the road (part of it the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway)…and took a few steps on the Appalachian Trail…

..we saw the Carter Family Fold briefly, the artsy hippie dippie town of Floyd with it’s famous weekly Country store jamborees (which we, of course, missed), and finally Ferrum, VA, home of Ferrum College and the Blue Ridge Institute, housing various exhibits on local folk traditions. Being the end of the Crooked Road, we thought we should play one more time by the Crooked Road sign atop the polka dot car:

Lucky for us, some Institute staff heard our playing and came out to the parking lot to take their own pictures of the Chicago girls with their polka dot car in the mountains. Here’s hoping we make next year’s brochure–or at least the local paper this week. So…after a free Ferrum College cafeteria lunch from the Institute’s director, and stimulating folk music conversation, we were invited to our first live jam of the week: children’s summer camp at the farm museum across the street. Not kidding.

Stacie and I jumped in on the barn dance while Natasha flaunted her fiddling “Soldier’s Joy” best (seated in the very center) with the band. Hundreds of miles later, we were back in Chicago like nothing ever happened.