Previously in Studio B
Live Music
On any given night, you can find someone performing live music in a club in just about any city or town anywhere in the world this is one such place. I'm not talking about karaoke here. If you want to sing along, maybe even with everyone else in the bar, fine. However, performing on the stage is best left to the professional musicians.
Electroliner 801 — 802
The North Shore Line, an interurban railroad that connected Chicago's L system with Milwaukee and the towns in between, had two streamlined articulated trains. They were called Electroliners and were the ultimate in interurban trains. This is one of the trains.
It is a foray into more abstract work for me. I was thinking about the silhouettes of the factories just north of Chicago's Loop that created canyons for the L line. These buildings are long gone and have been replaced by rows of bland homes. You do get a nice view of downtown from the L though that you didn't before.
As I am less familiar with Milwaukee, perhaps this train is going through a warehouse district in that great city. I don't know. I am more concerned with form, color and balance.
Plug
This is an examination of the form of a fire plug, or more accurately, the crotch of the fire plug.
The building is an older two-story store/apartment combination. I believe they harken back to sole proprierters that ran a store downstairs and lived upstairs. I'm not sure yet about what type of business will occupy the store, but I can work that out later. So for now, I will consider the underpainting finished and move on to the final painting.
There used to be another building next door. A strip of roofing from the demolished structure is stuck to the wall. I guess it was torn down a while ago because there is a cable box on our building.
There is also grafitti on painted-over grafitti. It's just one of many little scenes one may find while wandering the city at night.
Commission
Printers Row
As with most of the manufacturing world, it is more economical to print and assemble books in sprawling single story buildings. As the printers moved to the low-rise facilities, they left behind a lot of massive empty fortresses. Fortunately these structures also make great homes and were some of the first factories converted to loft homes in the city.
This is where you can experience earlier works as they were created. It is esentially a repository for the stuff from the “Latest” page as the paintings are finished. It's kind of messy here, but since this is sort of an archive or dump of old “latest” pages, a cleanup is on the D-list of things to do, so parden the dust and enjoy. If you want to see the latest, go here.
El Vocho
In Mexico, VW Sedans are lovingly referred to as “Vochos” This is a Mexico City cab on the streets of Rogers Park, Chicago. While I've never seen a Mexican cab in the U.S., I have seen quite a few Mexican VWs here. In order to bring a vehicle into this country, it has to meet certain crash and emission standards. It is generally prohibitively expensive to upgrade cars, especially those that were essentially built to early ’70s U.S. standards.
I love seeing old VWs, so I’m not complaining. I think it is silly to force the independent owner to update his car. As far as I’m concerned, it’s no different driving one of these on U.S. roads than an antique automobile. It’s impact on the environment and safety is minimal.
Back in the ’60s, there were many Volkswagens in Rogers Park, as it was and is, a neighborhood that attracts the “counterculture.” My dad had a ’68. Included in the VW population, was the occasional smuggled 1600 Sedan, a notchback version of the Squareback and Fastback. It was available in Latin America and Puerto Rico.
¡Viva el Vocho!
Manufacturing Concern
This is inspired by the many manufacturing concerns on Carroll Street. Some are operational while others are defunct. I'm not sure about this one, though. Despite all of the activity in the Kinzie Street Industrial Corridor, this area is rather peaceful most of the time.
Eldo
That’s an early ‘80s Cadillac Eldorado with 22” spinners and a somewhat obscene hood ornament. It takes place somewhere along Fulton Market, a collection of meat packing plants, smokehouses, art galleries, nightclubs and upscale loft condos. The area usually smells like sausages, except for the ocassional fish odor.
Several years ago there was an effort to shut down the market. It seems that the new condo owners decided that they didn't want trucks idling outside their buildings at two in the morning.
It's funny how that happens. People want to live in the dirty urban areas like they see in the movies and on TV, but after a while they want suburban quiet at night. There are many areas where there were night clubs and restaurants that attract condo development. Eventually parking is restricted to keep club goers out, precincts are voted dry, etc.
I hope this place doesn't become another suburban neighborhood within the city.
