November 7, 2008
Quick, send ideas! I’m in a creative block! Just. Plain. Stuck. Help me get over the bridge.
If you read the title differently…I could also be living on a creative block in the city right now…but it’s getting cold and I think everyone walks their dog and then goes inside to watch TV. It’s just feeling like November in Chicago. Sigh. Nope, not in a city block of creativity. My brain is blank.
In the meantime, I will look at the pretty yellow leaves while they’re still there.
October 3, 2008
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! |
June 10, 2008
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?
