Emerald Splendor

My goal for my upcoming art show was to make a rainbow of paintings. I needed a green one.
Since I mistakenly bought a 24" x 30" board for Photosphere, I decided that I needed to make another painting that size to balance it out.

While walking downtown one day, I saw these plants and was inspired by their colors.

I decided to immerse the perforated Kraft paper in paint. It worked very well, essentially dyeing it, but it ruined my manicure since I didn't feel like wearing gloves. And that's why I so rarely paint my fingernails.

 

 I was very pleased with the result. The yellow highlights are like lightning in a dark sky.

There is an interesting combination of textures.

The metallic ink I used gives it areas of interest and depth.

UPDATE: As of September 30th, this painting is no longer available but if you want something similar, feel free to commission a custom artwork in these colors.

The 2018 Ravenswood Art Walk

It's been a while since I visited The Ravenswood Art Walk. As always, it was a treasure trove of discovery. But unlike previous years, it was unseasonably warm and the lack of air conditioning in some of the older studio buildings was palpable. Despite the heat, it was good to be back so that I could see the incredible variety of artwork on display.

My first stop was at The Awakenings Foundation's Cats Against Catcalling show. The gallery featured artwork dealing with street harassment while also ho
sting cats that needed new homes.

I loved this sign. It would go very well with Tatyana Fazlalizadeh's Stop Telling Women to Smile mural on Wabash in the South Loop.

My favorite piece from the show was this series of drawings by Ursa Eyer showing a woman who has been dealing with street harassment for her whole life finally reaching her breaking point. I can definitely relate to that feeling. The Awakenings foundation exclusively shows work by survivors of sexual assault and the other pieces on display dealt with that subject matter so openly that I could feel the artists' vulnerability and trauma. I felt so emotionally raw after seeing it that it brought me to tears. I wanted to hold one of the kittens that were up for adoption but didn't get a chance to.

Eventually I made my way to Architectural Artifacts, which, if you're familiar with my blog, you may remember is one of my favorite places to take pictures. I never know what sorts of odds and ends I will find there. Among the many unusual finds I came across were a set of Frank Lloyd Wright chairs, unpainted paper masks from a German opera house, an exquisitely drawn map of Paris, and a giant paintbrush prop that I would have gotten for my studio as a decoration it it hadn't been so expensive.

Finally, I went to Lillstreet Art Center to see what everyone was working on over there.

I loved this piece by Abi Gonzales. I was also impressed with the mosaic work in the stairwells. I don't remember seeing it before, so maybe it's new.

I had a good time and look forward to returning to the area soon, maybe to help a design client find something unusual or maybe to get a giant paintbrush for my studio.

'How do you see me?' at Catherine Edelman Gallery asks a simple but important question

Disrespected. Unprotected. Simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible. Misunderstood. All of these adjectives describe the particular way in which Black women are seen and unseen in our society. Which is why it's so vital that two of the three women photographers behind the cameras capturing the images for the How Do You See Me show at  Catherine Edelman Gallery were Black .

The sign on the wall stating that the artwork should not be touched, usually a mundane feature of any gallery, seemed especially poignant to me because just before I got there I had seen yet another incident of a Black woman having her hair touched without her permission in a video on Twitter. The sign was on a wall of photos of Black women with intricate, colorful hairstyles by Medina Dugger.

I love the dignity and grace of the subjects of Alanna Airitam's portraits.They have a timeless quality.

And finally, I was impressed with Endia Beal's juxtaposition of the worlds of home and work in her
Am I What You're Looking For series. She took pictures of young women dressed in their job interview best in their own living rooms with a large photo of her own former office space as an interrupting backdrop.

In a time when Black women are still being misrepresented and willfully misunderstood, this show asks a simple but important question. How Do You See Me is on view through October 27th. For more information on the gallery, click here.