Metropolitan West Side
This latest painting is a departure from some of my recent work, although compositionally, it remains in the family. It’s an area of the city that has always had small and medium-sized industry. The bridge is from the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. It was the first electrified rapid transit line in the world and took a circuitous route into Chicago’s Loop. When the Dearborn Street subway opened in 1951, part of the original L structure was torn down. The the skeleton of this bridge over the busy railway along Hubbard Street remains today as a signal bridge. I put it back into service with a modern L car. While the route of the Dearborn Street subway makes more sense, it would be cool if this part of the elevated still existed. A couple of blocks from here was Lake Transfer, where the Met crossed the Lake Street Elevated. One could transfer between the two lines at this point and the view from the Metropolitan must have been spectacular and a little scary as it would have been almost twice as high as a normal L station.
Free Fries
This latest piece was inspired by a trip to the industrial west side. It originally was a home to late 19th century and early 20th century light industry. Today, some of it is abandoned, but most of it is being reused by early 21st century small business, industry and art. There are some great factories and warehouses that will find there way into future paintings. This one, however is a lone 3-flat. There are a few old apartment buildings and new ones being built on some of the vacant lots. It’s really inspiring, because it seems that the each company is going about its business quietly, including the artists. Despite the machinery and trucks, it’s a peaceful place. I could see having a studio down there at some point.
The actual storefront in this building is some sort of night club, complete with velvet rope. I chose to put a hot dog stand in there, with crude, hand-painted signage. I named it “Herbie’s” after the first place I had a Chicago hot dog. The original was a shack that stood in Weinstien Brother’s parking lot at Sheridan, Devon and Broadway. The asphalt parking lot also served as the eatery’s floor. It was demolished in 1968 to make way for a high-rise senior apartment building that is more or less an obelisk for that particular gateway to Rogers Park.
The painting is called “Free Fries.” Many stands include French fries with at least the hot dogs and sometimes with all of the sandwiches they serve.
New York has great pizza-by-the-slice places and delis. Chicago has hot dog stands. Philadelphia has its Philly cheese steak places. Together, they are an important part of the American urban fabric.
Damn, I’m getting hungry.
Red Cab
The latest piece is a red Ford pick-up from the eighties. It has a bunch of junk in the back, so it must belong to a scavenger.
Scrap metal collectors ply the alleys and streets of Chicago. They stack all sorts of cumbersome bulk garbage in the beds of their dilapidated pick-up trucks.
It's really amazing how well they can pile up the refuse. No matter how precarious their loads become, I have never seen one spill into the street. These guys know what they are doing. Perhaps they should hold some sort of competition.
While somewhat unsightly, they seem to have become a part of the urban fabric of the last 5 years or so. They do provide a good service.
Blue Caprice
The urban landscape is dotted with old Caprice Classics. Many of them are used taxi cabs, some are used squad cars. What is odd is that most are the square-top variety that were built from 1977 -1990. The bathtub Caprices from ‘91 – ‘96 are pretty scarce. This one is a former Yellow Cab as you’ll see by the chips on the edge of the door. Whether this car is used by a cab driver as his personal ride or a getaway car by a stickup crew, I don’t know. What I do know is that these cars are known the world over as something that can last a million miles. Until Gulf War I, these were popular in Iraq. In fact, I believe an entire plant shut down as the war started as it’s only customers were in the Persian Gulf region.
I once had the pleasure of touring the plant that stamped out the quarter panels for these machines. It took seven presses to create them. I don’t remember how heavy each one was, but they extended two floors below the room and dropped their die from two floors up. Whole railroad cars were down below to catch the scrap.
Next!
The old 1880s cottage is about to be demolished to make room for 3 soft loft condominiums. 10 years ago, a house like this would have had a gut rehab. Now, it is torn down. Why have one high end house when you can stack 3 on the same space? People want something brand new with soring ceilings, anyway. The problem is that there is too much of this going on, so the city is loosing its character. Whole blocks have been decimated in this fashion. Many of these new buildings ape the characteristics of earlier structures in a cartoonish scale, giving the city a “disney” feel. Eventually Chicago will feel as much like Chicago as New York, New York in Vegas feels like New York.
Untitled Carnival In the Sky
This paining is of a couple of apartment buildings near Lake Michigan in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. There is still a lot of beachfront and park land in accordance with Daniel Burnham's plan, but there are many places in Rogers Park where the buildings go right up to the water affording residents some really nice views of the lake. There are the occasional 1920s high rises poking up above the 3-story buildings. This is one that has been modified with new windows.
I usually like to have a title in mind when I start a painting. It seems like the piece has a point, then. However, sometimes I got nothin.' This is one of those cases. It will have a title eventually and it will probably relate to whatever is going on in the units. I just don't know what that is yet.
