I love bad art.

I sent out an email to help ward off the creative block I was in a few weeks ago…

“here’s how it works:
i give you 3 abstract words and 3 concrete words and you make me a piece of art on a postcard size card and mail it to me. you interpret the words however you see fit and with me in mind. you do the same, send me 3 abstract words and 3 concrete words, and your snail mail address!!!, and i’ll mail YOU a postcard with my interpretation of your words and with you in mind.
you don’t have to be good at making art. in fact, i love bad art. yeah, send me bad art.”
…and so now the art is rolling in! and here’s what a sample of my postcards looked like before i sent them out.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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?

 

How to Make a Mullet

Michael is headed to NASCAR this weekend and we wanted to make sure his passport to Indiana was in order. We were ready to begin after intense research over at the excellent website: http://mulletsgalore.com/

mullet: noun 1. a chiefly marine fish that is widely caught for food. 2. a hairstyle in which the hair is cut short at the front and sides and left long in back.

Jean: “So, Mikey, you want it short in the front and long in the back, right?” Michael: “Yeah, I wanna Mullet!”

I have never cut anyone’s hair before so a mullet request made me extra nervous. I’ve been told I have “hands of gold” with other craft projects, so why wouldn’t it extend to the realm of mullet art? Tools required: Scissors and maybe a comb. The toilet as barber’s chair will suffice. My technique was based largely on how I’ve observed hairdressers cut hair. I comb out a length of hair and grasp it between my index and middle finger. I snip across the top with the other hand. This creates an excellent textured effect if you grab small pieces at a time and work slowly around the top and sides of the head. Remember: you can’t rush perfection. We discussed how the mullet lifestyle is largely low maintenance so take special care in cutting off side hair that you would otherwise assume would be tucked behind the ear. Don’t assume gel or manual primping will keep stray strands at bay either. This is a mullet, ladies and gentleman. Notice the hair cutting form I use: raised elbows, hands kept within inches of head at all

times, basically intense mullet concentration.

Let’s get a good 360 degree look:

To add to the mullet-do, try on a handlebar mustache, like a little caterpillar reclining on his upper lip:

Do not confuse the handlebar with the closely related but culturally incompatible Fu Man Chu:

We noticed how Michael became more belligerent and turned from fine wine to corn whiskey as his hair got shorter and shorter up top.

The utterly convincing transformation has frightened me a little but Michael is surely ready for NASCAR now.

 

Great Lakes Relay 2008

Today, I am unable to squat or touch my toes. For three days, this past weekend, I was privileged to run the Great Lakes Relay with 9 other unbelievable women, treking across the state of Michigan, 270 miles West actually, to Empire, on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Total hours of sleep? mmm, 12? maybe?

The important thing to remember is that the number of miles I ran were more than the hours I slept.

L-R: Jean, Aubrey, Liz, Joanne, Kathryn, Chelsea, Corinna, Rebecca, Janet (Not pictured is the great Jesse, who got sick and was only able to run on Day 1 so she gets a special picture featured above. Jesse was missed sorely the rest of the weekend but we’re glad you’re okay!!! )

Easiest part: eating snacks in a car all day.

Best part: getting to know the great people on the team, oh! and,er, running over 24 miles through the most beautiful parts of Michigan.

Hardest part: while snuggled in the back seat of the car on the way to the start of Day 3’s race, being told at 5am-with only 4 hours of sleep–less than 8 for the past two days– that I have to wake up and get in the other van to get to my leg of the race. That was harder than any sandy hill I ran the whole weekend. Wow, that hurt.

Most memorable: shoes disappearing into the mud as I ran…ankle deep in a swamp, raining hard, with no one in sight for miles. Ya-hoo.

Oh, and one more memorable moment: I was waiting at the end of my leg with another stranded runner. My van drove right past me and I ran down the road, I mean hobbled, waving my arms. No luck. I was left with a water bottle and a plastic baggie of trail mix at the corner of “lost” and “stranded.” The other runner’s van came and they said they’d send word that I was left behind. My team did return finally. I was never worried. My trail mix would have lasted for weeks!

For a complete slideshow, with detailed descriptions, go to my flickr set here.