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!

 

Open for Business

My long awaited prints are now available on-line at my etsy shop: (jeanfitz.etsy.com.) I’m so excited that I can finally share my original paintings in a form that is nearly like the real thing…but at an affordable price. A $500 painting can be experienced for $40 now! They make you want to touch them and feel the textured paint strokes.  I know I sound like a brochure, but, seriously, I am currently amazed at technology. The level of detail is unbelievable. I think these prints give me the same awe and wonder that a recording of good music can do. You see the concert live and in person, but the magic happens in the CD you take home. Sometimes that little gap between the original and the imitation adds some intangible value to something. You know it’s not really there but it makes you activate your imagination even more. May I be so bold as to say that, perhaps, these prints are that visual equivalent?   I am able to make these digital prints at home now, using a fancy inkjet printer and sell them through another technological wonder, the Internet!

I could talk about how great etsy.com is all day. This on-line venue lets independent artisans sell their handmade wares easily to the world! Type in anything, like “yellow dangling earrings” or “turquoise ceramic bowls,” and hundreds of artists from all over pop up with their products. Support the local handmade artists around you. I mean, cheap plastic crap from China is always at your fingertips, too. I believe in your right to choose.

I’d also like to point out that I have made special strides to ensure that one particular painting was available in print. I call it my “doomed painting.” (Picture here at left.) It has been sought after by several potential buyers but for some reason or another, it’s never found a real home. This painting’s wandering spirit can now wander much more affordably and widespread. I hope those fond of this quintessential Chicago neighborhood scene learn of this most recent manifestation: The $40 digital print. Please note these pictures uploaded on this blog are very small files and if you tried to enlarge the picture on your screen, you would see big ugly pixels. Buy a print, and see uninterrupted strokes of paint and almost too-real-to-be-true texture. These prints are selling at 13″x19″. Other sizes will be offered soon and any requests for specific dimensions are welcomed!

Your local artist,

Jean “I did not major in Marketing” Fitzgerald

P.S I almost forgot. Save the cost of shipping the print. Come to the Artwalk Ravenswood and pick one up from me in person. (Yes, those graveyard calendars will be there, too!) I will be at the corner of Berteau and Ravenswood on October 4th and 5th from 11am-6pm!!!