Update: Around this time of year, my thoughts turn to the upcoming Carnival season, so this piece has taken on a restrained Carnival theme and a name.
Cordoba
This latest piece is of a fictional bar called Cordoba. Of course, the car is an '80s Chrysler Cordoba. The bar's sign will be the Cordoba's crest. I don't know if the crest was based on anything real or if an artist at Chrysler cooked it up. This car is associated with "fine Corinthian leather," a meaningless term that a copywriter invented, so anything is posible. A Google search turned up nothing on the matter.
The Corner Revisited
I'm also working on a series of Giclee prints that will be available through this site. The first was “6th Street Apartment.” The second is called “Signal” wich remains unfinished. This one is called “The Corner Revisited.” Like a band that releases an album that goes back to their roots, I sometimes need to revise subjects and themes that were successful.
Chicago Christmas
This is a two-sided ornament that is being created for a benefit for the Chicago Art Foundation. Details on this two-sided painting and how you can buy it at auction will be posted here by November 9.
You can follow the progress here.
Swamp Holly Orange
The latest painting is called "Swamp Holly Orange." Named for the color of the stripe on the beltline of this rapid transit car, "SHO" is a tribute to the Chicago Transit Authority’s 6000 series L cars that ran for 40 years throughout Chicago. These are largely considered the classic Chicago L car much as one might consider the recently retired Redbirds, the classic subway cars of New York.
When the CTA was formed with the merger of the Chicago Surface Lines (streetcars) and Chicago Rapid Transit, it was stuck with an aging fleet of rail cars whose newest members were from the mid-20s and a bunch of streetcars that were systematically being replaced by busses. That meant that it had a lot of old wooden cars from the 1890s and a bunch of relatively brand new streetcars that needed to be retired.
Rather than scrap the streetcars, the 6000 series L contain as many parts from them as possible. Trucks, windows, seats, etc. were used in the manufacture of the new rail cars. Built by the St. Louis Car Company from 1950 to 1960, these cars have been an important part of Chicago’s identity that is slowly fading.
These are the cars of my youth. I remember riding them with my family. My father used to make us cross from car to car to find a better seat. Today, it makes me laugh to see the warning signs and guards to prevent people from doing this when I didn’t think much of it while walking through an entire train while speeding through the subway when I was 8 years old.
This painting represents the original color scheme. They repainted them in the ‘60s to match the green and white livery of the 2000 series cars that came on the scene in 1964. Some of them were given a bicentennial Red, White and Blue (and silver & black) paint job in the mid- 70s. The rest were eventually painted in silver, black, red, white and blue to match the newer equipment that used a toned-down variation of the bicentennial look.
As the CTA acquired newer cars, these beauties slowly disappeared between the mid ‘80s and ‘90s. A handful went to Philadelphia for use on their Norristown line as a stopgap measure while they waited for new cars to be delivered. A few went to rail museums and most of them were scrapped. One made it to the Smithsonian Institute.
Ironically, the trucks of some of them were returned to service on streetcars in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As a part of Kenosha’s revitalization after the demise of American Motors (sad story), the city acquired some PCC streetcars that Toronto was retiring. The gauge of the Toronto cars were too wide. Since the 6000 series cars were being retired at the same time, they were again recycled. The Trucks that started out on Chicago’s PCC streetcars are now back on PCC cars in Kenosha.
As for New York’s Redbirds, they’ve recently been replaced by a shipment of trains from Kawasaki. Some of them are now off the coast of Delaware forming an artificial reef for divers.
An era of rapid transit in the United States has come to a close. This painting is a tribute to it.
Bittersweet Mist
This is the second in a series based on 1970s car colors. The featured color is Bittersweet Mist, a burnt orange that was sprayed onto some Buicks in 1971. In this case, it is a Skylark that is ironically in front of the Skylark Lounge, a cool old bar at Cermak and Halsted on Chicago's South Side.
Unfortunately it is in an area that is poised to get swallowed up by the gentrification that is starting to infect the city south of the Loop. In fact, not only has the Maxwell Street neighborhood to the North, been gentrified, but the old was leveled first. There are new suburban psuedo-downtowns that have more of an urban feel than what you would find at University Place®.
Wild Plum
The car is a 1972 Javelin. The color will be "Wild Plum." The bulding is based on an abandoned structure somewhere west of Mc Cormick place. It looks out of place because all of the other buildings around it were torn down during the urban removal of the '60s. That's how the area appears anyway, with a lot of vacant lots and a few scattered high-density apartment buildings ca. 1965.
I think this is a start of a series based on car colors of the '70s and maybe another decade or two.
On Tap
Going back to an older theme of turrets, this one was inspired by the shape of the last bolt of canvas on the roll. A reoccuring theme is the hanging of recognizable art in the interiors of the buildings. It's both a tribute to artists I like and an excuse to explore other styles. The one in this apartment is a William Conger painting. The next piece will probably have a Paschke in a window.
Sorta Recent
6th Street Apartment
This one is 6th Street Apartment, a digital pastel on digital charcoal paper drawing. It is part of a series of prints that I plan on offering for mass consumption. A top-floor unit in a five-story walk up, it is viewable from Mc Sorley's Old Ale House in New York. Mc Sorley's is hallowed ground to me so, so living in that apartment wouldn't be a bad thing.
Hiawatha
This piece is called Hiawatha. Recently, I happened to see a Milwaukee Road steam engine from the 1930s pulling a bunch of vintage passenger cars cerca 1950 on the mainline it used to serve heading toward Union Station in Chicago. The last couple of cars were from the Hiawatha, including the lounge car in this painting.
I saw it depart from Union Station on an excursion trip to a steamboat festival on the Mississippi. The train is in revenue service all over the upper midwest. If you want to see the country from some beautifully restored rail cars from the middle of the last century, you should check it out.
Venice Beach
This latest piece is inspired by a recent trip to Los Angeles. During a walk along Venice Beach, I encountered an odd-looking, tangled mess of succulent seaweed. The aquatic plant had these flipper-like leaves, that I would imagine, helped the plant stay buoyant for whatever reason.
Packaging
The packaging for Cathy Richardson Band's "The Road to Bliss" was finished in August; in time to enter the album in the Grammys for Best Recording Package. Well it got nominated. A collaboration with Cathy Richardson, it is a revival of the album art before the jewel case. It's meant to be something you explore while listening to the music and part of a larger experience that has all but disappeared since CDs replaced LPs.
Doing an album cover is a longtime dream of mine. Getting nominated for a Grammy for the efforts is just indescribable. This is my Sistine Chapel. Needless to say I've been extremely busy with the album plus other graphic design work, so oil paint hasn't been my medium of choice this year. However the album is art just like any painting and a lifetime of working at creating art has paid off in a big way.
Anyway, this means big changes for me which will allow me to focus completely on art and end this schizophrenic existence of the last 20 years.
I'll have more on this site in the next couple of months (especially the woefully outdated graphics section), but in the meantime visit Cathy's site for more information at CRBand.com and buy the Grammy nominated album at Merchandise Betty's.
Not So Recent
Bridgeport
Started a new one. Trying to find the urban experience of the mid 20th Century, I wound up in Bridgeport. Much of the north side of Chicago has undergone a sort of beatification to compliment the nice loft condominiums, chain stores and restaurants that have replaced the abandoned warehouses, older salt box homes and struggling small businesses and shops. The south side remains unmolested.
Bridgeport is old school. It's a gritty, well-worn, but cared for place. Lots of small bungalows mixed with older small apartment buildings all crammed together on tiny lots, a true urban community. On warm nights, the people hang out on their stoops and interact with each other. During the St. Patrick's Day season, many of the houses sport green lights and lighted shamrocks, rivaling the Christmas Holidays in outdoor decorations. It reminds me of the Easter lights in Little Italy in Manhattan This is the city. This is the way it was meant to be.
DUMBO
The latest finished piece is inspired by a trip to the Arts Under the Bridge Festival in the DUMBO neighborhood on the Brooklyn side. A cool area of New York between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges that consists of old loft buildings from the mid 19th century to the early 20th. Long abandoned by industry, it is now the home of a vibrant community of artists.
The festival is very much like the early days of Chicago's Around The Coyote before most of the artists were replaced by creative professionals and their spaces upgraded beyond what your average painter can afford. Lots of open studios, group shows and music.
But alas, the hip are following in DUMBO. New condos are being built Nike wants to build a Town there. It won't be long before no mortal can afford to live there.
Anyway, this painting is a tribute to DUMBO as it exists today. The rat is a graffiti work that I liberated from a wall. I hope that this place doesn't change.
Convergence
The next to last painting that I finished is called Convergence. It deals with being in two places at the same time and how they come together. Physically, I could be in one place, but mentally, another. if the places are very similar in appearance, they can combine to form one. This painting is now in a private collection.